Prediction published on 12/19/24, 11:09 AM
 by
Tyler Doty

|
Modified on
12/19/24
at 11:13 AM

in

Tennis Picks

In the second Group B match of the ATP Next Gen Finals, American Alex Michelsen takes on Frenchman Luca Van Assche. Alex Michelsen, 20, won his first match comfortably against his compatriot Nishesh Basavareddy, 19, winning their duel 3 sets to 1. Although he lost the first set 2-4, the American didn’t let up afterward, as he was determined not to lose any more sets in order to gain the points he needed to continue his journey in Jeddah. As one of the top 50 players this year, Alex Michelsen should have no difficulty in qualifying for the semi-finals if he wins this second match too.

For his part, Luca Van Assche sprang a surprise by winning his duel with the Chinese and world 50th-ranked Juncheng Shang. However, in the tie-break of the 4th and final set, he came within a hair’s breadth of a much closer duel. The win must have been good news for the Frenchman, who had lost 4 matches in a row at the end of the season and hadn’t played since losing to Cameron Norrie, ranked 49th in the world, in the 8th final in Metz.