World No. 52 Learner Tien strung together four consecutive wins over Top 25 opponents to reach his first ATP Tour final at the 2025 China Open, where he will face top seed and World No. 2 Jannik Sinner. On Tuesday night, Tien pulled off his third comeback of the week to defeat No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev, winning 5-7, 7-5, 4-0 (ret.). The victory was Tien’s second of the season over Medvedev, who was forced to retire with an injury.
At 19, Tien is the youngest man to reach the China Open final since Rafael Nadal, who won the title in 2005. He is also the first American finalist since Andy Roddick in 2008. Awaiting him is top seed Jannik Sinner, whom Tien has never faced.
“This week has definitely been the best week of my career so far,” Tien told China Open.
Tien began the week as the tournament’s first alternate, uncertain if he would even make it into the main draw. Withdrawals from Gael Monfils and Stefanos Tsitsipas opened the door. He rallied past World No. 21 Francisco Cerundolo in his opener, dropping the first set 4-6 before storming back 6-3, 6-4. In the second round, he dispatched World No. 25 Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-2 on the Diamond Court to advance to the quarterfinals. Tien was previously winless in four ATP quarterfinals, including just two weeks ago in Hangzhou. He ended that drought on Monday, by defeating No. 4 seed Lorenzo Musetti after dropping the first set.
“At this level, people ranked lower than you are good enough to beat you and you’re good enough to beat people higher than you,” Tien said. “Getting to play guys ranked higher than me, I just see it as a good opportunity.”
Playing in his first career ATP semifinal on Thursday night, Tien faced a rematch from the Australian Open against No. 8 seed Medvedev. He jumped out to a 3-0 lead by capitalizing on Medvedev’s unforced groundstroke errors and breaking serve twice. But the former U.S. Open champion settled in, breaking Tien’s serve in the fourth game and again after a grueling 16-point rally in the eighth. A double-fault for Tien handed the set to Medvedev, 7-5.
“I always play with the intention that until the match is over, anything can happen,” Tien said after the quarterfinal. “I always have the belief that I can kind of claw my way back, so [after] I dropped the first and was just trying to hang in there.”
Down a set for the third time in the tournament, Tien also fell behind a break in the second. Down 3-5, he rallied to win four consecutive games and forced a deciding set. Medvedev took an extended medical timeout and soon lost his mobility to cramping. Tien raced out to a 4-0 lead, before Medvedev retired, sending Tien to the final.
Tien goes into Wednesday’s final as the heavy underdog against Sinner, who lifted the China Open title two years ago. He holds an impressive 5-2 record against Top 10 opponents this season, scoring wins over then-No. 2 Alexander Zverev at Acapulco, then-No. 10 Ben Shelton at Mallorca, then-No. 10 Andrey Rublev at Washington, and, most notably, then-No. 5 Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open. His victory over Musetti this week was his fifth.
“I think it's a really cool opportunity and experience,” Tien said. “Obviously, he’s a great player and has been having a great season, so I’m just gonna go out there and enjoy it as much as I can.”
Tien’s run in Beijing has lifted him 16 spots in the ATP rankings to No. 36 and moved him past Joao Fonseca into second place in the PIF ATP Race to Jeddah.
—Reporting by Coby Spratte
Sinner fights off De Minaur en route to make third straight China Open final
Sinner improved his perfect record against Alex De Minaur and secured his third consecutive trip to the China Open final, grinding out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 semifinal win on the Diamond Court. The World No. 2 extended his head-to-head record over the Australian to 11-0 and advanced to his 30th tour-level final, and ninth straight on hard courts.
Sinner struck first in the opening set, breaking to love in the sixth game and saving two break points with unreturned serves to close it 6-3. The second set turned when De Minaur capitalized on his third break chance in a marathon 10th game, sealing it 6-4 as Sinner’s unforced errors piled up, 20 to De Minaur’s eight. The World No. 2 responded in the decider, breaking twice for a 3-0 lead and dominating behind his forehand, hitting 30 of 33 successfully. From there, he dominated, only dropping three points in his final three service games, wrapping up the set 6-2 and the match.
The key difference came on big points as Sinner was able to save 11 of 12 break points, often with unreturned serves, consistently raising his level when under pressure.
“It was a very even match. He was playing great tennis. I feel like we both were playing some great tennis,” Sinner said in the post-match press conference.
Already a champion at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, Sinner is chasing his 21st career title and second at the China Open after reaching the final in Beijing for a third straight year—something only Novak Djokovic had previously achieved.
— Reporting by Connor Greene
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