ATP Next Gen Finals: Fonseca beats Tien, becomes second youngest titlist

Tennis has crowned its newest star at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, where Joao Fonseca on Sunday completed a perfect week to lift the trophy at the 20-and-under event in Jeddah.

The 18-year-old Brazilian rallied past Learner Tien 2-4, 4-3(8), 4-0, 4-2 in the championship match at King Abdullah Sports City to become the second-youngest titlist in event history. By going undefeated across his five matches this week, Fonseca earned a tournament-record $526,480 prize money.

“I was really nervous before the match. I knew it was going to be so difficult,” Fonseca said before lifting the trophy with former World No. 1 Rafael Nadal watching on from the stands. “I played a final against Learner in juniors [at the 2023 US Open] and I know the way he can play. He is such a nice guy and a great player, so I knew it was going to be difficult, mentally and physically. But I got my way through.”

Fonseca started the year as No. 730 in the PIF ATP Rankings but will begin 2025 as the World No. 145. He will hope his Jeddah victory can act as a launchpad for a breakthrough season on the ATP Tour in 2025, when he will aim to add to the 12 tour-level wins (including five this week) he earned this year.

Although Fonseca had shown glimpses of his potential in 2024, during which he notched his maiden tour-level win against Arthur Fils en route to the quarter-finals on home soil in Rio de Janeiro, he was competing as the lowest seed this week in Jeddah. That status did not stop him from reeling off five impressive wins in Saudi Arabia, including five-set victories against top seed Fils and third seed Jakub Mensik.

“I need to believe when I go to a tournament that I can win,” Fonseca said. “But now I have won it I am thinking, ‘Wow, I made it’. I am very proud of myself.”

Sunday’s clash was the second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting of the week between Fonseca and Tien. The Brazilian also prevailed in four sets in the group stage in Jeddah. Their previous meeting before this week was in the boys’ singles final at the 2023 US Open, where Fonseca also lifted the trophy.