Michael Chang has compared Learner Tien to himself when he was the same age.
Chang has coached Tien since July last year, and has helped the 20-year-old American to win two ATP titles and reach the Australian Open quarterfinals.
Tien is still yet to achieve the same Grand Slam success as Chang, who won Roland Garros at just 17 years old.
After working with Tien for nearly a year, Chang has revealed who he thinks was the more complete player at the same age.
Michael Chang claims Learner Tien is more complete than he was
One of the big improvements Tien has made under Chang is his clay court game, having won only one of his seven matches on the surface last year.
Tien has showcased the improvements he has made on clay, including winning a title at the Geneva Open just last week.
When asked about Tien’s progress on clay, Chang revealed that he took him to the desert during the off-season last year.
“Yeah, I mean Learner in some aspects is similar, there’s not a whole lot of Californians who all of a sudden they hop on the dirt and they’re like ‘Wow, I love this surface!’,” Chang said on The Big T Podcast.
“I knew of Learner’s record this year in the clay and how much he struggled, so during the off-season this year I actually took him down the desert for a few days just to get on the clay, just to try and cut that learning curve.
“Because now with the way the structures are for the Masters 1000, there is no more training block for the clay court season like there normally is. So knowing that, we spent a few days on the clay just to try and get his feet wet and try to give him a little intro.
“This year he was supposed to play in Barcelona, we ended up taking that week off just to spend another extra week on the dirt. You know, he had a decent showing in Rome and he’s been getting better and better, and obviously last week was a great confidence booster in winning Geneva.”
Who is the most shocking Grand Slam champion ever?
You never know what might happen…
When continuing to be asked about Tien, Chang claimed that he is actually more of a complete player than he was at the same age, citing the specific improvements he has made to his game.
“We’ve worked on a lot of different aspects of his game, you know I think Learner’s a much more complete player than I was at 20 years old…Well, but I think I won a lot of my matches through speed, through ground game, I didn’t win that much at the net, I didn’t have a huge serve,” said Chang.
“You know, Learner’s got a big serve now. He’s not kind of spinning that serve in anymore, so the serve has become a weapon, I think he’s a great mover, he’s using his forehand a little bit more now to hurt guys, his backhand is still really steady and he’s able to win points at the net.
“I think one of his biggest strengths is really his mental toughness, I like to tell you that I had a lot of influence on that, but to be honest he was already mentally tough prior to me working with him.
“He’s a very cerebral player, so for me to talk with him strategically about opponents or about play is very easy and that coupled with a lot of great things about him, and like you said his very calm demeanour, I think, just makes him a great player.”
Michael Chang responds when asked when he thinks another American man can win Roland Garros
Only two American men have won the Roland Garros singles title since Chang’s victory in 1989, with Jim Courier winning two titles in Paris, while Andre Agassi claimed the title in 1999.
When asked if he thinks an American man can win the Roland Garros title again soon, Chang did not give a definitive answer, but claimed that US tennis is getting better.
“I don’t know, I don’t know, but I feel like each year the American contingent is getting better and making more of a dent on the tour,” said Chang. You know, we have got so many guys now in the top 100, so many dangerous guys.
“Hopefully it won’t be too long until we get our next Slam on the men’s side, certainly on this surface it’s not the favorite for the Americans, but there is no reason why we can’t do it.”
Who will win this year’s French Open?
The second Slam of the year…
Not only has it been a long time since the last American man won the Roland Garros singles title, but it also has been 23 years since Andy Roddick won the 2003 US Open, which is the last time any American man won a major singles title.
Tien could be the player to end this drought, as he saved two match points to beat Facundo Diaz Acosta and reach the third round of Roland Garros for the first time.
