American Alex Michelsen continues red-hot run at National Bank Open

Hamilton Spectator

6 days ago

TORONTO - Alex Michelsen of the United States reached the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open with a straight sets victory over countryman Learner Tien.
The No. 26 seed swept Tien 6-3, 6-3 in the round of 16 at the ATP Masters 1000 tennis tournament on Saturday.
Michelsen continued to roll at the Canadian men's national championship after ousting the third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti of Italy earlier in the week.
No. 11 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia is also into the quarterfinals after topping No. 8 Casper Ruud of Norway 6-4, 7-5 at Sobey's Stadium.
Defending champion and No. 18 seed Alexei Popyrin of Australia was set to take on No. 5 Holger Rune of Denmark later Saturday, while Germany's Alexander Zverev, the No. 1 seed, faced No. 14 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in the late match.
Gabriel Diallo sat as the last Canadian standing in men's singles, but the Montreal product was eliminated in straight sets by No. 2 Taylor Fritz of the U.S. on Friday night.
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 5 Jack Draper of Britain and No. 6 Novak Djokovic of Serbia all skipped the US$9.19-million hardcourt event expanded to a 96-player field in 2025.
The tournament runs through Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2025.