American lefty to play Zeppieri or wild card Sun next at ATP 250

Learner Tien is competing as a seed for the first time at an ATP Tour event at the 2025 Lynk & Co Hangzhou Open. The #NextGenATP American showed why on Wednesday when he kept his cool to rally past Mariano Navone in an absorbing first-round clash.

Tien saved nine of 13 break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 triumph at the Chinese ATP 250. The seventh-seeded Tien won five of six games from 1-3 in the deciding set to seal a two-hour, 23-minute win and set a second-round meeting with Giulio Zeppieri or Sun Fajing.

“I’m really happy to come through,” said the 19-year-old in his on-court interview. “I was obviously down an early break in the third and really played a few good games in a row to come back. I had some chances in the first set, that I let go, but I’m really happy with how I held my composure.”

The No. 54 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Tien is now 7-1 in opening rounds at tour-level events since June, with his only defeat in that tally coming against Novak Djokovic at the US Open. A finalist at the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, the Californian lefty has also strengthened his position in third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah.

Having also defeated Navone in Indian Wells in March, Tien now leads the Argentine 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.