Two Friends

Houston, Toronto, and now Brisbane!

Michelsen looked on his way toward an early exit in his opening round against Duckworth. While the name Duckworth might not strike fear into your heart, he is a difficult opponent on these courts with his game! Michelsen tends to be a slow starter in tournaments, but he managed to claw his way back and was the deserving winner in the third set. I really like these conditions for him; he can get a lot of free points off serve, and his good ballstriking is rewarded (hitting winners). Tien had a slightly less dramatic first round against Ugo Carabelli, even if the first set was quite competitive.

These players are good friends and know each other (and their playstyles) very well. Michelsen beat him in Houston easily last year and then did the same thing in Toronto. While the Houston loss can be justified by Tien's lack of clay experience at the time, the match in Toronto was on hardcourts, where there should be no advantages either way. There are a few things I really like about Michelsen in this matchup. First of all, being familiar with each other's games is most likely a bigger advantage for Michelsen... Tien is someone who plays with less "creativity", whereas Michelsen is more likely to change it up, going down to the line or rushing the net. Michelsen has a serve advantage, which is a big factor on these courts; also, he is someone who can really step in and punish one of Tien's weaknesses - his serve. In the end, it's all about being able to not let Tien settle into his patterns, where he gets to control the game with his high tennis IQ. Well, what's the best way to do that? Good returns, breaking the pattern of play by going down the line (Michelsen excels at this with his BH), injecting pace, followed by rushing the net. Michelsen can do all of that!