Learner Tien has one player on the ATP Tour who he enjoys watching more than anyone else.
Tien has enjoyed a big breakthrough in 2025, having reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and won his first ATP title to climb into the top 30 for the first time.
The 20-year-old has received high praise as a result, with Tien even told he could beat Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
As a result of his impressive season, Tien arrived at the Next Gen ATP Finals as the top seed, where he revealed the player who he enjoys watching the most on the ATP Tour.
Learner Tien says Carlos Alcaraz is his favourite player to watch on the ATP Tour
Tien and the other Next Gen ATP Finals participants for the 2025 tournament all spoke to French tennis outlet Tennis Legende prior to the tournament getting underway.
This is where they were asked to name both their favourite tennis player to watch right now, as well as the player who they thought was the greatest of all time.
Who would be on your Mount Rushmore of tennis players?
There were varying responses from the eight players, but Tien went with world number one Alcaraz as the player he most enjoyed watching right now.
This is not the first time the American has praised the Spaniard’s game, with Tien picking Alcaraz over Sinner earlier this year.
“The first person I kind of started watching when I really started liking to watch tennis was Alcaraz,” Tien said in August. “It was kind of when he was coming up.
“I think it might have been like 2021, kind of when he was starting to break through and he kind of pulled me into watching tennis. So I’d probably have to give him the edge there.”
While Tien was willing to name Alcaraz, the world number 28 said he did not know who he would pick as the greatest player of all time.
Who would you like to see coach Carlos Alcaraz next?
Nishesh Basavareddy disagrees with Learner Tien
Tien is not the only Next Gen ATP Finals star who opted to go with Alcaraz as their favourite player to watch right now, with Dino Prizmic, Martin Landaluce and Rafael Jodar all agreeing with him.
However, not everyone went with the six-time Grand Slam champion, including Tien’s compatriot Nishesh Basavareddy.
Novak Djokovic was full of praise for Basavareddy when they played at the Australian Open earlier this year, and that is who he went with as both his favourite player to watch and greatest player of all time.
Djokovic was also selected as the greatest of all time by both Prizmic and Justin Engel, while Spaniards Landaluce and Jodar opted for Rafael Nadal, and Alexander Blockx and Nicolai Budkov Kjær went with Roger Federer.
| Next Gen ATP Finals 2025 | Favourite player to watch now | Greatest of all time pick |
| Learner Tien | Carlos Alcaraz | N/A |
| Alexander Blockx | Jannik Sinner | Roger Federer |
| Dino Prizmic | Carlos Alcaraz | Novak Djokovic |
| Martin Landaluce | Carlos Alcaraz | Rafael Nadal |
| Nicolai Budkov Kjær | Casper Ruud | Roger Federer |
| Nishesh Basavareddy | Novak Djokovic | Novak Djokovic |
| Rafael Jodar | Carlos Alcaraz | Rafael Nadal |
| Justin Engel | Rafael Nadal | Novak Djokovic |
Of those players who started at the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals, the two top seeds Tien and Blockx are remaining as the finalists.
This is a first-time meeting between the pair, as Tien looks to avoid losing in the final of the Next Gen ATP Finals for a second consecutive year.
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