19-year-old Learner Tien arrived in Melbourne as the #16 seed in the Australian Open….Qualifying Tournament. Thursday, he continued high-wire act run into the Round of 32 by defeating Daniil Medvedev, the #5 seed in the Australian Open main draw. Knocking out Medvedev in a Five Set Thriller continued the magical run Tien has been on for over a week.
Big Success At Lower Levels
Before this week, the last time ATP Tour level victory for Tien came in August of 2024 when he knocked off Thiago Seyboth Wild at the ATP 250 level event in Winston-Salem.
While he did not play much at the ATP Tour Level, the American left-hander dominated at the lower levels. At one point in his 2024 run, he won 28 consecutive matches at the ITF and Challenger Tour levels. During the second half of 2024, he won Challenger titles at Bloomfield Hills, Las Vegas, and Fairfield.
Still, Fairfield, California is both figuratively and literally a long way from the courts at Melbourne Park and the main draw of the Australian Open.
Getting Through Qualifying
Despite tremendous success at the Challenger level, Tien did not make the cut for exemption into the main draw for the 2025 Australian Open. The young American arrived for the Qualifying Tournament ranked #121 in the world and needed to win three qualifying matches to reach the main draw.
Tien began his pixie dust run in Melbourne by narrowly escaping the first round of qualifying. As the #16 seed he survived being a set down to Frenchman Gregoire Barrere. Barrerre managed to push Tien toward the brink by keeping the second set tie-breaker tight for a while before the Tien escaped with the set and a short while later, the match. Tien won 4-6 7-6 6-1 to begin his wild ride in Melbourne.
After Barrere, Tien knocked off Juan Pablo Ficovich and Jozef Kovalik rather routinely in order to reach the main draw.
Surviving A Five Set Opener
Tien’s magical run through the first two rounds of the Australian Open have been anything but routine. In his opening round match, Tien spotted Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli a first set lead before taking the next two sets.
All in all, the young American double faulted 16 times and lost his serve seven times. Still, he was able to nudge past Carabelli 4-6 7-6 6-3 5-7 6-4.
Medvedev Thriller
Six months ago, Tien was playing ITF events against players outside the Top 1,000 in the world. Thursday, he squared off against former World #1 and holder of 20 ATP Tour titles, Daniil Medvedev. The match was an instant classic.
Tien immediately grabbed Medvedev’s attention by grabbing the first set 6-4, using a net-cord winner to win set point. The drama was just starting to build. He then took what looked to be a commanding lead by nabbing the second set tiebreaker for a 2-0 set lead.
It looked like the teen may walk away with a straight set shocker, but it was not that simple. Medvedev fought off match point in the third by firing an ace to level the tiebreaker before wrestling the set away and staying alive. Medvedev then rolled through the fourth set to move to the decider. Tien managed to keep his nerves under control and outlasted the megastar to narrowly claim the fifth set tiebreaker 10-7.
Tien’s marathon win took nearly five hours and included some amazing statistics. The foes combined to fire 105 winners, 53 for Tien and 52 by Medvedev. They also committed an astonishing 168 unforced errors, 79 by the winner and 89 by the loser. Finally, Medvedev actually won 188 points to Tien’s 182. A great match.
Next…
After surviving back-to-back five-set matches, the Tien will meet France’s Coretin Moutet in the third round. Moutet is ranked #69 and has had relatively little trouble advancing to Round 3. Is Tien’s magic about to run out? After the way he’s played the last week, and the last year–don’t bet on it.
Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
