John McEnroe makes rankings prediction for rising American star after youngster’s upset win
He doesn’t quite think Alex Michelsen will win a Grand Slam, but John McEnroe is backing the youngster to surge up the rankings in the next couple of years.
Michelsen caused the biggest upset of the 2025 Australian Open so far when he stunned 11th seed Stefanos Tsitispas in the opening round of the season-opening Grand Slam.
Tsitsipas finished runner-up at Melbourne Park in 2023, but it was the American who came away with the 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory as he claimed his first win over a top-20 player at a major.
Michelsen – who has a top 10 win at ATP level as he beat Alex de Minaur in Los Cabos in 2024 – has made big strides in the ATP Rankings over the past two years as he started the 2023 season at No 600, but finished the year at No 97.
Last year he climbed to a career-best No 41 as he finished runner-up at the Hall of Fame Open and Winston-Salem Open.
Tennis great McEnroe is impressed with the 20-year-old’s skill level in his opener at the Australian Open as he predicted just how far Michelsen can climb in the rankings.
“He is a natural tennis player. He’s not, he’s not a great player. But he did get the win. But he’s a very skilled player and he really outplayed [Tsitsipas] from the beginning,” he told Eurosport.
“I expect in the next couple of years for him to be in the top 10, I’m not yet ready to say he’s going to win majors, but I believe he’ll be a top 10 player in the next couple of years.
“I love these young kids playing some college tennis. And I happen to know for a fact he’s very, very smart because he went to Stanford University – so bordering on genius!
“So the first time I really saw much of that, I’ve heard about him, haven’t seen much of him play, I did when he played the Next Gen in Saudi Arabia. And he’s looking real good.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence. He’s like a young man when he wants to be like a young man’s Novak Djokovic, because that’s his idol.
“I think he had it on his Facebook page. You know a picture of Novak. So he’s got his dream come true.”
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Michelson will face James McCabe in the second round after the Australian wildcard overcame qualifier Martin Landaluce.
McEnroe’s fellow Grand Slam winner and Eurosport pundit Mats Wilander feels the youngster’s best attribute is his attitude.
The Swede added: “The best part maybe is his attitude and that’s really important, obviously, because there’s so many, so many good ball strikers these days and the fundamental elements to that, his attitude is absolutely spectacular and I think that’s why he will attempt to to win against them at some point.”
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