Here’s another rising star at the Winston-Salem Open – 18-year-old Learner Tien.

Tien, who is from Irvine, California, got through a qualifying final by beating DK Suresh 6-3, 6-4. Suresh, a rising junior at Wake Forest, won a match on Saturday to advance but couldn’t keep up with Tien.

Tien couldn’t contain his smile when he was reminded about working his way into the main draw.

“Very happy,” he said. “I played a couple of good matches already so I’m looking forward to it. This is my first main ATP draw, not counting the U.S. Open the last two years.”

Many consider Tien a rising star, and while he’s ranked 232, a run in Winston-Salem will move up him in the rankings.

While Tien moves on to the main draw, Suresh will take the experience he gained in the tournament into this season at Wake Forest.

“I’m really happy I competed in this tournament,” Suresh said about playing on his home courts. “It just tried to have fun and not think about winning because I don’t want to put more pressure on myself, but I was just happy to compete in front of the home crowd.”

Tien is in the Winston-Salem Open for the first time, but he’s been to Winston-Salem before as a top-flight junior player.

“I like it,” Tien said about being in Winston-Salem again. “I’ve played here before in a future’s tournament and played on the indoor courts, but I like it here.”

Tien, who graduated high school at the age of 16, attended Southern Cal for a little while before turning pro.

Rising starts have littered the Winston-Salem Open throughout its run as an ATP 250 event, and Tien will likely be another one.

“It’s nice to know there’s some buzz around,” Tien said. “At the end of the day I try not to give it too much thought. I feel like I do a good job of tuning it all out…. It’s cool to see myself being talked about but I shrug it off.”

While Tien is looking to make a mark in his young career, Tai-Son Kwiatkowski is retiring at the age of 29. The Charlotte native bowed out to Strong Kirchheimer 6-3, 6-4 in another qualifying final.

Kwiatkowski, who is a former star at Virginia, turned pro in 2017 and retires ranked No. 292 in the world.

Also entering the main draw singles are American Omni Kumar, and Aussies Aleksander Vukic and Tristan Schoolkate.

This completes the main draw for the singles field at the Winston-Salem Open for 2024.