Learner Tien reflects on full-circle moment in Indian Wells victory over Ben Shelton

[p]The rising 20-year-old from Irvine said it "meant a lot" ‌for him to him to beat fellow American lefty [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/shelton-ben/QNuG0Gzb/"]Ben ‌Shelton[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/shelton-b-QNuG0Gzb/tien-l-xUHOBJK6/?mid=UyaIZqI5"]7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3[/a] on a sun-soaked Stadium One court to advance ‌under sunny skies in the California desert.[/p][p]"[b]The court I played on ‌today, I remember exactly where I was sitting in that same stadium when I was a kid, so it's really cool, it's a full-circle moment for ‌me,[/b]" he said.[/p][p]"[b]From where I was sitting ⁠on the bench, it was to ‌my left, in the corner. I remember those seats. I remember a ​lot of it still.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="7fd5dc51-2749-49bb-9554-ffa6747a451e" url="https://x.com/TennisTV/status/2030774485687693759?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]He said he was fortunate to grow up in Southern California, a region with deep roots in ​the sport that offers ideal weather for year-round practice and competition.[/p][p]"[b]There's a lot of tennis, a lot of tennis courts, a lot ⁠of tennis players, and ​a lot of parents putting their kids into tennis programs,[/b]" he said.[/p][p]"[b]There were a lot of tournaments around. I wouldn't have to travel that far most of the time, and it wasn't that hard ‌to find open courts. I consider myself pretty lucky to have grown up in this area.[/b]"[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tien-learner/xUHOBJK6/"]Tien[/a], seeded 25th, admitted to feeling some nerves in his match against world number eight Shelton, who despite suffering from an illness still presented a formidable challenge with his world-class serve and powerful groundstrokes.[/p][p]"[b]Tricky match, for sure. Going out there, I heard that maybe he wasn't feeling that great. So it wasn't super surprising to me that he was just taking big cuts, ‌he was going for a lot of balls. Just overall a ​tough match to navigate.[/b][/p][p]"[b]I think I played the match without ‌having a whole lot of rhythm, just because of how big he was playing. I also felt a little bit of the nerves in some of those points. But just happy to get through.[/b]"[/p][p]With the win over Shelton, Tien is now 6-5 ⁠in his career against top-10 ⁠players and next faces Spain's ‌19th-ranked [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/davidovich-fokina-alejandro/0zQXLfz4/"]Alejandro Davidovich Fokina[/a].[/p]