{"id":513650,"date":"2026-03-09T20:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/513650\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:43:14","slug":"learner-tien-set-for-rankings-boost-after-big-win-over-american-rival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/513650\/","title":{"rendered":"Learner Tien set for rankings boost after big win over American rival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learner Tien<\/a> suggested he could be the future of American tennis as he beat his fellow young gun Ben Shelton at the Indian Wells Masters in impressive fashion.<\/p>\n

Shelton appeared to lose belief that he could win the match long before the final point of a compelling contest, with Tien quelling the fire coming from his big-serving opponent to seal a 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3 win.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great. It\u2019s great,\u201d said Tien after booking his place in the last 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to say, Ben came out not feeling 100 per cent. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s been feeling great all week, but he\u2019s an amazing competitor and he came out and gave it his all. So I just want to say, huge props to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tien\u2019s win fires him closer to a place in the top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career and this latest win ensured he won his second career meeting with Shelton.<\/p>\n

More Tennis News<\/p>\n

Australian Open: Former ATP star blown away by Learner Tien\u2019s \u2018tactical mastery\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner\u2019s levels compared to \u2018Big 4\u2019 legends by leading coach<\/a><\/p>\n

Shelton\u2019s illness may add some context to this victory for Tien, but the momentum is continuing to roll for the player who reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January and then made an appearance in the semi-finals of the ATP 250 event at Delray Beach last month.<\/p>\n

Tien\u2019s rise up the tennis rankings at the tender age of 20 has seen him earn praise from some big names in tennis, with former British No 1 Greg Rusedski among those lavishing praise on the rising star.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy who has impressed me a lot is Learner Tien,\u201d said Rusedski on his podcast<\/a>. \u201cHe has hired a certain guy by the name of Michael Chang, former world number two, French Open winner and multiple slam finalist. He is one of the greats of the game,\u201d said Rusedski.<\/p>\n

\u201c He has gone up a notch. And let\u2019s not forget, the guys who have won that Next Gen tournament \u2013 Tsitsipas, Sinner, Alcaraz, Draper \u2013 they haven\u2019t done too badly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a feeling that he is one to watch out for in 2026. I hear that Chang is destroying him on the practice court. He is shocked at how many hours he is having to do on court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard that he has said something to the extent of \u2018now I understand why these guys are at the very top\u2019 because of what he is having to put in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said he was a player to watch at the Australian Open and he has not disappointed. Look out for Learner Tien.\u201d<\/p>\n

The battle for supremacy in American tennis is one of the compelling side stories in men\u2019s tennis, with Taylor Fritz now set to remain as US No 1 after Shelton\u2019s defeat, but Tien may be eyeing up that position at some point in 2026.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: How Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have left \u2018scar tissue\u2019 on their biggest rivals<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Learner Tien suggested he could be the future of American tennis as he beat his fellow young gun…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":["post-513650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}