Alex Michelsen wins Next Gen ATP Finals opener

Second-seeded Alex Michelsen won an all-United States matchup against seventh-seeded Nishesh Basavareddy 2-4, 4-3 (5), 4-3 (4), 4-2 on Wednesday as the Next Gen ATP Finals got underway in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The event includes the eight highest-ranked ATP Tour players age 20 and younger. Matches are best-of-five sets to four games, with a tiebreaker played if a set goes to 3-3.

The players are divided into two groups for round-robin play, with the top two from each group advancing to the semifinals.

Joining Michelsen was a winner in the Red Group was sixth-seeded Luca Van Assche of France, who topped fourth-seeded Shang Juncheng of China 4-3 (3), 2-5, 4-1, 4-3 (5).

In the Blue Group, eighth-seeded Joao Fonseca of Brazil upset top-seeded Arthur Fils of France 3-4 (9), 4-2, 4-1, 1-4, 4-1, and fifth-seeded Learner Tien of the United States edged third-seeded Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic 4--3 (6), 4--3 (3), 2--4, 2--4, 4--3 (8).

--Field Level Media