Learner Tien beat top seed Ben Shelton 6-4 7-6 (7-2) to reach his third quarter final of the year at the Mallorca Championships.
Tien improved his record to 3-2 against top 10 opponents. The US player beat Danil Medvedev at the Australian Open and Alexander Zverev in Acapulco this season. He has become the youngest player to win an match on grass since Felix Auger Aliassime beat Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2019 Queen’s Club in London.
Tien fought back from a break down and trailed 0-3 down in both sets.
Tien broke twice in the fifth and tenth games to win the first set 6-4.
Tien broke back in the seventh game of the second set. Shelton saved four set points to hold serve for 6-5 lead and held a set point on Tien’s serve in the next game. Tien saved it to force a second set tie-break.
Tien opened up a 4-1 lead with two mini-breaks in the tie-break, when Shelton hit a forehand long. Shelton pulled back one mini-break.
Tien hit a forehand pass crosscourt to open up a 5-2 lead. Shelton pushed a volley deep on the match point.
“It definitely wasn’t a great feeling start the set down an early break. I kind of put my head down in plugging away. It was a little bit more used to the heat today. The wind was pretty tough with my toss. It was nice having the breeze. It definitely didn’t feel as hot or I’m more used to it—one of the two”, said Tien.
Tien sets up a quarter final match against Corentin Moutet, who beat Daniel Altmeier 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3). Moutet hit six underarm serves. Moutet improves to 2-1 in his head-to-head matches against Altmeier.
“It depends on the position of the opponent. Some opponents are very close to the baseline. In this case, it’s not the best shot to use. I don’t go on the court with any tactic, because everybody’s different. I’m trying to adapt”, said Moutet.
