Who is Learner Tien?

One of the most intriguing matches of the 2025 Australian Open ended in the wee hours of Friday morning. That is when American qualifier Learner Tien of Irvine, California. the 121st ranked player in the world, stunned the fifth ranked player Daniil Medvedev of Russia, the 2021 United States Open champion, 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 1-6, 7-6. The match lasted four hours and 49 minutes and ended at 2:55 AM local time.

You may not know much about Tien. Heading into the Australian Open, I did not know anything about him either. However what we saw in two was a courageous 19-year-old with a consistent backhand, who was not afraid whatsoever to play an opponent ranked 116 spots ahead of him in the world rankings.

One key statistic in the match was double faults. Medvedev had nine compared to only four for Tien.

Tien had played the last three United States Opens, but lost in the first round each time. He was beaten by the 32nd seed Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia in 2022, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3, American Frances Tiafoe, the 10th seed, in 2023, 6-2, 7-5, 6-1, and the 24th seed Arthur Fils of France, the 24th seed in 2024, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Tien’s first grand slam win in his career came in the first round of the 2025 Australian Open. That his when he beat Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Next up for Tien is Corentin Moutet of France. In the second round, Moutet beat another American qualifier, Mitchell Krueger, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-4.

Tien is the only qualifier left in the men’s draw. There are no qualifiers left in the women’s draw either. In December, Tien reached the ATP Next Generation Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, before losing to Joao Fonseca of Brazil, 2-4, 4-3, 4-0, 4-2.