19-year-old American Learnen Tien made a name for himself at the Australian Open. A teenager qualified for the main draw, defeated Daniil Medvedev and became the youngest player in the fourth round since Rafael Nadal in 2005!
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Learnen is seeking another deep run in Acapulco. The American faced Cameron Norrie in the first round and scored a 7-6, 6-3 victory in an hour and 51 minutes. Tien claimed 14 points more and outplayed his rival behind the first and second serve.
Learnen lost serve three times and responded with five return games from half of the return points on his tally. The American tames his strokes nicely and hit24 winners and 19 unforced errors. He welcomed 39 mistakes from Norrie and sealed the deal in straight sets.
Cameron landed 18 service winners but lost the ground from the baseline, spraying too many errors, especially from his forehand. The young gun grabbed an early break in the second game and held in the next one for 3-0.
Tien led 4-1 and created another break chance in game six. Norrie denied it with a crafty half-volley winner and launched his comeback. The Briton painted a backhand down the line winner in the seventh game and pulled the break back.
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Learnen lost the ground and suffered another break in game nine after a forced error. Cameron served for the opener at 5-4 and experienced a break at love to keep his rival in contention. They served well in the final two games and introduced a tie break.
Tien claimed an extended rally at 3-3 and moved in front. He missed a volley in the ninth point and kept his rival alive. The younger left-hander drew the opponent's mistake in the 11th point and created a set point.
A teenager landed a forehand crosscourt winner, closing the opener 7-6 after an hour and four minutes. They served well in the first four games of the second set. Learnen stepped in on the return at 2-2 and fired a forehand crosscourt winner for a break at love.
The more experienced player pulled it back with a half-volley winner a few minutes later, locking the result at 3-3. Instead of building on that, Norrie sprayed a forehand error in game seven and got broken. Learnencracked a forehand down the line winner in game eight for 5-3.
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The American made another push on the return in game nine and drew the rival's mistake at the net to deliver his third straight return game and move over the top.
