"Honestly, I don't really remember my tournament here last year that well. I was in and out pretty quick. But 12 months is a lot of runway for a young player whose all-court ingenuity, appetite for improvement and ability to shed setbacks have generated lift. So far this year, everything has felt good. And I'm feeling pretty comfortable."
"The partnership formed only after Wimbledon, arranged through Tien's agent, despite the two having lived in the same Southern California tennis orbit for years without ever meeting. The impact was immediate. During the final stretch of 2025, Tien reached Beijing's China Open final, captured his maiden tour title at Metz, France, and closed the season by winning the Next Gen ATP Finals - results that marked him as one of the tour's fastest-rising young stars."
Learner Tien, a 20-year-old left-hander from Irvine, barely made an impression at the BNP Paribas Open a year ago, exiting in the first round while feeling unwell. Over the past 12 months, his career trajectory accelerated dramatically following a coaching shift midway through 2024 when he began working with Michael Chang, the 1989 French Open champion. This partnership, formed after Wimbledon through his agent, produced immediate results. In the final stretch of 2024, Tien reached the China Open final, won his maiden ATP title at Metz, and captured the Next Gen ATP Finals. These achievements marked him as one of the tour's fastest-rising young stars, and he entered 2025 with renewed confidence and momentum.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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