Alex Michelsen caps debut season at Next Gen ATP Finals

In his first season as a professional, 19-year-old Alex Michelsen broke into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings and qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals, a year-end tournament that brings together the best young talent on the men's tour.

The American's breakout season included a pair of Challenger titles in Chicago and Knoxville, Tenn., as well as a semifinal run at the ATP 250 in Newport, R.I. That success earned him an eighth-place finish in the ATP's Race To Jeddah, good enough for a place at the Next Gen Finals.

While Michelsen did not advance out of group play at the 21-and-under event, he competed in three matches and gained invaluable big-stage experience against fellow rising stars like Luca Van Assche and eventual Jeddah champion Hamad Medjedovic, both of whom the American pushed to a fifth-set tie-break.

In addition to the competition on the court, Michelsen also participated in several fun off-court activities, including a guessing game with items from the 1990s and tour of Jeddah's old city.

"I think going through the old city last night [in Jeddah] was a pretty crazy experience for me. I've never seen anything like it, I've never been anywhere close to this part of the world," the American said in a Q&A with ATPTour.com.

"I was seeing all the culture and historic buildings and I was like, 'Whoa!' That was a really crazy experience for me. I was kind of sitting there in awe for a couple hours. I’ve never done that, I've never just sat in awe for that long."