Teenager Joao Fonseca defeated American student Tien to be crowned the second youngest winner of the Next Generation ATP Finals title.
The 18-year-old Brazilian, who is the youngest player in this year’s competition and bottom ranked, beat Tien 2-4 4-3 (10-8) 4-0 4-2 in Jeddah.
Only Jannik Sinner, in 2019, lifted the title at a younger age than Fonseca, who won all five of his matches at the season-ending tournament for top-ranked men 21 and under.
The pair also met in the group stage on Thursday, with Fonseca, ranked 145th in the world, coming out on top again against his 19-year-old opponent.
The event has a best-of-five format with four matches winning a set.
Apart from 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 took the opening set in Saudi Arabia. However, once Fonseca managed to equalize after a tight second set followed by a long tie-break, he was able to frustrate his opponent and seal the title in the fourth set.
“I was very nervous before the match. I know it will be very difficult,” said Fonseca.
“I played in the final against Learner at junior level at the 2023 US Open and I know how he plays. He’s a good guy and a great player, so I know it’s going to be tough, both mentally and physically. But I got away.”
Speaking before the final, Fonseca spoke about how he wants to emulate Sinner, who was his partner at last year’s ATP Finals – where he said he was convinced by the Italian to turn professional.
