California Pals Tien, 19, And Michelsen, 20, Are 2 Of 4 Us Men In The Australian Open's 4th Round

Learner Tien and Alex Michelsen were born about 15 months apart and first crossed paths a decade ago when they were playing in Southern California tennis tournaments for kids.

Tien, now 19, and Michelsen, 20, are close friends, frequently play the video game Fortnite together, trained with each other all offseason at the Tier 1 academy in Orange County and, once again, are competing in the same event - except this time, it is on a Grand Slam stage, and on Monday, they'll both be participating in the fourth round of the Australian Open .

It's the first run for each this deep at a major.

"Really cool we were able to do it at the same spot. Our lockers are right next to each other, so before and after our matches, we run into each other. It's nice to see a familiar face somewhere so far from home," Tien said. "If you told us two or three years ago that this would happen now, it would be a little crazy to think about. It's funny how it all worked out."

Tien, who had to go through qualifying last week, is the youngest player to make it to Week 2 in the men's bracket at Melbourne Park since someone by the name of Rafael Nadal was 18 in 2005.