THE Next Generation ATP Finals In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia started with a surprise on Wednesday, as Spaniard Rafael Jodar beat the big favorite. The Learner Tien of the United States in their opening round robin match. But after a slow start, the American recovered to advance to the semi-finals by winning his next two matches, setting up a clash with compatriot Nishesh Basavareddy.
The final round robin matches began with all eight players on the field still having a chance to qualify, with Belgian Alexander Blockx qualifying after two wins out of two. There were 20 qualifying scenarios per group, so for those who are deeply invested, they are reproduced here and crossed out after the relevant matches have been played.
In the red group, the American Basavareddy joined Blockx in the semi-finals, after beating the German Justin Engel in straight sets.
In the Blue Group, Jodar beat compatriot Martin Landaluce in straight sets to keep his hopes alive, ahead of Tien’s match against Nicolai Budkov Kjær, but the American’s four-set victory eliminated the Spaniard.
Next Gen ATP Finals 2025 Blue Group Qualifying Scenarios
1) Whatever the score, if Here defeats Budkov Kjaer And Landaluce defeats JodarSO Here wins the group and Budkov Kjaer qualifies 2nd.
2) Whatever the score, if Budkov Kjaer defeats Here And Jodar defeats LandaluceSO Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Jodar qualifies 2nd.
3) If Here defeats Budkov Kjaer in 3 series and Jodar defeats Landaluce in 3 sets, then Here wins the group and Jodar qualifies 2nd.
4) If Here defeats Budkov Kjaer in 3 series and Jodar defeats Landaluce in 4 sets, then Here wins the group and Budkov Kjaer qualifies 2nd.
5) If Here defeats Budkov Kjaer in 3 sets and Jodar defeats Landaluce in 5 sets, then Here wins the group and Budkov Kjaer qualifies 2nd.
6) If Here defeats Budkov Kjaer in 4 sets and Jodar defeats Landaluce in 3 sets, then Here wins the group and Budkov Kjaer qualifies 2nd.
7) If Here defeats Budkov Kjaer in 4 series and Jodar defeats Landaluce in 4 sets, then Here wins the group and Budkov Kjaer qualifies 2nd.
8) If Here defeats Budkov Kjaer in 4 sets and Jodar defeats Landaluce in 5 sets, then Here wins the group and Budkov Kjaer qualifies 2nd.
9) If Here defeats Budkov Kjaer in 5 sets and Jodar defeats Landaluce in 3 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Jodar qualifies 2nd.
10) If Here defeats Budkov Kjaer in 5 sets and Jodar defeats Landaluce in 4 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Here qualifies 2nd.
11) If Here defeats Budkov Kjaer in 5 sets and Jodar defeats Landaluce in 5 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Here qualifies 2nd.
12) If Budkov Kjaer defeats Here in 3 sets and Landaluce defeats Jodar in 3 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Landaluce qualifies 2nd.
13) If Budkov Kjaer defeats Here in 3 sets and Landaluce defeats Jodar in 4 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Here qualifies 2nd.
14) If Budkov Kjaer defeats Here in 3 sets and Landaluce defeats Jodar in 5 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Jodar qualifies 2nd.
15) If Budkov Kjaer defeats Here in 4 series and Landaluce defeats Jodar in 3 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Here qualifies 2nd.
16) If Budkov Kjaer defeats Here in 4 sets and Landaluce defeats Jodar in 4 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Here qualifies 2nd.
17) If Budkov Kjaer defeats Here in 4 sets and Landaluce defeats Jodar in 5 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Here qualifies 2nd.
18) If Budkov Kjaer defeats Here in 5 sets and Landaluce defeats Jodar in 3 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Here qualifies 2nd.
19) If Budkov Kjaer defeats Here in 5 sets and Landaluce defeats Jodar in 4 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Here qualifies 2nd.
20) If Budkov Kjaer defeats Here in 5 sets and Landaluce defeats Jodar in 5 sets, then Budkov Kjaer wins the group and Here qualifies 2nd.
Tien, who lost in the final last year against João Fonsecaranked 28th in the world after a successful first full season on the ATP circuit. The other seven players on the field, drawn from the best male players aged 20 and under, are grouped between world No. 116 and world No. 187; Jodar is No. 168 and has never played a full ATP Tour match, with the Next Gen ATP Finals being played games one through four.
Two of the strongest eligible participants, Czech Jakub Menšík and Brazilian Fonseca, who like Tien have become mainstays on the regular circuit this year, withdrew before the event due to injury. Menšík and Fonseca finished first and second in the “Race to Jeddah”, which counts ranking points earned per season. This meant that Jodar, who finished 9th in the race, was eligible to play; No. 10, Japan’s Rei Sakamoto, also withdrew due to injury, leaving a place for Germany’s Justin Engel, who is the youngest player on the field at 18 years old.
