The title at the NextGen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia comes down to Learner Tien and Joao Fonseca on Sunday night. They have already faced each other once this week, with Fonseca winning in the group stage.

Learner Tien and Joao Fonseca were not even expected to make it out of round-robin competition at the NextGen ATP Finals. After all, they found themselves in a group with Arthur Fils and Jakub Mensik, arguably the two best players in the field.

But Tien and Fonseca had other ideas. Not only did they qualify for the semifinals from their stacked quartet, but now they will also go head-to-head for the title on Sunday.

It will be their second meeting of the week. They previously squared off on Thursday, when Fonseca prevailed 4-0, 4-0, 1-4, 4-2. It also shouldn’t be forgotten that these two rising stars also faced each other in the final of the 2023 U.S. Open junior event, with Fonseca triumphing 4–6, 6–4, 6–3.

The 18-year-old has not considered a big favorite once again based on how he has looked in Jeddah. In addition to beating Tien, Fonseca rolled through his group with victories over Fils and Mensik–the latter in a fifth-set tiebreaker on Friday evening. Maintaining his momentum on semifinal Saturday, the world No. 145 trounced Luca Van Assche 4-2, 4-2, 4-1.

Tien has been clutch but not dominant this week. To go along with his round-robin setback against Fonseca, the 19-year-old American beat Fils in four sets and also upset Mensik in four despite losing 14 more points than his opponent in that match. Tien then ousted Alex Michelsen in five sets on Saturday.

Although the counter-punching Tien is not an easy out, Fonseca wields far more firepower and has been by far the best player in Jeddah all week long. Count on the Brazilian closing things out in style.

Pick: Fonseca in 4