At just 20, Learner Tien is the youngest man to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals in 11 years.
And he’s the youngest American man to go so far in a grand slam event since 2002.
Tien’s breakthrough run last year at a major ended in the fourth round in Australia.
He has already gone one better, becoming the youngest man since Nick Kyrgios in 2015 to make it to the last eight at Melbourne Park.
And he’s the youngest American to do so at a major since Andy Roddick at the 2002 US Open.
Learner Tien of the United States looks at the ball against Alexander Zverev of Germany. Getty
He still lives at home with his parents when he’s not away on tour, and now has 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang working with his coaching team.
Not that he needs a lot of encouragement from the International Tennis Hall of Fame player.
“I always just tell him if there is something like blatantly obvious that I’m missing, feel free to shout at me,” Tien said.
“If you can’t get my attention, feel free to do whatever it takes to get me to notice what you’re trying to tell me.
“I feel like usually I’m pretty attentive on things going on in the match… but sometimes there are just some things that in the heat of the moment I miss, so it’s nice to have someone there that will just remind me.”
Learner Tien fans show support at Melbourne Park. Getty
Tien has the bulk of the crowd on his side, including dozens of fans wearing ‘L Plates.’
“Every year since I’ve been coming here, the crowd support is amazing,” he said.
Things have settled down in the fourth set.
It’s 4-3 in Tien’s favour with both players holding serve so far.
