The German tennis talent Justin Engel is about to be eliminated from the unofficial youth world championships.
At 18, the youngest starter lost at the Next Gen ATP Finals against the Serbian Dino Prizmic (20) 1:4, 4:2, 3:4 (3:7), 1:4 and after the second defeat in the second match he has little chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Engel is in last place in his group of four as the only professional without a win. The American Nishesh Basavareddy (20) is waiting as an opponent at the end of the preliminary round.
The best eight players of the year who are no older than 20 take part in the event in Saudi Arabia. The two current top stars Carlos Alcaraz (2021) and Jannik Sinner (2019) have also already won the tournament.
Engel was ranked 187th in the world. nominated after the Czech Jakub Mensik and last year’s winner João Fonseca from Brazil canceled at short notice. The Nuremberg native is the first German ever to take part in the event, which has been held since 2017.
Tennis: Start in Jeddah as a reward for 2025
This was noticeable at the beginning of the match against Prizmic, who was two years older than him. Engel initially acted nervously and made a few mistakes.
But the youngster improved and played much more variably under the observation of Davis Cup team boss Michael Kohlmann. However, it wasn’t enough for the first victory.
At the Next Gen ATP Finals, each set only lasts until a player has won four games. A match lasts a maximum of five sets.
Regardless of the outcome of the tournament, Engel’s participation alone is “a reward for this good year 2025,” as he put it himself. The quarter-finalist of the lawn tournament in Stuttgart celebrated his first successes on the ATP tour this year and made a successful debut for the German team in the Davis Cup against Japan – as the youngest German tennis professional since Boris Becker.
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