Learner Tien against Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open: It's deja vu in Melbourne

Learner Tien reached the third round of the Australian Open a year ago, beating Daniil Medvedev in a match that lasted five sets and almost five hours.

It's deja vu in Australia.

A year later, the left-handed Tien is up against Medvedev again in Melbourne, this time on Sunday in a fourth-round match.

The 20-year-old is aiming for a similar result, which would mean a berth in the quarterfinals.

Medvedev dropped the first two sets to beat Fabian Marozsan in five on Friday, the fifth time at a Grand Slam event he has won from 0-2 down. Medvedev won 6-7 (5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, 6-3.

“I think it's pretty crazy that we end up playing here again a year later,” Tien said after beating Nuno Borges 7-6 (9), 6-4, 6-2 to advance in the Australian Open.

None of this is new for Tien as he again bids for the quarterfinals in Australia.

After beating Medvedev last year, Tien went on to lose in the fourth round against Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, denying him a place in the quarters.

The Tien-Medvedev match in Australia a year ago ended about 2:30 a.m. It was so late that Tien arrived at the news conference with a pepperoni pizza for an early morning, pre-dawn snack.

“I remember just being really happy,” he said Friday. “My mind was in a million places.”

Unbelievably, this will be the fourth time the two have faced each other, and Tien holds a 2-1 edge. They also split in a pair of ATP Tour matches in China in 2025.

“We've played three times. I mean all of them have been wars,” Tien said.

Tien described himself as an improved player from a year ago, which is reflected in being seeded No. 25 in the tournament. Medvedev is No. 11 and, with a U.S. Open title in 2021 and runs to the final three times in Australia, has a deeper resume. Although the 29-year-old Russian is only getting back into his groove now after first-round exits at the three other majors last year.

“I think just getting to play more matches at this level has been really big for me,” Tien said. “Just getting out there and experiencing these different matchups that I haven't had before, having to work my way through the ups and downs has been huge for me.”

Though he might relish a quick match, the up-and-coming Californian said he's not expecting one.

“We both don't give up too many free points,” Tien said. “I think naturally that makes the rallies very long, the games very long. We both don't make it easy on our opponents. So, naturally we're not making it easy on each other.”

The prospect of rematch was a kind of inspiration for Medvedev, who noticed only after he'd dropped two sets that Tien had already advanced to the next stage.

“Usually I don’t look on TVs or something. This time I glimpsed,” he said. “I thought, if I win this one, it’s going to be five sets. It’s going to be very tough, and then I have Learner."

And he knows that'll be a long and grinding match.

“The thing is that I kind of don’t like to play him, but he must hate to play me as well,” he said. "All our matches ... it’s long, brutal rallies. There’s going to be a lot of shot-making, a lot of good defenses from both of us, some passing shots, et cetera.

“I’m going to try to enjoy the game of tennis. Of course, try to do my best to maybe surprise him somewhere.”

AP Sports Writer John Pye contributed from Melbourne, Australia.

Daniil Medvedev of Russia plays a backhand return to Fabian Marozsan of Hungary during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Daniil Medvedev of Russia cools himself down during his third round match against Fabian Marozsan of Hungary at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Learner Tien of the U.S. plays a forehand return to Nuno Borges of Portugal during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Nuno Borges of Portugal plays a backhand return to Learner Tien of the U.S. during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Learner Tien of the U.S. celebrates after defeating Nuno Borges of Portugal in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel and Iran exchanged fire early Wednesday as Tehran kept up its pressure on the region's oil industry, hitting a ship in the Strait of Hormuz and targeting infrastructure as concerns grew of a global energy crisis.

Iran has effectively stopped shipping traffic through the narrow strait off its coast, through which about a fifth of the world's oil is shipped from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean. It has also been targeting oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations as part of a strategy that appeared to be aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end their strikes.

