#NextGenATP Americans Alex Michelsen and Ethan Quinn earned their first ATP Tour wins on Tuesday in Newport.
The 18-year-old Michelsen, who claimed his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title on Sunday in Chicago, upset defending champion Maxime Cressy 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-5 to reach the second round of the Infosys Hall of Fame Open.
“I knew he was going to go out there and bomb serves,” Michelsen said. “When I was down break point at 3-4 [in the final set] I got a little worried, but I came up with a good serve and just kind of found a way today.”
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Michelsen arrived in Newport in the early hours of Monday morning after his breakthrough triumph the day before, when he won two matches to lift the trophy. The Chicago victory helped him climb 60 spots to a career-high No. 190 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
The teen’s confidence showed against Cressy, one of the biggest servers in the sport. Michelsen withstood 23 aces from his opponent to triumph after two hours and 49 minutes and earn a clash against James Duckworth, who battled past Constant Lestienne 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.
“I had like an hour and a half of practice before I went on that court,” Michelsen said. “But I went over to Europe before Chicago and played a bunch on grass, so I think that definitely helped me a bit today to get a little grass experience and I played grass last year as well, so it’s not like it’s completely foreign to me.”
Michelsen was a lucky loser in Mallorca, where he played Christopher Eubanks in the first round of the ATP 250. Eubanks won that match 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-5 before winning the tournament and reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
Quinn also claimed his first tour-level victory with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Mukund Sasikumar. The Indian defeated the American two weeks ago at an ATP Challenger Tour event at Bloomfield Hills, but Quinn cruised in just 59 minutes to earn his revenge. Another player who earned his maiden ATP Tour win was Li Tu, who eliminated Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 7-6(6). Tu will try to maintain his momentum against fourth seed Mackenzie McDonald.
Kevin Anderson played the first singles match of his return from retirement (May 2022) and eased to a 6-3, 6-2 victory. The former World No. 5 hit 11 aces and won 92 per cent of his first-serve points.
John Isner also moved on with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win over Alex Bolt. The 38-year-old is a four-time Newport champion.
Did You Know?
#NextGenATP Americans Michelsen and Quinn both earned their first ATP win Tuesday. They both also entered the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on the same day, 4 April 2022, by earning points at an ITF World Tennis Tour event in Bakersfield, California. Both players eventually lost to Rinky Hijikata, who is also in the Newport draw.