How Michael Chang is molding Learner Tien into a contender at Indian Wells

Learner Tien’s first trip to the BNP Paribas Open a year ago barely registered — a curious outcome for what was essentially his hometown tournament debut.

Feeling unwell and still adjusting to the weekly grind of the ATP Tour, the Irvine native exited in the first round and quickly scratched it from his mind.

“Honestly, I don’t really remember my tournament here last year that well,” says Tien as he shuttled between pre-tournament media obligations this week. “I was in and out pretty quick.”

But 12 months is a lot of runway for a young player whose all-court ingenuity, appetite for improvement and ability to shed setbacks have generated lift.

“So far this year, everything has felt good,” Tien says. “And I’m feeling pretty comfortable.”

Much has changed in the interim for the 20-year-old.

A standout junior who earned a 2022 U.S. Open main draw wild card by winning the USTA boys 18s Nationals at 16, Tien turned pro in 2023.

The cerebral left-hander started 2025 outside the top 100, one more gifted teen pushing through the crowded gateway of the men’s tour.

Tien’s steeper trajectory began with a coaching shift midway through last season, when he began working with Michael Chang, the 1989 French Open champion who previously guided Japan’s Kei Nishikori.

The partnership formed only after Wimbledon, arranged through Tien’s agent, despite the two having lived in the same Southern California tennis orbit for years without ever meeting.

The impact was immediate.

During the final stretch of 2025, Tien reached Beijing’s China Open final, captured his maiden tour title at Metz, France, and closed the season by winning the Next Gen ATP Finals (for top players 20-and-younger) — results that marked him as one of the tour’s fastest-rising young stars.

Read more:Elliott: Learner Tien’s rise has tennis world noticing Southern California left-hander

Tien carried that confidence into January, and the progress showed in Melbourne. His opening match at the Australian Open nearly ended quickly against compatriot Marcos Giron, who Tien trailed by a break in the fourth set before turning the match around to win in five sets.

He then outclassed former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-0, 6-3, a player he had upset in five sets as a qualifier in Melbourne a year earlier, to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

“I felt like I didn’t have a spot on the court where I could just hit the ball and feel like I was out of danger,” said No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev after his four-set victory over Tien in the last eight.

This week, Tien enters the ATP Masters 1000 event — often dubbed the “fifth Grand Slam” for its prestige and depth of field — as the youngest player in the top 30.

Tien, the No. 25 seed, opens in the second round at 11 a.m. Friday against 91st-ranked Adam Walton of Australia after a first-round bye.

Tien’s post-Australia results have been steady rather than spectacular. He split four matches across two tournaments heading into Indian Wells, a stretch he views simply as part of the rhythm of a long season.

“I don’t think that I was playing poorly,” he says. “It’s not like I’ve really felt like I’ve been struggling or anything.”

Indian Wells brings a different dynamic, however. The tournament sits only a couple of hours from the community where Tien grew up, the second-generation son of Vietnamese immigrants. The Coachella Valley event remains the lone ATP stop in the Golden State.

“It’s once a year that I get to play an event in California, so I think it’s really cool and it’s definitely a little extra motivation,” he says.

The setting itself can challenge players. Indian Wells’ gritty courts, dry air and afternoon winds often reward patience and precise timing. For Tien, the adjustment has been relatively smooth.

Chang has pushed Tien toward a longer view of his development.

“He’s really put me in an improvement-oriented mindset,” says Tien. “I really believe in myself,” he adds. “I think having him with me is also a big part of that.”

The shift has reinforced the quiet confidence that coaches and observers have long noticed in Tien.

Paul Annacone, the former coach of Pete Sampras and Roger Federer who now works as an analyst for Tennis Channel, sees shades of former world No. 1 Marcelo Ríos in Tien’s baseline craft — though Tien’s composed demeanor is a world away from the Chilean’s volatility.

Annacone, who has known Tien since he was 14, says the player’s anticipation and feel allow him to redirect pace and construct points in unusual ways. The next stage of development, he believes, centers on refining the 5-foot-11 Tien’s serve and learning how to maximize service games without overwhelming power.

When that piece settles, Annacone believes the ceiling could be extremely high.

“Once he understands his serving identity, I’ll be surprised if Learner’s not a top-10 player in two years,” he said.

Annacone is not alone in seeing big possibilities.

Novak Djokovic, who beat Tien in a first-round night match at last year’s U.S. Open, called him “very talented” and grouped him with other rising standouts such as Brazil’s Joao Fonseca and Czechia’s Jakub Mensik.

Djokovic said Tien appears to be building a strong team around him and that Michael Chang’s experience with early success should help. Chang, who grew up in Orange County, remains the youngest men’s major champion in the Open era, winning the French Open at 17.

“He has all of the preconditions or precursors of becoming a really good tennis player,” the 24-time major winner from Serbia said.

For now, Tien is focused on a more immediate challenge: balancing tour life with ambitions that stretch well beyond a single week, even when it’s close to home.

“I never, ever want to lose,” he says. “But on the other hand, I’m also striving for bigger things and reaching a bit higher than that. So it’s kind of balancing the two, trying to stay grounded and focus on what’s at hand.”

And at Indian Wells, a tournament near where he grew up yet still relatively new to him, Tien hopes this year leaves a longer imprint than the last.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.