Medjedovic clinches Next Gen ATP Finals title

JEDDAH: Hamad Medjedovic capped his breakthrough season by lifting the Next Gen ATP Finals trophy, where he recovered from squandering two match points in the fourth set against Arthur Fils to win the first five-set final in tournament history.

The Serbian took large cuts at the ball, won 88 per cent (61/69) of points on his first delivery and converted his third match point to fire past the 19-year-old Frenchman 3-4(6), 4-1, 4-2, 3-4(9), 4-1 after two hours and 11 minutes, ATP reports.

It also capped a great end of the season for Serbia after Novak Djokovic clinched a record seventh ATP Finals crown in Turin earlier this month. The World No. 1 has been sending Medjedovic messages of support this week.

"Two of us from Serbia. He won the big Masters, the real one, and I won the Next Gen. Obviously it's a huge thing and I'm happy to follow in his footsteps in some way," Medjedovic said.

Medjedovic did not lose a match en route to becoming the first Serbian to triumph at the tournament, taking home a tournament-record $514,000 in prize money.

At No. 110 in the ATP Rankings, the 20-year-old is the lowest-ranked champion in tournament history, while he is the sixth Next Gen ATP Finals titlist, joining Top 10 stars Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas. IANS

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