Third-seeded Michelsen reaches Newport ATP semifinals
Third-seeded Alex Michelsen reached the second ATP semifinal of his career with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic at Newport, Rhode Island, on Thursday.
Michelsen, 19, last reached the final four at this grass-court tournament last year, falling to eventual champion Adrian Mannarino of France.
Michelsen withstood 12 aces from Kovacevic and saved the only break point he faced in the match lasting one hour and 25 minutes.
Acing his way into the Semi-final 🤯🎾💥
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 18, 2024
Michelsen sweeps a win against fellow 🇺🇸 Kovacevic 6-4 6-4@TennisHalloFame | #InfosysHallOfFameOpen pic.twitter.com/1tbuX7QWOJ
He'll next face either big-serving compatriot Reilly Opelka or Mackenzie McDonald.
Opelka, playing his first tournament in almost two years after recovering from hip and wrist surgeries, toppled 25th-ranked top seed Mannarino in the second round on Wednesday.
In a match carried over from Wednesday, second-seeded Marcos Giron rallied from 0-3 down in the third set to beat France's Benoit Paire 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and reach the quarterfinals.
Next up: 20th QF of his career🔥🙌@marcos_giron93 wins a three set battle against Paire 4-6 7-5 6-4@TennisHalloFame | #InfosysHallOfFameOpen pic.twitter.com/ERczZtVapc
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 18, 2024
Paire had led 6-4, 1-0 when darkness halted play on Wednesday evening.
After pocketing the second set, the 46th-ranked Giron was quickly in trouble in the third. But he took full advantage of Paire's miscues, including nine double faults.
That included one in the ninth game of the third, which went to deuce five times before Giron broke to give himself a chance to serve out the match.
He booked a quarterfinal meeting with Australian qualifier Alex Bolt, who ousted fifth-seeded Brandon Nakashima in the second round.
Paire, a former world No 18 now ranked 227th in the world, last put together back to back ATP wins at the 2022 Australian Open.
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