Hamad Medjedovic capped his breakthrough season by lifting the Next Gen ATP Finals offered by NEOM trophy on Saturday in Jeddah, the place he recovered from squandering two match factors within the fourth set towards Arthur Fils to win the primary five-set closing in event historical past.
The 20-year-old performed aggressively in entrance of a packed crowd in King Abdullah Sports City, the place he obtained loud help from energetic followers. The Serbian took giant cuts on the ball, gained 88 per cent (61/69) of factors on his first supply and transformed his third match level to fireplace previous the 19-year-old Frenchman 3-4(6), 4-1, 4-2, 3-4(9), 4-1 after two hours and 11 minutes.
It additionally capped an amazing finish of the season for Serbia after Novak Djokovic clinched a file seventh Nitto ATP Finals crown in Turin earlier this month. The World No. 1 has been sending Medjedovic messages of help this week.
“Two of us from Serbia. He won the big Masters, the real one, and I won the Next Gen. Obviously it’s a huge thing and I’m happy to follow in his footsteps in some way,” Medjedovic stated.
Medjedovic didn’t lose a match en path to changing into the primary Serbian to triumph on the event, taking residence a tournament-record $514,000 in prize cash.
At No. 110 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the 20-year-old is the lowest-ranked champion in event historical past, whereas he’s the sixth Next Gen ATP Finals titlist, becoming a member of Top 10 stars Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“I can’t believe I have won this title, but it’s going to give me a lot of confidence for 2024,”Medjedovic stated. “Arthur is an amazing player; he’s Top 40 for a reason, so I’m really happy.”
“It was powerful after the primary set. I modified my garments and recovered and began to play good once more. I did not play good once I had match factors within the fourth set. I wasn’t relaxed, I used to be very stiff. Thank God I recovered and I used to be simply attempting to remain relaxed as a lot as I may and I managed to do it ultimately.”
Fuel Gauge exhibits how a lot a participant ought to have left within the tank based mostly on historic benchmarks.
Both gamers come out firing on serve of their first Lexus ATP Head2Headvert assembly. They dropped only one level every on their first deliveries, with Fils hitting six aces and Medjedovic seven. With little to separate them, the Frenchman got here to life deep within the tie-break, saving two set factors earlier than he clinched the opener on his first set level.
After taking a bathroom break, Medjedovic discovered his finest degree initially of the second set. He flew by way of his service video games, making use of the shortened shot-clock rule between aces to achieve momentum and degree. The Serbian then broke within the first sport of the third set and continued his spectacular degree on serve within the third set, successful all 10 factors behind his first supply.
The fourth set then went to a tie-break and Medjedovic moved to match level at 6/4. Fils saved each on second serves, earlier than clinching the set to power a deciding set. The Serbian, who struck 34 winners, together with 19 aces, wouldn’t be denied although. He raced by way of the decider, collapsing to the ground after changing on his third match level.
[ATP APP]
Medjedovic, who’s coached by former World No. 12 Viktor Troicki, gained three ATP Challenger Tour trophies in 2023, whereas he reached tour-level semi-finals in Gstaad and Astana.
Fils, who gained his maiden tour-level title in Lyon in May, began the season at No. 251 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings however arrived in Jeddah at a career-high No. 36. He is the primary French teenager to complete the season contained in the Top 50 since then-19-year-olds Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils in 2005.
Did You Know?
Medjedovic hit 69 aces throughout the occasion. No participant in event historical past has hit extra aces on the occasion than the Serbian.
Source web site: www.atptour.com
