The world No. 3 has now won all six of their matches in Tokyo. He is bidding to become the first man to defend the title since Pete Sampras in 1993 and 1994.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Spaniard in the first meeting with his friend in the US Open 2026 quarter-finals. Alcaraz struggled to hold serve early but broke her opponent several times. After saving three set points, he won the tiebreak 7-1.
The second set looked to be going his way as he raced to a 4-2 lead, but Michelsen won the last four games to force a decider. Rough patches were to be expected after missing so much tennis.
Slower than indoor, difficult to adjust my game.
The third set was a different story. Alcaraz found his rhythm on serve as Mitchelsen began to tire, and he dropped just one game to close out the match.
“It was slower than indoors, it was hard to adjust my game, I was frustrated that I couldn’t play my style, I was aggressive, the ball wasn’t letting me,” Alcaraz said. “I’m happy to understand how to play in the next matches and win in the end.”
The win extends his streak at the ATP 500 level to 17 matches, dating back to last year’s loss to Holger Rohn in the Barcelona final. Michelsen, ranked 34th, remains winless against a Top 5 player in his career.
Tokyo ATP 500, 1st round matches
J. Alcaraz (1) d. A. Michelsen: 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-1
M. Arnaldi d. R. Sakamoto (AA): 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
D. Shapovalov d. S. Shimabukuro (AA): 7-5, 6-1
A. Tabilo d. T. Paul (7): 6-1, 6-2
J. Munar (Q) d. J. Faria (LL): 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-3
J. Faria (LL) d. A. Ferry: 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
K. Jacquet (SE) d. H. Runa: 6-3, 6-1
L. Darder d. C. Rudd (6): 7-6(3), 6-3
U. Humbert d. B. Nakashima (5): 6-3, 6-2
J. Lehecka d. Z. Bergs: 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3
M. Berettini d. A. Davidovich Fokina: 1-6, 7-6(1), 6-4
A. Vallejo (Q) d. R. Jodar (4): 6-1, 6-3
V. Vacherot (8) d. A. Blockx: 7-6(2), 7-6(4)
S. Tsitsipas (Q) d. T. Etchever: 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
A. Phils (Q) d. L. Van Assche: 6-3, 6-2
F. Tiafoe (2) d. K. Nishikori (AA): 6-4, 6-4
Tokyo ATP 500, Round 16
C. Alcaraz (1) vs. M. Arnaldi – Saturday October 3
D. Shapovalov vs A. Tabilo – Saturday October 3
J. Munar (Q) vs J. Faria (LL) – Friday, October 2, 1st meeting, from 11:00
K. Jacket (SE) vs L. Darderi – Friday, October 2nd, match 3, no earlier than 4:00 p.m
U. Humbert vs J. Lehecka – Saturday October 3
M. Berrettini vs A. Vallejo (Q) – Saturday October 3
V. Vacherot (8) vs. S. Tsitsipas (C) – Friday, October 2, Match 2, followed by (after Match 1)
A. Fils (Q) vs F. Tiafoe (2) – Friday, October 2, Game 4, followed by (after Game 3)