Student Tien and Alexander Blockx reveal how the Next Gen ATP Finals format is testing their campaigns | ATP Tour
Next Gen ATP Finals
Tien & Blockx reveal how the Next Gen ATP Finals format is testing their campaigns
The top seed talks to ATPtour.com about the new format in Jeddah
December 20, 2025
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Student Tien and Alexander Blockx are the top two seeds at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.
Written by Jerome Coombe
Your path to a match at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF is not easy.
Sets fly to four, points come thick and fast, and before the players even take off the towel, the momentum has already shifted. Tennis has been stripped of its safety nets, and as we’ve seen so far, this format rewards sharp starts, bold decisions and unwavering focus from ball one to ball one.
Top seed Tien, who conceded four points in a crushing defeat to Rafael Jodar, felt just how fast control can be.
“I’m not sure if it’s the format and maybe it’s just me, but I feel like this week I’ve been struggling to focus on some of these matches,” Tien told ATPTour.com after his first win over Martin Landaluce. “My mind just goes in and out, especially when I get into the scheme, and in this format, the momentum can change very quickly.
“I get up and get a few points out and all of a sudden we’re in a commercial zone and the momentum changes so quickly that you can lose a set in one game.”
Reader Tien, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2025/12/20/13/20/in-arena-stats-jeddah-2025.jpg?w=100%2″>100%2Live stadium stats are available for players, coaches and fans. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Those razor thin berries are grown by Deuce who dies suddenly. For Belgium’s Alexander Blockx, those moments have been opportunities rather than obstacles. The 20-year-old player thrives when the games are tight, which is the main reason why he ended up sweeping his team 3-0.
“Knowing how to lose a serve may cost a set or having more break opportunities with a Deuce of sudden death comes to my head, but this week I feel like I played those big points well,” said Blockx, who saved 86 percent (19/22) of break points throughout the group stage, according to Infosys ATP Stats. “I focus more when it’s a decisive point.
“I don’t think too much about the pressure of those points, I just play full and I think that the way I handled the big moments is important why I started well here and entered the semi-finals.”
Alexander Blockx” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2025/12/20/13/17/blockx-forehand-format-feature-jeddah-2025.jpg”>Alexander Blockx won all three of his group stage matches. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Crushing 76 winners between his first three group matches, Blockx provides a great example of how to use aggression in this fast-paced format. That offensive mindset is reinforced in real-time, with on-field stats that give players, coaches and fans insight into who’s scoring, how shots are playing on every stroke, and which player is winning the battle when he’s in front of the foot – or moving defensively.
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Quick starts were another theme throughout the week. In sets to four, early setbacks can be costly. Croatia’s Dino Prizmic struggled in his first loss to Nishesh Basavareddy, but bounced back with a sharp opener against Justin Engel.
“For the first set, it is very important that we start quickly but the matches are long, we need to win three sets,” said Prizmic after his victory over Engel in four sets. “A quick start is important and you have to adapt quickly, but if you can start quickly you can control quickly.”
The physical rhythm of the game is also changed by the lack of change after the first game of the Prizmic set, there is no room to hide and settle easily. Instead, you should be locked in and ready for battle from the get-go.
“For me, it’s better not to change all the first games, sometimes I sit down in matches after one game and get a little cold, then I need a rhythm and warm up again,” explained the 20-year-old player. “Here it’s good because we can play three games in a row to start and you warm up right away.”
Superimposed on the on-court intensity is a round-robin format that provides both pressure and opportunity. Every match is important, but one loss doesn’t spell the end, a dynamic that reflects the challenge of life on Tour.
Tien, for example, bounced back from his opening upset to rise to the top of his team, while Jodar was sent off despite finishing with a 2-1 record.
“It’s a very difficult but beautiful thing,” Prizmic said of the format. “Every win is very important and you have to stay balanced after a team defeat as you can come back. Everyone is inside the Top 200, so you go right into it.”
That, ultimately, is the magic of the Next Gen ATP Finals. It rewards courage, punishes doubt and accelerates progress. A high-octane testing ground where the future of men’s tennis learns to live on the edge.
