Alex Michelsen has stunned his peers by reaching the Canadian Open quarter-finals.
The young American was quick to dispatch his good friend and compatriot Learner Tien in the Canadian Open round of 16.
Michelsen forms part of the male American tennis player contingent looking to upset the dominance of Europeans since the retirement of Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick.
While American women have certainly lived up to expectations, with the likes of Coco Gauff setting the standard, American men have struggled for the most part.
No American man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open.
However, the likes of Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and Michelsen are hoping to break that unwanted streak in the next few years, all while disrupting the impending dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
One former coach of Coco Gauff weighed in on an 18-year-old Alex Michelsen in 2023, comparing his game to that of Andy Murray’s.
Brad Gilbert said Alex Michelsen has a ‘world-class’ backhand
Brad Gilbert is an esteemed figure within tennis. The long-time coach has worked with some of the greatest players in history, including the likes of Andre Agassi, Andy Murray and Coco Gauff.
Back in 2023, the former professional who reached number four in the world in singles, spoke highly of a young Alex Michelsen in 2023.
Michelsen has just reached his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final after victory over Tien. He had already shocked the competition in the round previous, defeating French Open semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti in three sets.
Speaking to the ATP Tour in 2023, Gilbert said: “His two strengths are that he moves incredibly for 6’4″ and he knows how to defend, kind of like a Murray skill, or a Brooksby. But he’s even faster than Brooksby.”
“He’s not getting wild cards every week. He’s just winning matches. He knows how to win matches and his biggest strengths are he knows how to move and defend.
“And he’s got a world-class backhand already. I mean, an elite backhand and then you know what else? He’s a legit 6’4″. I would assume he’ll be 6’6″ because I’ve met his parents. His parents are big. Both of his parents played D1 tennis. I will be surprised if he’s not at least another two inches taller.
“And he returns tremendously. I think that’s maybe most surprising about him is how well he returns.”
Alex Michelsen says his serve was ‘money’ against Learner Tien
In an interview with the Tennis Channel following his victory over Tien, Michelsen pinpointed an area of his game that was a particular strength throughout the match.
The 20-year-old defeated Tien 6-3 6-3 and has set up a meeting with Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals. The Russian also defeated his round of 16 opponent, Casper Ruud, in straight sets.
When asked if his ‘bigger game’ was the difference on the faster US hard courts, Michelsen said: “Yeah I feel like my serve… I served really, really well. I felt like I was in a lot of his service games, if I wasn’t breaking I was getting to 30 or deuce almost every time.
“I got broken once, I had 40-15, that was a little unfortunate. But yeah, the serve today was really money for me.”
