Alex the Great - Alex Michelsen Thread

buscemi

Legend
Alex Michelsen is an 18 year-old American currently in the Newport QF as I type. While he's from California, he's scheduled to play college tennis at the University of Georgia this fall, but, with his success this summer, some think he might turn pro. He's currently #165 in the live rankings, the second highest ranked player under the age of 19 and will be the highest ranked if he wins his match today. His result at Newport comes on the heels of winning the challenger event in Chicago. Before that, he qualified in Mallorca before losing a tight three setter to Wimbledon sensation Christopher Eubanks.

Michelsen is all arms and legs and looks like he still has room to grow and fill out from his current measurements of 6'4", 175 pounds. That might put some more pop on his serve, which is good, but subpar for his size. Unlike most recent Americans, Michelsen's stronger wing seems to be his two handed backhand, while his forehand is adequate, but could use some extra juice. He also seems to be a good net player, with a solid sense of when to approach.

As I write, he's handling Mac McDonald pretty easily in the Newport QF. I've written before about the other top player under 19, Juncheng Shang. I think Michelsen has the higher ceiling of the two. If he can add some strength to get extra pop on his serve and forehand without losing too much mobility, I see him as a future top 10 player.

michelsen-clevelandch-1-2023.jpg
 
And he won 28/56 (50%) return points on grass. That's wild.

39/82 (48%) return points won against Duckworth.

40/116 (34%) return points won against Cressy.

I'll be very interested to see how he does against Isner's serve tomorrow.
A newbie 18 year old in his second ATP tournament ever winning this many return points on grass… You could probably get something like 50 to 1 odds on something like this.
 
Love new players on tour.
Breathes new life into things.

Dilemma who to root for in the semis :eek:
Old Isner vs new Isner...

Not really BTW, as Michelsen isn't nearly as tall or as serve-dependant. In fact, his serve could be MUCH better, considering the height. But his ground game, while funky, is definitely more interesting. He too however, just like Isner, is set to be a Georgia Bulldog... (chances he actually shows up for college in September? I say just about zero...)
 
Good article on Alex's ascent. Brad Gilbert compares him to Brooksby, Tommy Paul, and even Andy Murray.

michelsen-chicagoch-2023.jpg
It’s wild Brooksby could never get a decent serve at that height — Alex’s is already better. If he does improve the serve, plays defense like Andy Murray, and has the racket talent that Tommy Paul does, he could become a real contender.

Also, I hate to say this, but it’s definitely true— I think he’d get a lot more hype if he looked a little bit different rather than a junior CarrotTop
 
Last edited:
31% of return points won on grass vs. Isner.

To go along with

And he won 28/56 (50%) return points on grass. That's wild.

39/82 (48%) return points won against Duckworth.

40/116 (34%) return points won against Cressy.

I'll be very interested to see how he does against Isner's serve tomorrow.

As well as

60% of points won in a match
6-0 deciding set vs. a veteran

Things looking might good
 

dkmura

Professional
Yeah, 31% against Isner is pretty solid. The final against Mannarino should be fun.
Agreed and I was even more impressed with Michelsen's interview after his match with Isner. Among his comments were that the strategy vs. Mannarino would be "almost 100% opposed to how I played against Isner". This young player (or his coach) has scouted potential opponents and recognizes the short strokes and controlled grasscourt game Mannarino possesses. Hard to believe he still has yet to make the decision to turn pro or go to Georgia Tech to play this fall.
 

jdx2112

Hall of Fame
Mannarino had too much grass game for Michelsen, taking him down, 6-2, 6-4. Alex next heads to the Atlanta Open, where he'll have a rematch against Cressy in the first round.
Tough to prepare for a player like Mannarino. Wholly unique.
 

Jack the Hack

Hall of Fame
I watched some portions of his matches last week on Tennis Channel. They have slightly different games, but Michelsen's situation reminds me a bit of Sam Querrey's, who also was committed for a college scholarship, but saw some fairly immediate success in the challengers and lower ATP tournaments that made him decide to turn pro. I don't think Alex has the same upside as some of the other young Americans, like Korda, but why not. He's got a serve, so he's already better than Brooksby in that regard.

Funny, but my wife was not a fan of his hairstyle... her first impression is that he reminded her of Spaulding in Caddyshack:

DL9nMYFWsAEtsNi.jpg
 

buscemi

Legend
Nice win for Michelsen over #74 Varillas, 6-3, 6-7, 6-0 in the first round of Winston-Salem. He plays #59 Ofner next, and I like Alex's chance against him on a hard court.
 

buscemi

Legend
Michelsen takes down #59 Ofner, 7-6, 7-5, to get to a new high ranking of #127. Backhand was solid as always, and his forehand looked improved.
 

buscemi

Legend
Alex plays in the final of the Knoxville challenger today against Kudla after beating Sandgren in the SF. He's up to #105 in the live rankings and would crack the top 100 with a win today. Pretty incredible that he's on the brink of direct entry into the Australian Open when he thought he'd be in the middle of his freshman year of college a few months ago.
 

buscemi

Legend
Michelsen takes down Martin Damm, Jr. to reach the Champaign SF and a career-high #96 ranking. I didn't know up until today that former pro Martin Damm (winner of the 2006 U.S. Open doubles title) had a son playing pro tennis.
 

Kralingen

Bionic Poster
This kid has top 20 written all over him once he gets his legs under him. Strangely at 6'5" the serve is actually not that good and has a lot of meat left on the bone there.

Weird game, herky jerky, but undeniably effective.
 

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
From his coach, Eric Diaz:


But what was also interesting is the overall training program happening in Newport Beach, California. It sounds like an amazing idea.

 

ppma

Professional
Finally the US are managing to push some good players in the top of the ATP.

Tennis will be receiving some extra attention for at least 10 years with Fritz, Korda, Shelton and Michelsen (hopefully) at the top.
Nope, not Tiafoe.
 

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
Finally the US are managing to push some good players in the top of the ATP.

Tennis will be receiving some extra attention for at least 10 years with Fritz, Korda, Shelton and Michelsen (hopefully) at the top.
Nope, not Tiafoe.

Why not Tiafoe? He has reached the top 10.
 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
It will be interesting to see how he does in the NextGen Finals tournament this week as guys like Alcaraz, Sinner, Tsitsipas who have won it previously became top 10 players pretty fast. Let’s see how he fares against the other 19-year olds like Fils and van Assche.

What happened to Nakashima as he seems to have dropped out of sight after winning the tournament last year?
 

ppma

Professional
It will be interesting to see how he does in the NextGen Finals tournament this week as guys like Alcaraz, Sinner, Tsitsipas who have won it previously became top 10 players pretty fast. Let’s see how he fares against the other 19-year olds like Fils and van Assche.

What happened to Nakashima as he seems to have dropped out of sight after winning the tournament last year?
The last year's contenders haven't break through like previous ones.
 
Top