Defending champion Joao Fonseca in strong position as race to Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah heats up

With the 2025 ATP season past it's mid-point, the rising stars on Tour are starting to build momentum as the year-ending Next Gen ATP Finals looms.

Hosted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Next Gen ATP Finals will pit eight young, rising ATP stars against each other in a unique, fast-paced environment as they compete for the prestigious title. Previous champions have gone on to make a name for themselves on the ATP Tour, with the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz all prevailing in previous editions of the event.

With only eight positions available, rising stars on Tour will have to showcase their best performances in order to acquire a spot at the end of the season. Czech star Jakub Mensik currently sits in first place with 1,880 points in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The 19-year old reached the third round at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, falling to Italian Flavio Cobolli in straight sets.

Sitting in second place with 975 points is Brazilian wonderkid Joao Fonseca, who lifted the trophy at last year's event. The 18-year old has been one of the breakout stars of the season, and reached a career-best third round at last week's SW19 Grand Slam event.

American Learner Tien is third with 600 points, after winning his first match at Wimbledon two weeks ago. Croatian Dino Prizmic and Belgian Alexander Blockx round out the top five, holding 272 and 259 points respectively. Both have reached finals on the ATP Challenger Tour in the past two weeks, with Prizmic lifting the title in Milan whereas Blockx finished runner-up at the ATP Challenger event in Winnipeg.

Rising young star Nishesh Basavareddy, who competed at last year's event, is in contention for a spot as he sits at sixth place. The American is competing at the ATP-level Los Cabos event this week, alongside Mexican Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez, who also hopes to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah this year.