After taking a break from tennis, Learner Tien returned with a new vigor that distinguishes him as someone to watch among pro tennis hopefuls in Southern California.
Learner Tien played tennis almost as soon as he started walking. He was 5 when he competed in his first tournament, at the Racquet Club of Irvine, near his home. He was just short of 6, his father recalled, when he earned his first championship by winning three matches at an event in Upland. His trophy had a jack-o’-lantern on it because it was Halloween.
His parents, both immigrants from Vietnam, didn’t push their son to play tennis. They let him run around while they played. They avoided living their lives through him or seeking attention for him and themselves. They were delighted when he excelled against his peers and kids in older age groups, but they kept his success in perspective.
“I was kind of unsure about my future playing tennis. I wasn’t sure how much I really enjoyed it anymore, just because I’d always played it and I’d played it for so long,” Learner, now 17, said last week after a practice in Lakewood. “I guess my sense of enjoyment in playing it was fading a little bit.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
COVID-19 grim reaper still targets seniors in Southern CaliforniaColumnist Teri Sforza writes that while overall deaths are way down the group that remains hardest hit is 65 and older.
Read more »
Owners of empty Southern California offices pivoting to apartments, warehousesWith vacancies up and demand down, investors are grappling with surplus space, mostly in older buildings.
Read more »
A new species of Illacme from southern California (Siphonophorida, Siphonorhinidae)The millipede fauna inhabiting deep soil are poorly known. They are small and threadlike, slow moving, lacking pigmentation, and rarely encountered due to their obscure underground way of life. One family, the Siphonorhinidae, encompasses four genera and 12 species in a fragmentary distribution in California, southern Africa, Madagascar, the Malay Archipelago, and Indo-Burma. The family is represented in the Western Hemisphere by a single genus, Illacme Cook & Loomis, 1928 from California, with its closest known relative, Nematozonium filum Verhoeff, 1939, from southern Africa. A new species of this family is documented from soil microhabitats in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Illacme socal Marek & Shear, sp. nov. Based on this discovery and the recent documentation of other endogean millipede species, we show that these grossly understudied subterranean fauna represent the next frontier of discovery. However, they are threatened by encroaching human settlement and habitat loss, and conservation of this species and other subterranean fauna is of high importance.
Read more »
Tips to stay cool as heat wave bakes Southern CaliforniaExtreme heat increases the potential for heat-related illnesses. If you work outside or plan outdoor activities, be sure to take precautions.
Read more »
Map: Rabbit Fire and two other wildfires prompt evacuations in Southern CaliforniaThe report Saturday morning from Cal Fire said the Rabbit Fire was at 4,500 acres, or 7 square miles, with 5% containment.
Read more »
Southern California heat wave intensifies through weekendThe peak of the blistering heat wave has arrived in Southern California.
Read more »