Learner Tien against Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open: It’s deja vu in Melbourne

Learner Tien reached the third round of the Australian Open a year ago, beating Daniil Medvedev in a match that lasted five sets and almost five hours.

It’s deja vu in Australia.

A year later, the left-handed Tien is up against Medvedev again in Melbourne, this time on Sunday in a fourth-round match.

The 20-year-old is aiming for a similar result, which would mean a berth in the quarterfinals.

Medvedev dropped the first two sets to beat Fabian Marozsan in five on Friday, the fifth time at a Grand Slam event he has won from 0-2 down. Medvedev won 6-7 (5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, 6-3.

“I think it’s pretty crazy that we end up playing here again a year later,” Tien said after beating Nuno Borges 7-6 (9), 6-4, 6-2 to advance in the Australian Open.

None of this is new for Tien as he again bids for the quarterfinals in Australia.

After beating Medvedev last year, Tien went on to lose in the fourth round against Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, denying him a place in the quarters.

The Tien-Medvedev match in Australia a year ago ended about 2:30 a.m. It was so late that Tien arrived at the news conference with a pepperoni pizza for an early morning, pre-dawn snack.

“I remember just being really happy,” he said Friday. “My mind was in a million places.”

Unbelievably, this will be the fourth time the two have faced each other, and Tien holds a 2-1 edge. They also split in a pair of ATP Tour matches in China in 2025.

“We’ve played three times. I mean all of them have been wars,” Tien said.

Tien described himself as an improved player from a year ago, which is reflected in being seeded No. 25 in the tournament. Medvedev is No. 11 and, with a U.S. Open title in 2021 and runs to the final three times in Australia, has a deeper resume. Although the 29-year-old Russian is only getting back into his groove now after first-round exits at the three other majors last year.

“I think just getting to play more matches at this level has been really big for me,” Tien said. “Just getting out there and experiencing these different matchups that I haven’t had before, having to work my way through the ups and downs has been huge for me.”

Though he might relish a quick match, the up-and-coming Californian said he’s not expecting one.

“We both don’t give up too many free points,” Tien said. “I think naturally that makes the rallies very long, the games very long. We both don’t make it easy on our opponents. So, naturally we’re not making it easy on each other.”

The prospect of rematch was a kind of inspiration for Medvedev, who noticed only after he’d dropped two sets that Tien had already advanced to the next stage.

“Usually I don’t look on TVs or something. This time I glimpsed,” he said. “I thought, if I win this one, it’s going to be five sets. It’s going to be very tough, and then I have Learner.”

And he knows that’ll be a long and grinding match.

“The thing is that I kind of don’t like to play him, but he must hate to play me as well,” he said. “All our matches … it’s long, brutal rallies. There’s going to be a lot of shot-making, a lot of good defenses from both of us, some passing shots, et cetera.

“I’m going to try to enjoy the game of tennis. Of course, try to do my best to maybe surprise him somewhere.”

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AP Sports Writer John Pye contributed from Melbourne, Australia.

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