Learner Tien tops Next Gen ATP Finals draw hoping to finish job in Jeddah

American Learner Tien hopes to be crowned the best of the next this week in Saudi Arabia as he tops the draw at the eight-man Next Gen ATP Finals.

The American was runner-up to Joao Fonseca last year in Jeddah, and is the firm title favorite this year as the world No. 28.

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Tien started 2025 ranked outside the Top 120, and now sits at a career-high ranking after a season in which he won his first ATP singles title in Metz, was runner-up to Jannik Sinner in Beijing, and reached the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Tien tops the Blue Group with both Spanish players who won the 2022 and 2024 junior US Opens—Martin Landaluce and Rafael Jodar—and Norway’s Nicolai Budkov Kjaer.

Belgian Alexander Blockx tops the Red Group with Croatian Dino Prizmic, Tien's fellow American Nishesh Basavareddy—the other returning competitor from Jeddah last year—and 18-year-old German Justin Engel, the youngest player in the field who earned a spot after the withdrawal of Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik.

Read more: Sinner, Alcaraz, Fonseca all won the Next Gen ATP Finals at 18. Will Justin Engel join them?

Group stage play begins Wednesday in Jeddah, with the final set for Sunday.