Learner Tien

Learner Tien

Tien at the 2024 US Open
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Irvine, California, United States
Born	(2005-12-02) December 2, 2005 (age 19)
Turned pro	2023
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand) [1]
College	University of Southern California [2]
Coach	Eric Diaz
Prize money	US $382,234
Singles
Career record	4–5 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 114 (November 11, 2024)
Current ranking	No. 122 (December 2, 2024) [1]
Grand Slam singles results
US Open	1R (2022, 2023, 2024)
Doubles
Career record	0–0 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 754 (November 20, 2023)
Current ranking	No. 1435 (December 2, 2024) [1]
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
US Open	1R (2024)
Last updated on: 2 December 2024.

Learner Tien (born December 2, 2005) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 114 achieved on November 11, 2024. He also has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 754 achieved on November 20, 2023.

Early life

Tien was born in Irvine, California to Vietnamese parents. His first name, Learner, is inspired by his mother's profession — a math teacher. ^[3] His sister is named Justice after his father's profession — an attorney.

Tien started playing tennis as an infant, and won his first tournament at the Racquet Club of Irvine at the age of 5. ^[4]

Junior career

Tien had a very successful career as a junior, compiling a 76-23 win-loss record and reaching two junior Grand Slam finals, at the 2023 Australian Open ^[5] and the 2023 US Open, culminating with a ranking of world No. 4 in singles. He also reached the world No. 4 ranking in doubles, compiling a 36-18 win-loss record and winning the 2023 Australian Open, partnering Cooper Williams. ^[5]

Junior Grand Slam singles results

Australian Open: F (2023)
French Open: SF (2023)
Wimbledon: QF (2022, 2023)
US Open: F (2023)

Junior Grand Slam doubles results

Australian Open: W (2023)
French Open: QF (2023)
Wimbledon: 2R (2022)
US Open: 2R (2022)

Professional career

2022-2023: Junior National champion, Major debut

At just 16 years old, Tien won the 2022 USTA Boys 18s National Championship, which earned him a wildcard into the main draw of the 2022 US Open. This made him the youngest player to compete in the men’s singles main draw at the US Open since a then-16-year-old Donald Young (also the champion at Kalamazoo) played in the 2005 US Open, and also the first player aged 16 to compete since Zachary Svajda in 2019. ^[6] He lost in four sets to 32nd seed Miomir Kecmanović.

In August 2023, he received a wildcard into the 2023 US Open but lost to Frances Tiafoe in the first round. ^[7]

2024: First Challenger titles & ATP quarterfinal, top 125

In July, Tien also received a wildcard for the 2024 Cranbrook Tennis Classic in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan where he lifted his maiden Challenger title. He became the youngest American Challenger champion since 2016, when an 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe won in Granby, Canada. ^{[8] [9]} He also won the M25 in Lakewood, California, increasing his winning streak to 25. ^{[10] [11]} At the end of July, a week later, he again made the quarterfinals at the 2024 Chicago Men's Challenger and reached the top 250 in the rankings on 29 July 2024. He reached his second Challenger semifinal of the season, defeating eight seed Hong Seong-chan. ^[12] He lost to Yunchaokete Bu, ending a 28-match winning streak across ITF and ATP Challenger tournaments. A week later, he also made the quarterfinals at the 2024 Lexington Challenger but lost to Hugo Grenier. ^[13]

He secured a main draw wildcard for the US Open by winning the US Open wildcard challenge. ^{[14] [15] [16]} Ranked No. 231, Tien qualified for the main draw at the 2024 Winston-Salem Open. There he defeated fellow qualifier Tristan Schoolkate and upset ninth seed Fábián Marozsán ^[17] and Thiago Seyboth Wild to record his first three ATP Tour wins and reach his first ATP quarterfinal. He became the youngest American ATP tour-level quarterfinalist since Brandon Nakashima in 2020 (in Delray Beach). As a result he climbed 40 positions in the singles rankings to world No. 191 on 26 August 2024. ^[18]

He won his second Challenger title in Las Vegas, defeating Tristan Boyer, and moved up another 40 positions in the singles rankings to a new career-high of No. 151 on 16 September 2024. ^[19] He reached the top 125 in the rankings at world No. 124 on 14 October 2024 following another title at the Fairfield Challenger after playing a 39-minute final, the shortest championship match in Challenger history, against Bernard Tomic. He became the fourth American to win three ATP Challenger Tour titles before his 19th birthday after Taylor Fritz, Andy Roddick and Sam Querrey. ^{[20] [21]} As a result on 26 November 2024, at 18 years old, Tien qualified for the 2024 Next Generation ATP Finals. ^{[22] [23]}

ATP Challenger and ITF World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 12 (10 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend ATP Challenger Tour (3–1) ITF WTT (7–1)

