Learner Tien says what he learned from losing to Jannik Sinner in China after winning his first title

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Learner Tien won his first ATP Tour title on Saturday after defeating British star Cameron Norrie in the Metz Open final.

Tien, 19, rallied from 1-5 in the final set tiebreak to win the contest 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.

The teenager, who also beat Matteo Berrettini and surprise package Vitaliy Sachko, has risen to world number 28 on the ATP live rankings.

Not long ago, Tien contested his first ATP Tour final against Jannik Sinner at the China Open.

Tien, who lost to Sinner in straight sets, shared what he had gleaned from that final after defeating Norrie on Saturday.

Learner Tien says the China Open final helped with his nerves before playing Cameron Norrie

The American, coached by former French Open champion Michael Chang, spoke to the ATP after defeating Norrie.

Tien revealed that his loss to Jannik Sinner helped to settle his nerves before playing Norrie on Saturday.

“I think it honestly helped with the nerves a little bit,” Tien said.

“I obviously felt some nerves today playing for my first title, but I think just being in that setting at that stage of the tournament, I think it helped me a lot with just pre-match jitters and stuff like that.”

The American, who recently made the Paris Masters round of 32, proved too strong for Norrie when it mattered most.

And Tien can take great pride in his performance: defeating Norrie is no simple feat, as Carlos Alcaraz understands.

Learner Tien will qualify as a seeded player for the 2026 Australian Open

With Tien’s rise to world number 28, he will be seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career when he competes at the 2026 Australian Open.

Tien’s success in Metz has seen him rise 10 places in the rankings, above the likes of Valentin Vacherot, Frances Tiafoe and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Speaking about cracking the top 30 for the first time, Tien told the ATP: “That’s great, actually. I wasn’t sure what my exact ranking would be after this week.

“But it was a bonus, honestly, for me to be seeded in Australia. It’s something that I was really not trying to keep in mind during matches and kind of add extra pressure on myself. So, that’s great.”

Tien’s rise has been remarkable, considering he was forced to go through Australian Open qualifying in 2025.

He will hope to produce further shocks at the tournament in 2026, following his defeat of Daniil Medvedev at this year’s event.