JEDDAH, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- In the second round of the group stage at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday, China's Shang Juncheng suffered a 1-3 loss to American Nishesh Basavareddy, marking his second consecutive group stage defeat.
The fourth-seeded Shang faced Basavareddy, who was playing in his first ATP Tour event. Shang started strong, taking the first set in a tiebreak with two consecutive backhand winners. However, he appeared hindered by illness in the following sets and lost three in a row, ultimately falling 4-3(4), 2-4, 2-4, 1-4 as Basavareddy rallied for a comeback win.
With this victory, Basavareddy secured his first career ATP Tour win and his maiden triumph over a Top 50 player. After the match, he said, "I'm just super excited, playing in this stadium is a dream come true. In such a big event like this, in front of all these fans, I'm just enjoying every moment of it."
In another Red Group match, American Alex Michelsen came from behind to defeat France's Luca Van Assche 3-1, earning his second straight group-stage win and securing a spot in the semifinals. Van Assche and Basavareddy will meet in their final group match to contest the other semifinal berth.
In the Blue Group, Brazil's Joao Fonseca defeated American Learner Tien 3-1, registering two consecutive group-stage victories and advancing to the semifinals. Meanwhile, top seed Arthur Fils of France swept past Czech Jakub Mensik 3-0. ■
