Top American Youngster Returning to River Oaks
HOUSTON (December 19, 2024) – Just 100 days before play is set to begin at the 2025 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship the tournament has announced the participation of American 20-year-old Alex Michelsen, who will join countryman Tommy Paul as well as Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo for the March 29-April 6 tournament.
The announcement comes on the day Michelsen has reached the semifinals at the ATP Next Gen Finals, an event that welcomes the season’s best 20-and-under talent. His appearance there culminates a year in which Michelsen was the youngest American to finish a season in the ATP Top 50 since Andy Roddick in 2002.
“We are delighted to welcome Alex back again in 2025,” said Tournament Director Bronwyn Greer. “It’s always an honor to showcase the ATP’s up-and-coming talent, and we enjoy the chance to see these players develop into stars and follow them throughout their careers.”
At No. 41, Michelsen finished 2024 as the second-youngest player in the ATP Top 50 and the youngest American in the Top 100. His ranking climb was highlighted by a pair of ATP finals – at Newport and Winston-Salem. Additionally, he reached one semifinal and five quarterfinals while defeating four Top 20 foes along the way. He also teamed with Mackenzie McDonald to reach the doubles final at the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati.
In 2023, Michelsen came to River Oaks for the first time where he fell in a difficult three-set battle to Max Purcell. Later in the season, he broke through to reach his first ATP final at Newport. He also claimed a pair of Challenger titles from four finals.
Tennis is certainly in Michelsen’s pedigree, as both of his parents played college tennis. His junior career was highlighted by a junior Wimbledon doubles title.
Paul will lead the American contingent at River Oaks in 2025. The Olympic doubles bronze medalist finished at a career-best year-end ranking of No. 12 after winning three ATP titles and personal-best 45 match wins. He will be making his fourth appearance at River Oaks, where he claimed his first-ever ATP match victory in 2016.
Etcheverry was the 2023 US Clay finalist and returned in 2024 to reach the semifinals. A 2023 French Open quarterfinalist, he boasts a 40-33 career clay court record. In 2024, he was runner-up in Lyon, semifinalist in Barcelona and reached the quarterfinals at Buenos Aires and Cordoba – all clay court events.
Tabilo won a pair of titles in 2024 and broke into the ATP’s Top 20 for the first time. The left-hander claimed his first career title in January by winning Auckland as a qualifier, then lifted the trophy at the grass court event in Mallorca. On clay, he was finalist in Santiago and semifinalist at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome.
At US Clay 2024, Ben Shelton defeated Frances Tiafoe in an all-American singles final while the Australian duo of Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson won their second straight doubles title. The 2025 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship will be the 15th edition of the century-old tournament to be held at River Oaks Country Club.
