ATP Next Gen Finals: Nardi overcomes Cobolli in five sets; Fils into semis

Nardi is out of the tournament after winning only one of his three round robin matches

Luca Nardi at the Open Sud de France 2023

November 30, 2023

Italy’s Luca Nardi overcame countryman Flavio Cobolli in a five-set battle in his final round-robin group match at the ATP Next Gen Finals in Jeddah on Thursday to score his first win in the competition.

The 20-year-old, who had lost his matches to France’s Arthur Fils and Switzerland’s Dominic Stricker earlier in the week, won 3-4(4), 4-2, 4-3(1), 1-4, 4-3(3) at the King Abdullah Sports City in two hours and 14 minutes.

WHAT ON EARTH 🤯

Luca Nardi hits one of the shots of the year! #NextGenATPFinals pic.twitter.com/K3i7WoQEtx
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 30, 2023

“I am happy with the win,” Nardi. who took a medical time out in the fourth set for a groin issue, said as per the ATP website. “Even if I didn’t qualify, I think today was the best match I played out of the three. I am a bit sad I did not qualify but I did not want to leave Jeddah without a win. I kept fighting today and I am happy.”

The win assures top seed Fils, who plays Stricker later on Thursday, of a semi-final berth from the Green group. The Swiss needs to win one set in the match to qualify for the second place from the group while a straight-sets win for the Frenchman will move Cobolli into the last four.

In the Red group, Luca Van Assche (1-1) takes on Alex Michelsen (0-2) and Hamad Medjedovic (2-0) faces Abdullah Shelbyah (1-1).

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