After a fairly interesting first day of the Next Gen Finals that included an upset, we’ve kicked off day two with pretty expected results. In the first two matches of the second day, known as the day session, Alexander Blockx added another win to his tally while Dino Prizmic got back to winning ways after losing yesterday.
The Belgian continues to look like the class of the field, while Prizmic showed he’s capable of learning from his mistakes. Let’s dive into what happened.
Prizmic defeats Engel 4-1, 2-4, 4-3(7), 4-1
Dino Prizmic was stunned yesterday by Nishesh Basavareddy despite being the favorite, but he didn’t allow that to happen today. The Croatian, who was considered a dark horse at the event, was rather comfortable against Justin Engel, despite some moments where he looked a tiny bit shaky.
Prizmic won the opening set 4-1, mostly thanks to a horrid start by Engel, who totaled 11 unforced errors in that set alone. You simply can’t gift that many free points to a player of Prizmic’s caliber and expect to stay competitive. The German did a lot better in the second set, taking it 4-2 thanks to playing calmer tennis while Prizmic got a bit too eager and reverted to some of his first-day habits.
The third set was the pivotal one. Both players were playing pretty good tennis, but Prizmic ultimately edged out his opponent in a very close tiebreak. Engel once again committed a few errors too many at the crucial moments which has been a theme that’s plagued his tournament so far. After that set, both players’ levels dipped a bit, but Engel collapsed more dramatically, and Prizmic was able to win it comfortably to keep himself alive in the tournament.
With the loss, Engel has officially lost his chance to advance at the competition. It’s a disappointing end for the late replacement, though he showed enough flashes to suggest he belongs at this level. For Prizmic, this victory gives him full control of whether he advances or not.
To do so, he’ll have to beat Blockx in their upcoming match. A win would leave the Croatian on the same number of points with the better head-to-head against the Belgian. To pull that off, he’ll have to show some of that control he displayed today, as he didn’t commit nearly as many unforced errors as yesterday, which is highlighted by hitting only six aces today.
He had 17 yesterday because he went all out with his serve and his game in general, and it came back to bite him with all those subsequent errors. Today was a much more measured approach, which is precisely what he needed. But he’ll need even more composure against Blockx, who has looked like the best player at the event so far. Going toe-to-toe with the Belgian in his current form? That’s a tall order.
Blockx defeats Basavareddy 4-3(2), 4-3(8), 4-1
The best player so far at the event has been Alexander Blockx, who is just showing everybody what he can do on an indoor hard court. Much like yesterday, the Belgian had full control of his match despite the scoreline suggesting a close affair.
Here’s the thing: it wasn’t actually that close. You never had the sense that Blockx would lose. He simply had another gear whenever he needed it, and Basavareddy couldn’t find a way to break through.
Blockx served amazingly with 11 aces in total and won 31 of 41 first serve points. It’s a slightly worse mark than yesterday, but still pretty impressive for such a young player. He also proved rather clinical in the clutch moments, saving 90% of the break points he faced, which is the most crucial stat of his victory. When the pressure was on, Blockx delivered. Every. Single. Time.
On return, he did just enough to finish off the American after squeezing out two tight sets and escaping with the win. Part of what helped him was Basavareddy totaling 31 unforced errors, which is simply too many. But here’s the catch: if you want to win against Blockx, you need to attack him and take risks. Prizmic will discover this as well in their matchup.
Unfortunately for Blockx, he hasn’t secured a spot in the semi-finals yet because he’ll need another win over Prizmic. In case of a loss, he would lose out on the head-to-head tiebreaker. However, there’s a scenario where he could advance even with a loss: if Basavareddy loses to Engel, putting himself at 1-2 and Engel at 1-2 as well, then Blockx would advance regardless.
For Prizmic, the math is simpler: win and you’re in. Lose and you’re out. No calculator needed.
The stage is set for what should be a fascinating clash between two of the tournament’s best performers. Blockx has been the more consistent player, but Prizmic showed today that he can adjust his game when needed. Will the Croatian’s new-found discipline be enough to topple the Belgian juggernaut? We’ll find out soon enough.
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