Early Wednesday, Kuwait said its defenses had downed eight Iranian drones over the oil-rich nation and Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted five drones heading toward the kingdom's vast Shaybah oil field. A projectile hit a container ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Nations Security Council was to vote later in the day on a resolution sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council demanding Iran stop attacking its Arab neighbors.

Israel, which launched the war with the United States on Feb. 28, said it had had begun a new wave of attacks on Tehran, following multiple strikes the day before that residents described as some of the heaviest during the war. Explosions were also heard in Beirut and in southern Lebanon after Israel said it had started a new assault on targets related to the Iran-linked militia Hezbollah.

The attacks set a building ablaze in central Beirut in the densely populated Aicha Bakkar area, engulfing the top two floors of the multistory structure in flames. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the strike, which came without warning.

An earlier Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed five people in the Nabatieh district, while two more were killed in strikes in the Tyre district and the Bint Jbeil district, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. A Red Cross worker also died early Wednesday of wounds sustained Monday, when his team was hit by an Israeli strike while they were rescuing people from an earlier attack.

Nearly 500 people have been killed so far in Lebanon since Hezbollah triggered the latest round of fighting with Israel when it fired rockets into the country’s north after the American and Israeli attacks on Iran started.

Israel warned of three Iranian attacks across the country early Wednesday, with sirens heard in Tel Aviv and elsewhere but no immediate reports of casualties.

In addition to targeting Saudi Arabia's oil fields, the kingdom's defense ministry said it had destroyed six ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, a major U.S.- and Saudi-operated air facility in eastern Saudi Arabia. The ministry also said it intercepted and destroyed two drones over Hafar al-Batin, a major city in the eastern province.

In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran hit a container ship with a projectile off Ras al-Khaimah, the UAE’s northern-most emirate on the strait, according to a monitoring site run by the British military.

It said the “extent of the damage is currently unknown but under investigation by the crew.”

The United Arab Emirates said early Wednesday that its air defenses were working to intercept incoming Iranian fire. The wealthy Gulf nation — home to the business and travel hub of Dubai — said Iranian attacks have killed six people and wounded 122 others there.

Bahrain sounded sirens early Wednesday, warning of an incoming Iranian attack. The warnings came a day after an Iranian attack hit a residential building in the capital, Manama, and killed a 29-year-old woman and wounding eight people.

In New York, the U.N. Security Council was to vote Wednesday afternoon on the Gulf Cooperation Council resolution, according to three diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-nation regional bloc, said its own facilities were targeted in an Iranian attack last week on Bahrain.

The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, condemns Iran’s attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The measure calls for an immediate end to all strikes and threats against neighboring states, including through proxies.

It would be the first Security Council resolution considered since the start of the war.

Oil prices remained well below the peaks hit on Monday but the price of Brent crude, the international standard, was still up some 20% Wednesday from when the war began, and consumers around the world are already feeling the pain at the pump.

The spike in oil prices has been rocking financial markets worldwide because of worries that the war could block the global flow of oil and natural gas for a long time.

Amin Nasser, the president and CEO of Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco, warned on Tuesday that if oil tankers continue to be unable to transit the strait “that will have a serious impact on the global economy.”

The U.S. military said Tuesday it had destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz, though U.S. President Donald Trump said in social media posts that there were no reports yet of Iran mining the passage, a prospect that experts warned of in the buildup to the war.

In addition to the nearly 500 people killed in Lebanon, Iran has said more than 1,300 people have been killed there and Israel has reported 12 people dead.

The U.S. has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.

Many foreign nationals have been getting out of the Persian Gulf region since the war began, including over 45,000 U.K. citizens, the British Foreign Office said. Some 40,000 people returned to the United States, according to the State Department.

Magdy reported from Cairo, and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Sally Abou AIJoud in Beirut, Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Julie Watson in San Diego, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this story.

People take shelter in an underground metro station as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strike, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A man passes in front of a destroyed building that housed a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a non-bank financial institution run by Hezbollah, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Motorbikes drive past a billboard depicting Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, handing the country’s flag to his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, as the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stands at left, in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)