Arthur Fils faces tough team at Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in Jeddah | ATP Tour
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Fils face a tough team in Jeddah
The draw for the 20 and under event took place on Sunday in Jeddah
December 15, 2024
ATP
The teams are scheduled for the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.
Written by Sam Jacot
The world's best 20-and-under players learned their finalists for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF on Sunday evening, during the official draw in Jeddah.
Arthur Fils, a three-time ATP Tour number one, is the top seed and leads the Blue Group. The 20-year-old Frenchman will be joined by Jakub Mensik, Student Tien and Joao Fonseca. Alex Michelsen is the second seed in the year-end event and leads the Red Group, which will also feature Shang Juncheng, Luca Van Assche and Nishesh Basavareddy.
At number 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fils enters the tournament as a strong favorite and is ranked much higher than Blue team rivals Mensik (48), Tien (122) and Fonseca (145). But Fils is expected to face difficulties in his team. He lost 6-0, 6-4 to Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year. Mensik has one of the most explosive and dangerous games of any player in the tournament, having earned a Top 10 win in 2024 and Tien is coming off hot form, winning three Challenger Tour titles this season.
Michelsen (41) and Shang (50) both sit inside the Top 50 in the PIF ATP Rankings. They have never faced each other but will be hoping for a place in the semi-finals, ranked more than 70 places ahead of Van Assche and Basavareddy. Shang won his first ATP Tour title in Chengdu in September, while Michelsen reached the finals in Newport and Winston-Salem in 2024.
Van Assche, currently No. 128 in the PIF ATP Rankings, and World No. 138 Basavareddy formed the Red Group. Van Assche reached the third round at the Australian Open in January, while Basavareddy has lifted two ATP Challenger Tour trophies since October.
Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF starts on wednesdaywith the final on Sunday 22nd December. The round robin will be held from Wednesday to Friday, and the semi-finals will be held on Saturday. The title match will take place at 8 pm local time (6 pm CET) on Sunday the 22nd.
Hyeon ChungStefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Brandon Nakashima and Hamad Medjedovic all won the event.
Green Team: Arthur Fils (1), Jakub Mensik (3), Student Tien (5), Joao Fonseca (8).
Red Team: Alex Michelsen (2), Shang Juncheng (4), Luca Van Assche (6), Nishesh Basavareddy (7).
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