MELBOURNE, Australia – Alex Michelsen notched the biggest win of his fledgling career to date when he toppled 2023 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 11th seed, in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday.
The 20-year-old unseeded American overcame tension on her serve in the fourth set to win 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 over Tsitsipas, a 26-year-old from Greece. . He reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 and reached two Grand Slam finals.
Joining Michelsen in the second round was fellow American Frances Tiafoe, who took five sets to get past France’s Arthur Rinderknech 7-6(2), 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-3. I needed it.
Tiafoe, the 17th seed and Australian Open quarterfinalist, vomited at the end of the fourth set and won in 4 hours and 8 minutes. He advanced to the second round of the Australian Open for five consecutive years.
Michelsen, who has never beaten a player seeded higher than 32 in a Grand Slam, began playing tennis around age 3 and played most of her childhood with her mother, Sondra, a schoolteacher who played college tennis.
“Yes, I’m sure she’s watching now,” Michelsen told the crowd at the John Cain Arena, one of Melbourne Park’s three main show courts. “Yes, we hit a million balls from the baseline every day, going up the middle for about 30 minutes and going across both sides for about an hour and a half.
“I mean, when we go out, she’ll never miss a ball. She’s amazing, but there’s no way I would be here without her. So, thank you mom. I love you.”
Michelson, ranked 42nd, advanced to the third round in his Australian debut last year and then lost in the first round of Roland Garros and Wimbledon and the second round of the US Open.
He became the second unseeded American man to defeat a top 11 seed in the opening round in Melbourne, following Patrick McEnroe, who defeated Boris Becker in 1995.
Michelsen played free-wheeling against Tsitsipas, coming up big late in the fourth set with a service return that helped him get a crucial break at three-a-side.
He was a little nervous when serving and gave up two hard-earned breaks in the fourth set, but kept his composure in the final game. He finished the game with eight aces and eight double faults, but hit 46 winners and made only 40 unforced errors.
“First of all, I just tried to stay very calm out there. I knew it was going to be a battle at the end,” he said. The serve “started to let me down a bit in the fourth, but I was very happy. It’s all about mindset.”
Tsitsipas also lost in the first round of the US Open last year.
“My role was to try to go deep into the Australian Open and I knew the first thing to consider was not playing doubles,” Tsitsipas said. “I think karma hit me, I couldn’t deliver or play the way I wanted to… The whole purpose was just to save energy and hopefully come out fresher in the deeper draws of the tournament.”
ESPN Research, Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
