DELRAY BEACH, January 21, 2025 (Press Release)

Tennis fans can see Australian Open breakout stars Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy in the Delray Beach Open qualifying event as part of Opening Weekend Feb. 7-9 at the Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center, the tournament announced today. Four players will advance from the qualifying draw to the ATP 250 main draw event that takes place Feb. 10-16. Tickets are available at DelrayBeachOpen.com.

Tien and Basavareddy, two 19-year-old Americans, electrified fans at the season’s first Grand Slam. Tien won three qualifying matches to reach the main draw, then won three more matches, including a win over No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in a fifth-set tiebreak, to become the youngest man to reach the Australian Open fourth round since Rafael Nadal in 2005. Basavareddy earned a wild card into his first Grand Slam main draw, then won his first Grand Slam set against 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic before falling in four sets.

Tien, who finished third at the 2021 USTA National Clay Court Boys’ 18 Championships in Delray Beach, will climb approximately 40 spots to crack the world’s Top 100 for the first time next week at a projected No. 80. Basavareddy is on the doorstep currently at a career-high No. 107.

They will be trying to join fellow Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the Delray Beach Open main draw. Fritz, world-ranked No. 4, is the two-time defending champion, and last year’s runner-up Paul will make his debut in the world’s Top 10 rankings next week after reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals. View the initial main draw entry list here.

Other players well-known to Delray Beach tennis fans who will compete in the DBO qualifying rounds include 2023 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Christopher Eubanks and two-time Delray Beach Open semifinalist Mackenzie McDonald.

2025 Delray Beach Open qualifying field by the numbers so far (two wild cards still to be added to the field):

• 3 ATP Tour title winners (Christopher Eubanks, Yibing Wu, Taro Daniel)
• 5 previous Delray Beach Open main draw players (Christopher Eubanks, Mackenzie McDonald, Aleksandar Kovacevic, Taro Daniel, Mitchell Krueger)
• 4 players who won matches at 2025 Australian Open (Learner Tien, Tristan Boyer, Mitchell Krueger, James Duckworth)
• 1 NCAA singles champion (Mackenzie McDonald, UCLA, 2016)
• 7 Americans (Christopher Eubanks, Nishesh Basavareddy, Aleksandar Kovacevic, Learner Tien, Mackenzie McDonald, Tristan Boyer, Mitchell Krueger)
• 5 players age 25 or younger (Youngest – Learner Tien, 19)
• 3 players age 30 or older (Oldest – James Duckworth, 33)

2025 Delray Beach Open qualifying field (two wild cards still to be added):

(Rank) Name, Age, Country

(89) James Duckworth, 33, Australia

(90) Adam Walton, 25, Australia

(102) Christopher Eubanks, 28, USA

(106) Borno Gojo, 26, Croatia

(107) Nishesh Basavareddy, 19, USA

(108) Yibing Wu, 25, China

(109) Aleksandar Kovacevic, 26, USA

(113) Taro Daniel, 31, Japan (will be 32 during tournament)

(121) Learner Tien, 19, USA

(130) Mackenzie McDonald, 29, USA

(134) Federico Agustin Gomez, 28, Argentina

(136) Tristan Boyer, 23, USA

(146) Mitchell Krueger, 31, USA

(152) Tomas Barrios Vera, 27, Chile

Many qualifiers have gone on to success in past DBO events. Three times in the previous 32 editions of the Delray Beach Open a qualifier has won the title, including 2008 champion Kei Nishikori who is in this year’s main draw for the first time in 11 years. Four times a qualifier has been runner-up, and 13 times a qualifier has reached the semifinals.

Former Delray Beach Open and Grand Slam champion Juan Martin del Potro is returning to the DBO for the first time in six years to play in the tournament’s Legends event on Opening Weekend, Feb. 7-9. Alongside other Legends he’ll face off against Bob and Mike Bryan, the best doubles team of all time who won 16 Grand Slam titles and six DBO trophies. French Open champs Luke and Murphy Jensen, and Delray singles champions Sam Querrey, Jack Sock, Tommy Haas and Xavier Malisse will round out a stellar Opening Weekend of Legends and qualifying matches.