The Next Gen Finals commenced with Arthur Fils and Luca van Assche securing victories in the round-robin stage, marking the tournament’s debut in Saudi Arabia. The 19-year-old French player, Fils, claimed a hard-fought win against Luca Nardi, prevailing 2-4, 4-3 (6), 4-2, 1-4, 4-2 under the unique format adopted for the Next Gen Finals.
The tournament utilizes distinct rules, featuring a best-of-five-sets format where each set concludes when a player reaches four games, including a tiebreak at 3-3. In the same green group matches, Flavio Cobolli triumphed over Dominic Stricker with a 4-2, 3-4 (7), 4-1, 4-2 victory.
Meanwhile, in the red group, 70th-ranked Luca van Assche secured a win against wildcard entrant Abdullah Shelbayh, prevailing 4-3 (5), 3-4 (5), 4-1, 4-1. Hamad Medjedovic encountered a fierce challenge from Alex Michelsen but emerged victorious with a 4-2, 4-3 (3), 3-4 (3), 3-4 (5), 4-3 (4) win.
This edition of the Next Gen Finals, exclusive to the top eight ATP Tour players aged 21 or under, marks its maiden voyage in Saudi Arabia. Previous editions were held in Milan since its inception in 2017. Unique alterations to traditional tennis regulations include shortened changeovers and adjusted shot clock times for specific points.
Arthur Fils in 2023
At the moment ranked no.36 (career-high), Fils played his last match on the 28th of November when he overcame world no.115 Luca Nardi 2-4 4-3(6) 4-2 1-4 4-2 in the round robin in the Next Gen ATP Finals (draw).
This season Fils owns a 40-23 match record. Fils conquered 2 titles in 2023 in the Oeiras 2 Challenger and Lyon. Fils got to the final in the Quimper Challenger and Antwerp.
Luca Van Assche in 2023
LLLLWWLWWL At the moment ranked no.70, Van Assche played his last match on the 28th of November when he overcame world no.185 Abedallah Shelbayh 4-3(5) 3-4(5) 4-1 4-1 in the round robin in the Next Gen ATP Finals (draw).
At the moment, during this season Van Assche achieved a compiled 33-28 match record. Luca conquered 2 titles in 2023 in the Pau Challenger and the Sanremo Challenger.
Arthur Fils and Luca Van Assche have never clashed against each other.
