Coco Gauff's ex-coach Brad Gilbert makes his feelings known on Daniil Medvedev & Learner Tien's Australian Open 2R thriller

Coco Gauff's ex-coach, Brad Gilbert, recently shared his thoughts on Daniil Medvedev and Learner Tien's second-round match at the 2025 Australian Open. Gilbert expressed his amazement at the number of young stars defeating the top 10 players in this year's tournament.

On Friday morning, Learner Tien secured a spot in the third round after defeating World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-7(8), 1-6, 7-6(10-7) in a nearly five-hour-long match. The match was Tien's debut at the Australian Open and stands as the best Grand Slam performance of his career so far.

After the match, veteran American coach Brad Gilbert shared his admiration for Tien's performance on X (formerly Twitter). He pointed out to fans that the 19-year-old was the third player from the ATP Next Gen Finals to defeat a top 10 player at this year's Australian Open.

“Holy Toledo just seeing score, Tien takes out Meedy bear 🐻 in 5th set breaker that’s the 3rd player from Next gen event last month to beat a top 10 player” - Brad Gilbert wrote

The other two players are Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik. Fonesca, who won the 2024 ATP Next Gen Finals by beating Learner Tien, defeated World No. 9 Andrey Rublev in the second round. He is currently the third-ranked Brazilian on the tour, behind Thiago Seyboth Wild and Thiago Monteiro. The 18-year-old was eliminated in the third round by Italy's Lorenzo Sonego on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Mensik upset World No. 6 Casper Ruud in the same round. This is Czech's second appearance at the Australian Open, and he has now surpassed his previous best of a second-round finish in 2024.

---

Learner Tien will continue his 2025 Australian Open run against Corentin Moutet in the third round

2025 Australian Open - Day 5 - Source: Getty

Learner Tien will continue his 2025 Australian Open campaign against France's Corentin Moutet in the third round on Saturday, January 18. This will be their first-ever meeting on the ATP Tour.

Tien began his journey in the qualifiers, defeating Grégoire Barrère, Juan Ficovich, and Jozef Kovalík to secure a spot in the main draw. In the first round, he edged out Camilo Ugo Carabelli in a five-set thriller before winning Daniil Medvedev in another gruelling five-set battle in the second round.

While speaking to the press after the match, Learner Tien said he had never spent so much time on the court before. He explained that these were his first two five-set matches. Tien added that lasting through them gave him confidence despite his lack of experience with five-setters.

“I don’t think I’ve played a match that long ever, or even spent that much time on a tennis court straight, these are my first two five-setters, I played probably eight, nine hours in my last two matches combined.

It’s definitely a confidence boost to know I can last in these matches, just because I haven’t had any five-set experience prior to this week” - Tien said

On the other hand, Corentin Moutet defeated home favourite Alexei Popyrin in the first round and then beat Mitchell Krueger in the second round.

This is the first time Moutet has progressed beyond the second round of the Australian Open since making his debut at the 2018 edition.