Alex Michelsen produced the biggest win so far of his fledgling career to upset 2023 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round of the Australian Open, and he knew instinctively where credit was due.
The 20-year-old American overcame nerves on his serve in the fourth set before clinching a 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win on Monday over Tsitsipas, the No 11 seed at this year’s tournament.
Michelsen started playing tennis at the age of three and hit most days as a child with his mother, Sondra, a school teacher who played college tennis.
“Yeah, I’m sure she’s watching right now,” Michelsen said after the match. “Yeah, we hit a million balls from the baseline every day. We’d go like 30 minutes up the middle, then we go across each way for like an hour and a half. I mean we would just go out there and she would never miss a ball – she’s incredible. But no chance I’d be here without without her, so thanks Mom. Love you.”
The No 42-ranked Michelsen reached the third round last year on his Australian Open debut before losing in the first rounds at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and in the second round at the US Open.
His win over Tsitsipas was Michelsen’s first against a player ranked in the top 20 at a grand slam.
He played with freedom against Tsitsipas, taking big swipes with his service returns – including three in the ninth game of the fourth set that helped earn him a vital break. He tensed up on serve, surrendering two hard-earned breaks in the fourth set, but stayed composed in the final game.
“Yeah, I didn’t take the most direct path, that’s for sure. Shouldn’t have got broken twice in the fourth. My serve let me down. Served double faulting way too much,” he said. “But I was also returning really, really well. I felt like I was winning most of the baseline rallies when I was inside the baseline and controlling the point. So I was thinking at 4-4, after I got broken twice, saying, ‘You’re still in this, just play every point for what it is.’ I played a great 4-all game and got it done at 5-4.”
He finished the match with eight aces and eight double-faults, but hit 46 winners to only 40 unforced errors.
“First of all, I was just trying to stay super composed out there. I knew it was going to be a battle in the end,” he said. “It’s all about the mindset.”
Elsewhere on Monday, Frances Tiafoe threw up during his five-set victory over Arthur Rinderknech and said afterward he might have quit if this had been just a run-of-the-mill tournament.
The 17th-seeded Tiafoe, who turns 27 in a week, managed to win the topsy-turvy match 7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7, 6-3 in just over four hours.
“If it was any other, probably, event, I probably would have let it go,” Tiafoe said of a vomiting spell in the fourth set. “But here, you got to lay it all on the line.”
Tiafoe said heat was not an issue during a match that began at 11am. Instead, he said he probably was over-hydrated.
“It’s a tough time … I feel like it’s really tough to prepare,” Tiafoe said. “I’m happy I got through, happy everyone came out and enjoyed the four hours of tennis that was way longer than it should have been.”
