American Alex Michelsen will hope to celebrate the passing of his teenage years a day early on Saturday when he plays for his first ATP Tour title in the final of the Winston-Salem Open.
The #NextGenATP star, who turns 20 on Sunday, was leading Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6(5), 2-1 when the Spaniard retired.
“Really unfortunate. I know he has been struggling with injuries for a couple of years. He is a great player, [former] Top 10, and I thought he was playing at a pretty good level today,” Michelsen said.
Michelsen, who was the beaten finalist in Newport the past two years, cracked the Top 50 by reaching the championship match in North Carolina, rising to a career-high No. 49 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
“It’s not the way I wanted to get to the final, I wanted to win it the right way,” said Michelsen, who will meet Italian Lorenzo Sonego in the final.
In a gruelling first set that lasted an hour, Carreno Busta started strong and raced to a 5-2 lead with Michelsen struggling on his second serve. The Spaniard’s powerful hitting built pressure but when the new balls came out, Michelsen played more aggressively and took the attack to Carreno Busta.
The American completed his comeback and claimed the first set in a tie-break after winning 70 per cent of his first serves. He then broke Carreno Busta to lead 2-1 in the second set.
“I had a little mindset change at 5-2 to play on my terms and once I did that, I was doing a lot better.”
Earlier in the day Sonego defeated David Goffin 6-3, 6-2 to reach his first final since lifting the 2022 Metz title. The 10th seed looked for early opportunities to be aggressive in rallies and broke Goffin in the Belgian’s opening service game of each set. The 29-year-old is the first Italian finalist in Winston-Salem tournament history.
“I served really well today,” said Sonego, who did not face a break point. “I improved my serve this year… I returned really well on second serves, [and then] I can play more free. I played my perfect match today and I’m really proud of myself.”
Sonego is the sixth different Italian ATP Tour finalist in 2024, the most for Italy in Open Era: Jannik Sinner, Luciano Darderi, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti and Flavio Cobolli.
