Meet Learner Tien: The Teenage Tennis Prodigy Making Waves at the Australian Open. The rising star defeated former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev earlier this week before defeating Corentin Moutet this morning, could he soon rival Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz for a spot on the highest of mountains?
Most tennis players can only dream of achieving a top 50 world ranking during the course of their career, let alone getting through the first round of a Grand Slam, a particularly strenuous ask for any inexperienced player breaking through the tour. After all, competing in each of the four Grand Slams is where you will consistently find the world’s best all season long.
So naturally, when an unknown young player from the general public comes through three rounds of qualifiers and impressively defeats a former US Open champion in a 5-hour long battle after already playing a tough five-setter in the first round, people start raising their eyebrows and take notice. Spoiler alert: It doesn’t happen often.
This is the story of Learner Tien, an American-born prodigy to Vietnamese parents, who many avid tennis fans will remember from competing at the ATP Next Gen Finals amongst the world’s best young tennis rising stars, where he impressed more than just a few. As many global tennis superstars compete in the Australian Open after a long deserving break, it is a young Tien who is making waves in Melbourne after an impressive set of performances in the qualifiers.
He defeated the former world number one Daniil Medvedev in the second round on Thursday after a long-fought battle. Although Medvedev looked like he had an off-day at the office, the five-setter match between the Russian and the American didn’t even begin to cover half of the story: the teenager was on top and dominated the match with an impressive performance throughout. It truly is in Melbourne where the young American could make a name for himself.
His shot selection and decision-making impressed thousands of Australians watching the battle unfold between their eyes at 3 AM in the morning. On Saturday, he continued his run of form as he comfortably beat the Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-7 3-6 3-6, who never truly challenged the Californian teenager once. He will face the Italian player Lorenzo Sonego in the round of 16, who defeated another promising young talent in Joao Fonseca; would Tien manage to escape this tricky battle, he could definitely cement himself as one of the final four in the entire tournament.
On Saturday, Learner Tien made history, as he became the youngest man to reach the Australian Open round of 16 since Rafael Nadal in 2005. It wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea to suggest that he is set to rapidly rise across the ranks, given his sheer talent and drive to play a sport he clearly loves, we also think Tien has the capacity to become a future top 5 player in the world if he is consistent with his game. What we do know is that if he is at least an ounce as tenacious as Rafael Nadal ever was, then the future looks very bright for the young American teenager.