Learner Tien's journey at the Australian Open shows the rapid progress of the 20-year-old player, from the challenging qualifying rounds to the Grand Slam quarterfinals, where he affirmed his new status.
Just a year ago, Learner Tien entered the 2025 Australian Open qualifiers as a virtually unknown name, ranked 121st in the world . The young American then struggled to overcome a tie-break in the second set against Gregoire Barrere to avoid being eliminated in the first round, at his first Grand Slam tournament outside of the US Open.
Learner Tien made a strong impression at the Australian Open for the second consecutive year (Photo: Getty).
However, just two weeks later, Tien became the center of attention at Melbourne Park. He advanced to the fourth round of the main draw, highlighted by a dramatic five-set performance against former world number one Daniil Medvedev in the second round—a pivotal moment that helped shape the still-young career of this tennis player.
Tien's three ATP Challenger titles significantly improved his ranking, but his biggest achievement was putting Medvedev, a master at neutralizing opponents on the ATP Tour, in a difficult position. In 2024, the Russian player was just one set away from winning the Australian Open, but only a year later he was challenged by a 19-year-old left-handed player who was 1.80m tall.
Was that result surprising? The answer is yes. However, a year after that moment, Tien is in a completely different position. The reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion boasts a record of 5 wins and 4 losses against Top 10 players, and just three weeks ago reached his career high of world No. 26. His victory over Medvedev last year is therefore no longer considered a fleeting phenomenon. In fact, the 20-year-old went on to defeat Medvedev again on Sunday, January 25th, on the same surface where he caused that sensation.
“The circumstances this year are very different from last year. After a year, I think I’ve matured a lot, both as a person and as a tennis player,” Tien shared with ATPTour.com. “Having to be more independent over the past year has helped me get used to this life, to traveling and competing alone more often. Because of that, I’ve grown not only in tennis but in life as well.”
With young players like Tien and Joao Fonseca making their mark on the ATP Tour so early, people sometimes forget that they are still very young. Tien is only 20 years old and should still be attending the University of Southern California, where he studied for a semester, if he hadn't decided to turn professional so early. Instead of a normal student life, he is traveling the world, competing in front of millions of fans and regularly facing top tennis stars.
Learner Tien's fans celebrate after his victory over Medvedev in the quarter-finals on January 25 (Photo: Getty).
“I think I’ve gradually come to accept that this is my life, and hopefully it will last for many years to come,” Tien said. “It’s happening slowly. It’s not like you wake up one morning and suddenly everything fits in. But over the past year or so, I’ve gotten used to this new normal.”
The new normal on the court really started in Melbourne. Reaching the fourth round of last year's Australian Open was just the beginning. The biggest difference now is that Tien has accumulated valuable lessons from his first full season on the ATP Tour, especially after former world number 2 Michael Chang joined his coaching team in the middle of last season.
“I think I’ve become a more complete player. I don’t play completely differently than before, but I probably look less like an amateur. A year of experience has definitely been very helpful,” Tien said.
Tien's early confidence against top-level opponents stems from his early exposure to leading players. As a child, Tien regularly trained with Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson at Carson. In an ESPN interview, the producers showed old footage of Tien playing with the two older players when he was just 12 or 13 years old.
“From that moment on, you could see there was something different. Our balls didn’t affect him like they did with most kids his age. His ability to time his shots was incredible,” Johnson recounted.
Learner Tien is gradually establishing himself in major tournaments around the world (Photo: Getty).
Tien is not only impressive technically, but also highly regarded for his attitude and demeanor. “He’s always quiet but positive, never negative. He takes everything you give him and usually returns it with very high quality,” Johnson said.
When he was around 15 or 16 years old, Tien was already playing end-of-court balls on par with Johnson and Querrey. “It was pretty much 50/50. He was that good. His potential was limitless, especially with Michael Chang on the team. His work ethic was incredible,” Johnson recalled.
At this year's Australian Open, Learner Tien's journey ended in the quarterfinals after a defeat to Alexander Zverev on the morning of January 27th. Nevertheless, reaching the top 8 of a Grand Slam and consistently making an impression against top players is still considered a significant step forward in the career of the 20-year-old, who is steadily establishing his position on the map of top-level tennis.