Another injured player makes a comeback!

We have quite a few of them in the first round, don't we?

Draper was the one who was supposed to start challenging Sinner and Alcaraz! He went all the way to rank four in the world, and now he has tumbled all the way to 147 due to the problematic injuries. Well, at least it seems quite optimistic ahead of this tournament! Basically, it seems like he has gained some "understanding" of the injury and how to better deal with it. Also, he now has Murray in his coaching team, which I quite like! Finally, he does say that he feels very good physically, which is a good thing, especially considering the challenging weather conditions here in Washington.

Michelsen faded away against Fearnley in the last three sets after having been out with some injury problems prior. After that, he decided to go back to the US to play Newport CH and Bloomfield Hills CH, instead of staying in Europe and suffering on the clay courts ;) Well, a semifinal and a title, not bad? I haven't watched his matches, but I do know that his level is way too good for challengers, so it is not really a big surprise. Either way, he should be quite ready for this match, considering he already played five matches on hardcourt within the last week!

I want to point out straight away that Michelsen has a really good record against players that he should beat, so I don't want to give him too much credit for his recent wins... even though I did not watch them, I'll admit that. It is a bit different when he faces top players! He does serve and return really well, and we know he has an amazing backhand. All of these and his familiarity with American hardcourts will be a great asset against Draper, no doubt. However, the better players can manage to make him move quite a bit, and he is not the most athletic guy. For me, Draper is one of those players...