After a thrilling day of action with the remaining doubles match and two singles semifinal matches, six players remain in the draw to vie for the Van Allen Cup. Notably, the day marked the first All-American singles semifinal at Newport since 1985.
Alex Michelsen will return to his second consecutive Infosys Hall of Fame Open final. The 19-year old American defeated Former World No. 17 Reilly Opelka 6-2, 6-0. The American played a dominant match, claiming the final 10 games and the match in just 59 minutes. Michelsen won 85% of first serve points, while converting on five break point attempts.
“Last year in the Semis I played another big server in Isner, and this year I played an 11/10 on a scale of 1-10. My first serve stat must have been high, but also staying solid from the baseline,” said Michelsen. “It’ll be fun that this is an All-American final… I’ve never played Marcos [Giron] before, but I train with him back home. It will be fun. This tournament really started my career, I didn’t know whether I would play college or turn pro, but getting to the Final last year really solidified things for me. Being back here, and playing well out there again is one of the best things ever.”
Michelsen looks to improve his stellar 7-1 record at Newport and capture what would be his first tour-level championship; making him the second teenager to win the title since Greg Rusedski in 1994.
No. 2 seed Marcos Giron will face Michelsen in the Final after winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 over fellow 2024 Olympian, Christopher Eubanks. Despite dropping the second set, Giron posted impressive service stats– adding 82% of points on his first serve.
“It’s amazing to get to the Finals here, it is my first time coming here and I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been playing well on grass, but my first match here I was down against Benoit Paire so my stay here could have been really short… I’ve had some really tough matches here. Hopefully I can raise the trophy, playing Michelsen tomorrow will be tough. He has been playing really well and is in good form.”
Giron will be making his first career finals appearance in an ATP tour-level tournament.
The European duo of Andre Goransson and Sem Verbeek’s quest for a Newport title continued, after defeating Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic and Luke Saville 7-6, (3) 6-3. Goransson and Verbeek’s solid service game continued, winning 76% of first serves and 66% of second serves across the match.
“They came out very hot and played at a very high level, but thankfully we kept our level and didn’t really panic; riding the momentum wave to keep going. It feels really nice to make it to the final here, we’ve been working really hard for quite some time now so it’s great to play for a big title,” said Goransson and Verbeek. “This was my first ATP tournament a couple years back so I have some good memories, we thoroughly enjoy it here,” Verbeek said.
The victory signifies the No. 6 seed’s first trip to the Infosys Hall of Fame Open doubles final.
They await Wild Cards and reigning NCAA doubles champions, Robert Cash and James Tracy.
Enshrinement Weekend festivities continued today with the Brooks Brothers Brunch where the Class of 2024 was presented with their official Brooks Brothers’ blazers. Leander Paes, Vijay Amritraj, Richard Evans – three tennis legends – will be formally inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this evening.
The doubles finals of the 2024 Infosys Hall of Fame Open begins tomorrow, July 23rd at Noon, followed by the singles final later in the day. Tickets are still available for advance purchase on Tixr.
Tune into live action and content across the Infosys Hall of Fame Open social channels on Facebook and Instagram, and live on the Tennis One app.
