By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
During his run at the 2024 Australian Open, Alex Michelsen is already receiving super high praise from four-time U.S. Open champion John McEnroe.
Commentating on the tournament for ESPN, McEnroe said that the 19-year-old new pro Michelsen is one of the most likely American men to break through a win their first major singles title.
“We’ve talked about the top-five (American players), who’s the most likely of those people to win a major first…I’d put him above two or three of those other guys,” said McEnroe. “I’d put him behind (Ben) Shelton, sort of. I’m a little bummed about Frances Tiafoe right now. I’ve dropped him down, put him up there around where (Sebastian) Korda is. Actually, Michelsen’s just got so much tennis sense and tennis skill. He believes already. You can tell the way he goes about his business on the court. He’s a really good player.”
During this segment, McEnroe did not specifically say who he thought had the best chance of the Americans to win a major and if this included current U.S. No. 1 Taylor Fritz or U.S. No. 2 Tommy Paul.
ESPN’s Chris Fowler, in the commentary booth with McEnroe, then asked, “Do you like the intangibles? He’s also a pretty good mover for six-five and he can still improve his serve a lot. That’s an area of growth for him, you’d think, to see.”
McEnroe answered, “Absolutely. He’s going to be a guy we’re going to be talking about.”
An American man has not won a major singles title since Andy Roddick won his only major singles title at the 2003 U.S. Open.
Following his second round win in Melbourne over No. 32 seed Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic, Michelsen was interviewed by ESPN’s Brad Gilbert, who first saw Michelsen play almost exactly a year ago at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour event in Malibu, California, where he reached the final, losing a three-set final to Arthur Fery of Great Britain and Stanford University.
Said Gilbert, “A year ago at this time, I saw you play the Malibu Futures. You were ranked 600 in the world where you got to the finals there. What’s the biggest difference a year on now for Alex Michelsen? Said Michelsen, “I think mentally I’ve gotten a lot better because, I don’t know if you remember that final, but it was a roller coaster up and down mentally. And also, my serve and forehand have improved tremendously because those are the two things that are my biggest weaknesses. So ever since I’ve been working on those a ton, it’s just been getting so much better.”
Michelsen was signed to play college tennis for Coach Manny Diaz and the Georgia Bulldogs, but ironically, under the guidance and brilliant coaching by Eric Diaz, the son of Manny Diaz, Michelsen told his coach’s dad that he would not be playing college tennis for him and would turn pro, shortly after he had an amazing run to the ATP singles final in Newport, Rhode Island that moved his ATP ranking inside the top 150.
