He was one of the best young players on the ATP Tour alongside Alexander Zverev but retired at just 22 years old

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The Next Gen ATP Finals has seen some of the top stars in modern day tennis compete in the event over the years.

Some of the previous champions of the event that features the top young players include Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Joao Fonseca has withdrawn from the Next Gen ATP Finals this year, despite being the defending champion.

However, top seed and Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik has confirmed his participation for the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Both Fonseca and Mensik appear to have very bright futures ahead of them, but one former Next Gen ATP Finals participant retired at just 22 years old.

Jared Donaldson: The Next Gen star who retired at 22 years old

The first edition of the Next Gen ATP Finals was held in 2017, featuring seven of the best players aged 21 and under, as well as a wildcard in a tournament played in a shorter sets format.

Alexander Zverev was set to be the top seed that year, but the German withdrew from the tournament after also qualifying for the ATP Finals.

Instead, the top seed was Andrey Rublev, leading a lineup that also featured Daniil Medvedev, Karen Khachanov and Denis Shapovalov.

The only American player in this lineup was Jared Donaldson, who was the world number 54 at the time after enjoying a breakout season, which included reaching the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals and the third round of Wimbledon.

These results enabled Donaldson to qualify for the inaugural Next Gen Finals as the fifth seed, but he lost all three of his matches in Milan.

Despite this setback, Donaldson would actually go on to reach his first ATP semifinal at the Mexican Open, which enabled him to reach a career-high ranking of world number 48 in 2018.

This was the peak of Donaldson’s career, as he would only go on to win nine more matches before retiring from tennis.

Donaldson had been continually struggling with Patellar tendinitis in his knee, and he played the final match of his career against Rublev at Indian Wells in 2019.

While this was the final match of his career, Donaldson did not officially retire until 2021, and has since attended the University of California and been a volunteer assistant tennis coach.

What are the rest of the first Next Gen ATP Finals lineup doing now?

The eight players in the inaugural edition of the Next Gen ATP Finals have had many different trajectories in the past eight years.

Hyeon Chung would go on to win the title after beating Rublev in the final, and this was not the only success the Korean found in his career.

After winning the Next Gen ATP Finals title, Chung would stun Novak Djokovic en route to reaching the Australian Open semifinals.

However, persistent back injuries have disrupted his progress, with Chung winning his first title in six years in January this year, and he has been able to climb from outside the top 1000 to the top 400 in 2025.

Chung is still an active tennis player, but Donaldson is not the only player who was part of the original Next Gen ATP Finals lineup who has now retired.

Italian Gianluigi Quinzi was the wildcard for the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2017, who officially announced his retirement from tennis in 2021 after struggling with high expectations and competitive stress.

The 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals will get underway on December 17 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, featuring the aforementioned Mensik, Learner Tien, Alexander Blockx, Dino Prizmic, Martin Landaluce, Nicolai Budkov Kjær, Nishesh Basavareddy and Rafael Jodar.