The ATP season ends with the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah from December 17-21. Eight players aged 20 and under compete in the year-end event, though the field has lost significant star power. Defending champion João Fonseca and top qualifier Jakub Mensik both withdrew due to injuries, leaving last year's finalist Learner Tien as the clear favorite.

Tournament Format

Total prize money is $2,101,250. The event awards no ATP ranking points - it maintains exhibition status like Laver Cup. Past winners include Jannik Sinner (2019), Carlos Alcaraz (2021), and Fonseca (2024).
The Next Gen Finals uses a modified scoring system designed for faster matches:

  •     Two groups of four players, round-robin format
  •     Best-of-five sets, first to four games per set
  •     Tiebreak at 3-3 in each set
  •     No-ad scoring (sudden death point at deuce)
  •     Reduced changeover times

Blue Group Analysis

Learner Tien is a top seed in Blue Group, the only one top-100 ranked player in the field and the one obvious favorite of the whole event. The American had a breakthrough 2025 season. He started the year outside the Top 120 and finished at a career-high No. 28 after winning his first ATP title in Metz. His run included a Beijing final where he lost to Sinner, and upset wins over Daniil Medvedev (twice), Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti and Andrey Rublev.

Tien's matches against Medvedev became one of the most iconic and surprising rivarlies of the 2025 season. It started at the Australian Open, where Tien reached the fourth round. He beat Medvedev in a five-set marathon that ended at 3 AM, becoming the youngest player to reach that stage since Rafael Nadal in 2005. The youngster repeated the upset over the Russian, coming back from set and break down 8 months later in semifinals of ATP 1000 in Beijing.

His game relies on defense and consistency rather than power. The left-hander is exceptionally fit and excels in long rallies. The shortened format could actually hurt him - his strength is grinding opponents down over full matches. However, his experience at tour level (32-23 record in 2025) is incomparable reflecting to the meager experience of all his opponent at the highest level. The previous Next Gen final appearance gives him another layer of mental edge as well.

Martin Landaluce is ranked 135th in ATP rankings. The 19-year-old trains at Rafa Nadal's academy in Mallorca and has practiced with Nadal himself. He won three Challenger titles including the latest in Orleans on hard courts at the end of September. His tour-level experience is yet to be gained with poor so far - including just two main draw victories in Miami 2024 and Cincinnati this year. Despite a decent record in Challenger circuit, he recorded just two top-100 victories in 2025 - Mattia Belucci being his best ranked opponent defeated in Birmingham Challenger on Grass, listed as 68th during that moment.

Nicolai Budkov Kjaer has won four Challengers in 2025 (Glasgow, Tampere, Astana, Le Vendee), becoming the youngest Norwegian with multiple Challenger titles. He has won impressive 48 out of 75 matches played this year, but his tour-level record is just 1-3, exposing the gap between Challenger and ATP levels. The victory in opening round of ATP 250 in Bastad on clay 5 months ago was his first and up to this point, the only top-level victory in career. Budkov Kjaer dominates when facing lower rated opponents (40-11 as a pre-match favorite related to odds), but struggles in challenging matches - he won just 8 out of 24 matches played when his rival has had lower odds this season.

Rafael Jodar plays college tennis at the University of Virginia and is the late entry to the Next Gen Finals after withdrawals of the featured players. He won three Challengers (Hersonissos, Lincoln, Charlottesville) without playing a single tour-level match in 2025. However, the 19 years-old is definitely on a rising wave in his young career, winning 16 out of last 20 matches played and adding three Challenger level titles to his tally since August. His last match was played 6 weeks ago, so the fresh legs could help in the compressed schedule. But facing players with tour experience is a massive step up.

Red Group Analysis

Alexander Blockx is the second seed of the tournament and top of the Red Group which has no clear favorite in contrary to the Blue one. The Belgian won Challengers in Oeiras and Bratislava. At 20 years old, this is his final year of eligibility. He has built his ranking mostly on hard courts, winning 88 matches on hard in his career (63% win percentage) in compare to just 23 on clay (56%).  Blockx describes his game as aggressive baseline play with a strong forehand. He's quick for his height and likes to dictate. Got his first tour win just 4 months ago against Marcos Giron in Cincinnati, followed by another one against Francesco Passaro in Metz. These are the only two wins on top level in his career, but apart from Tien, it looks no different to his opponents.

Dino Prizmic has reached the Umag ATP 250 quarterfinals on home soil and has already tracked 6 victories in 15 matches played in main draws of ATP tournaments in his career so far. Prizmic plays steady baseline tennis without major service weapons, however he excels in return statistics, being ranked in top 10 of Challenger tour competitors in returning games and winning first return points (both 37.5% at this level). His consistency could work well in the short format where a single break decides sets. Prizmic has an additional experience of representing Croatia in Davis Cup Qualies. ark horse candidate if the favorites slip.

Nishesh Basavareddy has the biggest experience on main tour level out of all the Red Group players. Basavareddy is ranked just 167th, but played 20 main draw matches in ATP Tour, winning 7 of them including the surprising run to semifinals at the start of season in Auckland. The American competed last year in Next Gen Finals and exited at the group stage. His best 2025 result was the Auckland semifinals. Basavareddy plays aggressive tennis. The 20 years-old has tried his skills on the top level quite frequently, but has just one Challenger tournament victory in Puerto Vallarta from September 2024.

Justin Engel - the 18 years old and born in 2007, is the youngest and lowest ranked player in the field. The world number 187 has already gain some experience on top level though, capitalizing on wild cards to German ATP tournaments this year. Engel scored three impressive victories in 2025, defeating his compatriot Jan Lenard Struff in Hamburg, winning over James DUckworth and Alex Michelsen in Stuttgart. All those were the victories over top 100 ranked opponents, achieved on clay. Away from his home country, he scored his maiden ATP win against Coleman Wong in ATP 250 Almaty last year. This season brought him also the maiden Challenger victory - also on the home soil in Hamburg but on hard surface, two months ago. The underdog due to rank, but surely not to write off in that field.

Tournament Schedule

Group stage runs Wednesday-Friday (Dec 17-19), semifinals Saturday (Dec 20), final Sunday (Dec 21). All matches to take place at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah with afternoon and evening sessions.

The tournament serves as a stepping stone - Sinner, Alcaraz, and Tsitsipas all won here before becoming elite. Whether this year's field produces future stars remains to be seen, but Tien's trajectory suggests he's ready for a Top 20 push in 2026. All his competitors from Jeddah hope to follow this path very soon.