The ATP has another teenage rising star who has just made tennis history as the grass court season starts

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Days after the clay-court season drew to a close in Paris, the stars of the ATP Tour are back in action on the grass.

The 2025 ATP Tour grass-court season has begun with two ATP 250 tournaments in Stuttgart, Germany and in Den Bosch, the Netherlands.

Several big names are competing in Stuttgart, including home-favorite Alexander Zverev, and American stars Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.

Shelton won his opening match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert before Fritz beat Quentin Halys to qualify for the quarterfinals.

The pair will be joined in the quarterfinals by a 17-year-old German, who has just made tennis history at the Stuttgart Open.

Justin Engel becomes youngest grass-court quarterfinalist of the century in Stuttgart

Teenagers have enjoyed plenty of success on the ATP Tour in 2025, with the likes of Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik impressing.

There’s another name to add to that list now, as 17-year-old Justin Engel makes history in Stuttgart.

After winning his opening match against James Duckworth 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, the youngster took on America’s Alex Michelsen in round two.

Securing the first top 40 win of his career, Engel beat Michelsen in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, becoming the youngest grass-court quarterfinalist of the century in the process.

Reacting to the biggest win of his career, Engel thanked the fans for their support during his post-match interview.

“I played a great match today, I mean I almost made no mistakes. I’m pretty happy that I won today and can’t wait to play the third round,” said Engel.

“I was pretty nervous in the beginning, it’s my second round here and I wanted to win the second round, the people here helped me out, I’m grateful and really happy.”

The German will now prepare for his quarterfinal match, where he’ll play Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday, June 13.

How successful were the previous ‘youngest’ quarterfinalists of the 21st century?

Engel is now the youngest grass-court quarterfinalist of the century, but just how much success did other young stars who broke through on grass achieve in their careers?

America’s Ryan Harrison held the record for 15 years, but never quite managed to fulfil his potential on the ATP Tour.

Highly rated as a junior player, many predicted Harrison to achieve great things in the sport, although his career didn’t pan out that way.

Ryan Harrison’s career achievements

• Career-high ranking – 40th
• ATP titles – 1
• Best Grand Slam result – 3R (2016 US Open, 2018 Australian Open)
• Top ten wins – 2

Another American, Stefan Kozlov, qualified for his maiden grass-court quarterfinal at the age of 18 in 2016, but has struggled since, and is yet to break into the world’s top 100.

Stefan Kozlov’s career achievements

• Career-high ranking – 103rd
• ATP titles – 0
• Best Grand Slam result – 2R (2022 Australian Open)
• Top ten wins – 0

When Bernard Tomic reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon as an 18-year-old in 2011, few would’ve believed he would never return to the last eight of a Major tournament.

Often criticised for his attitude, Tomic surely could have achieved far more in the sport if he had applied himself better.

Bernard Tomic’s career achievements

• Career-high ranking – 17th
• ATP titles – 4
• Best Grand Slam result – QF (2011 Wimbledon)
• Top ten wins – 8

Engel will likely be hoping to better the career achievements of Harrison, Kozlov, and Tomic, and it certainly looks like he has the talent to do so.

Justin Engel’s ATP wins and junior tennis record

The German youngster has enjoyed success on the ITF junior tour, winning all five finals he’s played at that level.

Making his ATP Tour debut in 2024, Engel won his first match at the Almaty Open in Kazakhstan, taking down Coleman Wong in straight sets.

Following his maiden ATP win in Kazakhstan, German tennis legend Boris Becker congratulated Engel on X.

“Congratulations, Justin [Engel]! Keep it up,” said Becker.

Securing another ATP win this year at the Hamburg Open, Engel defeated his compatriot Jan-Lennard Struff in his opening match.

The teenager now holds a 4-3 record on the ATP Tour and is likely to break into the world’s top 250 when the next set of rankings are released on Monday.

It remains to be seen what Engel can achieve in tennis, but he will certainly be one to keep an eye on as the season progresses.