Tien rounds off breakout season with Next Gen title

American Learner Tien won the ATP Next Gen title on Sunday, defeating Belgium's world number 116 Alexander Blockx 4-3 (7/4), 4-2, 4-1 in Jeddah.

The 20-year-old put last year's defeat against Brazil's Joao Fonseca in the tournament's showpiece match behind him to win the season-ending event reserved for players aged 20-and-under, and cap off a breakout 2025 season which saw him win his first career title last month in Metz.

With sets played to four games and short deuces leaving little margin for error, world number 28 Tien held his nerve in the opener to serve out the sixth game and force a tie-break.

The top seed raced into a 5-1 lead in the breaker before holding off a Blockx fightback to claim set point at the first time of asking.

Tien closed in on victory when he engineered the first break of serve of the match in the crucial sixth game of the second frame.

The deflated second seed fell 3-1 behind in the deciding set as Tien recovered from 30-40 down to win the tournament on a sudden-death deuce when Blockx pulled a groundstroke wide.

Tien now joins an illustrious list of Next Gen champions, including world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz, four-time Grand Slam winner Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

It was the first meeting between Tien and Blockx on the senior tour, but the pair have history in the juniors circuit, with the 20-year-old Belgian notably beating the American in the Australian Open boys' final two years ago.