Jodar finished the year strong by winning back-to-back titles on the ATP Challenger Tour, the tier below the main circuit. Just below Tien in the race were Blockx, who reached the second round of the Cincinnati Masters this summer, and Landaluce, who won a Challenger Tour title in September by beating Belgian Raphaël Collignon in the final.
Prižmić, the Croatian who memorably faced Novak Djokovic at the 2024 Australian Open, qualified for the event alongside American Basavareddy, who beat Djokovic at this year’s Australian Open and recently added Gilles Cervara, Daniil Medvedev’s former coach, to his team. The last qualifier, Norwegian Budkov Kjær, has won four Challenger Tour titles this season.
Here is how the draw took place:
Next Generation ATP Finals Blue Group
| Player | Age | ATP Ranking | Ranking “Race to Jeddah” |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Learner Tien |
20 |
28 |
3 |
|
Martin Landaluce |
19 |
134 |
6 |
|
Nicolai Budkov Kjær |
19 |
136 |
7 |
|
Rafael Jodar |
19 |
168 |
9 |
Next Generation ATP Finals Red Group
| Player | Age | ATP Ranking | Ranking “Race to Jeddah” |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Alexandre Blockx |
20 |
116 |
4 |
|
Dino Prizmic |
20 |
128 |
5 |
|
Nishesh Basavareddy |
20 |
167 |
8 |
|
Justin Engel |
18 |
187 |
11 |
Before Jodar’s stunning victory over Tien in the first round of the round robin, Blockx beat Engel 3-4 (7), 4-2, 4-2, 4-2, while Basavareddy beat Prižmić in a closer match that went the same distance, 4-2, 4-3 (7), 3-4 (3), 4-2. Budkov Kjær then beat a nervous Landaluce 4-1, 3-4(7), 4-2, 4-3(4).
In the second round of matches:
Prizmic def. Angel 4-1, 2-4, 4-3(3), 4-1
Blocks def. Basavareddy 4-3(2), 4-3(10-8), 4-1
Budkov Kjaer def. Jodar 4-1, 4-2, 1-4, 4-2
Here def. Landaluce 1-4, 4-1, 4-3(4), 4-3(2)
Here’s everything you need to know about the event.
How does the Next Gen ATP Finals draw work?
The eight qualified players were divided into four pairs for the draw. The first pair is #1 and #2, the second is #3 and #4, and so on.
These rankings follow the ranking of players in the “ATP Race to Jeddah”, the table which only counts ranking points earned in 2025.
The #1 seed (Learner Tien) and the #2 seed (Alexander Blockx) were drawn into the Blue Group and Red Group, respectively. The remaining three pairs were then randomly assigned a place, pair by pair.
What is the format of the Next Gen ATP Finals?
The ATP Next Gen Finals begin on Wednesday, December 17, with four matches per day in the group stages: two in the afternoon in Jeddah starting at 11 a.m. GMT / 6 a.m. ET and two in the evening in Jeddah starting at 4 p.m. GMT / 11 a.m. ET.
The final will take place on Sunday December 21 and the two semi-finals will be played on Saturday December 20.
Each player plays three round-robin matches, before the top two from each group play in the semi-finals, with the first from the blue group playing the second from the red group and vice versa.
Each match is a best-of-five set, but the first player to win four games wins the set, instead of the usual six, and a tie-break is played at 3-3 instead of 6-6. Tie-breaks are from first to seven points with a winning margin of two points – 7-4, 7-5, 8-6, 9-7, etc.
The event also uses “No-Ad” rating. At 40-40, the server chooses to serve on the tie court or on the ad court and both players play a deciding point. There was previously no let, a feature of American college tennis in which a serve that hits the net but lands in the correct service box counts as a live ball, but this was removed for 2025.
The shot clock between points, which has been a controversial issue on the ATP Tour, is also different from that on the main tour. If a point is less than three shots, the usual 25-second time between points is reduced to 15 seconds, with eight seconds allowed between the first and second serves at any time.
Who won last year’s tournament?
Fonseca defeated Tien 2-4, 4-3, 4-0, 4-2 to win the 2024 event. This was the first edition in which only players aged 20 and under were eligible, with the “Next Gen” previously including players aged 21 and under.
How many prize money are there?
Each of the eight players receives $154,000 (£114,740) just for their participation. A win in a round-robin match is worth $37,500 (£27,940); a semi-final win is worth $113,500 (£86,425) and a final win is worth $157,250 (£117,155). If the eventual champion remains undefeated, they will take home $539,750 (£402,130).
