High American Teenager Returning to River Oaks
HOUSTON (December 19, 2024) – Simply 100 days earlier than play is about to start on the 2025 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Males’s Clay Court docket Championship the event has introduced the participation of American 20-year-old Alex Michelsen, who will be part of countryman Tommy Paul in addition to Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo for the March 29-April 6 event.
The announcement comes on the day Michelsen has reached the semifinals on the ATP Subsequent Gen Finals, an occasion that welcomes the season’s finest 20-and-under expertise. His look there culminates a 12 months through which Michelsen was the youngest American to complete a season within the ATP High 50 since Andy Roddick in 2002.
“We’re delighted to welcome Alex again once more in 2025,” mentioned Event Director Bronwyn Greer. “It’s at all times an honor to showcase the ATP’s up-and-coming expertise, and we benefit from the likelihood to see these gamers grow to be stars and comply with them all through their careers.”
At No. 41, Michelsen completed 2024 because the second-youngest participant within the ATP High 50 and the youngest American within the High 100. His rating climb was highlighted by a pair of ATP finals – at Newport and Winston-Salem. Moreover, he reached one semifinal and 5 quarterfinals whereas defeating 4 High 20 foes alongside the way in which. He additionally teamed with Mackenzie McDonald to achieve the doubles ultimate on the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati.
In 2023, Michelsen got here to River Oaks for the primary time the place he fell in a troublesome three-set battle to Max Purcell. Later within the season, he broke via to achieve his first ATP ultimate at Newport. He additionally claimed a pair of Challenger titles from 4 finals.
Tennis is definitely in Michelsen’s pedigree, as each of his mother and father performed school tennis. His junior profession was highlighted by a junior Wimbledon doubles title.
Paul will lead the American contingent at River Oaks in 2025. The Olympic doubles bronze medalist completed at a career-best year-end rating of No. 12 after successful three ATP titles and personal-best 45 match wins. He can be making his fourth look at River Oaks, the place he claimed his first-ever ATP match victory in 2016.
Etcheverry was the 2023 US Clay finalist and returned in 2024 to achieve the semifinals. A 2023 French Open quarterfinalist, he boasts a 40-33 profession clay court docket report. In 2024, he was runner-up in Lyon, semifinalist in Barcelona and reached the quarterfinals at Buenos Aires and Cordoba – all clay court docket occasions.
Tabilo received a pair of titles in 2024 and broke into the ATP’s High 20 for the primary time. The left-hander claimed his first profession title in January by successful Auckland as a qualifier, then lifted the trophy on the grass court docket occasion in Mallorca. On clay, he was finalist in Santiago and semifinalist on the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome.
At US Clay 2024, Ben Shelton defeated Frances Tiafoe in an all-American singles ultimate whereas the Australian duo of Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson received their second straight doubles title. The 2025 U.S. Males’s Clay Court docket Championship would be the 15th version of the century-old event to be held at River Oaks Nation Membership.
