The Aliso Viejo, Calif. native was one of the Australian Open’s breakout performers after scoring Top 20 wins over Stefanos Tsitsipas and Karen Khachanov to reach the round of 16 at a major for the first time. The extended stay at Melbourne Park put Michelsen in an interesting spot, with travel to Taipei City an essential logistic to consider.
“I stayed in the time zone, which is good. I couldn’t have gone back to L.A. as it would only been for like four days,” he said. “My trainer is from Melbourne, so I stayed down there.”
Michelsen doesn’t have the luxury of proximity—or time—this week, with his first-round match against Cameron Norrie scheduled second on Tuesday (Giron plays in the night session against Casper Ruud). The world No. 36 owns up to being naïve during his first full season at tour level when it came to taking care of his body.
“I did not do as good of a job as I wanted to last year. I just figured, ‘ah I’m 19, I can just go and just do whatever,’” Michelsen reflects. “Not stretch, not go see the physio or get a massage. This year I’m definitely gonna have to do a lot more of that. Now that I’m aware, I feel like I can better prepare my body after this long flights and long trips.
