Next Gen ATP Finals: Michelsen and Van Assche Begin with Victories on Day One
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Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Dec 18 (NationPress) — Alex Michelsen from the United States and Luca Van Assche kicked off their campaigns successfully in the Next Gen ATP Finals, overcoming Nishesh Basavareddy of the USA and Shang Juncheng of China in the opening matches for players aged 20 and under on Wednesday.
Luca Van Assche set the tone in Saudi Arabia with an impressive overall performance. The French player triumphed over fourth seed Juncheng with scores of 4-3(3), 2-4, 4-1, 4-3(5) in the first match of the tournament.
Having reached the semifinals in 2023, Van Assche took advantage of an uneven performance from his third-seeded opponent to secure a swift victory in just 56 minutes, improving his record to 1-0 in the Red Group.
He gained two points on serve — at 1-2 in the first set and on the first point of the second set — due to the reintroduced No Let rule for the 2024 edition of this 20-and-under event. This rule allows play to continue even if the ball touches the net during a serve, provided it lands in the correct service box.
After his initial serve caught the net cord but still landed in the service box, Van Assche raised his hands and offered Shang an apologetic smile. He was grinning again after starting the second set with a similar winner, although Shang later celebrated a net cord ace of his own early in the third set.
In the second match of the day, Michelsen overcame any remnants of last year's struggles to claim his first victory, as the second-seeded American defeated Basavareddy with scores of 2-4, 4-3(5), 4-3(4), 4-2 in an intense showdown on Wednesday. After a disappointing debut in 2023 where he lost all three round-robin matches, Michelsen showcased remarkable resilience to achieve a 1-0 record in the Red Group after a one-hour and 50-minute match.
The encounter seemed to be tilting in Basavareddy’s favor towards the end of the third set, aided by a routine volley miss from Michelsen. At 40/30, the 20-year-old opted for a drop volley instead of a straightforward smash, allowing the seventh seed a chance to regain momentum. Nevertheless, Michelsen recovered from squandering four set points from 40/0 to break serve and decisively clinched a dominant tie-break.
Basavareddy, a former standout at Stanford who recently declared his intention to turn professional, will aim for his first win at this innovative event on Thursday. The 19-year-old is set to face Shang Juncheng, who was defeated by sixth seed Luca Van Assche in the opening match of the Red Group.
