The name Learner Tien might still be fresh in many people’s memories. The teenage sensation, who made headlines after besting Russian ATP star Daniil Medvedev at this year’s Australian Open in a marathon 4-hour-48-minute five-set thriller, is once again making his presence felt. This time, in Toronto at the ongoing 1000 Masters tournament. Despite still being young in his professional journey, the 19-year-old is turning mature with each new campaign. And the Canadian Open is no exception. After besting local hero Denis Shapovalov and Reilly Opelka, he’s now gearing up for his fourth-round encounter.

While avid fans are looking forward to Tien’s matchup with fellow compatriot and tour buddy Alex Michelsen, now’s perhaps the best time for them to also know more about the teenage prodigy and his personal life. Who’s Tien exactly?

Where is Learner Tien from? What’s his nationality?

Learner Tien was born in December 2005 in Irvine, California, in the United States. His nationality is American. He’s got one sibling too – an older sister named Justice. In case you think their names are interesting, Justice was named after her father’s legal profession, while Learner owes his to his mother’s job as a teacher.

What is Learner Tien’s ethnicity and religion?

Although he’s American, Learner Tien’s parents—father Khuong Dan Tien and mother Huyen Tien— are ethnically Vietnamese. While the father’s a real estate lawyer, his mother’s a math school teacher. Interestingly, both parents also played tennis, but recreationally. So it became obvious for a young Tien to take up the racket sport. In fact, he was as young as 1.5 years old when he first picked up a racket.

Initially, Tien used to play with his in the community courts in Irvine with his father as his primary coach before being taken to the USTA Player Development program as a 10 or 11-year-old.

While Tien’s ethnicity is Vietnamese, no information regarding his faith or religion is available at this point. However, his school life was quite interesting.

Which high school did Learner Tien attend?

Learner Tien was homeschooled during his childhood. Sharing the story behind it, he previously mentioned how his mother used to teach his older sister at home. “My sister is a few years older than me, so my mom retired when my sister was born, so she was already just at home with my sister starting to teach my sister. So she just thought she’d teach me, too.” reported The Guardian in March 2025.

Thanks to his mother’s teachings, Tien was way ahead of his peers. By the age of 11, he had already entered high school. “I started school young. I would work through the year. I wouldn’t have summer break and stuff like that. I would just work throughout the year. So I just naturally finished those early grades pretty quick.”

He also went to the University of Southern California, taking admission at the age of 17. At the time, however, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to fully commit to the professional circuit. “I honestly think that that time in school was really big for me, just to figure out what I wanted to do. I was really unsure if I was ready yet. And I think that time really helped me find clarity and just knowing that you know, tennis is something that I would really want to pursue, and that I was willing to do at that point whatever it took to make that happen,” he revealed.

Coming back to his ongoing ATP journey, Tien is rapidly catching attention in the world of tennis. Right now, he’s focusing on making a deep run at the Canadian Open. On Saturday, the 19-year-old will lock horns with his best friend Alex Michelsen. For the uninitiated, they have known each other for a decade now. Since turning pro, both of them have also gone up against each other.

Earlier this season, they met during the ATP Houston on clay. In that R32 face-off, Michelsen emerged victorious with a score line of 6-4, 6-2. Do you think Learner Tien will take his sweet revenge this time in Toronto? Let us know in the comments below.