Next Gen Finals: Tien vs Basavareddy Prediction 12/20/2025 Today’s Tennis Picks

World No. 28 Learner Tien will face fellow American Nishesh Basavareddy in the semifinal of the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals on Saturday, December 20. Here’s our Learner Tien vs Nishesh Basavareddy prediction. This preview will also include a Learner Tien vs Nishesh Basavareddy pick.

Tournament details

Tournament name: Next Gen ATP Finals
Draw: 8-player field 
Surface: Indoor hard 
Total prize money: $2,101,250
Location: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Learner Tien vs Nishesh Basavareddy Preview

Learner Tien is the top seed at the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals but was the last player to secure a semifinal berth courtesy of a four-set win over Nicolai Budkov Kjaer in the final group match.

Tien had lost his opening match of the tournament to Rafael Jodar, putting his qualification hopes in tatters. But victory over Martin Landaluce in the second match gave him a lifeline. Going into the third and decisive group stage match, the American knew only a three or four-set victory would guarantee him a semifinal spot after Jodar beat Landaluce in straight sets earlier in the day.

Despite losing the first set in a tiebreak, Tien took control of the match and won the next three sets, firing 28 winners to 24 unforced errors. Tien averaged over 70% of first and second serve points in the victory.

Meeting Tien in the semis will be countryman Nishesh Basavareddy. Basavareddy finished second in the red group after compiling a 2-1 record. He beat Dino Prizmic in his opening match in four sets before losing to Alexander Blockx in straight sets. 

But the 20-year-old delivered when it mattered in the third group match, defeating Justin Engel in straight sets. Basavareddy and Tien are the only two players who competed at this event last year and will now lock horns in the semifinals.

Learner Tien vs Nishesh Basavareddy Head-To-Head

Tien and Basavareddy have played three times before this. Two of those meetings were at the Challenge level. Tien won both. Their lone meeting at the tour level was the first round of this year’s Wimbledon. Tien again emerged victorious in straight sets.

Learner Tien vs Nishesh Basavareddy Prediction

Tien has been under pressure this week, but he’s found his groove to navigate a couple of tricky matches and eventually top his group. The concerning stat for Basavareddy is that he’s 0-3 in the head-to-head and is 1-7 in sets played against Tien. Basaverddy might succeed in breaking serve multiple times, but Tien’s patterns feel more bankable and he can rally with so much energy and control points.

Nur Said's Pick: Learner Tien in four sets