AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2025

Learner Tien

Press Conference

L. SONEGO/L. Tien

6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: First of all, not the result you were hoping for, Learner, for today, but overall an amazing run for you in Melbourne this time. How would you summarize these two weeks here?

LEARNER TIEN: I mean, pretty tough to put into words, I think. I came here, I mean, not really having any expectations. Just, honestly, coming here to play my first Australian Open. Not really having a specific goal of result that I really wanted to leave here with or anything like that.

So to have the run that I did is surreal, and honestly, I mean, probably a few weeks that I'll remember for the rest of my career.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Learner, as you mentioned might not be best the result you expected. However, as you put it, it's been a crazy journey for you. What have you learned out of this whole thing, and where do you go from here?

LEARNER TIEN: Yeah, I think the past couple of weeks have just been great for me to know that at this level that I can have success. I haven't really played too many tour events and matches in general, so coming here and having the run that I did was obviously great for my confidence, kind of going into my first year where I'm trying to play a full tour schedule.

Q. What is your body feeling like at the moment?

LEARNER TIEN: A bit broken. Pretty tired. I feel like I haven't had that much downtime. I feel like my off days have flown by pretty quick, and I haven't really felt fresh in a while, ever since kind of my second round. That kind of took it out of me, I think.

I finished really late that night, and it kind of just put me behind. It never really felt like I caught up.

My third round, I was fortunate to get off the court in straights, which helped me. But, still, it wasn't really enough I think to fully catch me up on how I was feeling physically.

Q. Bad luck for today, but great run for this tournament. Your play style is unique. You know, like you can hit many slices and you can change the pace quite often. So I was wondering where you pick that kind of play style and who is your idol growing up?

LEARNER TIEN: I mean, I don't feel like I give my play style too much thought. Whatever you see just kind of comes probably more naturally to me.

You know, obviously for certain matchups you try to play a certain way, maybe deviate a little bit from what you usually do, but I don't give my play style in general too much thought. Just kind of whatever has kind of come to me over the years is kind of what you see.

Sorry, I don't remember the second part of your question.

Q. Who was your idol growing up?

LEARNER TIEN: Oh, yeah, yeah. Never really had an idol or one guy that I really loved to watch growing up. I honestly didn't even watch too much tennis growing up. I always found it kind of boring.

As I started playing more and liking tennis more, obviously it became a lot more enjoyable for me to start watching. I kind of just appreciated how good the guys I was watching were. I never really picked one guy that I kind of really idolized growing up.

Q. Learner, congrats on the great run. Up to 80 in the live rankings, which is going to open a lot of doors for you for the year ahead. Are there any tournaments in particular as you look ahead that you are really excited about playing this year?

LEARNER TIEN: I think, I mean, all the slams I'm really looking forward to. This will be my first year, I guess, with the new ranking, getting direct entry into main of all the slams. Really looking forward to that.

I think one of my favorite tournaments, or if not my favorite, Indian Wells is coming up pretty soon. I'm not sure if I'll be in main or not, off my ranking. Looking forward to that one. It's probably my favorite. It's the one tournament I always went to every year growing up, so it kind of holds a special place for me.

If I had to pick one, it would probably be Indian Wells. I think I have a few more tournaments before then, but that's kind of the one that I'm looking forward to the most.

Q. So, you know, you are playing on big courts, crowds, media, TV. Has it been a bit overwhelming for you in some ways, this experience?

LEARNER TIEN: I think it's all new. I'm not super used to it. I don't really mind it. I enjoy the crowds, the big courts. It's all stuff that, I guess, you always dream of having and experiencing when you are young.

So I think to experience it now and to have all this kind of coming at me at once is a good problem to have. I'm embracing it pretty well, and I enjoy it.

Q. As a follow-up really, because of your amazing run here, did you realize that you have earned a lot of fans, specifically in Asia, also specifically, again, in China? It is because of your given name, Learner, which means Xue Sheng. It sounds like that. Actually your whole name reminds a lot of people in China particularly of a late Chinese renowned scientist. So people tend to remember your name very quickly now. What do you make of it?

LEARNER TIEN: I didn't know that about my name, actually. I have always known my name was pretty unique. I was always the only person with my name, which I kind of always liked just because it was unique. No one would confuse me with anyone else.

But I obviously feel like there are a lot more eyes on me than there were a couple of weeks ago, which I think is nice. I'm honored to have, you know, the support that I've been getting, for sure.

Q. If you had to pick one aspect of the past couple of weeks from the start of qualifying through today, what would be your favorite part of this adventure?

LEARNER TIEN: I mean, I think getting my first slam win is probably up there. It was obviously a goal for me coming into this tournament and just this year in general. I think I was 0-3 in slams before coming here. So just to get that first win was great.

One of my most proud achievements of the year is getting my first doubles win in Hong Kong. So very proud of that. That's definitely up there, for sure.

Q. I heard your father is a lawyer and your mom is a mathematician or mathematics teacher. So at any point of your career have you ever thought about following your parents or something like that?

LEARNER TIEN: Growing up, my dad was always more into my tennis. My mom was always more into my schooling, rightfully so, I guess. She was always more concerned about my education, and my dad obviously liked tennis and would always take me out to play.

They would always give me the option of I just have to pick one. Whichever one I wanted, I could choose. My dad obviously pulled me a little more towards tennis, and my mom always wanted me focused on my school. So I think it was a good balance. I never really burned out on one of them. One was kind of an escape from the other.

It was always a good balance growing up, and then I kind of realized that I do want to be on a tennis court instead of doing homework. So I think it was good that I always kind of had both options. It made me kind of realize that I have choices, and I made my choice. I'm obviously very happy with it (smiling).