Jannik Sinner surges past Learner Tien in Indian Wells | ATP Tour

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Match Report

Sinner surges past Tien in Indian Wells, sets Zverev SF

World No. 2 is chasing his maiden title at BNP Paribas Open

March 12, 2026

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Jannik Sinner defeats Learner Tien to reach the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals.
By Andy West

Jannik Sinner strapped on his speed skates to race past Learner Tien in emphatic fashion on Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open.

The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings produced a classy display packed with first-strike tennis to earn a 6-1, 6-2 triumph against reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Tien. Sinner, who edged Joao Fonseca in two tie-break sets in the fourth round, appeared determined not to get bogged down in another slugfest and his aggressive approach proved too hot for his 20-year-old opponent to handle.

“I feel like of course experience [of the matchup] helps you a bit,” said Sinner, who also downed Tien in straight sets in the Beijing final last October. “In the other way, we tried to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. He is a very talented player. He will be here many times, but I’m happy how I reacted. I feel like he was very aggressive, especially in the beginning, so I tried to hold back. An important match for me of course.”

Tien’s bid for a maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head victory against Sinner was undermined early when the American lefty gifted Sinner a break with a double fault in the second game. Sinner hardly looked back from there and he wrapped his 66-minute win having converted four of five break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The 24-year-old Italian will take on fourth seed Alexander Zverev for a spot in his first BNP Paribas Open championship match.

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Having reached his maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final by grinding out back-to-back three-set wins against Ben Shelton and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Tien seemed to struggle physically as the second set of Thursday’s encounter wore on. The American was unable to counter the relentless power and precision of Sinner’s groundstrokes, and the Italian rarely looked troubled on his way to a ninth consecutive Masters 1000 match win.

“We came here very early,” said Sinner, when asked how he dealt so well with the hot conditions in Indian Wells on Thursday. “It was very hot the week before the tournament, so we did have long training sessions trying to get the body used to it. Today I felt really good on court. It’s for sure an area where I’m trying to improve given the problems I’ve had in Australia.

“I do believe these are positive things, small departments where we have to improve. I’m happy how we’ve prepared for the matches and of course the next one is going to be a tough one.”

Awaiting Sinner in the last four in ‘Tennis Paradise’ will be fourth seed Zverev, who earlier eased past Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-3. The 28-year-old Zverev, who became just the fifth player to complete the set of semi-final appearances at all nine Masters 1000 events by overcoming 30th seed Fils, will bid to snap a five-match losing streak against Sinner in Saturday’s semi-finals.

Sinner has captured five of the six Masters 1000 titles, with the Indian Wells trophy being the only one missing from his collection. Should he overcome Zverev and go on to lift the trophy on Sunday in the California desert, he would become just the third man after Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to complete that set.

 

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