Michelsen defeats close friend in a revenge match at Houston

Friends became foes for 71 minutes at least on Monday evening when Alex Michelsen took on Learner Tien in the first round of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. Only one of the Americans was able to move on to the second round in Houston.

Michelsen did so emphatically at the ATP 250 event, dismissing his close friend Tien 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a defeat from the semi-finals of last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.

“I needed to do pretty much everything well. He knows me like the back of his hand. I know him like the back of my hand,” Michelsen said in his on-court interview. “I had to serve really well and I feel like I’ve had some really good clay-court prep heading into this tournament, so I feel like that helped me a lot today. It was one of those days where I was playing really well, so super happy with that.”

One year ago, Michelsen played his first tour-level match on clay at this event. This time it was Tien doing the same, and the difference in experience on the surface showed. Michelsen had an answer to every problem his opponent posed on court.

“I remember like it was yesterday, losing my first match here last year. So I know what he’s feeling,” said Michelsen, who won 87 per cent of his first-serve points according to Infosys ATP Stats. “It’s really tough to come out here and play on clay, especially being from California. There are zero clay courts anywhere. So it was tough for him, but yeah, I played really well.”

The fifth seed leveled their Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 1-1 and will next face Yannick Hanfmann or Nicolas Moreno De Alboran.

Another American who moved on was qualifier Jenson Brooksby, who defeated Japan’s Taro Daniel, the No. 124 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, 6-4, 6-4. Brooksby did not face a break point en route to a showdown with third seed Alejandro Tabilo of Chile.

Cristian Garin, another Chilean, defeated Switzerland’s Alexander Ritschard 6-3, 6-4. The 2019 Houston champion will play top seed Tommy Paul in the second round.