19-year-old American Learner Tien upset No. 5 seeded Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (8), 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) at the 2025 Australian Open, in a 4-hour, 49-minute match that began Thursday night and ended early Friday morning at Margaret Court Arena. Tien now becomes the youngest American man to reach the Australian Open’s third round since 18-year-old Pete Sampras did so in 1990. Tien reached two junior Grand Slam singles finals in 2023, at the Australian Open and U.S. Open, and played one semester of college tennis at Southern California before turning pro that year. He previously lost in the first round in all three of his previous Grand Slam singles appearances at the U.S. Open.
Tien, ranked No. 121, converted 9 of 15 break point chances, while the Russian Medvedev converted just 10 of 24 break points opportunities. Medvedev held advantages of 20-7 in aces, but totaled 82 unforced errors, compared to Tien’s 79. Tien totaled 53 winners, compared to Medvedev’s 52 in the victory.
Tien said on the ESPN broadcast: “Belief is a big thing in succeeding and winning, in general. I always go on the court believing that there’s a chance I can win. I wasn’t trying to think of the match as anything more important than any other match I’ve ever played. I was just going to go out there, have fun, see what I could do. I know I made it a lot harder than maybe it could have been, but whatever. I was definitely hoping it wouldn’t go to a fifth-set breaker, but I’m just happy to get a win. I really appreciate all you guys staying out here. I know it’s late. I have no idea what time it is.”
Tien will go on to play No. 69 Corentin Moutet of France in the third round. No. 4 Taylor Fritz, No. 20 Ben Shelton, No. 8 Emma Navarro and No. 11 Danielle Collins were among the top Americans to advance to the third round of the 2025 Australian Open through wins Thursday in Melbourne.
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