In the red group, Luca Van Assche, 70th in the world and seeded N.2, suffered the power of the Serbian Hamad Medjedovic. Author of 13 aces, winner of 78% of the points behind his first ball (compared to only 67% for the Frenchman), the 110th player in the world won 4-2, 2-4, 4-3 (9/7), 4-1.
The young French hopeful missed his chance in the tie-break of the third set, breaking away 5-1 then obtaining three set points (at 6-4 then 7-6), all saved by Medjedovic, who concluded with his first opportunity.
The 20-year-old Serbian, who traveled to Jeddah directly from Malaga, Spain, where he participated last week in the final phase of the Davis Cup, took a long locker room break before starting the fourth set. The day before, for his entry into this Youth Masters, he had to draw heavily on his resources to get rid of the American Alex Michelsen, despite cramps.
With two wins in two matches, Medjedovic is well placed to play in the semi-finals. Van Assche and Shelbayh, one win and one loss each, can both claim the second ticket. In the other matches of the day, the Swiss Dominic Stricker (94th), who will be Fils’ last opponent in the group stage on Thursday, gave Nardi no chance, beaten 4-1, 4-1, 4-2 . The Jordanian Abdullah Shelbayh (185th), guest of this Next Gen, clearly won against the American Alex Michelsen 4-2, 1-4, 4-0, 4-0.
With the new rules tested during this “Next Gen Masters” – sets in 4 winning games, elimination of the advantage at 40-A, reduction of time to serve… -, the games can go very quickly: Stricker won in 54 minutes, Son in 59 minutes.
