Michelsen stops Opelka and is again a finalist in Newport | ATP Tour

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Michelsen stops Opelka and is again a finalist in Newport

July 20, 2024

A year after his breakthrough in the final of the 2023 Infosys Hall of Fame Open, #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen is back in the final match in Newport. The 19-year-old won eight straight games to defeat countryman Reilly Opelka 6-2, 6-0 on Saturday, improving to 7-1 in ATP 250 grass-court action on home soil.

Michelsen is the youngest player to reach consecutive finals at the same tour event since Carlos Alcaraz achieved it in Umag in 2021 and 2022.

After fighting off three break points in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Opelka, Michelsen dominated from the middle of the opening set. He converted five of nine break points and won 64 percent of second-serve return points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“Honestly, I didn’t miss a single return when I touched the ball,” Michelsen said in his on-court interview. “It was probably the best return day of my life, maybe apart from last year against John [Isner] in the semi-finals. I did it again in the semi-finals here, so I’m super happy with that.”

In defending his PIF ATP Rankings points as a finalist, Michelsen has held steady at No. 61 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings this week. “Normally I’m kind of a nerd, I always look at the rankings and live standings,” Michelsen said. “But this week I was like, ‘I don’t even want to know, don’t tell me. ’ Because I knew I was going to lose a lot of points if I lost the first round and fell a lot. I didn’t think about it at all and it’s served me well.”

He could now rise to a career-high No. 54 in the world with a win in Sunday’s final over Marcos Giron, who beat Chris Eubanks 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in a close match. Michelsen lost to Adrian Mannarino in last year’s final but says he has higher expectations and more experience for this year’s title match.

Regardless of the outcome in the final, Michelsen’s run of form this week has already lifted him into second place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, behind Hamburg finalist Arthur Fils.