Corinne Dubreuil/ABACAPRESS.COM
Taylor Fritz vs Alex Michelsen: ATP Geneva – Round of 16
Two American players with great serves will face each other in the round of 16 of ATP Geneva.
Taylor Fritz Profile
Taylor Fritz is 12th in the ATP rankings, and his career high is No. 5 in the world. The American is 22-9 for the season and 10-4 on clay.
He is coming off a quarterfinal loss to Alexander Zverev in Rome, 6-4, 6-3. Earlier in the tournament, Fritz defeated Grigor Dimitrov, Sebastian Korda, and Fabio Fognini.
He was even better the week before, reaching the semifinals in Madrid. After going past Luca Darderi, Sebastian Baez, Hubert Hurkacz, and Francisco Cerundolo, Fritz lost 6-4, 6-3, to Andrey Rublev.
Earlier this season, Fritz won the title in Delray Beach and lost in the final in Munich to Jan-Lennard Struff.
This is his second appearance in Geneva after he lost in the semifinals last year to Grigor Dimitrov in the decisive tie break.
Alex Michelsen Profile
Alex Michelsen has the best ranking of his career, being 65th in the world. The 19-year-old is 15-15 for the season and 3-7 on clay.
He is coming off a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Aleksandar Kovacevic in the first round in Geneva.
Last week, Michelsen reached the round of 16 at the Challenger in Oeiras, where he lost to Dennis Novak after beating Henrique Rocha in the first round. Previously, he lost the opening matches in Rome, Cagliari, and Madrid.
Michelsen’s best result this season was the quarterfinal in Los Cabos, where he lost to Jordan Thompson in three sets.
This is his first appearance in Geneva.
Head-to-Head
This will be the first match between Taylor Fritz and Alex Michelsen.
Prediction and Conclusion
As with most American players, Fritz and Michelsen are not fond of playing on clay. Fritz wanted to change that this season, being very active in the clay season, hoping to get back to the top 10 players in the ranking at Roland Garros. Still being a teenager, Michelsen has yet to play a significant number of games on this surface, and he is struggling with the adaptation. There is a huge gap in quality between these two players, so Fritz will win this one easily in straight sets.
