Follow us on Google Discover There is a new sheriff in town on the ATP Tour and Daniil Medvedev is seemingly petrified of Learner Tien!
In his first Grand Slam back in January, Tien stunned the tennis world by knocking the 2021 US Open champion out of the Australian Open at the second hurdle.
The American reached the fourth round of that tournament, with John McEnroe praising Tien following his win over Medvedev in the second round.
Across the year, a number of people have been lavishing praise on the sensation, with Tommy Paul a huge fan of Tien and right now, he’s the number 36 in world tennis.
After losing to him again in China last week, Medvedev did manage to get the better of Tien in Wuhan, but not without another slog fest of a match that had the Russian extremely concerned.
Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty ImagesDaniil Medvedev shares why he was scared against Learner Tien
Medvedev praised Tien for his efforts during yesterday’s Shanghai Masters match, and he admitted that he had him feeling a little bit scared.
During one period prior to a second-set tie-breaker, Medvedev launched an angry rant towards the umpire and perhaps the rules in tennis need to change.
After the match, Medvedev said in his press conference that he was scared that Tien might beat him once again.
He said: “Zero, zero. It doesn’t help (talking with his team). I should be calmer. Learner drives me nuts.
“He’s an unbelievable tennis player. I lost two very strong matches against him, so for sure I was scared to lose again.
“I’m really happy that I managed to cross the finish line. The match was up-and-down, but I’m very happy that I managed to win.”
Medvedev shares whether win over Tien feels like revenge
The 29-year-old will be completely ecstatic to finally get one over Tien, especially after his painful defeat at the China Open.
Tien weighed in on a debate involving Medvedev after their last match and it would appear the American does respect the player.
Asked whether revenge was on his mind when facing Tien so soon after the China Open, Medvedev disagreed.
He said: “No, no. I’m just happy to win. I don’t, I don’t like the word ‘revenge’, because I would prefer to win all three matches against him.
“But since I lost the first two, it just feels great to win the third one. So I’m not thinking about revenge or something. Maybe if we play in the final of a slam, then it would feel like revenge. Now it’s just a great win.”
Medvedev now faces Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinal, and it’s fair to say he will need to recover pretty quickly.