Two weeks ahead of the upcoming tennis season, Learner Tien won the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, defeating Belgian foe Alexander Blockx 4-3 (4) 4-2 4-1.
“There are not a lot of days I feel helpless on court, but today was one of them,” said Blockx during the tournament’s trophy ceremony, who fired 23 unforced errors compared to just 12 off Tien’s racket. “You were just too good.”
Tien, the top seed in the tournament, won the match on his terms. His counterpunching lefty game broke down the Belgian’s firepower. Tien won a thrilling first point in the match, placing a lob deep in the court and forcing Blockx to hit a tweener. The Belgian would end up hitting six aces in the first set and cruised through most of his service games, but Tien would force a tiebreaker.
The American quickly jumped out to a mini-break lead and won the first set tiebreak 7-4 when the Belgian missed a return long.
The second set went according to serve as well, until Tien broke serve in the sixth game to win the set 4-2. That set point was one of the better rallies in the match, as Tien kept hitting the lines with his forehand and ran the underdog around the court.
Tien ultimately faced just two break points in the match, when he served out the championship in the third set. Blockx slammed a forehand down the line to set up his first break point opportunity, but he would narrowly miss a forehand on championship point to lose. The Belgian was previously undefeated at the tournament.
“I’ve been waiting to hold this trophy for the past year, so it feels great,” Tien said in his post-match speech during the trophy ceremony. He lost in the 2024 championship match of the Next Gen ATP Finals to Joao Fonseca.
Tien is the first American winner of the event since Brandon Nakashima — now ranked five spots below Tien — won in 2022.
What’s next for Tien?
Tien already has a number of metrics and statistics in his favor. He’s the third-highest-ranked player under 21 years old, part of which led to his No. 1 seed at the Next Gen ATP Finals. Tien is also skilled against the highest-ranked players, taking out five Top 10 players in 2025. In November, the American picked up his first ATP 250 title at the Moselle Open, defeating Cameron Norrie in a thrilling third-set tiebreak.
Tien’s serve remains his biggest weakness. While he relies on placement and consistency, taller and aggressive tennis players can tee off on his serve. This was one of the challenges Tien faced during his round-robin match against the ultra-aggressive Nicolai Budkov Kjær.
Currently ranked No. 28 in the world, a spot in the Top 20 would help Tien avoid top-ranked players early in draws. Yet, with a 5-4 record against the Top 10, he would likely feel just as confident against a highly-ranked opponent.
The first ranking point challenge for the 20-year-old comes at the Australian Open, with 200 ranking points to defend; an additional 100 points will be on the line at the ATP 500 Acapulco event. However, Tien will especially have opportunities to pick up points from March to June, a period on North American hard courts and clay courts where he struggled.
“I’ll probably celebrate this win before I start thinking about next year,” Tien said.
Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports