The 19-year-old American has earned himself a Mexican Open quarter-final spot with the win, where he takes on Tomas Machac.

Just as he did in the Australian Open last month, Tien has progressed through qualifying to reach the main draw.

He has also beaten Cam Norrie in Acapulco, where the American is continuing his superb start to the 2025 season and indeed life on the ATP Tour.

Lindsay Davenport recalls ‘crazy’ shots Learner Tien hit at junior level

Tien has been handed an Indian Wells wildcard amid his rapid rise in recent times, but he is a player that has been known to former world number one Lindsay Davenport for quite some time.

“It seems like he burst on the pro tour pretty fast, but he has done a lot of hard work at the lower levels to get the confidence to rise,” Davenport told Tennis Channel.

READ MORE: America tipped to have an exciting tennis talent who could have a ‘huge following’ soon after a brilliant start to 2025

“Learner took advantage of a lot of the summer circuit in California, all these 15Ks, 25Ks that are played. He stayed close to home for a long time. He’s just slowly built his confidence kind of at every level. He’s been successful at every level he’s played at.

“I have known Learner since he was in the 14 and unders. I used to drive him to USTA practice and Carson, with my son. We would carpool.

“He’s always been wildly talented. The shots that he was able to hit, you would laugh at in the juniors. Nobody is hitting these crazy angles and these drop shots.

“To see him be able to put it together and get more power on his shots as well to be able to hang in there with the pros has been fun to see. I’ve always been a huge fan.”

Learner Tien and Alex Michelsen set to be ‘wildly popular’ at Indian Wells

Remarkably, there is another young American star who is currently on a similar trajectory to Tien in Alex Michelsen.

But he has already stormed up the ATP rankings at the age of 20, with Michelsen in 34th place as Tien sits 83rd.

READ MORE: Learner Tien says what his relationship with Alex Michelsen is currently like after their incredible runs at the Australian Open

Both players picked up huge results at the Australian Open, with Tien knocking out fifth seed Daniil Medvedev and Michelsen beating 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Michelsen has suffered a round of 16 exit at Acapulco at the hands of Denis Shapovalov, but the 20-year-old is certainly heading for a very bright future.

And Davenport is expecting a very warm welcome for the pair at Indian Wells next month, noting: “Two kids kind of growing up in the same system in SoCal.

“I think those guys will be wildly popular out in the desert. Everyone who is in Southern California tennis has been following them for years.

“I think that will be super fun to watch them out there come to Indian Wells this time and be really well-received by all the fans.”