Australian Open: Teen Tian Stuns Medvedev

American teenager Learner Tien shocked Russia’s Daniil Medvedev with a 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 1-6, 7-6 victory in a late epic match to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday.

According to Reuters, Tien, who came through the qualifiers, seemed to lose momentum after Medvedev saved a match point with a powerful serve during the third-set tiebreak and rallied from two sets down to force a fifth set.

However, the 19-year-old gave it his all to become the youngest American to reach the third round of a Grand Slam since Pete Sampras achieved the feat at age 18 in 1990.

Medvedev, a three-time Australian Open finalist, appeared the favorite to win the fifth set, especially as Tien showed signs of fatigue. Yet the world No. 121 remained resilient, holding his own in intense rallies against the Russian.

After a brief rain delay near 3 a.m. local time, Medvedev served for the match at 6-5 but Tien broke back to force another tiebreak.

Medvedev led 6-4 in the tiebreak, but Tien fought back and sealed the victory on his first match point after nearly five hours of play.