For the second time in 2025, Learner Tien of Irvine, California delivered a significant upset in men’s tennis. After knocking out the fifth seed and 2021 United States Open champion Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the second round of the Australian Open in a five set thriller, 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 1-6, 7-6, Tien knocked out the first seed, three-time grand slam finalist, and second ranked player in the world, Alexander Zverev of Germany, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the 2025 Mexican Open on Wednesday.
Tien, who is ranked 83rd in the world, was able to break Zverev three times in the match. Another key statistic was winning percentage on the second serve. Tien was at 61% and Zverev was only at 33%.
This was their first meeting head-to-head. It was the second notable win for Tien in Acapulco this week. In the first round, Tien best Cam Norrie of Great Britain, 7-6, 6-3.
It was the second time in his career that Tien played the 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist. On December 30, Tien lost to Norrie 6-3, 7-5. You can clearly see Tien’s development when he beats an opponent after losing to the same opponent only two months earlier.
Next up for Tien in the quarterfinals is the eighth seed Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic. This will be their first meeting head-to-head.
The other major storyline in the 2025 Mexican Open is the fact that three players withdrew from the tournament due to food poisoning. They were American Tommy Paul, Norway’s Casper Ruud and Denmark’s Holger Rune. Those players who reached the quarterfinals due to the withdrawals were Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico, Brandon Nakashima of the United States and Marcos Giron of the United States.
