![\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/fierce-feuds-16-19.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Next In Line
\n The Fierce Feuds lighting up the latest #NextGenATP wave<\/p>\n
Budkov Kjaer, Bailly, Basavareddy discuss on-court rivals
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December 02, 2025<\/p>\n
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Getty Images<\/p>\n
Gilles Arnaud Bailly, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer and Nishesh Basavareddy feature in this week’s Next in Line feature.
\n By Andy West<\/p>\n
They may be relatively fresh to life on the tennis circuit, but the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF<\/a> competitors have wasted little time in striking up Fierce Feuds with their on-court rivals. <\/p>\n Nicolai Budkov Kjaer<\/a> will be finely tuned to performing on the big stage when he steps on court for his Jeddah debut later this month. The 19-year-old Norwegian finished his regular season by playing ATP Tour events in Stockholm, Vienna (his ATP 500 debut) and Metz, and he opened up to ATPTour.com about some of the deep-rooted relationships that already exist between some of the brightest young stars in men\u2019s tennis. <\/p>\n \u201cJoel Schwaerzler<\/a> and I travelled to a J500 in Osaka our first ITF junior year,\u201d recalled Budkov Kjaer to ATPTour.com. \u201cWe practised a lot together that week and I won the training sets, I remember, but then he beat me 7-6, 7-5 in the final. The year after we won the doubles at Roland Garros<\/a> together and I feel we both have had a rivalry and friendship in one. <\/p>\n \u201cThese days I have a lot of fun with Alexander Blockx<\/a>, we go to many of the same Challengers. But I was quite far behind all the other Next Gen\u2019s when I was young. Only from the age of 15 did I improve fast and from 16 I started to play the same tournaments as all these other players.\u201d <\/p>\n You May Also Like: Fierce Feuds: The pulsating rivalries forged in fire of competition<\/a><\/p>\n Even if he ends up only facing opponents with whom he is less familiar than Blockx in Jeddah, Budkov Kjaer is aware of the level he will have to hit if he wants to make an impact at King Abdullah Sports City. <\/p>\n \u201cI think they are all really talented, everyone with their own extraordinary skill set,\u201d said the Norwegian, when asked about the other Jeddah contenders. \u201cHistory has shown that the Next Gen finals participants can impact tennis the next decade. Some of the players I already know a bit, the others I look forward to meeting for the first time and get to know better – on and off court.\u201d <\/p>\n Another player very familiar with Blockx is his fellow 20-year-old Belgian Gilles Arnaud Bailly<\/a>. Bailly believes that friendly rivalries with Blockx and other rivals his age have the potential to act as crucial motivators in his career. <\/p>\n \u201cI have a really good relationship with Blockx. We talk a lot and we get on so well,\u201d said Bailly, who hit a career-high No. 201 in the PIF ATP Rankings on 10 November. \u201cBecause I am climbing now, I hope we can play more tournaments together. We have a lot of contact together and we play some games on the phone together, so there is a competitive edge there. <\/p>\n \u201cI get on really well with him and I hope to see him and the others more often on Tour and the relationships will develop. I have known Blockx for many years and we keep pushing each other and it is healthy to have that relationship.\u201d <\/p>\n Bailly earned his maiden tour-level win on home soil in October by defeating World No. 51 Daniel Altmaier<\/a> in Brussels after using a Next Gen entry spot to enter qualifying at the indoor ATP 250. He spoke of how important he thinks competing at the top level is for the development of #NextGenATP stars. <\/p>\n \u201cI think the Next Gen entry spots we get given are great,\u201d said Bailly, referring to the Next Gen Accelerator pathway, which offers 20-and-under players ranked in the Top 250 eligibility for one ATP 250 main draw spot and two ATP 250 qualifying event opportunities each season. \u201cThe other Next Gen guys are doing so well. <\/p>\n \u201cBlockx, Landaluce, Budkov Kjaer are all doing really well on the ATP Tour and Challenger Tour. It is great from the ATP to give us chances, otherwise it would be tough to play some events, so that support is helpful. I like seeing the other young players do well, it gives you further drive.\u201d <\/p>\n Watch Highlights Of Bailly’s Breakthrough ATP Tour Win:<\/strong><\/p>\n One player that can attest to Bailly\u2019s theory is Nishesh Basavareddy<\/a>. Having made his Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF<\/a> in 2024 alongside a familiar face from his junior days, Learner Tien<\/a>, Basavareddy then faced his friend and rival for the first time at Tour-level on one of the biggest stages of them all: in the first round at Wimbledon<\/a> in July. <\/p>\n “The first time I met Learner was when I was six,\u201d Basavareddy told ATPTour.com. “We played at the Little Mo Regionals in San Diego, and I remember those matches being real battles. I also played Alex [Michelsen] when I was seven and he was already a year older than me. We crossed paths at junior tournaments all the time, and over the years, we’ve not only competed but become close friends.\u201d <\/p>\n Basavareddy and Tien did not play each other in Jeddah a year ago, when the latter went on to reach the championship match. With Tien having triumphed in straight sets in their Wimbledon<\/a> clash and both players now having qualified once again for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF<\/a>, the 20-year-old Basavareddy will be seeking a revenge win. <\/p>\n \u201cI think our games match up pretty well,\u201d Basavareddy told ATPTour.com when asked about Tien ahead of their Wimbledon<\/a> clash. \u201cWe are both not the biggest servers, but we have a lot of baseline rallies. The [two Challenger] matches [we played in 2024] were quite long, especially the first one in a final. He\u2019s a counterpuncher, he makes a lot of balls, and he\u2019s really smart out there, so he makes it tough on you.\u201d <\/p>\n This is the sixth feature of our Next Gen ATP series Next in Line. Read our other stories here: \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Next In Line The Fierce Feuds lighting up the latest #NextGenATP wave Budkov Kjaer, Bailly, Basavareddy discuss on-court…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":419689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[62,1464,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-419688","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115650510010069346","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"It](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764686603_554_it-all-adds-up-banner.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/strong>
\nWimbledon dreams, Nishikori\u2019s run & Vinci\u2019s courtside lessons: Next Gen stars share memories
<\/a>
\nNext Steps: How Tien, Basavareddy & Engel are making the leap
L<\/a>earning from Legends: Nadal, Cilic & Ram inspiring #NextGenATP stars<\/a>
Fuel for the future: Inside the mindset of the best youngsters<\/a>
The voices driving Landaluce & Cina to the top<\/a><\/p>\n