Learner Tien had it. He realized this as he ready for his first full 12 months on the ATP Tour.
He had simply turned 19 and had simply completed runner-up on the 2024 ATP Subsequent Era Finals. He took residence three Challenger Tour trophies. However as he ready to play within the Australian Open qualifying draw, one thing occurred to him.
He misplaced extra tournaments than he gained.
He wasn’t used to it – he had had success on the decrease ranges and as a junior – and wasn’t enthusiastic about it in any respect. However he knew it was one thing he needed to come to phrases with with the intention to make a dwelling as an expert tennis participant.
“I by no means wish to be glad or OK with a loss. I simply wished myself to know that one loss does not imply the tip of the world,” Tien instructed ESPN this spring. “There are not any straightforward video games as a result of we’re taking part in in opposition to nice gamers. There are various weeks in a 12 months, and one loss does not outline the 12 months.”
He wasn’t utterly bought on the brand new thought, however he did not should be at first. Tien certified for the Australian Open for the primary time in Melbourne. It was there — and most notably, his five-set second-round upset of former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev — that he went from digital unknown to burgeoning star. Ultimately, he superior to the fourth spherical and rapidly rose within the rankings.
Since his breakthrough final season, Tien has continued to rise within the rankings to a present career-high 18th place. He has additionally racked up additional victories, together with profitable his first ATP title on the Moselle Open in November and reaching the quarterfinals of the 2026 Australian Open. However, as he anticipated, there have been additionally many losses and challenges. After dropping within the opening spherical of final season, they may purpose for his or her first win at Roland Garros on Tuesday. Dealing with former top-20 participant Cristian Garin and doubtlessly dealing with tenth seed Flavio Cobolli within the third spherical, it will not be straightforward, though momentum is on his facet. After opening the European clay court docket season with 2-2 information in Madrid and Rome, Tien reached the primary clay court docket remaining of his ATP profession in Geneva final week, defeating Mariano Navone 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday to assert the title.
And irrespective of how he fares in Paris, it is clear that Tien’s future is vibrant.
“I feel he is a really proficient participant,” Novak Djokovic stated at Indian Wells in March. “He is had some nice performances and he is nonetheless very younger. … He appears to have put an excellent workforce collectively round him, and he is clearly from America and has numerous assist from the USTA and all the things that comes with it.
“He has all of the conditions and precursors to be a extremely good tennis participant. So it is actually as much as him now, however time will inform.”
Tien is lengthy He’s thought of by these round him to be a very wonderful tennis participant.
Former world quantity 11 Sam Querrey has identified Tien since he was 9 or 10 years previous. All through his skilled profession, Querrey steadily practiced with former World No. 21 Steve Johnson on the USTA Coaching Heart in Carson, California. Tien, who lived in close by Irvine, typically visited the location together with his father, Cuong.
Initially, it wasn’t essentially Tien’s sport that caught with each Querrey and Johnson, however his character.
“We all the time stated he was a really annoying particular person,” Querrey instructed ESPN. “That was a praise we gave him. There weren’t numerous younger children there, so he was watching us play, and he was very mature for his age.”
And whereas different dad and mom of up-and-coming younger tennis gamers typically peppered the professionals with infinite questions on what it might take to get to the subsequent degree, Tien’s father, his first coach, by no means did. Question stated she discovered their relaxed strategy refreshing and actually preferred having Tien by her facet.
Finally, by the point Tien was 12 or 13, Querrey and Johnson had him overwhelmed. Querrey remembers working towards two-on-one with him a number of instances. Tien and Johnson had been on one facet of the online and Querrey was on the opposite facet.
“He was a wise participant and was in a position to hold in from the baseline,” stated Querrey, now a tennis analyst and host of the podcast “Nothing Main” with Johnson and John Isner.
In an interview with ATP, Johnson praised Tien’s “unbelievable” timing and stated he knew he was particular. “Even at that age, you could possibly inform one thing was completely different as a result of our ball did not have an effect on him the best way most 12-, 13-year-old children do,” Johnson stated.
Nevertheless, regardless of his admiration for Tien, Querrey was much less sure than Johnson about Tien’s future in tennis. Recalling when Tien was a 13-year-old “5 ft 1 inch tall with a small mullet,” he thought that whereas he may finally grow to be an excellent faculty participant, he was prone to “fade out” like “95 % of children” do. Querrey stopped coaching with Carson quickly after and misplaced contact with Tien.
Inside just a few years, he remembered his former younger coaching associate.
“Generally I regarded up and thought, ‘Oh, Lerner gained the Challenger?'” Yeah, he is fairly good. Good for him. ‘And like everybody else, actually, I really feel like I regarded up on the 2025 Australian Open and when he beat Medvedev I assumed, “Wow, I did not suppose that was Lerner.” that good. ‘”
Whereas maybe not receiving as a lot consideration as different promising younger juniors, Tien reached the boys’s singles finals on the Australian Open and US Open in 2023 and gained the doubles title in Australia that very same 12 months. As a junior, he ranked as excessive as 4th place.
Tien, the No. 1 recruit within the nation, dedicated to the College of Southern California and joined the workforce halfway by means of the 2022-23 season, shortly after getting back from Melbourne. He rapidly turned a member of the Trojans, taking part in on the No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles groups, however made the choice to show skilled on the finish of his first semester. In the summertime of the identical 12 months, he gained his first ITF title.
