Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Dec 18 Alex Michelsen of the United States and Luca Van Assche made a winning start in the Next Gen ATP Finals, getting the better of Nishesh Basavareddy of the United States of America (USA) and China's Shang Juncheng respectively in the opening two matches of the event for 20-under-players on Wednesday.
Luca Van Assche set the ball rolling in Saudi Arabia, producing a classy overall opening performance. The Frenchman overcame fourth seed Juncheng 4-3(3), 2-4, 4-1, 4-3(5) in the first match of the week in the Next Gen ATP Finals.
Van Assche, who reached the semifinals in 2023, capitalised on an inconsistent showing from his third-seeded opponent to seal a one-minute, 56-minute win and move to 1-0 in Red Group.
Van Assche won two points on serve — at 1-2 in the first set and on the first point of the second set — thanks to the No Let rule, which has been reintroduced for the 2024 edition of the 20-and-under event. It dictates that play will continue even if the ball touches the net during a serve, provided it lands in the correct service box.
After the first of his serves trickled into the service box after catching the net cord, Van Assche held his hands up while giving Shang an apologetic grin. He was smiling again after beginning the second set with a similar winner, although Shang later enjoyed a net cord ace of his own early in the third set.
In the second match of the day, Michelsen shook off any lingering doubts from last year's campaign to secure his maiden win, the second-seeded American overcame Basavareddy 2-4, 4-3(5), 4-3(4), 4-2 in a high-octane battle on Wednesday. After losing all three round-robin matches on his debut in 2023, Michelsen displayed resilience in a one-hour, 50-minute victory to move to 1-0 in Red Group.
The match appeared to be swinging in Basavaraddy’s favour at the end of the third set, helped by a missed routine volley from Michelsen. At 40/30, the 20-year-old attempted a drop volley instead of a put-away smash to gift the seventh seed a route back into the game. Yet the Michelsen recovered from letting slip four set points from 40/0 to drop serve by steadying to seal a dominant tie-break.
Basavareddy, the former Stanford standout who announced this month his decision to turn pro, will seek a first win at the innovative event on Thursday. The 19-year-old will face Shang Juncheng, who was defeated by sixth seed Luca Van Assche in Red Group’s opening match.
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