Luca Van Assche joined fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils as a first-day winner at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM, but only after a physical four-set win over Jordan’s Abdullah Shelbayh Tuesday in Jeddah.
After splitting the first two sets that were filled with punishing, extended baseline exchanges, the tournament’s second seed broke clear of Shelbayh in the third and ultimately closed out the match 4-3(5), 3-4(5), 4-1, 4-1
Shelbayh thrilled enthusiastic local Jeddah fans with his creative angles, net approaches and regular drop shots, but Van Assche’s slight edge in the backcourt was telling. Shelbayh also paid the price for converting just two of 17 break points.
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“It was a tough match today, against a very tough opponent. I know Abdullah very well, he’s an amazing player," Van Assche said. "He was almost at home with the crowd cheering for him. It was a good match for me and really tough from the beginning to the end.”
“It’s very difficult to not have a warm up before the match, so I just hit a couple of balls before in the second court.”
Shelbayh clipped 28 winners to Van Assche's 17, but his 34 unforced errors proved costly.
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