Finals in Jeddah have taken on a familiar cast, with Learner Tien back where he hurt so pleasantly last year.
Tien’s semi-final win set up a Sunday title showdown against 20-year-old Alexander Blockx, and the match promises contrasting styles: Tien’s lefty consistency versus Blockx’s booming serve and tie-break nerves of steel.
Tien Rallies Back To The Title Match
Tien moved past friend Nishesh Basavareddy 4-2, 4-1, 4-3(3) to earn his place in the final, becoming only the second man in tournament history to reach multiple Next Gen title matches alongside Alex de Minaur.
“I won the first and had chances in the second before he just ran away with it,”
Learner Tien
The semi-final was a controlled affair that lasted a tidy 75-minute, with Tien dictating tempo from the baseline and committing six fewer unforced errors than Basavareddy, a 19-25 split that helped swing the match his way.
Coming in as the top seed and World No. 28, Tien has a resume that includes his first tour-level crown in Metz at a 250 event and an impressive haul of five Top 10 wins in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
Blockx And The Young Guns
Alexander Blockx has been the Red Group’s headline act, saving a remarkable 12 of the 13 break points he faced and sneaking through a pair of tight tie-breaks to become the first Belgian to reach the semis in the tournament’s history.
Nicolai Budkov Kjaer sits atop the Blue Group at 2-0 and brings a heavy baseline game, backed by a Tour-leading haul of four Challenger titles this season as he eyes a perfect 3-0 sweep into the knockout rounds.
Dino Prizmic provides a potential upset line, having beaten Blockx 6-3, 6-2 earlier this year in Lugano, and the Croatian backed that up with his debut round-robin victory to keep hopes alive for a return to form.
The Madrid meeting between Martin Landaluce and Rafael Jodar adds local drama and raw emotion; Jodar saved four match points earlier in the week, but also leaked 34 unforced errors in a blowout loss, making this impending clash a balancing act of risk and restraint.
Justin Engel, the field’s youngest competitor, has flashed his multi-surface talent this season, becoming the second-youngest since 1990 to win tour-level matches on hard, clay and grass and going on to lift an ATP Challenger trophy in Hamburg in October.
What To Watch In The Final
Basavareddy’s week mixed competitiveness and misfortune; the 20-year-old was forced to manage two medical timeouts for a deep finger cut but still displayed signs of growth while working with new coach Gilles Cervara for the first time at an event together.
Sunday’s championship is penciled in for an 8pm local start, a prime-time slot that pairs Tien’s lefty consistency and experience against Blockx’s power and clutch serving, with the winner walking away with more than just a trophy.
By reaching his second final here, Tien joins Alex de Minaur in a short list of repeat finalists at the Next Gen event, with de Minaur appearing in those early finals and later rising to the ranks listed as World No. 7 on tour history sheets.
For Tien, the mental homework is clear: learn from last year’s final and avoid the slip that allowed Joao Fonseca to run away with the match, while Blockx will aim to keep his break-point defence humming and force Tien out of rhythm.
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Christoph Friedrich is a German tennis player and coach currently residing in Oakland, California. He began his tennis journey at the age of eight and has since dedicated his life to the sport. After working as a tennis coach and hitting partner in New York City for eight years, Christoph decided to share his knowledge and experience with tennis players around the world by creating the My Tennis Expert blog. His goal is to make tennis education accessible to everyone and help players select the best equipment for their game, from racquets and strings to shoes and overgrips. Christoph's extensive research and expertise in tennis technology make him a valuable resource for players of all levels.
