PREVIEW | ATP Miami Open 2025: Battle of rising stars between Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien

This coming Thursday, March 20, Brazilian Joao Fonseca and American Learner Tien will repeat their duel for the title of the Next Gen ATP Finals 2024 in the first round of the Miami Open 2025. Both youngsters have surprised several stars of the circuit and will face each other to see who continues to climb the rankings.

One of the most interesting duels of the first round of the Miami Open will be the one that will take place on Thursday night when two of the most promising players of the circuit take the court. Both Tien and Fonseca have starred in many outstanding stories this season and it is a good time for them to measure forces and have a rematch of the Jeddah final.

Learner Tien is not intimidated by the moment.

On the one hand, the local Learner Tien, lost in the round of 128 against Mariano Navone in Indian Wells, something that was unexpected considering the level that the American had shown after that defeat in the final of the Next Gen against Fonseca.

Tien reached the quarterfinals of the Mexican Open, but not before surprising No. 2 Alexander Zverev in the round of 16.

The 19-year-old dazzled at the Australian Open reaching the second week coming from the qualifying round.

That phenomenal performance at the first Grand Slam of the season included victory over former No. 1 and current No. 5-ranked Daniil Medvedev in a true 5-set slaughter. The current number 66 did not shake his pulse to win the match 10-7 in the tiebreaker of the last set. It would be Lorenzo Sonego who would stop the American, who would not go down without a fight for 4 sets.

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The 18-year-old Brazilian gem has been touted for some time as one of the most promising players and after winning in Jeddah his confidence went through the roof and it showed in his tennis.

The world number 60 has a cannon in his right arm and the first of the greats to experience it was Andrey Rublev. The Russian, number 8, came up against Joao (who came from the qualifying round just like Tien) in the first round of Australia and ended up losing in straight sets -despite having played a good match-;

Sonego would be his tormentor in Melbourne but the experience would serve to win his first ATP in Buenos Aires less than a month later. In the Argentine capital Fonseca felt so comfortable that he eliminated four of the local credits on his way to the title, with the highest note in the final, lifting the trophy after defeating the number 24, Francisco Cerúndolo.

After a stumble at home at the Rio Open - where he failed to advance past the first round - Fonseca would go down to Fearnley in the round of 128 at Indian Wells, only to fall to eventual champion Jack Draper.

But the Brazilian would not wait all week for Miami to begin. Instead he went from California to Arizona to compete in the Phoenix Challenger, where he would defeat much more experienced players on his way to the title.

He defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in the round of 16, beat Frenchman Hugo Gaston in the quarterfinals, swept former US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori in the semis and defeated Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in the final in two very tight tiebreaks.

Both players have climbed a lot of positions in the ranking and have many high points so far this season, despite being the first in which both compete alongside the best of the Tour.

Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien have played against each other on 4 occasions, in which the South American has the advantage, which justifies him being the favorite to win the duel of emerging stars. However, it should be noted that two of those clashes were in Juniors.

In 2023, Learner Tien defeated Fonseca at Roland Garros Junior, while the Brazilian returned the favor at the US Open.

Miami's fast surface could also be another feature that tips the balance in favor of the Argentina Open champion, who can punish with the American left-hander's backhand forehand missiles. Surprisingly, Tien has shown to adapt very well to clay, playing at the same level as on cement or better.

In 2024, the two remaining clashes between the two took place in the same tournament. In the Round Robin Fonseca won by 4-0, 4-0, 1-4 and 4-2. The path crossed again in the decisive match, where the Brazilian would win again, this time by 2-4, 4-3, 4-0 and 4-2.

The draw places the Brazilian and American in the top half of the draw, with No. 1 Alexander Zverev as the top seed on both players' radar.

Frenchman Ugo Humbert, number 19 in the ranking, awaits the winner of the match between these future Tour leaders. A cross that leaves both Tien and Fonseca at least the door open to continue advancing in the tournament. Of course, for the third round the natural opponent would be the Australian Alex de Miñaur, who could be a very difficult obstacle to overcome.

For the young Tien, despite being underdog, beating Fonseca is not impossible. The left-hander has a very complete game and knows how his opponent plays. Although Joao Fonseca has already managed to win an ATP tournament, victories against important opponents favor the young Californian.

Only 6 places and a handful of points separate the Brazilian from the American, with Joao Fonseca in 60th place with 955 points and Learner Tien in 66th place with 867 points. Who will take the battle of the stars of the future? Can Learner Tien break the trend and beat his rival, or will it be Fonseca who takes the win in the first meeting between the two on the big circuit?

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