Just two men are still standing at the Next Gen ATP Finals and, perhaps fittingly, it is the top two seeds who will go head-to-head for the crown in Jeddah. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our prediction for the final, but will it be Learner Tien of the USA or Belgium’s Alexander Blockx who comes out on top?

Next Gen ATP Finals Final Prediction
Learner Tien vs Alexander Blockx

Head-to-head: first meeting

Tien had a difficult start to his week at the Next Gen ATP Finals, losing his opening match in five thrilling sets to the unheralded Rafael Jodar. But since then, the American has looked every inch the top seed with wins over Martin Landaluce and Nicolai Budkov Kjaer to book his spot in the last four, and then a comprehensive win over his countryman Nishesh Basavareddy to reach the final. If he can maintain the level he displayed in beating Basavareddy 4-2 4-1 4-3, this could be a difficult day for Blockx.

That said, the Belgian has played some very good tennis himself. He opened his account in Jeddah with a four-set win over Justin Engel of Germany, and backed that up with wins over Dino Prizmic and Basavareddy to reach the last four. There he came up against his good friend Budkov Kjaer but put aside any emotions to beat the Norwegian in straight-sets to secure his place in the final, having dropped just two sets all week at the Next Gen ATP Finals.

The gulf between this pair in the rankings (Tien is ranked inside the top 30, Blockx outside the top 100) means that the American has to be accounted the favourite coming into the match. But Blockx has shown enough this week to suggest that a top 100 debut isn’t likely to be too far away for him, whilst Tien has appeared fallible at times – understandable at the end of what has been a long season for the top seed.

That said, in the exchanges off the ground, Tien should have that much more quality than Blockx, particularly when it comes to stepping in and dictating. Tien also probably has the better serve of the two, which should stand him in good stead. It might be close, but expect Tien to have just about enough to win the title.

Prediction: Tien in 4

Main photo credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images