A couple of left-handers will be taking the court at the Dallas ATP 500 on Tuesday in Learner Tien and Denis Shapovalov. They are going up against Marin Cilic and Rafael Jodar, respectively, in the opening round.
Marin Cilic vs. (6) Learner Tien
There will be a 17-year age gap on display when Tien and Cilic go head-to-head for the first time in round one of the Dallas Open on Tuesday. The 20-year-old Tien is coming off another stellar performance at the Australian Open, where he reached the fourth round in 2025 and the quarterfinals last month. Cilic is presumably coming down the stretch of his career at 37 years old, but he is still going relatively strong at 61st in the rankings.
Although Cilic obviously has way more experience in every kind of condition (including on indoor hard courts), early returns for Tien are extremely encouraging on this surface. The world No. 23 is 30-7 on it dating back to the start of the 2023 campaign. Cilic remains dangerous on relatively quick courts, but Tien will likely get too many balls back in play and wear down the veteran if this develops into a relatively long match.
Pick: Tien in 3
(7) Denis Shapovalov vs. (Q) Rafael Jodar
Shapovalov is the defending champion in Dallas, having knocked off Taylor Fritz, Tomas Machac, Tommy Paul, and Casper Ruud en route to the title. The 26-year-old Canadian also lifted the Los Cabos trophy in July, but since then he has compiled an 8-10 record. Shapovalov lost to Raphael Collignon 6-4, 6-2 in Brisbane and to Cilic 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 at the Australian Open.
Up first for the world No. 40 on Tuesday is Jodar, whom he has never faced. Jodar is 12-1 overall this season with a Challenger title, a second-round appearance in Melbourne as a qualifier, and successful qualification in Dallas. The 19-year-old Spaniard also compiled a 2-1 record at the NextGen ATP Finals in December, including a win over Tien. This is not a good spot for an out-of-form player with a lot of points to defend while facing a much younger opponent who is riding a wave of momentum.
Pick: Jodar in 3
WWW?
Tien in 2; Shapo in 3
I am.a Canadian and woukd absolutely love it if Shapovalov would win but I just don’t see it happening.
What do you guys think of Victoria Mboko on the women’s side? I think k she will be top 5 by year’s end
Maybe top 5 its too much, but a top 10 its most likely if she continues this path.
Mboko’s a great player, so top 5 is not out of the question.
So Cilic took Tien out 7-5, 7-6(4).
The good news for Shapo is that he’s really good indoors and at this event, so his form coming in here isn’t maybe a factor at all as last year he came into this event in similar form, though this does look like a 50-50 kind of match, I suspect Shapos lefty weapons will be too much for Jodar, Shapo in 2 7-6(4), 7-5.
Shapo did win last year, but I feel him repeating performances, is like lightning striking twice. He just doesnt have much consistency . I recall he did well at Miami one year, maybe an OK run the next .
Tien was my finalist (Fritz injured)
Shapo with no trouble at all taking it 6-1, 6-2, proving that indeed this event is for him.
oops!
I did have him winning this match. Then losing to Opelka,who also does wrll here+ unfortunately pulled out
Tien,Jodar Oops yeah.