PIF ATP Live Race to Jeddah Update: Jakub Mensik stars in Shanghai, Student Tien moves | ATP Tour
PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah
PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah Update: Mensik stars in Shanghai, Tien moves
Van Assche impresses on ATP Challenger Tour
October 14, 2024
Getty Images
Jakub Mensik is fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah.
Written by Sam Jacot
Jakub Mensik continued to impress on the ATP Tour at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he advanced to the quarter-finals of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time.
The 19-year-old Czech shot past top ten stars Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov and earned victories against Pedro Martinez and Alexander Shevchenko in a hard court event. Mensik then took the first set against Novak Djokovic before falling in three.
Mensik’s result at the ATP Masters 1000 event included his fourth place (995 points) in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The Doha finalist aims to make his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which will be held from 18-22 December.
Alongside his matchday success, Mensik practiced in the pouring rain in Shanghai. Watch the video below of the young international and the former Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF finalist Jiri Lehecka.
PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah
Fifth-ranked Luca Van Assche (458 points) and sixth-ranked Student Tien (427 points) gave their chances of playing in Jeddah a big boost with good results on the ATP Challenger Tour. Frenchman Van Assche beat Cameron Norrie en route to the semi-finals in Roanne, while American Tien ousted Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-1 in the final in Fairfield. Tien has won 14 of his last 16 matches on the ATP Challenger Tour.
Second-place Alex Michelsen (1,145 points) and third-place Shang Juncheng (1,075 points) both earned first-round wins in Shanghai. American Michelsen defeated Buyunchaokete, while China’s Shang defeated Coleman Wong. Wong is eighth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah and competes in the ATP 250 in Almaty this week.
American Nishesh Basavareddy jumped to tenth place after two strong weeks on the Challenger Tour. The 19-year-old reached the final in Charleston before winning his first title at that level in Tiburon earlier this month.
Source link
