Learner Tien booked his spot in the title match of the Next Gen ATP Finals for the second straight year, comfortably moving past Nishesh Basavareddy on Saturday.

The American, who finished runner-up last year, will look to go one step further when he faces 20-year-old Alexander Blockx in Sunday’s final.

Tien, who topped the Blue Group, needed only 75 minutes to dispatch Basavareddy 4-2 4-1 4-3 7-(3) in Jeddah, asserting control early despite dropping serve in the opening game of each of the first two sets.

Basavareddy struggled to keep pace after taking two medical timeouts due to a deep cut on his finger, with Tien able to dictate the tempo with some clinical baseline hitting.

Red Group topper Blockx, meanwhile, enjoyed an impressive semi-final victory of his own, defeating Nicolai Budkov Kjaer 4-3 (7-4) 4-3 (10-8) 4-2.

After winning the opening set, Blockx looked to dominate despite Budkov Kjaer’s resistance, with the Belgian firing 27 winners in a powerful showing to book his place in the title match.

A return to the title match 

Tien powers past Basavareddy 4-2 4-1 4-3(3) to set a championship date with Blockx on Sunday.#NextGenATPFinals pic.twitter.com/lodlm3Ukpj

— Next Gen ATP Finals (@nextgenfinals) December 20, 2025

Data Debrief: Tien joins elite Next Gen club

After falling short against Joao Fonseca in 2024, Tien returned to Jeddah as the top seed this year.

Tien is now only the second player in the history of the Next Gen ATP Finals to reach multiple finals in the competition, joining current world number seven Alex de Minaur, who did so in 2018 and 2019.

The world number 28 headed into this tournament on the back of a great season in which he had a record of 37-29 and won his maiden ATP Tour-level title.