The teacher becomes champion: Meet the 19-year-old Learner Tien who stunned Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open | Tennis news

Eleven Tien is making his Australian Open debut this year and it hasn’t taken him too long to make the world sit up and take notice. The 19-year-old, playing a Grand Slam for just the second time in his career, defeated last year’s runner-up and 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in a second-round match that started on Thursday night and ended in the wee hours of . Friday morning.

Medvedev cut a haggard and frustrated figure at the end of the marathon as he lost to his teenage opponent 3-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(8), 6-1, 6-7(7) . He tossed his equipment toward the sideline and strode it across the field until it reached an advertising panel near his bench. In other moments of anger, Medvedev hit a ball against the back wall, knocked over a camera behind a baseline and slammed his racket bag.

So who is this kid who pushed the Russian 5th seed to this extent?

Tien was born in December 2005 in Irvine, California to Vietnamese parents. His and sister Justice’s names are a way for their parents to honor their professions – Student’s mother Huyen Tien is a teacher and his father Khuong Dan Tien is a real estate lawyer. “A lawyer seeks justice. A teacher seeks a student. They were virtuous names,” Khuong is quoted as saying in an LA Times article.

Tien’s tennis journey started almost as soon as he learned to walk. His parents often played the sport recreationally, and then Tien put his hands on a racket when he was just over a year old. He quickly showed great promise, playing in a tournament for the first time at the age of five and, according to the LA Times, winning his first championship at the age of six. His father said the trophy had a jack-o’-lantern on it because it was Halloween.

Tien continued to show great promise throughout his formative years, eventually representing the United States at the prestigious 14-and-under Les Petits Ace tournament in France, at the Junior World Championships and at the Junior Davis Cup. However, he briefly walked away from tennis.

“I was a little unsure about my future playing tennis. I wasn’t sure how much I really enjoyed it anymore, just because I had always played it and I had played it for so long,” Learner later said. “I guess my sense of enjoyment playing it was fading a bit.”

His parents didn’t force him to pick up the racket again, but he eventually did with renewed vigor and has never looked back since.

Turning Pro

Tien reached two junior Grand Slams in 2023 – at the Australian Open and the US Open, and was ranked no. 4 in singles at the end of the year. However, he had made his professional debut the year before. At just 16 years old, Tien won the 2022 USTA Boys 18s National Championship, earning him a wildcard into the main draw of the 2022 US Open. This made him the youngest player in nearly two decades to compete in the men’s singles main draw at the US Open. He also received a wildcard to play in the 2023 US Open. In both cases, he was knocked out in the first round.