Fonseca faces Mensik in evening session

Four players are vying for the two remaining semi-final spots at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Luca Van Assche and Nishesh Basavareddy will clash on Friday to determine who finishes second in Red Group while Arthur Fils and Learner Tien aim to advance out of Blue Group.

Second seed Alex Michelsen, safely in the last four, will kickstart Day 3 action against China’s Shang Juncheng. Like Michelsen, eighth seed Joao Fonseca is into the semi-finals with a perfect record. The Brazilian faces Jakub Mensik in the evening session.

What are the semi-final scenarios? Click here to find out.

[6] Luca Van Assche (FRA) vs [7] Nishesh Basavareddy (USA)
Van Assche and Basavareddy have both split their opening two matches and now will go toe to toe with high stakes: win or go home. Van Assche, one of three players in the field competing in Jeddah for the second consecutive year, has hopes of improving upon his 2023 semi-final showing.

Basavareddy is fresh off the highest-ranked win of his career against World No. 50 Shang. The American Basavareddy enjoyed a superb ATP Challenger Tour season, claiming 41 match wins and two titles at that level. With both Van Assche and Basavareddy possessing all-court traits, their first meeting could be a battle of who can jump ahead first and ride momentum in the first-to-four, best-of-five set format featured in Jeddah.

[1] Arthur Fils (FRA) vs [5] Learner Tien (USA)
Top seed Fils and American Tien face a must-win scenario at the 20-and-under event. Fils, a finalist last year in Jeddah, bounced back quickly from his difficult start to improve to 1-1 in Blue Group. The 20-year-old has played some of his best tennis under pressure this season, securing ATP 500 titles in Hamburg and Tokyo.

The ultra-consistent Tien went 35-9 on the ATP Challenger Tour this season with three title runs. The California native started this week on a high note, downing third seed Mensik, but suffered a four-set defeat to Fonseca on Thursday. Tien will next look to avenge his US Open loss to Fils, who earned a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 first-round win against the lefty at Flushing Meadows less than four months ago. Fils created 19 break chances and converted seven of them, according to Infosys ATP Stats, emphasising Tien's importance of holding serve in Friday's high-stakes rematch.

Arthur Fils in Jeddah.
Fils, World No. 20, is the highest-ranked player in this year's field. Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour

[2] Alex Michelsen (USA) vs [4] Shang Juncheng (CHN)
The American Michelsen appears transformed from last year, when he went 0-3 in round-robin play in Jeddah. With a semi-final berth already secured, the 20-year-old hopes to maintain his perfect record in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Shang. They met twice on the ATP Challenger Tour spanning from 2022-23, with Michelsen winning both matches.

While Shang is the first player to represent China in the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, Michelsen is one of three Americans competing this year alone. Shang, No. 50 in the PIF ATP Rankings, became just the second Chinese player to triumph on the ATP Tour with his title in Chengdu in September. Michelsen reached two tour-level finals this year: Newport and Winston-Salem.

[3] Jakub Mensik (CZE) vs [8] Joao Fonseca (BRA)
Adding your name to the record books amidst elite company such as Jannik Sinner is a difficult task. Yet that is what 18-year-old Joao Fonseca has done in Jeddah, becoming the second-youngest semi-finalist in event history, only one month younger than 2019 champion Sinner. But the Brazilian will first be focussed on the task at hand as World No. 48 Mensik comes hungry, searching for his first win this week.

Mensik, the ATP Newcomer of the Year, broke into the Top 50 of the PIF ATP Rankings in the final month of the season. The Czech cemented his status as one of the Tour’s brightest prospects with standout results across the year. Mensik reached the Doha final in February and later made the third round of the US Open. In October, Mensik was a quarter-finalist in Shanghai, where he upset two Top 10 opponents, and Vienna.

ORDER OF PLAY - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2024
CENTRE COURT start 2:00 pm
[2] Alex Michelsen (USA) vs [4] Shang Juncheng (CHN)

Not Before 3:00 pm
[6] Luca Van Assche (FRA) vs [7] Nishesh Basavareddy (USA)

Not Before 7:00 pm
[1] Arthur Fils (FRA) vs [5] Learner Tien (USA)
[3] Jakub Mensik (CZE) vs [8] Joao Fonseca (BRA)