Student Ten completes the redemption of Jeddah and captures the Next Gen ATP Finals trophy | ATP tour | Tennis

Match report

Student Ten is the best in the class during the Next Gen ATP Finals

20-year-old American beats Belgian Blockx
December 21, 2025

Pupil Ten continued his meteoric rise on Sunday in Jeddah, where he lifted the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by the PIF Trophy to further cement his status as one of the most exciting young stars in tennis.

In a largely one-sided championship match at the prestigious 20 and under event, the American defeated 20-year-old Belgian Alexander Blockx 4-3(4), 4-2, 4-1, avenging his second-place finish at the event a year ago in Saudi Arabia.

“I’m super happy,” Tien said of his 2025 season. “I was able to check a lot of boxes that I wanted to achieve this year. I had a pretty long list of goals that I wanted to achieve, and I was able to achieve most of them. I’m very happy.”

The title run earned Tien $502,250 in prize money and made him only the third top seed to capture the title, following in the footsteps of Stefanos Tsitsipas (2018) and Carlos Alcaraz (2021).

Twelve months earlier, Tien had fallen in a four-set final to Brazilian Joao Fonseca. Since then, the southpaw has gone from strength to strength. An impressive 2025 campaign saw him claim his first ATP Tour title in Metz, achieve five Top 10 wins and climb to a career-high No. 28 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Tien will now look to build on that momentum in 2026, starting at next month’s Australian Open, where he made headlines last year by becoming the youngest player to reach the fourth round in Melbourne since Rafael Nadal in 2005. Tien had coach Michael Chang by his side this week and will have the American with him when he travels to Australia.

“I don’t feel like he’s a coach who says a lot during games,” Tien said of Chang. “But if he feels like I need to hear something, he never hesitates to tell me, and I think that helps me a lot.”

In front of a lively crowd at King Abdullah Sports City, Blockx made a confident start, hitting all 21 of his first serves in the opening set (and 24 in total). But even that level proved insufficient against Tien’s composure as the American grabbed a handful of loose forehands to evade the first set tiebreak and seize control of the match.

From then on it was one-way traffic, with Tien being too consistent and dominant in the basic exchanges to take victory inside 58 minutes. The left-hander crucially saved two break points when serving for the match at 3-2, but was largely trouble-free when delivered.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match… I don’t think he missed a first serve in the first set and a half,” Tien said. “I think he’s playing great, so I’m really happy I got through it.”

Moment of redemption for the student 🏆

Tien takes care of Blockx 4-3(4) 4-2 4-1 to claim the title!
⁰#NextGenATPFinals pic.twitter.com/88RnPxLI0K

— Next Gen ATP Finals (@nextgenfinals) December 21, 2025

Earlier this week, Tien suffered a surprise opening round defeat to Rafael Jodar before rebounding against Martin Landaluce. He then defeated Nicolai Budkov Kjaer in four sets to reach the semi-finals and quickly dispatched compatriot Nishesh Basavareddy to advance to the title match.

Despite his latest defeat, Blockx can take many positives from a standout week in Jeddah, where he recorded victories against Justin Engel, Basavareddy, Dino Prizmic and good friend Budkov Kjaer.

“I had a lot of fun this week,” said Blockx. “Everything was great here – the organisation, the staff… I think it’s one of the best events I’ve been to and the crowd today was great too.”

Blockx was ranked number 116 in the PIF ATP Rankings and was a two-time ATP Challenger Tour champion in 2025 and also made history as the first Belgian to participate in the Next Gen ATP Finals. While he had defeated Tien in the boys’ singles final of the 2023 Australian Open, the American overturned that result on Sunday when it mattered most.

Did you know?
Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz are among the former Next Gen ATP Finals, presented by PIF champions.