Tennis hope Justin Engel missed a surprising opening success at the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah. The 18-year-old from Nuremberg lost his first preliminary round game in Saudi Arabia against second-seeded Belgian Alexander Blockx (20) 4:3 (9:7), 2:4, 2:4, 2:4. The targeted semi-finals will therefore be a complicated task for the German in the group of four.
The Next Gen Finals are played in an unusual mode: To win a set, the players need to win four games. The tiebreak will be played when the score is 3:3. In the respective games, a single point win decides when the score is 40:40. On Thursday, Engel, who is the first German tennis player to take part in the tournament introduced in 2017, will face Dino Prizmic (Croatia/20), his third group opponent is Nishesh Basavareddy (20/USA). Another defeat could mean an early exit.
Engel caught against the favored world number 116. a good start, there was no sign of nervousness. He retained the upper hand in a competitive tiebreak. Afterwards, his experienced opponent came into the match better and consistently punished the German’s mistakes. A completely lost service game in the fourth set finally put Engel on the losing road – the game was over after 81 minutes.
Engel wants to become world number one
Engel, who is considered a great talent and openly formulates the goal of becoming number one in the world over the course of his career, won his first Challenger title in Hamburg in October. Qualifying for the best young professionals for the annual final was Engel’s reward for an extraordinary development in the past season. “When I got the news from my manager, I was so happy that I felt like I was shouting through the whole hall,” he said beforehand.
Engel also has big plans after the tournament: “My goal for next year is to qualify for a Grand Slam.” His first chance to play his way into the main draw of a major will be in January at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
