Learner Tien enjoyed the best week of his career so far in China, reaching his first ATP Tour final.
The 19-year-old American performed superbly throughout the week, defeating Lorenzo Musetti and Daniil Medvedev on his way to the final.
Ultimately, the young star, who is being coached by former French Open champion Michael Chang, lost to world number two Jannik Sinner in the final.
However, this result was nothing to be ashamed of: the 19-year-old should take great pride in his ability to match up effectively against some of the ATP Tour’s best players.
Tien has now moved up to world number 36, making him the youngest player in the top 50 ahead of Brazilian ace Joao Fonseca.
Tien had been tipped as a star of the future by many tennis fans, but it seems the future has already arrived.
Learner Tien’s ability to raise his game against the top players is described as ‘not normal’
Tien put the world on notice in China, and this has been recognised by the hosts of Australian Open TV.
Tennis analyst Levi Huddleston kicked off the discussion, noting an impressive stat Tien now holds: only Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have recorded more victories against top 10 players in 2025 than the American.
Huddleston said: “He has gotten the most wins off the top 10 except for any other player other than Jannik and Alcaraz.
“It’s interesting so you have to wonder what is Tien doing. We took a little bit of a look. He is just playing above his level when he plays the top 10.
“Maybe there is a bit of freedom in that when you are like okay, I am playing someone and I don’t have anything to hold back.
“But he is beating his average. Usually, you would think if you are playing someone in the top 10 some of your stats are going to drop a bit, because they are so good, but his stats actually elevate.”
Huddleston then delved into the positive statistics behind Tien’s success on Tour this year.
He continued: “It’s pretty interesting. In rallies which go really long, so over nine shots, he wins 70 per cent of those rallies when facing top 10 players.
He is a talented player, and he has this mentality where he converts on break points. He has a 48 per cent break-point conversion rate versus the Tour average, which is 38 per cent, and that’s against the top 10!”
However, Tien’s game is far from perfect, as to be expected for a 19-year-old player who has plenty of time to improve on the Tour.
“So I think time will tell to see where Tien does go, because there are some weaknesses to his game, which I think Sinner exposed a little bit,” Huddleston added.
“He doesn’t have the strongest serve, he is about 20 kmph below tour average there, so he has room to improve in terms of serve speed, so there is some stuff he needs to work on.
“His double faults often are higher than his aces, so he could improve the serve. But he is 19, so I think he has the mentality of someone much older.
John Fitzgerald, former doubles world number one and Australian Davis Cup captain, labelled the American’s ability to raise his game against better players as ‘not normal.’
He said: “I was very impressed with him. I saw the Medvedev match last year [Editor’s note – the match was actually at the 2025 Australian Open] and he seems like a really nice kid.
“He is going to be a great addition to the men’s tour, he already is. I find those stats quite amazing that he can perform better against the better players. That is not normal.
“What that tells you is that when the big moments arrive it looks like he has what it takes.”
Learner Tien’s opportunity
Now ranked 36th in the world, Learner Tien has the opportunity to qualify for a Grand Slam as a seed for the first time in his career.
If the American can sustain his good form throughout the rest of 2025, he will likely move into the seeded positions ahead of the 2026 Australian Open.
If this scenario were to play out, it would be a heartwarming development: Tien captured his first Grand Slam main-draw victory at the 2025 Australian Open by defeating Daniil Medvedev in five sets.
Tien’s next tournament is the Shanghai Masters, where he faces Serbian player Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round.
The match is scheduled to take place on Friday.
