How much things can change in a week!
Alex Michelsen will be saying that after ousting former champion Cameron Norrie 7-6(3), 7-5 at the Delray Beach Open on Friday, avenging last week’s Dallas loss to the Briton.
The American fought off a second-set scare, facing three consecutive set points on serve at 4-5. Yet in those key moments, the California native stayed ahead in rallies and used sharp angles with his backhand, forcing Norrie to hit from an uncomfortable range.
“I told myself, 'Find a couple of first serves, you haven’t been broken the entire match, so why start now?’” Michelsen reflected on his 0/40 hold late in the second set. “I played a couple great points to get out of it and then I got very fortunate to get that break point at 5-5 and then played a great game at 6-5. Lucky to get out of that second set.”
Michelsen then broke Norrie’s serve at 5-5 in the second set with a stroke of luck — the American hit a backhand that dribbled over the net cord on break point, allowing him to serve for the match. The third seed avoided repeat drama in his ensuing service game, closing the one-hour, 38-minute match.
The smile says it all 😁
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 14, 2025
[3] Alex Michelsen reaches the Final Four 7-6(3) 7-5 past Norrie @DelrayBeachOpen | #DBOpen pic.twitter.com/26RltAVaUO
Last week, Norrie beat Michelsen 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-1 at the indoor ATP 500 in Dallas. Michelsen’s 32 winners in Florida were too much for the lefty to overcome.
“It’s tough to play someone twice in two weeks,” Michelsen said. “I think Cam is a great player, a great competitor. His backhand is world class, I tried to stay away from that as much as I could. I didn’t do that amazing last time I played him, but this time I made some adjustments and the game plan worked well.”
By advancing to his fifth tour-level semi-final, the 20-year-old secured his 50th tour-level match win, joining Delray Beach top seed and World No. 4 Taylor Fritz as the only active American men to record 50 victories before turning 21. Michelsen is up to No. 33 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, three spots ahead of his career high.
Michelsen, who is also in the doubles semis alongside Mackenzie McDonald, will next meet seventh seed Miomir Kecmanovic, who dismissed fifth seed Marcos Giron 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
“It wasn’t easy, but I tried to stay aggressive, try to go for even bigger shots and luckily it paid off,” said Kecmanovic, who earned his 100th tour-level hard-court win, becoming the fourth Serbian man in the Open Era to achieve that feat.
Kecmanovic improved to 2-0 against Giron in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and coincidentally, both wins came in the Delray Beach quarter-final stage (2023, 2025).
In other quarter-final action, Matteo Arnaldi ousted home favourite Brandon Nakashima 7-6(2), 6-4, to reach his third tour-level semi-final.
The fourth seed hammered eight aces and won 79 per cent (27/34) of his first-serve points in the one-hour, 42-minute clash, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
He will take on Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the semi-finals on Saturday. Davidovich Fokina ended Taylor Fritz’s hopes of a three-peat at the Delray Beach Open late Friday night. The Spaniard stunned the two-time defending champion 7-6(4), 7-6(5) to book a semi-final spot at the ATP 250 event.
The pair exchanged multiple breaks in the opening set, with the momentum swinging back and forth. However, Davidovich Fokina stayed sharp on his returns and claimed the tie-break. He built early pressure on Fritz in the second set and broke the American in the second game.
Buoyed by home support, the No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings dug deep and broke the Spaniard while he served for the match and forced another tie-break. But Davidovich Fokina withstood the American’s late charge and held firm to seal his fourth top-50 win of 2025 in two hours and 24 minutes. He converted all three break points he earned and won 67 per cent (47/70) of his first-serve points according to Infosys ATP Stats.
With the win, he improved to 3-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
