Tien topples top-seed Fils, faces friend Michelsen in Jeddah SFs

Learner Tien produced an ultra-high level when he needed it most Friday.

The American ousted top seed Arthur Fils 4-2, 4-2, 3-4(4), 4-3(5) in a win-or-go-home battle at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, where Tien is into the semi-finals. The 19-year-old finished second in Blue Group and will next meet countryman and close friend Alex Michelsen, who sat in Tien's players' box cheering him to victory.

“I thought I played really well today,” Tien said in his on-court interview. “It was great to rebound and have a good match after getting chopped by Joao [Fonseca] yesterday. It’s great to come out here and play good tennis. I thought I maintained my level pretty well from the beginning to the end.”

Tien rarely relinquished his aggressive baseline position, sending last year's finalist Fils from corner to corner in an absorbing clash. The Frenchman grew frustrated as Tien remained consistent, using his flat backhand to great effect. Tien and Fils battled in a thrilling fourth-set tie-break, in which the American earned set point with a floating backhand slice passing shot. Tien advanced after one hour, 42 minutes.

By defeating the World No. 20, Tien scored the highest-ranked win of his career and avenged his US Open loss to Fils, who in August defeated the lefty in four sets at Flushing Meadows. Tien began the year at No. 453 in the PIF ATP Rankings and is now No. 122.

While the fifth seed’s semi-final meeting with Michelsen will be their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, the California natives are more than versed with each other. Tien and Michelsen have trained at the same academy for several years. Tien's coach, Eric Diaz, was in Michelsen's box last year in Jeddah.

Tien enjoyed a standout ATP Challenger Tour season, tallying a 35-9 record at that level with three title runs. Tien also reached the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 in Winston-Salem as a qualifier.

“I just try to approach each match as a separate match,” Tien said when asked about his mentality throughout his breakthrough year. “I don’t try to think about the matches I’ve won or lost. Obviously taking the confidence from the ones I’ve won and having short-term memory with the losses. Just approaching every match as its own match and not really paying too much attention to my record.”