It’s been a whirlwind 2025 for Learner Tien.
The 19-year-old began the year with his first win at a Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January before becoming the youngest man since Rafael Nadal in 2005 to reach the fourth round.
In that same tournament, he announced himself to the world when he claimed his maiden Top 10 win by defeating Daniil Medvedev.
Hailing from Irvine, California, Tien is the latest American star to emerge in recent years.
He honed his passion on community courts in Irvine under his father, and his early passion for the sport quickly turned into quality.
“I started when I was little older than one,” Tien told the Guardian earlier this year.
“I think (it was) one of my dad’s old rackets that were lying around.
“So they didn’t really even expect for me or my sister to start playing tennis that young.
“It’s not like they were prepped with little kiddy rackets or anything.
“My parents would play recreationally. I got to the courts a couple times a week, just with my dad, just watching him play in random men’s leagues.
“So that’s kind of how I got introduced. Eventually my dad started taking me to the courts, randomly feeding me balls from a pretty young age, and then it kind of just progressed from there on.”
Tien went on to excel in junior tournaments and secured a spot in the prestigious United States Tennis Association youth development programme.
Tien announced himself to the world with his Australian Open run in JanuaryGETTYAlthough tennis for a while wasn’t Tien’s priority, he had entered high school early at the age of 11 after being homeschooled by his mom, who named him Learner in homage to her profession as a teacher.
“The tennis wasn’t really in the picture yet,” Tien says.
“My sister is a few years older than me, so my mom retired when my sister was born, so she was already just at home with my sister starting to teach my sister. So she just thought she’d teach me, too.
“I started school young. I would work through the year. I wouldn’t have summer break and stuff like that. I would just work throughout the year. So I just naturally finished those early grades pretty quick. And then, yeah, I didn’t see really a reason just to stop me there. So I just went into high school.
“I obviously like tennis more than I like school, so it was a good motivation for me to kind of get away from school just to go and play. But throughout juniors, my parents did a very good job, honestly, of not putting a lot of pressure on me to win”
Now it’s June 2025, and tennis is definitely Tien’s priority.
Tien is out to take Wimbledon by storm as a teenagerGettyFollowing the Australian Open, the 19-year-old stepped onto the famous clay of Roland-Garros, where he automatically qualified for with his World No. 67 ranking.
That French Open dream was cut short, as Tien faced a mammoth task in the first round with World No.3 and last year’s finalist Alexander Zverev standing opposite him.
He was beaten in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
But fast forward a month, and Tien has fared better in the first round of another Grand Slam.
On the opening day of Wimbledon, the young American cruised to victory against fellow countryman Nishesh Basavareddy.
He secured a 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 win on Court 6 to advance to the second round at the All England Club.
“To play here is really cool. I think if you told both of us a long time ago that this would happen, we would both be really happy,” Tien said, after his first win at Wimbledon that came over a friend he first met on court at Under-8 level.
“I honestly just think that it’s cool we got to play each other here on this stage. We’ve been playing for a long time through juniors, national tournaments, challengers.”
Tien secured his first win at Wimbledon on the opening day of the 2025 tournamentTien, who will play Holger Rune or Nicolas Jarry next, is regarded as one of the brightest talents in tennis, and he has been touted as a future top 10 player.
Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT earlier this year, long-time broadcaster Jonathan Overend discussed how far the American can go.
“I think he’s a real talent, a real prospect. And the really exciting thing for tennis in 2025 is there’s a crop now of teenage talents,” Overend explained.
“And for a little while we’ve been looking down the rankings and thinking, ‘Okay, where are the really young players? Where are the breakthrough players?’
Tien has been touted as a potential future title challengerGetty“But last year was a breakthrough year. Not just Tien, Alex Michelsen also had a great year from the United States.
“We’ve got the young Brazilian, Joao Fonseca, who is potentially going to be a future world number one.
“I’d be maybe a little bit more confident in saying Fonseca is a future top 10 and potential grand slam champion than Tien. But champions come in different models.
“They’re not all the big, brash, big hitters. Fonseca can whack players off the court. We’ve seen that already.
Brazil’s Fonseca has also been touted as a future top 10 player alongside TienAFP“Tien, a little bit more crafty, might rely on those longer matches, the physicality of things, and his all-round stroke play.
“But there’s no doubt there are a lot of real teenage talents out there who are going to be challenging at the top of the men’s game.
“I’m not talking here top 50 players. I’m talking potential top 10 players in the not too distant future.”
Overend went on to suggest the likes of Tien, Fonseca and Michelsen can one day climb the rankings to lead a new generation of players.
He continued: “There are loads of them (young stars).
“And that’s what’s really exciting, because I think for the casual tennis fans, people have been saying for the last couple of years now, ‘What’s going to happen after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic?’
“You know, where are the next players? Well, the answer is there’s loads of them.
“They’re all over the place. They’re all around us. That’s what’s making this tennis season so exciting, that we’re now building a crop of players who could win the big titles in the next couple of years.”
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