American teenager Learner Tien achieved a significant upset early Friday morning by defeating three-time finalist Daniil Medvedev in a five-set match, securing his place in the third round of the Australian Open.
Coach Eric Diaz recalls his initial encounter with Tien when he was just 14 years old.
“Everybody anticipated some big things for him, but he was just a quiet kid, so it was always one of those where I was always kind of [thinking], ‘He’s young, you never know’,” Diaz said. “But the more I got to know him, the more I recognized that the aura was there for a reason.”
The 19-year-old qualifier, who secured the runner-up position at last month’s Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in Jeddah, demonstrated exceptional resilience in achieving a victory over the fifth seed. The match concluded with a score of 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-7(8), 1-6, 7-6(10-7) after an impressive four hours and 49 minutes, finishing at 2:55 a.m. in Melbourne.
Photo/AustralianOpen/X
One thought