As the sun still glowed overhead, Tien worked on steady sequences of lefty forehands and two-handed backhands. His slices and drop shots—more impactful on clay courts than hard—needed some extra seasoning, which Chang calmly pointed out.
“The way he communicates and the way I communicate are pretty similar, and so I feel like I receive information from him very well,” Tien says.
What’s the one thing Chang has instilled upon Tien more than any other? The youngster took a long pause before answering that question. But when he did, he almost couldn’t stop talking about it.
“My self-belief has grown a lot since we started working together,” he began. “I think part of that is just having success and doing better. I wasn’t someone that struggled with that before in the past—I always had a lot of faith and belief in myself. But I would say that has really grown, since we started working together.”
The way he communicates and the way I communicate are pretty similar…I receive information from him very well. Learner Tien on Michael Chang
As Tien continued, he changed course, citing another element of Chang’s wisdom:
“It might sound a little random, but I think he’s helped me to realize that there’s more than just tennis. Obviously, it’s important, and I don’t know if this is on purpose or just a random thing, but it’s driven home to me that, while we’ve been working together, there’s a lot more than tennis.”
Tien might think about that, but he’s not questioning it, certainly not after his first full season on tour that was an unqualified success, His 36-24 year in 2025 began with a fourth-round run at the Australian Open, and ended with a Next Gen ATP Finals title. The nominal offseason did nothing to slow Tien’s momentum. He reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in Melbourne—taking Alexander Zverev to a fourth-set tiebreaker before capitulating—made the semifinals at Delray Beach, and the quarters at Indian Wells.
