It is time tennis fans get used to the name Alex Michelsen.
The 18-year-old captured the ATP Challenger Tour 75 title in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday to become the youngest American to win a Challenger crown since 2016 (Stefan Kozlov). Michelsen, who is one of five Challenger champions this week, struck his backhand cleanly to oust Japan’s Yuta Shimizu 7-5, 6-2 in the final at the Chicago Men’s Challenger.
“It’s really cool. I’ve been training pretty hard in the gym for this, to be able to stay fit for a whole week, because six months ago I couldn’t do that,” Michelsen told commentator Mike Cation. “It’s really big, I’m Top 200 now and it feels really, really good. I didn’t think I would get it this week, I had an absolute war in my first round [against Li Tu], but I escaped and played pretty well the rest of the week.”
The California native produced a high level all week, defeating former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori in the quarters before moving past 18-year-old Shang Juncheng in a rain-hindered semi-final that started on Saturday, but was forced to finish on Sunday. Competing in just his 10th Challenger tournament, Michelsen fended off 15 of 17 break points faced to survive the lefty Shang.
At a career-high World No. 185, Michelsen is the third- youngest player in the Top 200 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, behind Shang and Czech 17-year-old Jakub Mensik.
American Teenage Challenger Champions Since 2020
Player | Title |
Alex Michelsen | 2023 Chicago |
Zachary Svajda | 2022 Tiburon |
Brandon Nakashima | 2021 Quimper |
Brandon Nakashima | 2020 Orlando |
Austrian Sebastian Ofner dropped just one set all week en route to claiming Sparkasse Salzburg Open on home soil, where he downed wild card Lukas Neumayer 6-3, 6-2 in the final. Ofner won 23 of 24 first-serve points against the wild card to lift the trophy and move atop the ATP Challenger Tour match wins list this season. With his 35th Challenger victory of 2023, Ofner became the fourth Austrian Challenger champion this year, joining Dennis Novak, Filip Misolic and Jurij Rodionov.
Sebastian Ofner wins the ATP Challenger Tour 125 event in Salzburg, Austria. Credit: Sparkasse Salzburg Open
Ofner and Neumayer was the first all-Austrian Challenger final since 2013, when Andreas Haider-Maurer defeated Gerard Melzer in Brasov, Romania.
The 27-year-old Ofner had competed in five Challenger finals this season, but went one step further Sunday to triumph and rise to a career-high No. 56 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Last month, Ofner made a splash at Roland Garros, advancing through qualifying en route to a fourth-round appearance.
2023 Match Wins Leaders, ATP Challenger Tour
Player | Record |
Sebastian Ofner | 35-12 |
Max Purcell | 34-7 |
Facundo Diaz Acosta | 30-9 |
Benoit Paire rallied to win the all-French final at the San Benedetto Tennis Cup in Italy, where he defeated top seed Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the championship match after winning 90 per cent of first-serve points. The former World No. 18 Paire earned his second Challenger title of the season, having also triumphed at the Puerto Vallarta Challenger in March.
Gasquet (37) and Paire (34) was the oldest Challenger final since 2018, when David Ferrer (36) defeated Ivo Karlovic (39) at the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey, Mexico. Coming into the clay-court final, Gasquet led Paire 8-2 in their Lexus ATPHead2Head series.
Paire was not the only Frenchman to stand in the winners’ circle Sunday. The 22-year-old Hugo Gaston escaped top seed Bernabe Zapata Miralles 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 at the Concord Iasi Open in Romania.
Gaston, who reached a career-high No. 58 last year, was a finalist at the Iasi Challenger in 2021, but the lefty went one step further to capture his second Challenger crown and first of this season.
Hugo Gaston wins the ATP Challenger Tour 100 event in Iasi, Romania. Credit: Concord Iasi Open
At the Brawo Open in Braunschweig, Germany, Franco Agamenone claimed his first Challenger title of the year after ousting fifth seed Pavel Kotov 7-5, 6-3 in the final. The 30-year-old Agamenone held his nerve to fend off nine of 11 break points faced against Kotov.
A four-time Challenger champion, Agamenone downed three of the Top 6 seeds at the clay-court event, including top seed Daniel Altmaier in the quarter-finals.