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Reilly Opelka vs Alex Michelsen: ATP Newport – Semifinal
Two Americans Reilly Opelka and Alex Michelsen will face each other in the semifinal of the ATP Newport.
Reilly Opelka Profile
The former world No. 17, Reilly Opelka, was forced to take a long break due to injury and has fallen to 1.187th place in the ATP rankings.
After playing only one match in 2023, the American is back in action in Newport and won won all three matches so far in the tournament. In the opening round, he defeated Corentine Lesteinne 6-2, 1-6, 7-6, then Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and finally Mackenzie McDonald in the quarterfinal, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Opelka is back in Newport for the first time since 2017, when he lost in the opening round to Lukas Lacko.
Alex Michelsen Profile
Alex Michelsen is currently 61st in the ATP rankings, six spots lower than his career high. The 19-year-old is 22-22 for the season and 6-5 on grass.
Michelsen is coming off a 6-4, 6-4 win over Aleksandar Kovacevic in the quarterfinal after previously defeating Maxime Cressy with the same score.
At Wimbledon, he lost in the decisive tiebreak to Lloyd Harris in the opening round of the tournament.
Michelsen’s best results of the season are the quarterfinals in Los Cabos, Geneva, and Mallorca.
Last year, he reached the final in Newport, where he lost to Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-4.
Head-to-Head
This will be the first match between Reilly Opelka and Alex Michelsen.
Prediction and Conclusion
This is a great opportunity for both players to win a title after a while. Michelsen is one of the youngest players in the top 100 of the rankings and is one win away from returning to the final in Newport. Opelka is still tough to predict, as this will be his only fifth match in the last five years. He is still one of the best servers on the tour, and his game relies on that hit. It will be very tough for either player to break early in the match, so we go with over 10.5 games in the first set.
