Top seeds Learner Tien and Alexander Blockx will lead the Blue and Red Groups, respectively, through the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, launching action on Wednesday.
Group stage play will run from Wednesday through Friday at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
Meanwhile, the semifinals will be staged on Saturday and the grand finale on Sunday.
Young Spaniards Martin Landaluce and Rafael Jodar, and Norwegian player Nicolai Budkov Kjaer will join Tien, last year’s runner-up, in the Blue Group.
The Red Group, headed by Belgian Blockx, includes Croat Dino Prizmic, American Nishesh Basavareddy, with former coach of Daniil Medvedev, Giles Cervara on his bench, and German Justin Engel, who will debut at the event after Jakub Mensik’s withdrawal.
Meeting the World’s Best 20-and-Under ATP Players
American player Tien heads to Jeddah off a breakthrough season in which the 20-year-old achieved his first title on tour in Metz, defeating Brit Cameron Norrie in the final.
Currently ranked at a career high world No. 28, he became the youngest American man to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open since Pete Sampras in 1990 at the age of 19.
In addition, the left-handed, coached by Michael Chang and Erik Kortland, broke new ground in Beijing this season, accomplishing his maiden career ATP 500 final - fell to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.
He returns to the competition, determined to leave Saudi Arabia with the crown he missed out on to Brazilian star Joao Fonseca last year.
On Wednesday, world No. 128 Prizmic will open action on the indoor hard courts against Basavareddy, making his return to the year-end venue for the second season in a row.
Speaking to ATPTour.com about his new partnership with Cervara, Basavareddy shared: “He had a long and successful partnership with Daniil, who was a good player before they started working together, but they did a lot of great things together.
“I thought that experience at the highest level could help me where Im at in my career. It’s not just the tennis; he’s interested in all aspects of it. He’s diligent and professional in areas such as nutrition and fitness, and that will help me.”
The match will be followed by an intriguing contest featuring debutant Blockx, who took his first tour-level victory in Cincinnati by beating world No. 64 Marcos Giron, and 18-year-old German player Engel.
Among the highlights of the Belgian season is his Masters 1000 debut at the Miami Open as a qualifier.
For his part, Engel delivered high-quality tennis from his racquet, becoming the second-youngest player since 1990 to win a tour-level match on all three surfaces: hard, clay, and grass.
He also made headlines by advancing to the quarterfinals on home soil at the ATP 250 Boss Open held in Stuttgart.
The third match of the opening day will see Tien face off against world No. 168 Jodar, who found his rhythm towards the last stage of a season he started at No. 900 in the rankings.
The 2024 US Open boys’ titlist impressed with his progress and determination to lift three Challenger trophies in 2025.
Fellow compatriot, Spanish player Landaluce, will meet fifth seed Budkov Kjaer, wrapping up proceedings in Jeddah, a match that promises world-class tennis throughout.
The 19-year-old, who trained at Rafa Nadal Academy, earned his first Challenger crown in Orleans, France.
Moreover, he progressed to the second round in Cincinnati, a Masters 1000 tournament.
On the other side of the net will stand the youngest Norwegian player (19) to clinch multiple Challenger titles this year, four overall.
Format & Rules
The eight-man field is split into two groups of four, playing three round-robin matches. All singles matches are best-of-five tiebreak sets.
According to the ATP rules, each set will be first to four games with a two-game margin, and a tiebreak will be played at 3-3.
Each game will be played using the No-Ad scoring format, and the server will choose the service box.
Among the new initiatives introduced for the eighth edition of the Next Gen Finals is free fan movement and a reduced break between points.
Free movement will be allowed in the stadium for the first three games of the match. After the first three games, fans will be allowed to move freely except for limited areas behind the baseline in direct player view, the ATP outlined.
Furthermore, the time between points will be reduced from 25 seconds to 15 seconds if a point is below three shots.
Over five intense days, the tour’s youngest will take on the ultimate challenge of the year, in their quest to surge victorious from the season-finale event a week from today.