Maybe it’s the summer-like conditions in January or the “Happy Slam” vibes, but something in Melbourne agrees with American tennis standouts Tommy Paul and Learner Tien.
Both men advanced to the round of 16 at the Australian Open with victories on Friday afternoon in Melbourne. No. 19 seeded Paul needed only two sets, as Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina called it quits after dropping the first two sets 6-1, 6-1.
Tien, seeded No. 25, knocked off Portugal’s Nuno Borges 7-6 (9), 6-4, 6-2 to reach the fourth round in back-to-back years in the land down under.
Davidovich Fokina was coming off a grueling five-set win over Reilly Opelka two days ago in a match that lasted 3 hours, 47 minutes.
Paul was completely dominant, winning 19 of 20 first serve points and never facing a break point in the match. He produced 17 winners and made only six unforced errors, while the Spaniard hit six winners and 23 miscues.
Davidovich Fokina called for the trainer late in the second set as his left leg was ailing and retired after the conclusion of the set. Paul improved to 5-0 all-time against Davidovich Fokina.
Paul is now 17-6 in Melbourne and reached his only major semi-final there in 2023. He fell to eventual champion Novak Djokovic and also made it to the quarterfinals a year ago.
It looked like Tien and Borges might be in for the long haul after a 58-minute first set. Borges served for the set at 5-4, but Tien broke serve and forced a tiebreaker. Each player had a pair of set points in the tiebreaker, including one for Borges on serve at 8-7, but Tien outlasted the Portuguese competitor, 11-9.
From there, Tien made it routine, breaking serve twice in the second and third sets to match his stunning effort in Melbourne of a year ago.
Last January, he made the main draw for the first time at a non-American major and was ranked No. 121. At 19 years old, he upset fifth-seeded Danill Medvedev in the second round and Corentin Moutet in the third round to become the second-youngest American (Pete Sampras, 1990) to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open in the Open Era.
After the match, the fast-rising Tien was asked about his goals for 2026.
“My focus is on my next match right now. I don’t like to look that far ahead,” said Tien. “I like to take it match by match and week by week. Right now, my biggest focus is my next round.”
Tien managed to save four of six break points in the match and won nearly 40% of his points in the return game.
In another afternoon match, Medvedev, seeded No. 11, rallied from two sets down to defeat Fabian Morozsan of Hungary, 6-7 (5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, 6-3 in a match that lasted 3 hours, 43 minutes.
Medvedev, from Russia, will face a rematch with Tien in the fourth round.
–Field Level Media
