By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, January 31, 2025
In their Davis Cup debuts, Marcos Giron and Alex Michelsen each scored straight-sets singles wins to lift the USA to a 2-0 lead over Chinese Taipei.
Photo credit: Atsushi Tomura/Getty for ITF.
U.S. teammates Alex Michelsen and Marcos Giron delivered powerful premiere performances.
In their Davis Cup debut matches, Giron and Michelsen each scored straight-sets singles wins to lift the USA to a 2-0 lead over Chinese Taipei in the Davis Cup First Round Qualifier at te Taipei Tennis Center in Taipei City.
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The 31-year-old Giron swept Chun Hsin Tseng, 6-2, 6-2.
The 20-year-old Michelsen played attacking tennis defeating Tung-Lin Wu, 7-6(4), 6-3, to propel the Americans to within one match win of advancing to the Davis Cup Qualifying Second Round in September.
The doubles team of former world No. 1 players Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram can clinch Team USA's victory with a win over Ray Ho and Yu Hsiou Hsu in a doubles duel scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Saturday local time. That match will be televised live on Tennis Channel starting at 10 p.m. Eastern time today.
The veteran Giron drew inspiration every time he sat down on changeovers.
Giron said it was ihs dream to play Davis Cup for the USA ever since he watched now Captain Bob Bryan and twin brother Mike Bryan clinch the USA's Davis Cup championship over Russia in Portland back in 2007.
"I’m really happy to get the win today. As a kid I always looked up to this event," Giron said. "It’s a historic event. I remember watching in 2007, when the U.S. beat Russia in Davis Cup, and the Bryan brothers were out there. So to be able to represent the country under Captain Bob Bryan, it’s really special to me.
"I’m really excited to play my first match and also to get the win. I knew that I’d have to play well today."
World No. 43 Giron used his solid serve to set up his first strike.
"I’d have to serve well and play the big points well, and I thought I did that. It was a really fun atmosphere, with my teammates on the side, and also ... at an away tie playing against a crowd, which is a lot of fun," Giron said. "I knew that I had to come out and serve well. I knew that I had to be aggressive and I knew that I had to play a good match from start to finish every single point.
"If he was going to dictate, I think it would have been tough, and I also knew I was going to be solid. He moves well. He hits a good ball. His backhand’s really good, and his backhand can really hurt as well.
"I think I got good guidance from captain Bob and had a good week practicing leading up, and I’ve had a good start to the season. I tried to use the confidence from that, and the game plan, and I kind of feel like I’m playing the best tennis of my life and trying to build on that."
One of nine Americans in the ATP Top 100, