Next Gen Finals: Flavio Cobolli beats Dominic Stricker, moves Green Group into a 1-0 lead

Flavio Cobolli gave green group a 1-0 lead after making a winning start on debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old Italian who was knocked out in the semi-finals at the danderyd challenge last week defeated 2022 semi-finalist Dominic Stricker 4-2, 3-4(7), 4-1, 4-2 in Jeddah.

After winning in one hour and forty-nine minutes, Cobolli raised his record to 1-0 in the Green Group. On the opening day of the first Saudi Arabian event sanctioned by the ATP Tour, Arthur Fils also emerged victorious, defeating Luca Nardi.

“I warmed up for a lot of time today, so I was really hot on the court,” Cobolli told ATPTour.com. “I started the match really well. The courts are so fast, but I was faster [than Stricker]. I played a really good match and I’m really happy.”

“I think the match didn’t feel quicker, but with these new rules, anything can happen,” Cobolli added. “This was the first match, so let’s see how it goes tomorrow.”

The 21-year-old Stricker is the only player at this year’s event to have competed at the innovative tournament before and has also earned strong results on indoor this year, advancing to the quarter-finals at the ATP 500 in Basel, where he got a Top 10 win against Casper Ruud struggled to live up to expectations in Saudia Arabia.

On Tuesday, however, he was unable to handle the velocity and intensity of Cobolli and lost to the 21-and-under event for the first time in the round-robin stage.

In addition to winning the ATP Challenger Tour championship in Lisbon and breaking into the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time in October, Cobolli, who defeated Stricker in their first-ever meeting, had a fantastic year.

Earlier, Arthur Fils became the first ATP Tour winner on Saudi Arabian soil on Tuesday but only after the top seed overcame a stern five-set test from Luca Nardi in Jeddah.

The 19-year-old Fils who has enjoyed a breakout year on the ATP Tour, clinching his first title at that level in Lyon in May prevailed 2-4, 4-3(6), 4-2, 1-4, 4-2 against his Italian opponent to make a winning start to Green Group.