Learner Tien claimed the biggest prize money haul of his career as he overcame Belgium’s Alexander Blockx 4-3(4), 4-2, 4-1 to win the ATP Next Gen Finals in Jeddah.
Tien headed into the final big event of the ATP Tour season as a the big favourite, after he opted to play in the Next Gen Finals even though he has already made a breakthrough at the highest level of the men’s game.
The American finished the regular season at a career high ranking of No 28, so he was a little over qualified to be playing in a tournament that is designed to promote the rising stars of the men’s game.
Yet he managed to deal with the pressure of being the leading player in the tournament, as he was a convincing winning against Blockx.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” said Tien, who won the final in front of 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, who was watching in the stands. “I don’t think he missed a first serve for the first set and a half.
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“I think he’s been playing great, so I’m just really happy to get through.
“I’m super happy. I was able to check a lot of boxes that I wanted to this year. I had a pretty long list of goals I wanted to hit, and I was able to get most of them. I’m really happy.”
Tien was inspired once again by his coach Michael Chang, although he suggested the former French Open champion is not the type to get heavily involved with advice when he is in the heat of battle.
“I don’t feel like he’s a coach that says a lot during matches, nut when he feels like I need to hear something, he’s never shying away from telling me, and I think that helps me a lot,” said Tien of his coach.
Tien would have claimed a massive $539,750 in prize money if he won the ATP Next Gen Finals without losing a match, but he missed out on the bonus cash jackpot after losing his first match of the event against Spain’s Rafael Jodar in the group phase.
He bounced back from that setback to shine in the final and walked away with a massive $502,250 in prize money, making this the most lucrative week of his career.
That figure substantially boosts Tien’s overall career prize money of $1,743,311, with the player who turned 20 earlier this month now getting a huge financial boost as he prepares to make his mark in the 2026 season.
Tien looks set to be a player to watch next season after a year when he confirmed he can compete against the best, with five wins against top ten-ranked players on his record.
He has beaten Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, Andrey Rublev and Lorenzo Musetti this year and as he will be one of the lower ranked seeds at the Australian Open next month, he will be a player the biggest names in the men’s game will be keen to avoid in the draw.