Basavareddy qualifies for Next Gen ATP Finals SFs after Blockx wins first set
Nishesh Basavareddy has advanced to the semi-finals at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF after Alexander Blockx won the first set against Dino Prizmic on Friday afternoon in Jeddah.
In the first match of the day, Basavareddy defeated Justin Engel 4-3(3), 4-2, 4-3(5) to end Red Group with a 2-1 record and knew he would qualify for the last four if Prizmic failed to defeat Blockx in straight sets in the second match of the day.
In a fast start, Blockx won the first-set tie-break against Prizmic 4-3(4) to seal Basavareddy’s semi-final spot. Blockx had already secured his place in the last four, going 2-0 through his opening matches.
Basavareddy is making his second appearance at the 20-and-under event and made a flying start this week when he beat Prizmic in his opener. After falling to Blockx, Basavareddy responded with a stable performance against Engel, winning the majority of the baseline exchanges and rallying from 3/5 in the third-set tie-break to triumph after 70 minutes.
“I didn’t look at any of that [the permutations],” Basavreddy said. “In the third set, I was thinking maybe if I win this in straight sets it would be better for my cause, but before the match, I was just trying to prepare the best I could for this match.”
[ATP APP]Basavareddy is being supported by coach Gilles Cervara at a tournament for the first time this week. The French coach joined forces with the World No. 167 in December after parting ways with former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in August. Read more about Basavareddy and Cervara’s partnership here.
“In the short time we have been together we have already made some improvements, him and my fitness coach,” Basavareddy said on Cervara. “I think we have progressed a lot physically and I think my serve today was a lot better than it normally is.”
Engel exits the event having gone 0-3 this week. The German will be disappointed to have finished his impressive year, highlighted by an ATP Challenger Tour title and a quarter-final run at the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart, without a match win. However, the youngest player in this year’s field will take the learnings from the week into the new season.
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