“I know I made it a lot harder than it could have been but, you know, whatever!” said a jubilant Learner Tien after delivering probably the biggest upset of the 2025 Australian Open. The 19-year-old teenager, ranked 121 in the world, taught the 5th seed veteran some hard lessons on the court in a late night blockbuster at the Margaret Court Arena. And what did the young American sensation do after claiming the best win of his career in his Slam debut? He had a pizza party amid a running press conference! But we can’t blame him. It’s not easy to resist your hunger after spending 4 hours 49 minutes in a marathon battle, right?

Daniil Medvedev, last year’s runner-up at the Major down under, fought hard against Tien. However, the American proved to be too much for him. Tien won the first two sets 6-3, 7-6(4) over Medvedev and looked in a comfortable position. However, the three-time Australian Open finalist showed his evergreen fighting spirit. He clinched the next two sets 7-6(8), 6-1. But then Tien went on to show his mental resilience and held his nerves in the yo-yoing 5-setter to script history. Ultimately, he won the final set 7-6(7) in a super tie break, and made his way into the third round.

When he sat down for a press conference after the match, Learner Tien was seen chomping down on a pizza on his table! And it seemed like he had wanted to have it for hours – literally. At last, he got the opportunity that came in a winning cause. Sharing his feelings he said, “I said this earlier that it was either going to be celebratory or a binge-eat like ‘cope’. It feels better it’s more celebratory for sure.”

But there was a moment in the match, at a crucial stage, where it looked like Tien had succumbed to his far more experienced opponent. But why so? Well blame nature for an ill-timed ’emergency situation’. So what went down exactly?

Learner Tien explains the reason behind losing crucial set before making a winning return against Daniil Medvedev

After Learner Tien took the first two sets, Medvedev snatched the third one from him. And in the fourth set, the Russian was simply outstanding, getting a breadstick against the teenager with a 6-1 score. But during the post-match interview, Tien revealed what led to his fourth set loss. The funny reason was more bizarre than one could imagine.

Tien said, “Honestly, in the 4 set I just had to pee so bad, I was trying to finish it up pretty quick and wanted to serve first in the 5th set. In the end it all worked out.” To this, the late-night crowd present in the Margaret Court Arena burst into laughter. He also mentioned that he could have finished the match a bit earlier by not giving Daniil Medvedev too many chances to convert points.

But all’s well that ends well. This is exactly what he must be feeling right now as he gears up for his third round encounter. In the Round of 32, the young tennis sensation will now face France’s Corentin Moutet. In his second round battle against America’s Mitchell Krueger, on Thursday, Moutet won with a scoreline of 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-4. It will be intriguing to see if Tien, who’s now the youngest American to make it to the third round at the Australian Open since Pete Sampras in 1990s, will be able to go past Moutet on Saturday. What’s your prediction for these two? Let us know in the comments below.