US teen Alex Michelsen ended Reilly Opelka’s comeback from a layoff of practically two years on Saturday, advancing to face countryman Marcos Giron within the ATP Corridor of Fame Open last.
Michelsen, final yr’s Newport runner-up, defeated Opelka 6-2, 6-0 in solely 59 minutes within the ATP grass-court occasion at Rhode Island.
“At the start, he was having break factors on my serve and I used to be like, that is going to be a kind of matches that’s going to come back all the way down to the wire,” Michelsen stated.
“After which I didn’t miss a return once I touched the ball. In all probability one of the best event day of my life.”
World quantity 61 Michelsen will play for the title towards Forty sixth-ranked Giron, who received the opposite all-American semi-final 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 over Chris Eubanks.
“Making it to the ultimate is superb,” Giron stated. “It’s powerful. The margins are so small.”
Giron, who has by no means confronted Michelsen in an ATP match, misplaced his solely prior ATP finals in 2022 in San Diego and this previous February in Dallas.
Michelsen misplaced to France’s Adrian Mannarino in final yr’s Newport last, his solely prior tour championship match.
ALSO READ:
“We follow quite a bit. We’re each from Southern California. It’s cool to see he’s doing nicely,” Giron stated.
Michelsen grew to become the youngest participant since Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz at Umag in 2022 to achieve consecutive finals on the similar ATP occasion.
“Final yr I had zero expectations on myself and this yr I put a little bit bit extra expectations on myself,” Michelsen stated.
“I’m going to be taking much more expertise into the match. Final yr within the last I had about zero and now I’ve bought a yr.”
Opelka, who despatched a backhand vast to finish issues, was taking part in in his first ATP occasion since 2022 at Washington.
At 1,188th on the earth, Opelka is the lowest-ranked participant within the ATP period to achieve a semi-final, having tumbled down the ATP standings throughout his absence following hip and wrist operations.