Learner Tien Shocks Medvedev With Stunning Australian Open Upset

What a Sunday it was at Melbourne Park! American sensation Learner Tien, just 20 years old, delivered a performance for the ages, stunning three-time Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 to book his first-ever Grand Slam quarter-final spot. With the sun beating down on Margaret Court Arena, Tien not only overcame the formidable Russian but also a bloody nose early on—proving that nothing was going to stop him on this historic day.

This result sent shockwaves through the tennis world, not least because Medvedev entered the match riding an eight-match winning streak and had recently lifted his 22nd tour-level trophy in Brisbane. Many had penciled in the Russian as a genuine contender for the title, but on Sunday, Tien was simply untouchable. The American’s victory made him the youngest men’s singles quarter-finalist at the Australian Open since Nick Kyrgios back in 2015, and the youngest American to reach a major quarter-final since 2002.

The match itself was a tale of two very different trajectories. After a competitive first set, clinched by Tien with a whipped forehand winner down the line, the 25th seed shifted into a higher gear. Despite taking a medical timeout just 10 minutes into the contest to deal with a nosebleed—stuffing tissues up his nostrils for good measure—Tien barely missed a beat. He reeled off 12 of the next 15 games, including an emphatic bagel in the second set, and closed out the match in just one hour and 42 minutes with a jaw-dropping backhand pass.

"It feels amazing, it is so special to do it here," Tien said, beaming in his post-match interview. "It is so special to come back here and play every year and it was a big goal of mine [to play well here] and I am super happy. Every year since I have come here the crowd support has been amazing. I don't know why, but every year it has been so special to come back and have a crowd like this, with so much energy. It means the world to me."

For Medvedev, the day was a tough pill to swallow. The Russian, who had survived a five-set battle against Fabian Marozsan in the previous round, was quick to dismiss any suggestion that fatigue or physical issues played a role. "It had nothing to do with that. The match against Fabian was very intense, true, but it didn't last four hours. I felt great afterward. Today, for me, it wasn't about legs, it was just tennis, not really physical conditioning. Physically, I was in top form," Medvedev insisted during his press conference.

Medvedev was candid in his assessment of the match: "Learner simply played too well today. Could I have done better? You can always do better when you lose, especially seeing the score, but it felt like he played the match of his life. He played an incredible match, super aggressive, always hitting better shots than me. I didn't find many solutions on court, which is strange; it hasn't happened to me often. He played an exceptional match. I'm sure he could've done the same blindfolded. I don't know, maybe I should've tried something else to unsettle him, but whatever. The fact is he played an exceptional match and I never reached his level, that's why I lost. I can't change it now."

The numbers tell their own story. Tien finished with a sparkling 33 winners to just 16 unforced errors, while Medvedev was left with a lopsided 15 winners and 30 unforced errors. During one stretch, Tien won 11 consecutive games, leaving Medvedev looking utterly lost on the court. The Russian managed to claw back three games in a row late in the third set, narrowing the deficit to 4-3, but Tien quickly slammed the door shut.

Reflecting on that brief comeback, Medvedev explained, "I was just trying to win one more. The one I won was not easy. I don't know if he had a breakpoint, but for sure, it was a couple of deuce points. I mean, I was trying to figure out what can I do to kind of disturb his level that he had at this moment. I do want to say I guess I did something, because it became 4-3, and I even felt like, you know what, 4-3, it's small chance. Then, well, there was not a big chance finally. That's how I am no matter the score. I try to win one game at first, maybe one more after. The matches can turn a bit more probably in women's tennis, but in men's tennis as well we saw some crazy things. So I just try to say to myself, like, till the last point, try to fight. Then the last point was not for me this time."

This latest win continues a remarkable rivalry between Tien and Medvedev. Just twelve months ago, Tien—then ranked outside the top 100—stunned Medvedev in a five-set epic that finished at 3am. Later in the year, the American bested Medvedev again en route to his maiden tour-level final in Beijing, though Medvedev did get some revenge days later at the Shanghai Masters. Their head-to-head now stands at 3-1 in Tien’s favor, with the American’s rapid ascent showing no signs of slowing down.

Fresh off his triumph at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah last month, Tien is now up to No. 24 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. His next test? None other than World No. 3 Alexander Zverev, who dispatched Francisco Cerundolo 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 in his own fourth-round match. Zverev, now a five-time Australian Open quarter-finalist, has surpassed Boris Becker for the most last-eight appearances at the tournament by a German man, but he’s still searching for that elusive first major title. The German holds a 3-3 head-to-head record with Cerundolo, but there was little drama this time as he cruised through in just over two hours on John Cain Arena.

Looking ahead to Tuesday’s quarter-final clash, tennis fans can expect fireworks. Tien’s aggressive baseline play and fearless attitude have already made him a crowd favorite, while Zverev’s experience and power will present a stern challenge. Will Tien’s fairytale run continue, or will Zverev halt the American’s charge? The answer is just around the corner.

For Medvedev, despite the disappointment, there’s reason for optimism. As he put it, "I think I should focus more in general. If we take last, like, maybe eight tournaments, let's say starting from US Open, so I don't know if it's, like, eight, nine, I played great. I beat a lot of players. I played great against some top players. In general, I was going far in the results. Even here, I won two very tough matches against opponents who played well, [Quentin] Halys and Fabian [Marozsan]. So I should try not to focus on this exact match, which was not good, because, I mean, he outplayed me, so that's not a good feeling. But I should focus more on the general picture and just continue working the way I did for the last tournaments."

As the Australian Open barrels toward its decisive stages, all eyes will be on Learner Tien and Alexander Zverev. One thing’s for sure: after a day like this, Melbourne has a new star to cheer for, and the men’s draw just got a whole lot more interesting.