Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open.
Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts.
The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world.
Photo: AP
“It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put in a lot of hard work and it’s paying off a little bit. I was wondering when it would happen and I guess it is starting to happen right now.”
“I returned really well today,” he added. “I played offensive tennis and executed really well.”
Eighth-seeded Casper Ruud shook off a slow start to beat Portugal’s Nuno Borges 7-5, 6-4.
The Norwegian was playing only his fourth match since Roland Garros after missing Wimbledon because of injury.
Trailing 4-1 in the first set, Ruud thwarted Borges’ two chances for a 5-1 lead, methodically lifting his game and taking control with a late break before earning the lone break of the second set for his 20th win of the season.
“I just crawled into the first set,” said Ruud, who fired nine aces. “I was able to get back into it. One break and things can happen. I raised my return game and got more balls back into play.”
“In the second set I got the break and served my way through,” he added.
Despite his sluggish start, Ruud was delighted to beat Borges after falling to him at Roland Garros in May.
“It was nice to get my revenge,” said Ruud, who next faces 11th-seeded Karen Khachanov.
Khachanov, seeded 11th defeated US qualifier Emilio Nava 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-1 to book his second Masters round of 16 spot this season.
Top-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany beat Matteo Arnaldi of Italy 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 to reach 500 match victories.
The 28-year-old Zverev — the 2017 champion — is the first ATP Tour player born in 1990 or later to win 500 matches. He won on clay in Munich, Germany, in April for his 24th tour title.
“I think I started playing better from the baseline. The longer the match went on, I started to find my rhythm a bit,” Zverev said. “It was actually my backhand that was feeling a bit off in the beginning, which is strange. Doesn’t happen very often, but after I found that shot, I was comfortable and I was happy about the level.”
Zverev, ranked third in the world, ended up the top seed with top-ranked Jannik Sinner — the 2023 winner — and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz skipping the hardcourt event that still has a week left.
No. 5 Jack Draper and No. 6 Novak Djokovic also are absent.
Zverev advanced to face No. 14 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over countryman Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Fifth-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark advanced in a night match, beating Alexandre Muller of France 6-2, 6-4. Rune is to play defending champion Alexei Popyrin of Australia, who outlasted 10th-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in a match that ended early yesterday.
In the women’s singles in Montreal, Coco Gauff overcame 14 more double-faults to beat Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Two days after surviving 23 double-faults and a third-set tiebreaker against fellow American Danielle Collins, the top-seeded Gauff rallied from a set and break down against Kudermetova to reach the round of 16.
“It was a tough match,” Gauff said. “I thought I did well mentally, especially on the return. I was playing an opponent that served really well. Obviously, I would like to serve better on my end, but overall, just happy to get through.”
Gauff, No. 2 in the world behind Aryna Sabalenka, entered the week having lost two straight matches since winning the French Open, falling in her opening matches in Berlin and Wimbledon.
“It does give positives that I am winning these matches having literally one part of my game on a crutch,” Gauff said. “If I can stand on both feet, then I can only imagine that it will be a lot more straight-forward and a lot easier for me.”
Graf set up a match with 18-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 winner over Marie Bouzkova of Czechia in the night session.
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