Winston-Salem: 19-year-old American Alex Michelsen into final against Sonego

American Alex Michelsen, the No 11 seed, advanced to the final of the Winston-Salem Open when Spanish wildcard Pablo Carreno Busta retired at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex on Friday.

Michelsen, ranked No 52, was leading 7-6 (5), 2-1 when Carreno Busta, ranked No 300, pulled out of the semi-final clash due to a stomach issue. The American was trailing 5-2 in the first set before coming to win that in a tiebreak.

“Really unfortunate. I know he has been struggling with injuries for a couple of years. He is a great player, (former) Top 10, and I thought he was playing at a pretty good level today,” Michelsen said after the match as quoted by the ATP Tour. “It’s not the way I wanted to get to the final, I wanted to win it the right way.”

Chasing first ATP title, Michelsen to turn 20 on Sunday

The 19-year-old American will play Italian Lorenzo Sonego, the No 10 seed, for the title on Saturday. Sonego holds a 1-0 lead in career head-to-head, beating Michelsen in Cagliari in three sets earlier this year.

With this win, Michelsen is projected to break into the world’s top 50 for the first time next week. This is the American’s third ATP singles final (runner-up twice in Newport) and he will be chasing his first ATP singles title, one day before he turns 20 on Sunday.

Earlier in the tournament, the American teen won against Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (7-6 (3), 6-4), Belgian Zizou Bergs (6-1, 6-2) and wildcard Christopher Eubanks (7-5, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5)).

The 33-year-old Carreno Busta defeated American qualifier Omni Kumar (6-2, 6-0), Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko, the No 13 seed (6-2, 6-2), Australian Aleksandar Vukic (6-3, 4-6, 6-3) and American qualifier Learner Tien (6-4, 6-2) in the previous rounds of the tournament.

Winston-Salem ATP 250, other semi-final result (Wake Forest Tennis Complex, hard, USD 779.780):

• Lorenzo Sonego beat David Goffin: 6-3, 6-2

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