American rising star Learner Tien has followed in the footsteps of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner by winning the Next Gen ATP Finals title.
The 20-year-old lived up to his top seed status by producing a dominant 4-3(4), 4-2, 4-1, win over Belgium’s Alexander Blockx in the final on Sunday. Out of six matches played, Tien’s only loss was to Rafael Jódar in the round-robin stages. The Next Gen finals feature the eight highest-ranked players on the ATP Tour aged 20 or under, with several rule changes from the normal ATP format.
Tien’s latest triumph comes a month after he won his first ATP 250 title at the Moselle Open. Since January, he has risen in the rankings from 122 to a career-high 28th and recorded 36 Tour-level wins, with five of those victories coming over top-10 players. His best Grand Slam performance was at the Australian Open, where he reached the fourth round. However, he is yet to claim back-to-back wins at the three other major events.
“I was able to check a lot of boxes that I wanted to this year,” Tien told reporters on Sunday. “I had a pretty long list of goals I wanted to hit, and I was able to get most of them.
“I’m really happy. I knew it was going to be a tough match. I don’t think (Blockx) missed a serve for the first set-and-a-half. He’s been playing great in these conditions all week.”
A key figure in overseeing Tien’s rise on the Tour is his coach, Michael Chang. A former world No.2 who won the 1989 French Open at the age of 17. Chang also previously worked with Kei Nishikori. His son, Micah, has also played a role in supporting Tien and was at the Next Gen Finals.
“Since we started working together, him and his whole family have given me so much support,” Tien said of his coach. “Micah has been there for a lot of my tournaments… It’s always nice to have him around. It adds a fun side — it makes the matches and some of these tense moments a little bit more lighthearted.”
Tien is scheduled to start his 2026 campaign at the Brisbane International. As it currently stands, he is the eighth-highest-ranked player entered into the tournament and is on course to be seeded.
NOTE: quotes via atptour.com/AFP
