WASHINGTON, December 16, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)
American Learner Tien will be among the next generation of rising stars of the ATP Tour on display this week in the Next Gen ATP Finals at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The native of Irvine, Calif., who played a semester of college tennis at the University of Southern California before turning pro in the summer of 2023, has been a quick study. Tien’s development on the court throughout the 2024 season has been spectacular. At the beginning of the year, the 19-year-old, left-handed Tien was ranked No. 453. Now, he’s risen to No. 122 after reaching a career-high of 114th on November 11.
Along the way, Tien has captured seven professional titles and garnered 60 match wins across both the ITF World Tennis Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour this season. Four of his titles came against ITF competition and three were on the Challenger Tour circuit.
Breaking through! Learner Tien and Luca Van Assche are in the #NextGenATPFinals
— Next Gen ATP Finals (@nextgenfinals) November 26, 2024
Most recently, Tien won a pair of Challenger 75 events in Las Vegas, Nev. in September and Fairfield, Calif. in October. He completed a 28-match winning streak during the season – winning four titles along the way. At the US Open, Tien lost a four-set first-round battle (6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2) against France’s Arthur Fils, who is seeded first in Jeddah. He also was a quarterfinalist in a US Open tune-up in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Tien, who is seeded fifth, and Fils were both paired in the Blue Group for the Next Gen ATP Finals, which means they will face each other in the group stage.
Learner Tien cruises to third ATP Challenger Tour career title. #ATPChallenger #Fairfield @usta https://t.co/jFPmGZ1ywX
— TennisTourTalk (@TennisTourTalk) October 14, 2024
During the US Open, Tien was asked by the ATP Tour website what he’s learned this past year on Tour. He said: “I think just trusting what I’m doing. Just really believing in what I am putting in and eventually, whether it’s now or down the road, that it will pay off. I had an injury earlier this year and I was out for a few months. So I’m kind of behind, but I know that if I just keep working to get back I’ll inevitably achieve.
“I think that it’s been huge for me just to have decent bit of success the past few months and see my work pay off. I think it’s been very motivating and it’s been a good lesson for me to just plug away and trust that what I’m doing is going to pay off.”
The ITF’s Class of 2024 – recognising & celebrating players who have had a successful year on the #ITFWorldTennisTour ✨
Learner Tien
Seven professional titles (including four ITF World Tennis Tour titles)
Recorded 60 match-wins across both the ITF World… pic.twitter.com/LzCYOQKm4Q
— ITF (@ITFTennis) December 13, 2024
Recently, Tien was recognized by the ITF as part of its Class of 2024, recognizing players who had a successful year on the ITF World Tennis Tour, identifying the year’s most promising and breakthrough talents, and those predicted to go on to even bigger and better things in 2025.
“Man, Learner’s just super tough,” No. 434 Govind Nanda, a fellow American from California who lost twice to Tien in 2024, told the ITF website. “He moves you around a lot and plays very high percentage and then kind of pulls the trigger when he wants to without much risk.
“At this point he’s rising pretty fast.”
Rotterdam is the place to be in February
The ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam, a 500-series indoor hard-court event, has been an early-season fixture on the ATP Tour for the past 51 years dating back to 1974. The 52nd edition will take place in the second-largest city in the Netherlands, which is also a major port city in the Dutch province of South Holland, beginning just eight days after the completion of the Australian Open.
World No. 13 Holger Rune of Denmark is the latest Top-20 player added to the ABN AMRO Open line-up. He joins an already impressive field that includes: World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy, No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, No. 8 Andrey Rublev of Russia, No. 9 Alex de Minaur of Australia and No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.
Proud to announce @holgerrune2003! Excited for the 52nd ABN AMRO Open in @rotterdamahoy. Get your tickets now: https://t.co/Ms6g4mrx5Q #Rune #ABNAMROOpen #ATPTour pic.twitter.com/i2tJDEC11h
— ABN AMRO Open (@abnamroopen) December 13, 2024
Added to the mix are top Dutch players Tallon Griekspoor (No. 40) and Botic van de Zandschulp (No. 80).
Sinner is the defending champion and Rotterdam was the second of ATP Tour-leading eight titles won in 2024.
The Master: Now available in Polish
The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer, written by longtime New York Times tennis columnist Christopher Clarey, has been published in Polish.
Clarey’s New York Times and international best-selling biography of Roger Federer, originally published in 2021 and revised in 2024, tells the life story of the most iconic men’s tennis player of the modern era of the sport. To date, it has been published in 21 languages.
Honored & delighted that my biography of #Federer has been published in Poland, a #tennis nation
Jestem zaszczycony, że moja książka o Federerze została opublikowany w języku polskim pic.twitter.com/mOjzV5K9vC
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) December 13, 2024
By the numbers
Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland will be making his 19th men’s singles main draw appearance at the Australian Open next month – the fifth-most at the event in the Open Era.
“Quotable …”
“My tour life will stop for nearly two years, but I’ll be back in the second quarter with a more perfect form while you wait.”
– Soonwoo Kwon, 27, of South Korea, from his Instagram page. He will begin 18 months of compulsory military service in January. Kwon reached a career-high ranking of No. 52 in 2021. He’s currently ranked No. 349.
