The French Arthur Fils and Lucas Van Aasche each began with a victory at the Next Gen ATP Finals, the Masters for under-22s, on Tuesday in Jeddah during which new rules were tested including the set in four winning games or the removal of the advantage.
Arthur Fils, 19, the highest ranked of the eight participants who rose this year to 36th in the world, beat in the green group the Italian Luca Nardi (115th) 2-4, 4-3 (8/6) , 4-2, 1-4, 4-2.
Lucas Van Aasche (70th) imitated him by beating at the end of the day the Jordanian Abdullah Shelbayh, the last qualifier (185th) 4-3 (7/5), 3-4 (7/5), 4-1, 4-1.
Son had a hard time getting into his match. But after losing the first set, winning the second after an interminable tie-break put him back on track.
Favorite of the tournament, with his first ATP title won in Lyon in May and finalist in Antwerp in October, the Ile-de-France native ended up winning in 2h06, under the eyes of his new coaching duo, Sébastien Grosjean and Sergi Bruguera.
Van Aasche started his match better in the red group against Shelbayh, making the entry break. The Jordanian recovered before breaking down in the tie-break against a Frenchman who was more solid in the exchange.
Shelbayh equalized at one set by winning the second, also in the tie break, but van Aasche then took the upper hand in the next two sets.
In another match of this first day, the Swiss Dominic Stricker (94th) was surprised in the green group by the Italian Flavio Cobolli (100th), winner 3 sets to 1.
This is the sixth edition of the “Next Gen ATP Finals”. Seven of the eight players registered in 2023, with the exception of Stricker, discover it, with its array of new rules: sets in 4 winning games, no advantage in the event of a tie, no warm-up, referee’s chair planed….
