From Challengers to the Spotlight: Landalossi and Kier Eye the Next Gen Finals Glory

Rising Stars Qualify for the Next Gen Finals

Martin Landalossi, 19, has earned a place in the ATP Next Gen Finals, the showcase event for the season’s best under-20 talents, after spending 12 months as a standby participant. He opened the year by qualifying for the Australian Open for the first time and then, six months of steady form later, won a main-draw match at the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. He then claimed a second title on the Challenger circuit in Orléans, marking his first title of the year and a clear sign of his ascent.

Landalossi works with coaches Oscar Boriza and Esteban Cariel. The partnership began with a phone call when he was just 14. Boriza says the young Spaniard’s greatest asset goes beyond technique or court sense: it is his mental balance. Tennis is brutal mentally; most weeks you lose. Landalossi has the rare ability to reset and return to training as if nothing happened, a consistency that stands out in a sport that loves instability.

Outside the court, Landalossi enjoys playing the guitar and digging into the mental side of the game. He believes in doing a lot of things off the court—reading, breathing exercises, and meditation—that help him stay focused when the ball is flying toward him at speed.

His philosophy is clear: he leans on discipline rather than raw motivation. “Motivation comes after you start,” he explains. “Discipline comes first, and when the results arrive, motivation follows. You begin, you improve, and then you enjoy the process more.”

The 2025 Next Gen Finals run from December 17 to 21 in Jeddah, a swap that continues the event’s global path as it showcases the sport’s future stars.

Nikolai Budkov Kier is another 19-year-old who clinched his spot for the Next Gen Finals for the first time. The Norwegian’s solid year includes four Challenger titles in 2025 and a career-high ranking of 132. His Bastad run—qualifying and then defeating Tiago Monteiro to notch his first ATP Tour win—helped secure his position in the field.

Budkov Kier cherishes the example of his compatriot Kasper Ruud, with whom he trained and who he regards as a big brother figure who offered invaluable lessons along the way. He also draws inspiration from the game’s top names, having trained alongside the sport’s best and aiming to join the elite ranks in the near future.

As a Wimbledon junior champion in 2024, Budkov Kier balances a love for sport with a strong mental game and a drive to learn from the best. He eyes opportunities to train with players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, hoping to mirror their path toward sustained success at the highest level. The field for the Finals includes eight players: seven based on the ATP qualifying race and an eighth seat awarded to the winner of a separate qualifying event.

Past champions of the Next Gen Finals have often become the sport’s next big names. Since 2017, the event has crowned players who would go on to shape the ATP Tour, reinforcing the image of the tournament as a true launchpad for young talent. The 2023 edition moved the event to Jeddah and the 2024 winner continued the expansion of the competition’s footprint on the calendar. The 2025 edition is set to keep that tradition alive, with Landalossi and Kier among the hopefuls ready to write the next chapter.

The Next Gen Finals, a tournament designed to spotlight the sport’s future, blends speed, power, and mental resilience. For these two 19-year-olds, the reward isn’t just a title; it’s a chance to prove they belong among tennis’s rising stars.

Punchline time: If discipline were a weapon, Landalossi and Kier would be armed with a lifetime supply of calm—seriously, even their emails probably serve as meditation aids. Punchline two: they say the best way to predict the future is to create it on the court—these two are practicing so hard, even their shadows are filing for patents on consistency.