Survival Tennis: How a Turbulent Semifinal Produced a Back-to-Back Finalist
The 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, have drawn nearer to a close with the second semifinal’s thrilling conclusion. An all-American half with both contenders aged 20, and working at five-foot-eleven, the tournament’s first seed, Learner Tien stepped out in his best form against sixth seed Nishesh Basavareddy. Basavareddy has fallen twice to the left-handed Tien several times before, both on the Challengers Tour and the official ATP Tour, most recently in the first round at Wimbledon this year, and in straight sets. The stage was set again for another rematch; however, the full potential was hindered by Basavareddy walking out to start with a badly bleeding finger.
Basavareddy’s Early Persistence
Tien, the younger of the two, has historically outlasted this particular opponent in the past; the major area of contention between them usually being groundstrokes and long-drawn-out rallies. Though he kept up well enough in speed and reaching the top-seed’s well-placed shots, Basavareddy’s finger injury lowered what might have been his usual ability, leading to him trailing 1-3 in the first set. Not ideal at all, with this tournament’s format being short sets to four. When the sixth seed struck out, even while on the run, it succeeded in keeping Tien behind the baseline and unable to attack freely. That, a few fortunate winners during deep rallies, and a failure to serve the set out brought Basavareddy back into the fold, 2-3 down. That tiny injury of his remained a distraction, and even a hindrance on court, causing a nearly lengthy injury timeout, and necessitating a court clean-up. It was clear that the sixth seed was uncomfortable, and his shot misfiring showed it. The timeout itself put a stop to the rhythm of play, and unfortunately, for the underdog’s brief found focus within operating in his injury.
How Tien Steadied the Course
All of this, of course, was good news for the top seed, whose focus remained sharp as his opponent’s frayed due to the drama. On the return to play, despite failing to serve out the set, he was able to find the break and the set. Tien’s strategy changed slightly, as he lessened high-risk shots, favoring to batter Basavareddy’s backhand, the shot that seemed worst affected by the injury, and refusing to end rallies outright by a winner; instead, forcing the sixth-seed’s hand. Basavareddy wasn’t up to it, losing many finishing points, even easy ones that were well constructed and left Tien vulnerable.
This match heavily relied on rallies, neither of the two doing too spectacularly on holding their serve. At one point, there were seven consecutive breaks of serve for the other. Unfortunately, groundstrokes were the most irritating and perhaps, painful stroke for Basavareddy. Meanwhile, as his power and pressure waned, Tien locked in considerably, becoming a brutal, consistent machine who could occasionally sharpshoot to overwhelm the sixth seed. One thing that helped Basavareddy noticeably was when he made his first serve. To his own disbenefit, he didn’t have the highest first serve percentage at 54 percent, and his opportunities to have easy points in his favor were few.
The second set went by a bit snappier, and again in Tien’s favor. The ritualistic breaking of the other halted; the top seed still breaking his rival, but now able to hold serve, again, a direct result of Basavareddy’s poor rally endurance. With no reliable weapon and shaky groundstrokes, Basavareddy fought valiantly, but didn’t have enough to take it to the distance, falling in straight sets just as before, the last set at least, a big fight that went to a tiebreak.
The sixth seed recognized, even if too late, that powerful groundstrokes weren’t doing it and made the switch to deep slices where he could, and point-finishing drop shots. A far better form than swinging hard and blindly at what he had no chance of getting, especially whilst injured. It pushed the riveting match to a tiebreak, but Basavareddy couldn’t sustain Tien’s dictating and well-defended rallies. The top seed found the win, 4-2, 4-1, 4-3, sealing a second Next Gen ATP Final championship final for the second year in a row. He faces off against the Belgian second-seed Alexander Blockx, the first time the two have ever met in the professional tour, but the final is reminiscent of the Wimbledon 2023 final, where Blockx prevailed in a tenuous three-set match.
