Learner Tien misses out on £405k payday despite Next Gen ATP Finals triumph over Alexander Blockx

The USA's Learner Tien completed his Next Gen ATP Finals redemption arc by defeating the Belgian Alexander Blockx in Sunday's final in Jeddah.

The top seed returned to Saudi Arabia aiming to go one better than his run at the 2024 Next Gen Finals, when he fell to an agonising loss to Joao Fonseca in the showpiece.

Tien took the first set against the Brazilian only to lose in four on that day, but with an extra year's experience under his belt, the second time was the charm for the 20-year-old in the Middle East.

Tien took under an hour to secure a 4-3[4] 4-2 4-1 victory over second seed Blockx, thus claiming his second top-level career singles title after defeating Cameron Norrie at the Moselle Open in November.

The world number 28 has also taken home a £118,282 pay packet awarded to the tournament winner, but having suffered one round-robin defeat, he missed out on the maximum £405,994 on offer for an undefeated champion.

The conclusion of the Next Gen ATP Finals officially brings the curtain down on the 2025 ATP Tour, and all roads now lead to the Australian Open in January.

How Learner Tien achieved Next Gen ATP Finals glory in disrupted tournament

A nearly PERFECT performance earns Learner Tien his second career title ? ? #NextGenATPFinals pic.twitter.com/FNNOtuc5FG

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) December 21, 2025

Prior to the commencement of the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals, the competition was hit by two high-profile withdrawals, as defending champion Fonseca and Masters 1000 champion Jakub Mensik pulled out of the tournament.

Tien therefore arrived in Jeddah as the only player ranked inside the top 100 and was the heavy favourite to make amends for his 2024 final heartbreak, but his campaign got off to a rocky start.

The 2005-born protege suffered an opening round-robin defeat to Rafael Jodar but responded with back-to-back wins over Martin Landulace and Nicolai Budkov Kjaer to qualify for the semi-finals, at which point he was in full flow.

Tien comfortably took down compatriot Nishesh Basavareddy in the final four before pitting his wits against Blockx, whose high risk, high-reward game proved inferior to the American's calm, measured approach.

Tien only registered nine winners compared to the Belgian's 18, but he committed just 12 unforced errors to his opponent's 23 and proved especially superior on second serves.

The champion won 67% of such points compared to just 30% for Blockx, who also failed to take either of his break points against Tien, one of which came when the American was serving for the championship.