When Christopher Eubanks captured his maiden ATP Tour title in Mallorca last year, the American needed to escape an opening round three-setter against Alex Michelsen before eventually lifting the trophy. The 19-year-old Michelsen avenged that loss Thursday at the Winston-Salem Open with a narrow 7-5, 6-7(6), 7-6(5) win as he continues his own quest for his first tour-level crown.
Will Michelsen's tight victory in North Carolina also prove the springboard to his first ATP Tour title?
Celebrating his 20th birthday on Sunday, Michelsen was two points from victory at 6/6 in the second-set tie-break, but was forced to a decider. Producing clean hitting and several acute angle passing shots by the 6'7" Eubanks, the teen held his nerve to advance after two hours, 29 minutes.
"I thought we both played pretty well, it was a high-quality match," Michelsen said. "When he was coming up with no-look volley winners, it wasn't that fun for me, but I'm sure it was fun for everybody else. It was a battle.
"I was just going to keep going after my shots and I'm glad it paid off. In the second-set tie-break, I missed a couple shots that were a little bit regrettable. In the third-set breaker, I felt like I didn't miss too many shots."
Michelsen has appeared in two tour-level finals, both of which came in Newport (2024, 2023). The California native is hoping to go one step further this week as he continues his quest for a Top 50 breakthrough. Michelsen is competing this week at a career-high No. 52 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
Up next for the 11th seed, second in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, is 2016 champion Pablo Carreno Busta. Michelsen is aiming for a return trip to the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which runs from 18-22 December. Last year he did not advance beyond the round-robin stage.
Carreno Busta ended the dream run of Learner Tien, the 18-year-old American who was competing in his first ATP Tour event. The Spaniard cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 win, extending his tournament match-win record to 19.
The 33-year-old is into his third Winston-Salem semi-final and first overall since triumphing at the 2022 ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal. A seven-time tour-level titlist, Carreno Busta is playing just his fifth ATP Tour tournament of the season. He missed much of the past year and a half due to elbow tendonitis.
In the top half of the draw, David Goffin and 10th seed Lorenzo Sonego will meet in the semi-finals after they each earned a straight-sets win. The Belgian Goffin cruised past Rinky Hijikata 6-1, 6-3 to reach his first semi-final since 2022 Marrakech, where the 33-year-old won his most recent trophy of six tour-level titles.
Sonego produced a heavy-hitting performance to oust Pavel Kotov 6-3, 7-5. The first Italian semi-finalist in Winston-Salem tournament history, the 29-year-old created 16 break chances, converting three of them, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Friday will be Sonego's first tour-level semi-final of 2024.
Goffin leads Sonego 1-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Their previous meeting came in 2021 at the ATP 250 in Montpellier, an event that Goffin went on to win.
Watch Thursday’s Extended Highlights:
