American standout Alex Michelsen picked up a big win over fellow American and longtime friend Learner Tien in the Round of 16 at the National Bank Open in Toronto on Saturday, punching his ticket to the first Masters 1000 appearance of his career.
After defeating No. 3 seed Lorenzo Musetti in the Round of 32, Michelsen was able to find success against Tien, picking up a straight-set win that saw him win 72% of his first-serve points.
Throughout the match, Tien appeared to struggle with his serve, double-faulting eight times, while winning just five service games throughout the 6-3, 6-3, affair.
During his on-court interview with Tennis TV, Michelsen spoke about the significance of the moment, saying:
“Yeah it feels really good, like I said in the other interview, uncharted territory from this point on. Super happy being in the quarters for the first time.”
Michelsen now awaits the winner of today’s match between No. 11-seeded Karen Khachanov, and No. 8-seeded Casper Ruud.
Michelsen Talks About Playing Against A Longtime Friend
As two American standouts who are just a year apart, Learner Tien and Alex Michelsen grew up training alongside one another.
Despite the fact that only one of them was going to advance to the quarterfinals of their first Masters 1000 tournament, Michelsen indicated in his on-court interview with Tennis TV that the two continued to send one another memes leading up to the match, as per usual.
“We’re very, very close friends, we’ve been talking, sending each other memes, just like normal, and I mean, we’ve grown a lot together, we came from when we were not very good, and now we’re playing Round of 16 at a 1000, it’s super special. I knew one of us was going to be in the quarter so I was happy stepping on the court today.”
With his win on Saturday, Michelesen now moves into the No. 33 spot on the ATP Live rankings, On the flip side, Tien’s run to the Round of 16 has landed him at No. 55 on the latest live rankings, just two spots behind fellow 2024 ATP Next-Gen finalist Joao Fonseca.
Looking at Alex Michelsen’s Potential Quarterfinal Matchups
As previously mentioned, with his win over Learner Tien on Satudray, Alex Michelsen now secures himself a spot in the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open in Toronto, where he awaits the winner of the Casper Ruud-Karen Khachanov match.
Throughout his career, Michelsen has never played Ruud, however, he notably holds a win over Karen Khachanov from this year’s Australian Open.
After picking up a stunning first-round win over former top-top player Stefanos Tsitsipas, Michelsen wound up defeating Khachanov in straight sets the following week to advance to the fourth round, where he was defeated by local favorite Alex de Minaur.
Ruud entered this year’s National Bank Open as the No. 8 seed, while on the flip side, Khachanov entered the tournament seeded No. 11.
With both players currently sitting ahead of Michelsen in the ATP rankings, a win, would certainly go a long way in cementing Michelsen’s place as a threat heading into the US Open later this month.
Alex Michelsen Defeats Longtime Friend Learner Tien, Advances to First M1000 QF