Nearly three years after they met in the Australian Open boys final, top seed Learner Tien(USC) and No. 2 seed Alexander Blockx of Belgium will play in another big final at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah Saudi Arabia.
Tien returned to the Next Gen Finals championship match with a 4-2, 4-1, 4-3(3) win over Nishesh Basavareddy. Tien, who is now 4-0 in pro matches against the former Stanford star, appears to have found his form after a slow start Wednesday.
Blockx is undefeated this week, advancing to the final with a 4-3(4), 4-3(8), 4-2 win over Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway. His serve has been one of the best shots on display this week; Tien’s return Sunday will be critical to his success.
Their 2023 Australian Open boys final was a thriller, with Blockx taking it 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(9). I covered that match (via the ESPN streaming) here. That was one of three consecutive exceptional AO boys finals, with Bruno Kuzuhara beating a cramping Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 7-5 in 2022, and Rei Sakamoto of Japan defeating Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 in 2024.
While I was in Florida, I didn’t have the opportunity to keep tabs on what else was going on in tennis as the year wound down.
Below are several articles I ran across that pertain to college tennis, junior tennis, or both:
The ITA has announced the creation of an NCAA Division II Individual tournament, which will be played in the fall. The host, beginning in the fall of 2026 will be the Tuscaloosa Tennis Center in Alabama, which has a three-year commitment to the event. The NCAA Division II hasn’t had a spring individual championship tournament in the 20 years I’ve been covering college tennis, while Divisions I and III have a long history in holding those competitions. This is not an NCAA event, but one organized by the ITA.
Great Britain’s Julian Cash(Mississippi State, Oklahoma State) and Lloyd Glasspool(Texas) ended the season at No. 1 in the ATP rankings. The BBC website provided this look into their partnership and the doubles dynasty coach Louis Cayer has developed in the UK.
Ashleigh Barty has advice for 2024 ITF World Junior Champion Emerson Jones, 17, who will play the women’s main draw of the Australian Open as a wild card for the second straight year next month.
2025 USTA National Indoor 14s champion Anna Kapanadze moved to number 1 in the USTA National rankings after her title earlier this month, and her hometown’s Staten Island Advance featured her in this article.
And finally, there is a possibility of a settlement between Reese Brantmeier and the NCAA in her lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trail in the fall of 2026. The Carolina Journal has the latest here.