Learner Tien Learner Tien Teenage sensation Learner Tien was knocked out of the Acapulco Open at the quarter-final stage by Tomas Machac on Thursday. (More Tennis News)
The 19-year-old American was beaten in straight sets by the number eight seed just one day after he beat top seed Alexander Zverev in two sets.
In beating Zverev, Tien (19y 87d) became the youngest player to win his first two matches against ATP top-five opponents at 19 years and 87 days old, while he is only the second American to do so after Jimmy Connors.
But it was Machac who came out on top in the last eight, winning a topsy-turvy first set that featured five straight breaks of serve from 1-1 in the first set. That left him a break up, while he broke for the fourth time at 5-3, finally taking the lead on his fifth set-point attempt.
Machac then failed to serve out the match at 5-4, though he eventually found his sixth break to make it 7-5 and win. In total, he converted six of his 14 break points while Tien broke on three of four.
Next up for Machac is a semi-final, and first-ever meeting, with Brandon Nakashima, who beat David Goffin in straight sets (7-6 (7-4) 6-2) to make his seventh tour-level semi-final.
8 - Denis Shapovalov has claimed an eighth consecutive win, with victory over Marcos Giron in Acapulco - this is now the longest winning streak of Shapovalov's career at ATP level. Resurgence.#AMT2025 | @AbiertoTelcel @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/xLIuF6eD2f
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— OptaAce (@OptaAce) February 28, 2025Elsewhere, Denis Shapovalov acknowledged the physical cost of extending his winning streak to eight matches as he came back from one set down to beat Marcos Giron 4-6 6-3 6-2.
"I played well definitely, but I had to scrap," said Shapovalov.
"I wouldn't say I was completely out-powering him... I was trying to move the ball around a little bit more, change trajectories and kind of play a little bit of cat-and-mouse and then hit him with a little bit of power. It was definitely much more of a chess match today."
The victory means that Shapovalov is now enjoying the longest winning streak of his career and he will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the semi-final.
Spaniard Fokina beat home country hopeful Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez in straight setseke777, with Mendez the first Mexican to reach the quarter-finals of an ATP tournament since 1998.