{"id":94634,"date":"2025-12-21T15:56:37","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T20:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=94634"},"modified":"2025-12-21T15:56:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T20:56:37","slug":"eyeing-2026-ranking-jump-learner-tien-wins-next-gen-atp-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/12\/21\/eyeing-2026-ranking-jump-learner-tien-wins-next-gen-atp-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"Eyeing 2026 Ranking Jump, Learner Tien wins Next Gen ATP Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

“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\u2019s racket. “You were just too good.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Tien, the top seed in the tournament, won the match on his terms. His counterpunching lefty game broke down the Belgian\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tien ultimately faced just two break points in the match, when he served out the championship in the third set. Blockx\u00a0slammed a forehand down the line to set up his first break point opportunity,\u00a0 but he would narrowly miss a forehand on championship point to lose. The Belgian was previously undefeated at the tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been waiting to hold this trophy for the past year, so it feels great,\u201d 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tien is the first American winner of the event since Brandon Nakashima \u2014 now ranked five spots below Tien \u2014 won in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>