Hamad Medjedovic Looks Forward To 2024 After Winning ATP “Next Gen” Title In Saudi Arabia

Hamad Medjedovic capped his breakthrough season by lifting the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM trophy on Saturday in Jeddah, where he recovered from squandering two match points in the fourth set against Arthur Fils to win the first five-set final in tournament history.

The Serbian played aggressively in front of a packed crowd in King Abdullah Sports City where he received loud support from energetic fans.

“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.”

Medjedovic did not lose a match enroute to be the first ATP player to win an official event in Saudi Arabia. Arij Mutabagni, President of the Saudi Tennis Federation, said following the final, “What an incredible week of tennis it’s been – many congratulations to Hamad, and all the eight players this week. The standard of tennis has been phenomenal and I’m sure we’ll see many of them go on to be top 10 players in the world.

“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to achieve in the inaugural year of the event and can’t express my thanks enough to everyone that has made it happen. We’re still in the early chapters of Saudi Arabia’s tennis story but having the first official tournament played here in the Kingdom is our biggest step to date. I hope that many of the girls and boys who watched this week have been inspired to pick up a racquet and play the sport we all love.”

The 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah was the first of a five-year deal that will see under-21 tournament return to the Kingdom at least four more times. Dominic Stricker is the only player who’s age will make him ineligible next year so numerous players from this year’s tournament will likely return in future years.