Exclusive insight from Tien and his coach Eric Diaz

Eric Diaz remembers seeing Learner Tien for the first time when the lefty was 14 years old. There was an “aura” around him from a young age, which later helped Tien win the USTA Boys' 18s National Hard Court Championships twice, aged 16 and 17.

“Everybody anticipated some big things for him, but he was just a quiet kid, so it was always one of those where I was always kind of [thinking], ‘He's young, you never know’,” Diaz said. “But the more I got to know him, the more I recognised that the aura was there for a reason.”

Some players are known for their forehand or backhand and others their serve. Tien, who last month made the final at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, has made his brand not based on a shot or attribute. He is simply a winner.

Case in point: Tien’s first-round match at the Australian Open. It was a high-pressure environment for the 19-year-old, who was competing in his first major outside of the US Open and pursuing his maiden main draw victory at a Grand Slam tournament.

Tien, a qualifier, was facing Camilo Ugo Carabelli, who has never won a tour-level match on hard courts. But the American hit 16 double faults, forcing him to dig deep in a five-set clash that took nearly four hours. He only converted seven of 20 break points according to Infosys Stats, but got the job done to earn a second-round showdown with former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, which will take place Thursday evening inside Margaret Court Arena.

“The kid's a winner and he just finds different ways,” Diaz said. “A lot of guys, I think, when they have that type of day and you're just double faulting, I think a lot of guys would probably let it get the best of them. He just stays really calm and just finds a way.”

It All Adds Up

Tien told ATPTour.com: “It definitely feels good to know that you found a way, even in not the most ideal circumstances that you would want. But it's a good feeling, honestly, to problem solve and find a way through a match where you don't feel your best, maybe, and you know things are going wrong. So I take a good bit of confidence from it. I enjoy it.”

One year ago Tien was No. 473 in the PIF ATP Rankings and hit a roadblock when he missed more than three months due to a seventh-rib fracture.

The Californian won the first 28 matches following his comeback at the end of May and never looked back. He qualified for Jeddah, the premium 20-and-under season finale, and is now No. 107 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

“I think it's been amazing. I've been doing better than I could have hoped for if you told me this would happen a year ago. I try to take it all in because obviously the wins are so much better than the losses,” Tien said. “I try to enjoy them as much as I can. When you're winning, it's great. I personally don't really appreciate the winning as much until I lose, and it's like, ‘Wow, this is definitely a lot worse than two days ago, when I was winning’.

“I think just taking it in [is important] and being grateful for the success that I've had, and I guess not being satisfied with what I've had. And obviously [I am] pushing for more, but taking it all in and enjoying it as much as I can.” 

Tien, Diaz and the rest of the team are not content with the success. They know that he is only a teen with a long road ahead and to climb to the top of the sport requires constant improvement and evolution. That is why the group has continued honing Tien’s game despite all the winning he has done in the past seven months.

“I think sometimes when you're winning and having success, it can be hard to tweak things, just because you feel like it's working right now, why would I change it? But I've always had a pretty good mindset about it,” Tien said. “I like the fact that I still feel like I have stuff to work on and improve, just because if I didn't, that means I'd be at my ceiling right now.

“It's honestly nice for me to know that there's a lot of stuff that I can still improve, and that I'm having the success with some flaws that could be fixed.” 

Diaz explained that they have changed “a handful of things” in Tien’s game including work on his serve and forehand.

“It's one of those things where some days it's great, other days it's not. His second round of qualies, he hit 16 aces, two double faults. So pretty different than today. But for him to be able to win while not having a very good serve day, I think says a lot about his mentality and everything else,” Diaz said.

“It's just constant evolution. So he's trying to do some different stuff with his feet, some different stuff with his hands. Some days it's good. Some days it's not. Toss today was a little off. But that's how it goes when you're playing one of the biggest matches of your life and things aren't going perfectly, and you still find a way to win. It's a good thing.”

According to Tien, he is hitting his serve better now than ever before. Part of that has to do with the small changes he has been making to his motion, timing and tempo.

“I've been tweaking my serve a good bit… But still a lot of room to improve, and a lot of things that could still get better,” Tien said. “So it's nice to have some good serving days and know that there's still a lot more room to improve. I think that's probably been the biggest area of focus for me for a while, and it's coming along.”

Tien is conscious of not having too much of an ego and allowing the winning he has been doing to prevent him from working on his game. And as Diaz said, "you are never where you want to be".

“I think even when you're doing well, there are always bigger dreams or bigger hopes or bigger tournaments and stuff like that,” Diaz said. “So I think he's done well with having a really long-term vision. There's never really been a moment like, 'Oh, I'm too good to be working on anything', which is great.”