Daniil Medvedev learned a lesson he won’t soon forget at the Australian Open, thanks to American teenager Learner Tien.
The 19-year-old held off what would have been an epic comeback to claim the biggest victory of his young career, coming out of qualifying to stun the three-time finalist, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-7 ( 8), 1-6, 7-6 (7) and reached the third round, closing out the four-hour, 49-minute victory just before 3 a.m. local time.
“I know I made it a lot harder than it could have been, but, you know, whatever!” » » joked the tired American on the field.
Hailing from Irvine, California, the left-handed Tien had been a formidable junior, reaching the boys’ singles finals at the Australian Open and US Open in 2023, losing the latter to none other than Joao Fonseca, who was itself a surprise. in the first round against No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev.
Tien then finished runner-up to Fonseca at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, having beaten all of the Top 3 seeds, Arthur Fils, Alex Michelsen and Jakub Mensik along the way. December’s result points to a good start to 2025: after winning three qualifying matches, he won his first Grand Slam main draw match against Camilo Ugo Carabelli to draw Medvedev for his most prestigious match to date .
