Teenager Joao Fonseca beat American Tien to become the second-youngest winner of the Next Gen ATP Finals title.
The 18-year-old Brazilian, who was the youngest player in this year’s competition and the lowest ranked, beat Tien 2-4 4-3 (10-8) 4-0 4-2 in Jeddah.
Only Jannik Sinner, in 2019, won the title at a younger age than Fonseca, who won all five of his matches in the end-of-season tournament reserved for top male players aged 21 and under.
The two men also met in the group stage on Thursday, with Fonseca, ranked 145th in the world, again winning against his 19-year-old opponent.
The event has a best-of-five format with four matches winning a set.
Besides world number one Sinner, other former champions include four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz and world number 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Tien started brightly and won the first set in Saudi Arabia. But once Fonseca equalized after a tight second set that went to a long tiebreak, he managed to frustrate his opponent and seal the title in the fourth set.
“I was really nervous before the match. I knew it was going to be very difficult,” Fonseca said.
“I played a final against Learner in juniors at the 2023 US Open and I know the way he can play. He’s such a nice guy and a great player, so I knew it was going to be tough, mentally and physically. But I succeeded.”
Speaking ahead of the final, Fonseca explained he wanted to emulate Sinner, for whom he was a striking partner at last year’s ATP Finals – where he said he was convinced by the Italian to turn professional.
