Michelsen enters maiden ATP Tour final as Carreno Busta retires

Alex Michelsen will look to mark the end of his teenage years one day early by competing for his first ATP Tour title at the Winston-Salem Open final on Saturday.

Pablo Carreno Busta was down 7-6(5), 2-1 against the American, who is a rising talent in the NextGenATP and American who turn 20 on Sunday when the Spaniard retired.

“Really unfortunate. I know he has been struggling with injuries for a couple of years. He is a great player, [former] Top 10, and I thought he was playing at a pretty good level today,” Michelsen said.

Achieving a career-high ranking of No. 49 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, Michelsen, the beaten finalist in Newport the previous two years, broke into the Top 50 after making it to the championship match in North Carolina.

“It’s not the way I wanted to get to the final, I wanted to win it the right way,” said Michelsen, who will meet Italian Lorenzo Sonego in the final.

Sonego advanced to the final for the first time since winning the 2022 Metz title earlier in the day by defeating David Goffin 6-3, 6-2. In the first service game of every set, the 10th seed broke Goffin by being aggressive in his early opportunities. In the history of the Winston-Salem competition, the 29-year-old is the first Italian finalist.

“I served really well today,” said Sonego, who did not face a break point. “I improved my serve this year… I returned really well on second serves, [and then] I can play more free. I played my perfect match today and I’m really proud of myself.”

Sonego is the sixth different Italian ATP Tour finalist in 2024, the most for Italy in Open Era: Jannik Sinner, Luciano Darderi, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti and Flavio Cobolli.