The next July, at age 18, he gained his first Challenger title on the Cranbrook Open, turning into the youngest American to win a title at that degree since Francis Tiafoe in 2016. He gained two extra Challenger titles earlier than the tip of the season, ending 6-0, 6-1, becoming a member of Andy Roddick, Taylor Fritz and Querrey as the one Individuals to win thrice at this circuit earlier than turning 19. His victory over Bernard Tomic within the Fairfield Challenger in simply 39 minutes made it the quickest championship match within the circuit’s historical past.
In August of the identical 12 months, he made it by means of the qualifying rounds on the Winston-Salem Open and certified for the ATP fundamental match for the primary time. He then turned the youngest American to succeed in the quarterfinals on the ATP degree since Brandon Nakashima in 2020. At first of 2024, he was ranked 454th, however by the tip of the 12 months he had risen to 122nd.
So, going again to the place it began, Tien was very used to profitable. And he thought it might be simpler if he understood that dropping is part of life within the massive leagues — in any case, everybody however Jannik Sinner has misplaced extra tournaments this season than gained. Logically it is smart, however he nonetheless struggled. Within the spring of 2025, he misplaced three straight, together with his residence match in Indian Wells. The tough lifetime of touring everywhere in the world was taking its toll.
“Regardless that I instructed myself that, I felt like I used to be caught within the mindset that typically dropping a sport can really feel like the tip of your life,” Tien stated. “I feel along with being away from residence for longer intervals of time than I’ve ever been earlier than, I simply wasn’t used to being away from residence that a lot. I misplaced a lot, and all of it added up, and a few weeks had been powerful.”
In any case, sooner or later final season — Tien is not certain precisely when — he started to see losses as alternatives for progress. He wished to take advantage of every match and use each match as a chance to get higher. As soon as he found that barely completely different perspective, all the things modified. For sure, he stated, “profitable felt even higher.”
In July, Tien started working with former world No. 2 and 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang. In an interview with ATP earlier this 12 months, Chan known as Tien a “very particular particular person” and praised his preventing spirit and never-give-up perspective. Their partnership quickly bore fruit. Tian reached the finals of the 500-level China Open and gained the trophy in November, defeating Cameron Norrie 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6) in Metz. He ended the season with the ATP Subsequent Era Finals title.
Tien reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January, proving 2025 was no fluke. He defeated Medvedev in straight units within the fourth spherical, his third victory in 12 months. Tien then misplaced within the quarterfinals to third-seeded and three-time main finalist Alexander Zverev in a two-set tiebreak. Zverev, who defeated Tien at Roland Garros final season, praised his opponent’s apparent enchancment in such a brief time period.
“I felt there was nowhere on the court docket to hit the ball and I felt that the hazard was out,” Zverev stated after the sport. “(Velocity) does not matter, peak does not matter. Even when I used to be hitting quick, I felt like together with his racquet he was utilizing my velocity to vary the path of the ball. If I used to be hitting a bit slower, he would have gotten the ball earlier and been extra aggressive himself.”
“I felt like there wasn’t actually a spot on the court docket the place he may put the ball there and restart the rally. That was very spectacular. That wasn’t the case final 12 months, so he is grown quite a bit in that regard. I additionally suppose you need to give credit score to Michael Chang. I feel what he is doing with him is phenomenal. Yeah, he is a hell of a participant proper now.”
Querrey can also be shocked by Tien’s progress and tennis IQ.
“His decision-making within the courtroom is among the greatest I’ve ever seen in my life,” Querrey stated. “I really feel like each time he goes for the ball, he is very clear about the place he’ll hit it and what he’ll do. … His readability of thoughts about play is healthier than anybody else on this planet, and that is extremely particular for a 20-year-old.”
Pink clay has been a notoriously tough floor for American males in current many years, and nobody has made it previous the semifinals since Andre Agassi gained the title in 1999, however expectations for Tien at Roland Garros weren’t that prime till his spectacular efficiency in Geneva. However along with profitable the trophy, he proved himself with wins over former French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas and final 12 months’s quarterfinalist Alexander Bublik. He turned the youngest participant to win a tour-level title on clay since Chan in 1989.
“I actually struggled on this floor final 12 months,” Tien stated after his win. “Coming into this 12 months, I used to be actually attempting to place final 12 months out of my head. I misplaced just a few dangerous video games and was a bit upset. However the individuals round me had been very supportive and believed in me greater than I did in myself. I am actually pleased to win my first title on clay right here.”
For Tien, there are nonetheless questions on Glass. He reached the quarterfinals of final season’s Mallorca Open and gained as soon as at Wimbledon, however he does not have a lot expertise on the bottom. Nevertheless, there are few total factors to defend over the subsequent two months, so there’s loads of room for an increase within the rankings. And expectations will soar when the tour returns to arduous courts after Wimbledon. However irrespective of the consequence or the floor, Tien has discovered a brand new option to outline success this 12 months.
“I feel leaving no stone unturned is the most important factor for me,” Tien stated. “Clearly, for those who really feel such as you put your coronary heart and soul into the match and also you lose by three match factors, even if you cannot do it anymore, it nonetheless feels horrible, and that is simply the best way it’s.
“However actually, if I give it some thought rationally, so long as I really feel like I’ve finished all the things I can and I’ve finished all the things else I can to get higher, I am pleased it doesn’t matter what.”
