Van Assche inspiration
The young Frenchman Luca Van Assche, 128th player in the world, won his first match at the ATP NextGen Finals on Wednesday, which brings together the eight best players under the age of 21 in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). Aged 20 and semi-finalist of the tournament in 2023, the native of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert in Belgium beat the Chinese Shang Juncheng (50th), whom he faced for the first time.
Van Assche won 4-3 (7/3), 2-4, 4-1, 4-3 (7/5) in the first match of the red group of the NextGen Finals, where the first player to win four games wins the set (in the event of a tie at 3-3, a tie-break decides between the two players). The second match of the red group will pit the Americans Alex Michelsen (41st) and Nishesh Basavareddy (138th) in the afternoon.
Too fickle son
The highest ranked player in the tournament (20th), French tennis number 2 Arthur Fils did not have the same success against the young Brazilian Joao Fonseca (18 years old and 145th), who had already beaten him in February in Rio de Janeiro. Janeiro during their only confrontation, played on clay. In the evening, he lost in five sets (3-4, 4-2, 4-1, 1-4, 4-1) and 1h50 in this first match.
Son paid for a performance that was too variable in terms of intensity. He experienced major weaknesses in terms of physical commitment which his talented opponent was able to exploit. His low first serve percentage (53%) didn’t help either, especially since No-Ad is in place in this tournament, which gives more break opportunities. In sequences, however, he impressed with his power, particularly on the forehand side.
But his match lacked a common thread. Nothing worrying, however, for Son who can still qualify since he has two group matches remaining and who is in any case taking this Next Gen Masters as a week of training in full preparation for the 2025 season. Note that in the other match in this group, the American Learner Tien also created a surprise by defeating the Czech Jakub Mensik, another favorite of the event.
