A native of Irvine near Los Angeles, Indian Wells is a special tournament for Learner Tien. 

He visited when he was a kid — back then focusing on finding and drinking frozen lemonade.

Now, he harbors different ambitions. 

“This is a tournament I really want to win, and just being an American, especially being from California, this is a very important tournament for me, a tournament I always want to perform well at,” Tien said in Tennis Paradise. 

With his rapid rise, few would be surprised if the 20-year-old joins Taylor Fritz as an ATP winner in the desert from California this decade. 

But Rome wasn’t built in a day, as the saying goes, and the No. 25 seed took a baby step Friday when he overcame butterflies to pick up a maiden victory in Indian Wells, 7-6(3), 7-6(8), over Adam Walton. 

Before Friday, Tien had been 0-2 including qualifying, exiting to South American duo Cristian Garin in 2024 and, when ranked 68th, Mariano Navone last year.

He saved the first set point in the second set tiebreak and pounced on his second match point. 

His record in tiebreaks this season? It improved to a stellar 9-3. 

“All these matches are tough,” he said. “It's never easy to play I guess at home in a sense, just because there is a little extra pressure. You want to win, want to do well, obviously.

“But on the other hand, you like to play with the crowd, with home support. So on the other hand, very motivated to go out and play.

“Part of it was a little nervy today. I think that just coming in with experience, I'm sure it will kind of fade away.”

Tien said it wasn’t necessarily pretty at all times — the wind caused havoc — but he tallied most of the big points against the 91st-ranked Australian who formerly starred at the University of Tennessee. 

They both ended with four more unforced errors than winners but Tien produced more of the winners, 32 to 20.

Winning when not playing at his best is something Tien is already accustomed to doing. 

“It just gives me a lot of confidence moving forward…and throughout the rest of the year that a lot of these matches I have played this year, I have been down and I have been able to come back," said Tien, who reached his first Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open. "Just a feeling like no matter how I feel when I step out on the court I can, most of the time, find a way to come through.”

Novak Djokovic, for one, has taken note. He beat Tien last year at the US Open, aided by prevailing in a bruising 80-minute second set under the lights on opening night.

“I think he's a very talented player,” said the five-time winner in Tennis Paradise. “He has had some great performances, and he's still very young.” 

As the seeds start to go head-to-head in the third round, Tien faces eighth-ranked Ben Shelton. In their lone meeting, Tien got past his fellow American and lefty last year on grass in Mallorca.