Learner Tien has become a player opponents find hard to close out at the Delray Beach Open. After surviving a scare in the round of 16 when Miomir Kecmanovic stood two points from victory, Tien edged the defending champion in a final-set tiebreaker to advance.

Twenty-four hours later the 20-year-old left-hander delivered another late flourish, beating Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5. The fourth seed produced a sequence of timely defenses and late pressure that turned the match in his favor.

Tien credited a personal observation in the stands for extra motivation during the decisive moments. “I saw my mom sitting up there when I was down 4-5 and I know if I lost, she was going to leave tomorrow,” he shared. “I was kinda thinking that early in the match, at like 2-3 in the third maybe. But it really hit home when it was 4-5 and I could kind of see the end.”

The match featured several momentum swings. Tien saved a pair of set points on Tiafoe’s serve in the 10th game of the opening set and regrouped after Tiafoe produced a re-break for 6-5. In the third set he saved three break points to avoid falling further behind and then shifted the match with a decisive run.

Tien closed the match with a four-game streak that decided the outcome, winning 16 of the final 18 points and finishing by breaking Tiafoe at love. That run sent him into his first semifinal of the season.

Reflecting on his mindset when trailing early in the decider, Tien added: “I got down an early break, wasn’t looking too great. I prayed. I said, ‘God I trust your plan for this match.’ I just went out and competed,” he said.

Ben Shelton staged a dramatic finish to claim the Dallas title, saving three championship points and producing the decisive winners when it mattered most. Taylor Fritz controlled more of the match overall and was steadier across three sets, but Shelton delivered the spectacular shots on the crucial points.

Fritz opened strongly, breaking early and taking the first set 6-3 while winning his first 28 first-serve points. The quick indoor courts kept break chances scarce and the crowd split its support between the two Americans, who entered the week ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the United States and No. 7 and No. 9 in the world.

“Fritz was playing very good tennis and I was struggling a lot with what he was throwing at me,” Shelton said. “I tried to be a competitor through and through.” Shelton clawed back in the second set as his groundstrokes began to match his serve. He produced an inside-out forehand winner at 2-2 and then a sequence of forehand, backhand and running forehand pass to break and level the match.

The decider featured long, fast rallies and heavy hitting from both players. Each man reached deep into his arsenal; together they produced 30 aces and a combined winner-to-error ratio that reflected aggressive play. Fritz answered Shelton’s early break with his own big moments, but Shelton broke again and served out a tense finish.

“Once I get a set, I feel pretty confident,” Shelton said later. “Once I’m able to sink my teeth in and feel like I have some sort of rhythm, I just start to loosen up and find my level.” At 6-5 Fritz saved match points, but on the third championship point a semi-shanked Shelton forehand landed just short and the point belonged to Shelton.

“It was a fun match to be a part of, up until the end,” Taylor Fritz

Shelton acknowledged the scale of the win: “I thank God, because I needed something supernatural to end up winning this tournament with all the holes that I was in,” he said. “This is one my favorite atmospheres I ever played in.” The result highlights Shelton’s capacity to elevate his game on the biggest points and marks a signature victory over his countryman.

Karolina Muchova ended a long wait for a second WTA title by defeating Victoria Mboko 6-4, 7-5 to win the Qatar TotalEnergies Open. The victory carried extra weight: the world No. 19 had not lifted a trophy since the 2019 Korea Open and had suffered four straight runner-up finishes in the interim.

“I would say I nearly forgot the winning feeling, because it’s been really quite a while,” Muchova confessed after defeating Victoria Mboko, 6-4, 7-5 in the final. “To get reminded of it, actually, I was pretty nervous before the match. I’m like, ‘Okay, how am I going to deal with it, how am I going to manage it.’ And then when you actually make it, and I dealt with that pressure I think very good in today’s match, I was just relieved, and the intensity of the feeling of winning, it’s just so nice.”

Famed for a natural, free-flowing style, Muchova has repeatedly reached the latter stages of major events since her lone title in 2019. Her resume includes back-to-back US Open semifinals in 2023 and 2024 and a run to the 2023 Roland Garros final. Those deep runs have come alongside periods affected by injury that sidelined her for extended stretches and complicated attempts to add trophies.

“Last time I played [a final] I really thought I played good that week, and then I lost pretty easily,” she said of a 2024 China Open defeat to Coco Gauff. “So I’m like, then you question yourself a little bit. Like, ‘Can I do it?’ Because, you know, obviously I hear it all around. Everyone’s like saying I only have one title.

“It’s not that I would take it personally, or that it would describe my tennis or me as a person, but I really wanted to prove that to myself that I still have it in me and that I can win. So, I would say I was just very proud how I handled myself today.”

Fit to begin the 2026 season, Muchova is projected to move to No. 11 in the WTA rankings after Doha, three spots shy of her career-high of No. 8. With the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships beginning next week she allowed only a brief pause for celebration. “In tennis everything goes so fast,” said Muchova. “I think sometimes we forget to stop and reflect on the good weeks, or small wins, big wins. My next tournament starts tomorrow! So, it’s really tough. But I would just like to stop for a little bit and enjoy it with my team, and just go somewhere tonight with them and have a good time and maybe reflect a little more.”

That celebration will feature at least one thing in particular.