In a notable match at the Mallorca Championships, 19-year-old Learner Tien defeated 17-year-old Justin Engel in what was the youngest ATP Tour match of the season. Tien secured a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Engel, who had previously reached the Stuttgart quarter-finals.
Tien managed to save all five break points he faced during the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Despite winning only three first-serve return points, his single break of serve in each set allowed him to advance. “I broke early in the first set and I served really well today, I think that was the biggest thing,” Tien stated. “My serve kind of took me through the match. I capitalised on my break points and just tried to stay in as many return games as I could.”
Currently ranked third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Tien is set to face fellow American and top seed Ben Shelton next. This will be their first meeting in a Lexus ATP Head2Head encounter.
In other matches, Corentin Moutet overcame Pedro Martinez with scores of 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 to reach the second round. Moutet will play against Daniel Altmaier next. Gabriel Diallo defeated Jaume Munar 7-5, 6-3 and will meet Laslo Djere in his upcoming match.
Hamad Medjedovic triumphed over Nishesh Basavareddy with a scoreline of 6-0, 6-4. Roman Safiullin won against Alexandre Muller with scores of 7-6(5), 7-5. Arthur Rinderknech also advanced by defeating Damir Dzumhur with scores of 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.