Learner Tien doesn’t hold any grudges about Jannik Sinner taking his spot at the postponed Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia.
Sinner has been out injured with a knee injury since defending his Wimbledon title in mid-July, with the Italian shutting down his season in early October due to the issue.
As a result, American Tien took his place in the star-studded lineup, which included Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Alex De Minaur.
The Riyadh tournament was originally scheduled for 21-24 October, but it was pushed back to 27-30 December due to unrest in the Middle East.
Tien was set to pocket £1.2million for merely taking part in the competition, with the winner notching £3.5m. However, as Sinner is set to recover in time for the event, the 20-year-old is now stepping aside.
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Tien has earned around £1.8m in prize money in the 2026 season, so just showing up at the Six Kings Slam would have added a sizeable chunk to his haul.
But rather than be annoyed at this development, the left-hander cut a very mature figure and expressed his happiness that the five-time major winner was returning to the sport soon.
When asked if it was a surprise that Sinner might return for the postponed event, he told BB Tennis, “No, not at all. I was honestly expecting him to come back.
“Just because, with the event being pushed back, it gave him an extra two and a half months to recover and get ready to play again. I was happy to see him back playing.”
Tien was speaking after his three-set win over Adolfo Vallejo in the first round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday. The youngster, who has a career-high ranking of 12 but has fallen to 21st, will face Frenchman Luca Van Assche in the next round.
If he gets through the 22-year-old, a battle with top seed and world No 1 Zverev or Lyon Open champion Lorenzo Musetti awaits in the third round. Tien has two ATP Tour titles to his name; the first came in Metz last year and the second was in Geneva back in May.
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