December 22, 2024
Hamad Medjedovic rounded off his breakthrough season by lifting the Next Gen ATP Finals title on Sunday in Jeddah, after wasting two match points in the fourth set against Arthur Fils to win the first-ever five-set tournament final.
In front of a raucous audience in King Abdullah Sports City, the 20-year-old performed with aggression and enthusiastic backing. After two hours and eleven minutes, the 19-year-old Frenchman was defeated 3-4(6), 4-1, 4-2, 3-4(9), 4-1 by the Serbian, who made big cuts at the ball and gained 88% (61/69) of the points on his opening delivery.
Under the tutelage of former World No. 12 Viktor Troicki, Medjedovic reached the tour-level semifinals in Gstaad and Astana in 2023 and won three ATP Challenger Tour championships.
“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.
“I can’t believe I have won this title, but it’s going to give me a lot of confidence for 2024,”Medjedovic said. “Arthur is an amazing player; he’s Top 40 for a reason, so I’m really happy.”
“It was tough after the first set. I changed my clothes and recovered and started to play good again. I didn’t play good when I had match points in the fourth set. I wasn’t relaxed, I was very stiff. Thank God I recovered and I was just trying to stay relaxed as much as I could and I managed to do it in the end.”
It completed an incredible season for Serbia, which began earlier this month when Novak Djokovic won a record-tying seventh Nitto ATP Finals title in Turin. This week, the top player in the world has been messaging Medjedovic to provide support.
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