Houston
Tien “Double Clay Ws”, enters Houston QFs
Team USA enters 10th Tour-level qualifying tournament
April 3, 2026
Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images
Third seed Learn Tien advances to the quarterfinals in Houston.
Written by ATP Staff
On Thursday, at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, Tian defeated Nishesh Basavareddy 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to advance to the ATP Tour clay court quarterfinals for the first time.
After the win, the 20-year-old hilariously signed in front of the camera, “I doubled my clay court Ws today,” referring to his tour-level clay court record of 1-6 entering the ATP 250.
Tenn created 15 break chances, converting three of them, to improve to 3-0 in his Lexus ATP head-to-head series against Basava Reddy, according to Infosys ATP Statistics.
“I think my energy dropped a little bit in the second quarter and obviously he started playing better,” Tian said in an on-court interview. “I just wanted to go out there and not get blown out in the first game [of the third set]. I was pleased with the improvement in my energy level and overall performance in the third quarter. “
The next third seed was Roman Andres Burruchaga, who defeated Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
