Michelsen reaches Newport SFs, surges to 2nd in Jeddah Race
p#NextGenATP a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex-michelsen/m0qi/overview'Alex Michelsen/a is enjoying deja vu at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/newport/315/overview'Infosys Hall of Fame Open/a, where he is into his second tour-level semi-final after defeating a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/aleksandar-kovacevic/k0az/overview'Aleksandar Kovacevic/a 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday./p
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A year on since his dream run in Newport, reaching the final in just his second ATP Tour event, the 19-year-old American is aiming to go one step further to claim his maiden tour-level title./p
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Michelsen was squeaky clean from the baseline and showed soft hands up at the net to follow yesterdayrsquo;s victory against 2022 champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/maxime-cressy/c0bc/overview'Maxime Cressy/a. The third-youngest player in the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings, Michelsenrsquo;s lone break of serve in each set was enough to secure a one-hour, 25-minute victory./p
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ldquo;I played two pretty ridiculous return games, like I did against Cressy. Itrsquo;s like deja vu, two four-and-four matches. Super happy with the win,rdquo; said Michelsen, who leads 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Kovacevic, having also beaten the 25-year-old in Geneva this year./p
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Following his quarter-final win, the third seed is up two places to second in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The California native is seeking a return trip to the 20-and-under a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/next-gen-atp-finals/7696/overview'Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF/a, which runs from 18-22 December in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Michelsen next faces a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/reilly-opelka/o522/overview'Reilly Opelka/a, who downed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mackenzie-mcdonald/mk66/overview'Mackenzie McDonald/a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 after firing 27 aces, according to Infosys ATP Stats./p
pOpelka, competing in his first ATP Tour event since 2022 Washington, dropped just six points behind his first serve in what was his third consecutive deciding-set win. The former World No. 17, currently No. 1188 in the PIF ATP Rankings, is the lowest-ranked semi-finalist in the ATP Tour era (since 1990)./pp
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In other Newport action, second seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marcos-giron/gc88/overview'Marcos Giron/a polished off a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/benoit-paire/pd31/overview'Benoit Paire/a to reach the quarter-finals. Giron and Pairersquo;s second-round match was suspended due to darkness Wednesday with the Frenchman leading 6-4, 1-0. Giron, 30, tallied five consecutive games from 1-4 in the third set to survive. The American is now tied at his career-high No. 44 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings./p
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strongDid You Know?/strongbr /
Six Americans reached the Newport quarter-finals, marking the most players from one nation in an ATP Tour quarter-final round since seven Frenchmen did so in 2009 (Lyon). It marks the most Americans in an ATP Tour quarter-final round since 2008 Delray Beach (six)./p
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