Landaluce earns Next Gen spot with resilient climb
From Australian Open qualifier to Challenger champion, the 19-year-old Spaniard transforms early promise into a hard-fought invitation to December’s under-21 showdown, where mental steel meets tactical fire.
Martin Landaluce secures his qualification for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, marking a full year since he waited as an alternate at the under-20 event. The Spaniard launched 2025 with a milestone, earning his first main-draw spot at the Australian Open through a gritty qualification run on Melbourne’s hard courts. That breakthrough fueled six months of steady gains, including a main-draw victory at the ATP Masters 1000 in Cincinnati, before he captured his first Challenger title of the season in Orleans—his second overall at that level.
Hard courts forge his tactical edge
On the fast surfaces that defined his year, Landaluce honed patterns that turned defense into attack, routing forehands inside-out to pull opponents wide before slicing backhands crosscourt for angles. In Cincinnati, he disrupted veterans with deep down-the-line returns off the serve, building points through a crisp one–two rhythm of wide serves followed by low underspin approaches. Those indoor hard courts in Orleans amplified his aggression, where precise footwork let him redirect pace into winners, absorbing the pressure of tight qualification math without a slip.
His coaches, Oscar Burrieza and Esteban Carril, have shaped this precision since Burrieza’s first contact—a phone call when Landaluce was just 14. They emphasize surface tweaks, like varying bounce with kick serves to the body on seconds, which neutralized returns and opened courts for his flat groundstrokes. This partnership blends drills on hard-court tempo with recovery sessions, ensuring the young player’s court sense adapts from Melbourne’s bounce to Europe’s quicker indoor play.
“For me, his balance, mentally, is one of his biggest talents,” Burrieza shared with ATPTour.com. “Tennis is mentally brutal. Most weeks, you lose. But Martin has this ability to wake up the next day and get back to practice like nothing happened. He resets emotionally. Whether he’s about to play at the Madrid Open or a Futures match, he acts the same. That consistency in attitude is rare.”
Mental routines sustain the grind
Beyond the baseline, Landaluce draws from off-court habits to maintain focus, strumming his guitar after draining practices and exploring books on psychology to process the tour’s ups and downs. As a former US Open Boys’ singles champion, he channels junior success into adult resilience, using breathing exercises and meditation to stay present amid early exits and mounting expectations. These tools help him treat losses as resets, turning the isolation of travel into moments of quiet recharge.
He prioritizes discipline to drive progress, starting routines even on low-motivation days until improvement sparks natural drive. This approach carried him through spring’s clay detours and summer’s grass challenges, where he leaned on crosscourt consistency to build rankings points. Esteban Carril observes how these practices keep Landaluce’s intensity even, whether facing qualifiers’ speed or veterans’ experience.
“I like doing a lot of things outside of tennis that help me mentally, reading, breathing exercises, meditation,” Landaluce explained to ATPTour.com in August. “Those things help me stay focused on court.” “I try to rely on discipline more than motivation. A lot of people think motivation comes first, but for me, discipline comes first and that brings motivation. You start doing something, and as you get better, you start enjoying it more. That’s where the motivation comes from.”
December stage tests his poise
The 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF run from December 17–21 in Jeddah, drawing the tour’s top under-21 talents to short-format matches under roaring crowds. Landaluce joins Jakub Mensik, Learner Tien, Alexander Blockx, and Dino Prizmic, each wielding power serves and quick reflexes in an arena where past winners like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz once launched their rises. For the Spaniard, the indoor hard setup echoes his Orleans triumph, favoring his flat returns and slice approaches against big hitters.
He arrives with tactics tuned for variety, mixing inside-in backhands to counter lefties like Blockx or deep crosscourt forehands to chase Tien’s speed. The intimate buzz of Jeddah’s stands will amplify every point, but his emotional reset—honed through a year’s battles—positions him to thrive in the frenzy. As coaches envision, this event becomes a proving ground, where Landaluce’s blend of mental fortitude and hard-court savvy propels him toward the tour’s elite, one disciplined step at a time.
