Subsequent Gen ATP Finals: Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca beats Pupil Tien in Jeddah

Teenager Joao Fonseca beat American Pupil Tien to change into the second youngest winner of the Subsequent Gen ATP Finals title.

The 18-year-old Brazilian, who was the youngest participant on this yr’s event and ranked low, beat Tien 2-4 4-3 (10-8) 4-0 4-2 in Jeddah.

Solely Jannik Sinner, in 2019, has lifted the title at a youthful age than Fonseca, who gained all 5 of his matches on the season-ending event for top-ranked males aged 21 and below.

The 2 met once more within the group stage on Thursday, with Fonseca, ranked 145th on the earth, as soon as once more popping out on prime in opposition to his 19-year-old opponent.

The occasion has a best-of-five format with 4 video games to win a set.

In addition to the world’s primary singles participant, different former champions embrace four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz and world quantity 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Tien began brightly and took the opening set in Saudi Arabia. However when Fonseca reached a stable degree after a powerful second set that went into an extended break, he was in a position to frustrate his opponent and seal the title within the fourth set.

“I used to be actually nervous earlier than the match. I knew it was going to be very tough,” mentioned Fonseca.

“I performed within the closing in opposition to a younger Learner on the 2023 US Open and I understand how he can play. He is an excellent particular person and an excellent participant, so I knew it was going to be robust, mentally and bodily. He is executed.”

Talking earlier than the ultimate, Fonseca spoke of how he needed to emulate Sinner, who he partnered with in final yr’s ATP finals – the place he mentioned he was glad with the Italian’s return to work.