Was Learner Tien robbed in notable absence from ATP Awards Breakthrough category?

Learner Tien continues to develop and was the last title winner of the season sealing a first at the Moselle Open in Metz the week before the ATP Finals but was snubbed from the Breakthrough of the Year category at the ATP Awards.

But was Tien robbed from being in the category? The facts speak for themselves in terms of the American's cause with Joao Fonseca, Jack Draper among others nominated. The latter reached a semi-final of a major the year before he became a top five player in 2025 and even then he missed the second half of the season with injury.

Fonseca gets more leeway as one of the biggest ranking winners in 2025, a bonafide superstar in the making too when it comes to his home country and anchoring South American tennis - what has previously been a hotbed for talent but not players who have ever made it past a glass ceiling. For instance Francisco Cerundolo among others as of late and in the past Juan Martin del Potro as a prime example.

But Valentin Vacherot was a player that was massively honed in on when this announcement was made with the Monagasque ace receiving a nomination with his main achievement of note being winning the Shanghai Masters out of nowhere.

While this was great, it was a one time occurrence and his coach was also nominated for Coach of the Year. This left many aggrieved that Tien was snubbed despite an excellent year.

He rose from World No.122 to World No.28 in the rankings in one of the biggest ATP ranking rises of the season. He reached a final of an ATP 500 tournament in China as well as later winning his first title in Metz defeating Cameron Norrie albeit given it was the last week of the season feasibly the Awards likely were already set hence why that wasn't probably a factor.

But despite not being an ATP 1000, it shows increased form. While he also reached the fourth round of the Australian Open despite early exits at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open which perhaps dented his cause but he still played all four majors after not being in the World's top 120 just a year ago.

He also has a tour win loss rate of 32-23 this season and has been established as a bit of a giant killer including defeating Medvedev in Australia and having the legendary Michael Chang as one of his coaches. A bonafide future star in American tennis who just a year ago was set to play Next Gen and now himself, Mensik and Fonseca who played that event have already shown exceptional progression into the main ranks all scooping titles in 2025.

Albeit for most that was an expectation that it would happen especially with the form previously and hype of Fonseca and Mensik in particular. The next pipeline in regards to the Next Gen Finals don't exactly hold the stock that the current rung of top talents moving through have and that has shown with many not ranked that high going into Jeddah and most qualified otherwise such as Fonseca being top players in their final years of eligibility.

But Tien unlike others such as Novak Djokovic in the Sportsmanship Award is a bonafide snub in regards to the year that he has had and will now be up to him to prove people wrong when it comes to his lack of recognition.

Andy Roddick is also a fan of the rising American lauding praise on him just this past week on Served. “I’ve yet to see him look super tired. He’s always going to have to be fit," said Roddick on Served last week. "He might not knock your head off with power, but he can pick you apart. He can body-shot you, and he’ll stun you with a jab across the chin.”

“His record against top-10 players is shockingly good for someone who started the year outside the top 100.”

“When he gets beat, it’s never because he’s in awe of the moment or because he punched himself out. Sometimes someone can just go bigger, stronger, faster that day.”

“I wouldn’t try to recreate his mentality. He understands what he does well and has full control of the concepts of the game. At 28 in the world he’ll be seeded in Australia. If he keeps that spot, you’re looking at third or even fourth rounds. Those points will add up.” If he has an average first six months, we’ll be looking at him in the top-20, maybe top-15.”

“His game should translate really well to grass. Clay, I don’t know. He hits a little flatter and won’t get freebies, but on faster courts he’s technically so sound. He doesn’t need much time to inject pace.”