American Teen Lerner Tin Secures a Spot at the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah
27 November 2025
Rising American Lerner Tin earns his place in Jeddah
Lerner Tin, a 19-year-old American, has booked his ticket to the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah after a breakout first full season on the global tour.
He closed 2024 by reaching the final in Jeddah and used that momentum to push into the Australian Open, where he defeated top-10 star Daniil Medvedev to reach the fourth round, becoming the youngest player to reach that stage on the hard courts since Rafael Nadal in 2005.
Tin also stunned Alexander Zverev at the Acapulco 500, advancing to the quarterfinals. He went on to reach the fourth round at Masters 1,000 events in Toronto and Shanghai, underscoring his growing consistency against high-caliber opposition.
The breakout month came when Tin captured his first tour title at Metz (ATP 250), beating Cameron Norrie in the final.
Beijing also featured a strong run, with Tin reaching the final of the 500-point event and eliminating Lorenzo Musetti and Medvedev along the way.
The numbers and the season
He finished the year with a 5-4 record against top-10 opponents and peaked at a career-high ranking of 28, a remarkable leap from starting outside the top 120. The Next Gen Finals are scheduled for December 17-21, 2025, in Jeddah.
Last year’s champion, Brazilian Joao Fonseca, withdrew from the 2025 edition as he continues to recover from an injury sustained late in 2025.
The Next Gen Finals explained
The Next Gen Finals is an annual ATP event for the tour’s best players aged 20 and under. It started in 2017 in Milan and moved to Jeddah, hosting editions from 2023 through 2025. The format is designed to experiment with new rules, with no ranking points awarded toward the ATP rankings, though matches still count toward the season’s win-loss record. The prize pool totals $2,275,000.
Since its inception, the event has tested innovations such as electronic line calling and players speaking with coaches via headsets, with other experimental scoring and communication features periodically introduced.
Past champions include Seong Hyun Bl (2017), Stefanos Tsitsipas (2018), Jannik Sinner (2019), Carlos Alcaraz (2021), Brandon Nakashima (2022), Hamad Medjedovic (2023), and Joao Fonseca (2024). Eight players participate each year, seven qualifying via the ATP Race and one wild card; the event is a bridge between junior potential and the pro tour’s late bloomers.
Saudi Arabia also hosted a recent WTA Finals, where Elena Rybakina emerged as champion, underscoring the kingdom’s growing role in global tennis.
In short, Tin’s ascent is the kind of rise that makes a tennis fan grin: raw talent meeting a calendar that finally seems to notice.
Punchline 1: If his racket learned to speak, it would negotiate a better seating policy for his serves.
Punchline 2: His backhand isn’t just a shot—it’s a passport that stamps the court with 'made in America' flair.
