Alex Michelsen marked his return to the Delray Beach Open with a composed performance Monday, navigating gusty winds and a testing opponent to advance at the ATP 250 hard-court event.
The 21-year-old American defeated sixth seed Valentin Vacherot 7-6(4), 6-4 to earn his second win over a Top 30 opponent this season and reach the second round in Delray Beach for the third straight year. Michelsen, who reached the semi-finals last year, did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats, throughout the one-hour, 28-minute match.
Majestic Michelsen 🤸🪄
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 16, 2026
Last year's semi-finalist takes out [6] Vacherot 7-6(4), 6-4#DBOpen | 🇺🇸 Delray Beach pic.twitter.com/UN60yGG1Hh
“I live here now. I have an apartment 20 minutes from here, so it’s like my home tournament,” Michelsen said. “It’s great. I’m from California but I emigrated here. I absolutely love it here. Everyone’s so nice.”
After triumphing in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Vacherot, Michelsen can look ahead to a second-round meeting with Sebastian Korda or Mackenzie McDonald.
Another local favourite advanced through when eighth seed Frances Tiafoe ousted Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-4 in just 73 minutes.
"I'm happy, I'm happy. Really happy about it. I thought I played pretty well tonight. I hope you guys enjoyed it, it was fun. Good stuff," Tiafoe said. "Thanks everybody for coming out. It's nice to have another home tournament."
Tiafoe won his first ATP Tour title in Delray Beach in 2018 and is now 12-4 at the tournament. He will next take on another American: Aleksandar Kovacevic or qualifier Zachary Svajda.
In other action on Day 1 in Delray Beach, Terence Atmane earned his first ATP Tour victory since October with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win over Patrick Kypson, while qualifier Coleman Wong upset Nuno Borges 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 to advance.
Marcos Giron, who has made at least the quarter-finals in three consecutive appearances at the ATP 250 event, defeated Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro 6-3, 7-5. The American saved all nine break points he faced to move on.
