Based on the way the match was going, you’d think Michelsen was the veteran, Fritz the less-experienced competitor.
“But he was playing well,” said Fritz. “He was able to dictate and move me around and, you know, with how windy I felt like it was, he was doing a really good job with still being able to attack.”
Considering that these two each have big serves, it was surprising to see the tiebreaker take a number of twists and turns. With Michelsen making four forehand errors, Fritz quickly went ahead 4-1. A third set appeared imminent. But Michelsen fought back well.
With Fritz holding a set point at 6-5, Michelsen threw up a couple of lobs that kept the rally alive and gave him the chance to win the point, thrilling the nearly filled to capacity Stadium 2. Two backhand errors from Fritz capped it off.
“Yeah, definitely got a little lucky at the end,” said Michelsen, “but stayed as tough as I could. Had a tough game at 5-4, felt like I should have served it out there, but stayed composed.”
