Irvine native Learner Tien wins first main draw match at Indian Wells

Twenty-year-old Southern California native Learner Tien won his first match in the main draw at Indian Wells on Friday. It makes for a nice story, with him being coached by retired Grand Slam champion Michael Chang and with the win coming in front of several friends and family members who were in attendance from Irvine.

But the 7-6(3), 7-6(8) win didn’t exactly come easy. Tien had to survived two tough tiebreaker sets against Australian Adam Walton, with Walton having a clear advantage serving in the match, scoring 11 aces to nine for Tien. The American served four double faults to none for Walton.

Tien, however, was a bit stronger on his return of serves, particularly on Walton’s second serve.

“This is a tournament I really want to win,” Tien said, “and just being an American, especially being from California, this is a very important tournament for me. Obviously it’s early in the tournament. Still, just getting my first win here means a lot.”

Tien, just 20, is making his second appearance at the BNP Paribas Open, having lost in the first round in 2025. He’ll likely be on Stadium Court in his next match, on Sunday.

Alexander Zverev (4th) def. Matteo Berrettini: With Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic holding the top three seeds, respectively, in the men’s draw of the BNP Paribas Open this week, it’s easy to overlook who in theory could join that trio in the semifinals should the seeding hold true.

That distinction this week belongs to Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who Friday put in a claim to at least be noticed with an efficient 6-3, 6-4 victory over unseeded Matteo Berrettini of Italy on Stadium 1 of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Zverev was never truly threatened in the 72-minute match and in fact did not face a break point in either set. Zverev won 76 percent of his first serves compared to 73 for Berrettini, but on second serves Zverev won 91 percent of his points compared to just 86 for Berrettini.

Zverev, who has only been as far as the quarterfinals twice at Indian Wells in nine appearances, credited a more aggressive approach for his win Friday.

“(Berrettini) is someone who is extremely aggressive, massive serve, massive forehand. when you back off a little bit, it is very difficult against him,” said Zverev, who had lost his last two matches against Bettettini. “Today I felt I was the one pushing out, the one being aggressive. I think against someone like Matteo Berrettini that’s difficult to do, but I managed.”

Marton Fucsovics def. Lorenza Mussetti (5): Musetti was the talk of the Australian Open, taking a two-set lead over Novak Djokovic before having to retire with a leg injury. The Italian star won’t get the same chance in Indian Wells.

Fucsovics edged out a win in the first set on Stadium 3, then ran away with the second set for a 7-5, 6-1 for the biggest upset of Friday’s play.

Fucsovics has Musetti on the ropes much of the day, winning four of the 11 break points he had while Musetti has just two break points against Fucsovics, winning just one.

It was just the second time the two had played and the first time since 2022 at the Adelaide International, when Fuscovics won in straight sets.

Ben Shelton (8) def. Reilly Opelka: If Musetti was the biggest upset of the day, Shelton was the biggest comeback of Friday’s matches, Shelton lost the first set in a tie breaker and found himself in another tiebreaker in the second set. He Shelton rallied to take the second set, then pulled away in the first set for a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory.

Shelton could have been considered a fringe contender at Indian Wells off his play this year. That includes a three-set loss to world No. 2 Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and a three-set victory in an ATP 500 tournament in Dallas at the end of February over Taylor Fritz.

That threat almost came unraveled against Opelka, but Shelton held off Opelka in the second tiebreaker after taking a 4-2 lead in the breaker. Despite the close score, Shelton never faced a break point in the match, while Opelka saved just one of three break points he faced.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: What a win for Irvine native Learner Tien means to him at Indian Wells