Rising American tennis star Learner Tien has made his career debut in dramatic fashion. He won the match after saving two match points against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Tien, 20, is from Southern California and the home crowd celebrated with him as he advanced to his first Masters 1000 quarterfinals after more than two hours of tug-of-war.
The left-hander maintained steely composure even in difficult situations. After joining forces with coach Michael Chang, winner of the 1989 French Open, his performance soared.
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Tien showed maturity beyond his age.
Learner Tien showed great resilience and Davidovich Fokina has what Tennis Channel’s Jim Courier called “scar tissue” as he lost after being awarded match point. This has happened several times in his career.
Davidovich Fokina performed well throughout the match. However, his first serves started failing in the third set. This may be because Tien changed his return position, often causing confusion for the Spaniard.
Learner Tien prepares to hit a tennis ball at fans after defeating Ben Shelton at Stadium 1 during the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on March 8, 2026 in Indian Wells, California.
Tien, who defeated an ailing Ben Shelton in his previous round match, grew up in Irvine, California, about an hour from Indian Wells. It’s been four years since an American won this tournament, and that was Taylor Fritz from California.
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Another California native, Alex Michelsen, 21, bested Fritz, and he and Tien, good friends and childhood rivals, represent the next generation of American male tennis players.
Mikkelsen faces Daniil Medvedev in the round of 16 on Tuesday night.
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