19-year-old saves a MP to move to 1-0 in Blue Group

A trio of clutch tie-breaks on Wednesday secured a debut win for Learner Tien at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.

The fifth-seeded American sent a letter of intent with his 4-3(6), 4-3(3), 2-4, 2-4, 4-3(8) win over Jakub Mensik. In a battle between two Jeddah debutants, Tien stood firm to deny Mensik a miraculous comeback victory by saving a match point to move to 1-0 in Blue Group.

 

“It was tough playing a guy that serves that well,” Tien said of Mensik, who served 20 aces for the best serving performance in tournament history. “It puts a lot of pressure on your serve. When you get your chance, you have to capitalise, because you don’t know when you’re going to get more.

“I feel great. I was up two sets to love, and found myself break point down in the fifth, which was tough. I thought he played really well in the third and fourth, I felt like I didn’t just give it to him. So I just fought in the fifth and I am just really happy to get through it.”

The resolute, lefty style that has guided Tien to three ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2024 was on full display throughout their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. Yet the 19-year-old was particularly damaging in the second-set tie-break, during which he won four consecutive points from the back foot to move to an unassailable 6/2 lead. Exuding confidence, Tien capped a dominant breaker by landing an inch-perfect lob over Mensik.

 

“Fun to finish off the breaker with a rain drop lob there, pretty good tennis,” said Eric Diaz, the coach of Tien. “Tactically, his backhand is quite flat, so we liked some aspects of this match up [with Mensik]. He’s been going at it pretty well and sticking strong.”

Mensik, who had lost just one tour-level hard court match against an opponent outside of the Top 50 in 2024 prior to Wednesday, mustered some dominant serving to send the contest to ignite hopes of a fightback. Winning 84 per cent of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats, Mensik found himself with a match point, but came unstuck by yet another gutsy tie-break showing from Tien to cross the line in two hours, 15 minutes.

World No. 48 Mensik, the ATP Newcomer of the Year, will aim to secure his first win in Blue Group when he faces either top seed Arthur Fils or Joao Fonseca on Thursday.