Reader Tien: Why ‘the sky’s the limit’ for American stardom | ATP Tour

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Reader Tien: Why ‘the sky’s the limit’ for American stardom

Read more about the 20-year-old’s incredible rise

January 24, 2026

Student Tien entered qualification for the 2025 Australian Open as the No. 121 player in the PIF ATP Rankings and is still under the radar. In his first round qualifier, he needed to survive the second match against Gregoire Barrere to avoid a straight sets defeat in his first major outside the US Open.

Two weeks later, Tien was a sensation at Melbourne Park, reaching the fourth round of the draw highlighted by an impressive five-set match against former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the second round.

Tien had won three ATP Challengers to reach his rank. But the conundrum for Medvedev, who is known for tearing apart many players on the ATP Tour, was the biggest moment of his young career. Last year, Medvedev was determined to lift the trophy Down Under, and suddenly he was surprised by a 19-year-old boy who stood 5’11”.

Was it unexpected at the time? Of course. But 52 weeks later, Tien is in a completely new position. The reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion is 5-4 against Top-10 opponents and is three weeks removed from the world No. 26 ranking. Medvedev’s victory was clearly not a mistake. In fact, the 20-year-old will have the chance to upset Medvedev again on Sunday on the same court where he ended his surprise at 2:54 am.

“The conditions are very different this year than last year. After a year, I think I have matured a lot as a person and a player,” Tien told ATPTour.com. “I think that being alone a lot in the last year, I’m more independent and I think I’m more used to life, I travel alone and I think because of that I’ve grown a lot as a person as well as playing as a player.”

With players like Tien and Joao Fonseca taking the ATP Tour by storm at such a young age, it’s easy to forget just how young they really are. Tien is now 20 years old and would have been in college at the University of Southern California, where he played for one semester, had he not turned pro early. He would be in class with his friends and living the life of a typical college student.

Instead, Tien travels the world entertaining millions of fans and fighting year-round against the biggest stars in the sport.

“I think that little by little I have started to accept that this is my life and I hope that this will be my life for years to come,” said Tien. “It’s been a while since I got used to it, I wouldn’t say that I wake up in the morning and feel like this is my life and everything is coordinated in my life, but I think that little by little this past year I’ve come to terms with this. [being] It’s the new normal and I’ve embraced that.”

The “new normal” on the court really started in Melbourne. Tien’s fourth-round showing was a sign of things to come. The only difference is that he now has lessons learned from his first full season on the ATP Tour, especially after bringing former World No. 2 Michael Chang into his squad midway through last season.

“I think I’m better everywhere. I wouldn’t say I play a lot differently,” Tien said. “I like to think that now I’m a pusher, maybe. I think the experience of the year has been good for me and I think I’ve improved a lot, but I wouldn’t say I’m a completely different player.”

One of the reasons why Tien was so comfortable competing against top players early in his career is that he has been around top players for most of his tennis career. When the American did his post-match press conference on Friday, one of his stops was on ESPN, where the former World No. 11 Sam Querrey was at the desk.

Producers rolled up an old photo of young Tien hitting balls with Querrey. Student will be next to Querrey and Steve Johnson in Carson before he becomes a freshman.

“Sam and I started hitting with him when he was probably 12 or 13, and he was always in the corner,” Johnson said. “Even at that age you could see that there was something different because our football did not affect him in the way that it would affect many children aged 12, 13. His time was amazing.”

Johnson slandered Tien as a person. Yes, the World No. The former 21 was – and still is – very impressed with his physical tennis skills. But he was very surprised at how Tien carried himself around the professionals at such a young age.

“He always seemed to enjoy his time outside even at Carson when he was little. There were a lot of times when it was almost not fun for him as a little kid doing whatever Sam and I needed him to do,” Johnson said. “But we could see that there was something different about the way he hit the ball, his movement and his demeanor. He was always quiet, but direct, nonchalant and he would just take whatever you gave him and give it back most of the time with interest.”

When Tien was 15 or 16 years old, he began playing basic points with Johnson and Querrey, longtime professionals who were still competing at the top of the sport.

“At that point it was almost 50-50. He was that good,” Johnson recalled. “We involved the ministry and that would have been difficult for him at the time, but that just comes with the field.

“He’s been a great player in tennis and he can’t wait to see what the future holds. He’s accomplished so much in his young career and the sky’s stopping him, especially with Michael. [Chang] in the bag. Now he will just leave without answering anything. His work style is amazing. I watch him work and every time I see him – he comes through LA every few months – I watch him practice and play, and it always strikes me that every time he comes back he just gets better and better. “