Tien Aims to Extend Breakout Season Against Kecmanovic in Shanghai

Learner Tien, a young up-and-coming player, will take on Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of the prestigious Shanghai Masters tournament. Tien has made quite an impact in his first full season on the ATP Tour, with several impressive results.

Just last month, Tien reached the fourth round of the Australian Open as a qualifier, even scoring an upset win over the previous year's runner-up, Daniil Medvedev, along the way. He also made the quarterfinals in Acapulco and Mallorca, with wins over top players like Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton.

Tien's strong form continued at the Canadian Open, where he reached the fourth round of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time. After a first-round loss at the US Open, he commenced the Asian swing with a quarterfinal finish at the Hangzhou Open. Most recently, Tien progressed to his first ATP semifinal at the ongoing China Open, where he will take on Medvedev again on Tuesday.

Kecmanovic, on the other hand, had a solid start to the season, reaching the semifinals in Adelaide, the third round of the Australian Open, and winning the Delray Beach Open. However, he has struggled to maintain that momentum, winning only nine more matches since his title-winning run in February. His best results since then have been a third-round appearance at Wimbledon and a quarterfinal at the Winston-Salem Open. He recently lost in the first round of the China Open.

Tien will be the favorite going into this match, given his impressive recent form and the fact that he has already beaten a top-10 player this year. Kecmanovic will be looking to turn his season around, but he will have his work cut out against the in-form Tien.