Finals by surface Hard (10–2) Clay (0–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Jul 2024	Cranbrook Tennis Classic, USA	Challenger	Hard	Nishesh Basavareddy	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	2–0	Sep 2024	Las Vegas Challenger, USA	Challenger	Hard	Tristan Boyer	7–5, 1–6, 6–3
Win	3–0	Oct 2024	Fairfield Challenger, USA	Challenger	Hard	Bernard Tomic	6–0, 6–1
Loss	3–1	Nov 2024	Knoxville Challenger, USA	Challenger	Hard (i)	Christopher Eubanks	5–7, 6–7(9–11)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 2022	M15 Fayetteville, USA	WTT	Hard	Toby Samuel	3–6, 3–6
Win	1–1	Jun 2023	M15 Irvine, USA	WTT	Hard	Quinn Vandecasteele	7–5, 6–2
Win	2–1	Oct 2023	M15 Norman, USA	WTT	Hard (i)	Duarte Vale	7–6(8–6), 6–2
Win	3–1	Nov 2023	M25 Columbus, USA	WTT	Hard (i)	Jacob Fearnley	2–0 ret.
Win	4–1	May 2024	M15 San Diego, USA	WTT	Hard	Karue Sell	6–7(6–8), 6–2, 6–2
Win	5–1	Jun 2024	M15 San Diego, USA	WTT	Hard	Alafia Ayeni	6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–4
Win	6–1	Jun 2024	M15 Rancho Santa Fe, USA	WTT	Hard	Matthew Summers	6–3, 6–1
Win	7–1	Jul 2024	M15 Lakewood, USA	WTT	Hard	Govind Nanda	6–3, 6–3

Doubles: 4 (4 titles)

Legend ATP Challenger Tour (0–0) ITF WTT (4–0)

Finals by surface Hard (4–0) Clay (0–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Nov 2022	M15 East Lansing, USA	WTT	Hard (i)	Alex Michelsen	Joshua Goodger Emile Hudd	6–4, 6–3
Win	2–0	Jun 2023	M15 Irvine, USA	WTT	Hard	Bryce Nakashima	Joshua Goodger Matthew Summers	6–4, 6–2
Win	3–0	Nov 2023	M25 Austin, USA	WTT	Hard	Edward Winter	Sebastian Gorzny Brayden Michna	4–6, 6–3, [10–2]
Win	4–0	May 2024	M15 San Diego, USA	WTT	Hard	Sebastian Gorzny	Robin Catry Braden Shick	1–6, 6–3, [10–1]

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	2023	Australian Open	Hard	Alexander Blockx	1–6, 6–2, 6–7(9–11)
Loss	2023	US Open	Hard	João Fonseca	6–4, 4–6, 3–6

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	2023	Australian Open	Hard	Cooper Williams	Alexander Blockx João Fonseca	6–4, 6–4

References

1. "Learner Tien". ATP Tour . Retrieved January 27, 2023.
2. "Learner Tien - Men's Tennis - USC Athletics".
3. "Irvine teenager Learner Tien finds positives after loss at U.S. Open tennis tournament". The Orange County Register . August 30, 2022.
4. "Elliott: Learner Tien's rise has tennis world noticing Southern California left-hander". Los Angeles Times. July 16, 2023.
5. "Alexander Blockx, Alina Korneeva win Australian Open junior titles". ESPN. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
6. "New Kalamazoo Champ Learner Tien To Join Elite Group of 16-Year-Olds To Play The U.S. Open". World Tennis Magazine. August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
7. "Five Things To Know About Learner Tien". August 27, 2023.
8. "Tien Wins Cranbrook Tennis Classic, Earns Maiden Challenger Title". July 8, 2024.
9. "Challenger Q2: #NextGenATP teens Schwaerzler, Debru shine". ATPTour. July 17, 2024. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
10. "LEARNER TIEN WINS FIFTH STRAIGHT PRO TITLE AS MATCH WINNING STREAK EXTENDS TO 25 AT FINAL SOCAL PRO SERIES EVENT". USTA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. July 14, 2024.
11. "No second guessing, just learning: Tien's recipe for Challenger success". July 19, 2024.
12. "My Wimbledon 14U Recap; Tien Rolls on at Chicago Challenger; All-USA Semifinals in Dallas and Champaign; House Settlement Tennis Roster Limits Set; 2025 NCAA Individual Championships Slated for USTA National Campus". July 26, 2024.
13. "Tennis. Lexington (CH) - Hugo Grenier est tombé face au jeune brésilien Fionseca" (in French). August 1, 2024.
14. @Tennis_Now (August 12, 2024). "Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien have clinched wild cards into the @usopen" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
15. "Learner Tien's tennis win streak earned a U.S. Open wildcard – now just one win will do". The New York Times. August 26, 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
16. "Inside Learner Tien's mindset: 'I just kept plugging away'". ATPTour. August 26, 2024. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
17. "#NextGenATP Tien continues dream ATP debut, ousts Marozsan in Winston-Salem". August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
18. "Michelsen, Tien fly #NextGenATP flag in Winston-Salem". August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
19. @damiankust (September 15, 2024). "Learner Tien wins his 2nd Challenger title, beating Tristan Boyer 7-5 1-6 6-3 in Las Vegas. The 18yo is 44-7 across all levels this season. Boyer had his chances with a 5-3 lead in the 1st, but you gotta redline to beat Tien with such an all-out attack style and he got impatient" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
20. "Tien topples Tomic at Fairfield Challenger, joins Fritz & Roddick in American history". ATPTour. October 14, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
21. "My Influences: Tien trusting the process & bouncing off Michelsen". NextGenFinals. October 15, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
22. "Learner Tien, Luca Van Assche qualify for Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF | ATP Tour | Tennis".
23. "Learner Tien, Luca Van Assche qualify for Jeddah". NextGenFinals. November 26, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.

External links

• Learner Tien at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Learner Tien at the International Tennis Federation