Subsequent Gen
Gas for the Future: Contained in the mindset driving #NextGenATP stars
Landaluce, Engel, and Cina reveal what’s powering their rise
November 17, 2025
Getty Pictures
Federico Cina/Justin Engel and Martin Landaluce open up on what fuels them.
By Jerome Coombe
“Nerves are alternatives.”
That’s the lesson Martin Landaluce carries into each match, and it’s a mindset that completely captures the spirit of the brand new era.
Because the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF method, Landaluce, Justin Engel and Federico Cina are proving that what fuels tomorrow’s stars isn’t luck or uncooked expertise, however the internal instruments they’ve constructed: self-discipline, pleasure, connection and the idea that strain can push you ahead.
Landaluce claimed his second ATP Masters 1000 main-draw win in Cincinnati in August and added a second ATP Challenger Tour title to his resume one month later in Orleans, France. The outcomes lifted him into robust competition to achieve Jeddah and confirmed a maturity nicely past his 19 years. It’s a maturity that begins off the court docket.
“I like doing loads of issues exterior of tennis that assist me mentally. Studying, respiration workout routines, meditation,” Landaluce just lately informed ATPTour.com. “These issues assist me keep centered on court docket. I attempt to depend on self-discipline greater than motivation. Lots of people suppose motivation comes first, however for me, self-discipline comes first and that brings motivation.
“You begin doing one thing, and as you get higher, you begin having fun with it extra. That’s the place the motivation comes from.”
The Spaniard started coaching on the Rafa Nadal Academy when he was 14 and has been in a position to achieve invaluable perception from the 22-time main champion and former No. 1 participant within the PIF ATP Rankings. On the identical time, he additionally started working with a psychologist, a mixture that helped form his understanding of strain and helped him view nerves as an indication of progress slightly than concern.
“That’s helped me mature rather a lot, not simply as a tennis participant, however as an individual,” Landaluce stated when requested about working together with his psychologist. “One huge factor is studying that nerves are literally good. They imply you care. Nerves are alternatives.
“You additionally must be taught to handle strain, whether or not it’s from profitable a giant match, out of your nation, your membership, or expectations others placed on you. That’s rather a lot for somebody who’s 16, 17, or 18 years previous. Psychology has helped me keep calm, block out the noise and never get caught up within the adverse facet of issues like social media or criticism. It’s helped me deal with what actually issues.”
Landaluce’s dedication to self-discipline is a thread that additionally runs by means of the rise of Germany’s Engel, one other standout on this 12 months’s PIF ATP Reside Race To Jeddah.
Engel’s 2025 season has been outlined by breakthrough progress, most notably his impressed run on residence soil in Stuttgart. The then-17-year-old grew to become the second-youngest participant since 1990 to win a tour-level match on all three surfaces after Nadal. In October, Engel overcame fellow Subsequent Gen contender Cina in a good last to seize his first ATP Challenger Tour title.
Watch Engel attain his first ATP Tour quarter-final in Stuttgart:
Regardless of the milestones, Engel stays grounded, constructed round easy rituals and a deep sense of dedication.
On the street, he finds stability by means of connection.
“When I’ve to do nothing, I name my buddies and we discuss for nearly two to a few hours,” Engel stated, and on match days, he sticks to the identical acquainted routine: “I at all times eat the identical factor within the morning… six eggs.”
However like Landaluce, the muse of Engel’s rise is self-discipline.
“I at all times say it is not about motivation, nearly self-discipline,” the 18-year-old added. “I attempt to give my greatest. After all, typically it is good to have motivation, nevertheless it’s not necessary. You simply have to be devoted, to be skilled and simply do your factor.”
As Engel continues his rise, Cina has carved out his personal spectacular path in 2025, constructing steadily on his early-season breakthrough. The Italian earned his first tour-level win on the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami and has additionally reached three ATP Challenger Tour finals this 12 months.
For Cina, staying level-headed is simply as necessary as pushing ahead. Away from the court docket, he finds his stability within the acquainted comforts that hold him linked to residence.
“I’m normally fairly relaxed, even earlier than huge matches,” stated Cina, who reached the US Open semi-finals as a junior in 2023. “I like to speak with my buddies, possibly video name them as a result of I don’t see them a lot. I like touring and flying, however I additionally miss residence. Nonetheless, it’s my job and I like it, so I’ve to do it.”
Federico Cina” type=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/photos/information/2025/11/17/15/08/cina-miami-2025-next-gen.jpg”>Federico Cina made his tour-level main-draw debut in Miami. Picture: Peter Staples/ATP Tour.
The lengthy season has introduced its challenges, however the 18-year-old approaches all of it with a relaxed perspective, aided by the assist of his father and former skilled, Francesco Cina.
“Lately I used to be a bit sick at a match, and this hasn’t been an excellent interval,” Cina admitted. “I’m additionally a bit drained after the season, however my coach and my dad remind me to maintain having fun with follow. Maintaining that spirit is essential, and the outcomes will come. We discuss sport. I really like my soccer in order that helps me swap off from tennis.”
Cina’s calm contrasts with one of the defining concepts Landaluce carries with him, a mantra handed down from his father and one he returns to when the strain spikes.
“There’s one mantra my dad at all times informed me on court docket: ‘You’re alone. Assist your self win’,” Landaluce stated. “It’s easy, however highly effective. In tennis, you’re on the market alone. There’s no group like in soccer, it’s simply you. It’s important to handle your feelings, your choices, your strain, all the things, by your self.”
It’s a reminder that whereas every participant on the street to Jeddah has their very own rituals, rhythms and sources of power, the center of their journeys is identical. Whether or not by means of self-discipline, friendship or pleasure, they’re studying to depend on themselves and to make use of each second, even strain, as gasoline for what comes subsequent.
That is the fourth characteristic of our Subsequent Gen ATP collection Subsequent in Line. Learn our different tales right here:
Wimbledon dreams, Nishikori’s run & Vinci’s courtside lessons: Next Gen stars share memories
Next Steps: How Tien, Basavareddy & Engel are making the leap
Learning from Legends: Nadal, Cilic & Ram inspiring #NextGenATP stars
