![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/16x9.jpg\")
<\/p>\n ATP Tour
\n Michael Chang: Piecing together the puzzle of Tien’s potential<\/p>\n
Former World No. 2 discusses his relationship with rising lefty Tien<\/p>\n
March 08, 2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
ATP Tour<\/p>\n
Michael Chang has coached rising lefty Learner Tien since July 2025.
\n By ATP Staff<\/p>\n
Michael Chang<\/a> understands what it means to break through early.<\/p>\n The American, who became the youngest male major winner at 17 years old in 1989 at Roland Garros<\/a>, now sees echoes of that same early promise in one of the sport\u2019s rising stars: Learner Tien<\/a>. Since the pair began working together in July last year, Tien has captured his maiden ATP Tour title in Metz and lifted the trophy at the Next Gen ATP Finals, underlining his status as one of the game\u2019s most exciting young players.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s a very special individual,\u201d Chang told ATPTour.com in Indian Wells, referring to 20-year-old Tien. \u201cHe thinks a lot more than most players out on the court. He\u2019s very much a fighter that people don\u2019t see until they get into the thick of it with him. He\u2019s not the type of player that will hit a great shot and shout \u2018Come on!\u2019 He\u2019s not that type of personality, but he fights and he doesn\u2019t give up, which is something I appreciate.\u201d<\/p>\n The two first crossed paths early last season during a brief encounter in Hong Kong. At the time, Chang knew little about the young left-hander practising on a nearby court. That changed quickly a few weeks later when Tien burst into the spotlight at the Australian Open<\/a>, stunning Daniil Medvedev<\/a> in a marathon five-setter en route to the fourth round.<\/p>\n For Chang, coaching has always been rooted in curiosity and problem-solving. The same analytical mindset that defined his playing career now shapes the way he works with players, whether they are rising stars on the ATP Tour or members of his own family picking up a racquet.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very much a thinker on the tennis court. I enjoy trying to figure out ways to win matches, and figure out ways to improve,\u201d said Chang, who reached a career-high No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings. \u201cFrom a coaching standpoint, the combination of those things is a lot of fun. Whether I\u2019m out there working with Learner or my kids\u2026 It\u2019s fun to be able to help people improve and see a smile on their face. For me, it\u2019s very satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n Chang\u2019s reputation as one of the game\u2019s most respected coaches was established well before his partnership with Tien. In the offseason of 2013, he began working with Kei Nishikori<\/a>, helping the Japanese star unlock the next phase of his career. Within a year, Nishikori broke into the Top 10 and produced one of the most memorable runs of his career to reach the 2014 US Open<\/a> final.<\/p>\n \u201cKei was already a great player, but he had a tough time breaking into the Top 10,\u201d Chang said. \u201cIt was fun to work with him and see him accomplish that in 2014. I watched some great matches with Kei\u2026 His run at the US Open<\/a> in 2014 was very special.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was also a lot of fun to see him win in Tokyo for the first time in front of his home crowd. There\u2019s a lot of great memories, but most importantly, seeing him improve as a player and mature as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n The sport has changed in the years since Chang first began working with Nishikori. One of the biggest differences today is the introduction of coaching during matches. It is a shift that has altered the dynamic between coach and player, something Chang has had to adjust to as he now works with Tien.<\/p>\n \u201cCoaching back then is very different from coaching now,\u201d Chang explained. \u201cWe can coach now during the matches, so that changes the dynamic immensely. There were a few opportunities to do that with Kei, but they were few and far between. My approach toward working with Kei was to understand his game and how he was as a person. It was trying to find ways of communicating in the best way to work on a lot of those weaknesses, and to make his strengths even stronger.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it\u2019s always been a fun project. It\u2019s constantly dissecting, constantly analysing, looking at why he\u2019s winning and losing particular matches. A lot of it\u2019s just solving puzzles and putting in the hard work to find answers.\u201d<\/p>\n The transition from player to coach, Chang says, happened far more casually than people might expect. In fact, some of his earliest coaching experience came much closer to home.<\/p>\n \u201cI was actually coaching my wife out on Tour, so I kind of messed up her tennis career,\u201d Chang joked. \u201cI don\u2019t have regrets and hopefully she doesn\u2019t. I wasn\u2019t teaching anything locally. I didn\u2019t have an academy or any juniors I worked with. I had another player that I would hit with from time to time when he was in college that I would help a bit, but I didn\u2019t have anything organised.\u201d<\/p>\n As opportunities arose, he found himself drawn back to the game in a different role, helping the next generation navigate the challenges of life on Tour.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t playing on the Tour anymore, but tennis was always going to be a huge part of my life,\u201d Chang said when asked about his route into coaching. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t something that I really sought, but opportunities just opened themselves up and I was able to work with some really great players. Kei being one of them and now Learner.\u201d<\/p>\n While their careers began decades apart, Chang and Tien share certain similarities in their early on-court rises as well as in their outlooks that have helped their partnership grow quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe share a similar faith, so that brings a unique dynamic to our coaching relationship,\u201d Chang added. \u201cKnowing that he\u2019s going out there and playing his best for the Lord\u2026 Every time he goes to a tournament, he\u2019s excited to play. I haven’t run into a week that he has liked to take off, he\u2019s always hungry.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s special when you have that kind of passion, because I don\u2019t know if everybody has that. For him to have that eagerness to compete against the best players in the world is only going to set him up for more success.\u201d<\/p>\n Tien\u2019s rise has already included some notable milestones. During his breakthrough 2025 season, he earned five Lexus ATP Head2Head victories against Top 10 opponents and cracked the world\u2019s Top 30 for the first time. With Chang now part of his corner, the hope is that those early achievements are just the beginning.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a great kid. He\u2019s got a good head on his shoulders,\u201d Chang said of Tien. \u201cHe\u2019s extremely talented and very smart. It\u2019s been a lot of fun to work with him and see him improve. It\u2019s been great to see him have some great success and hopefully we can continue to work on that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATP Tour Michael Chang: Piecing together the puzzle of Tien’s potential Former World No. 2 discusses his relationship…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-527564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\u201cATP\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768144283_348_atp-no-1-club-banner-article.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLearner Tien, Michael Chang<\/a>” style=”width:100%;” src=”https:\/\/www.atptour.com\/-\/media\/images\/news\/2026\/03\/06\/12\/55\/tien-chang-australian-open-2026-coach.jpg”>Learner Tien<\/a> listens to coach Michael Chang<\/a> at the 2026 Australian Open<\/a>. Photo: Paul Crock\/Getty Images<\/p>\n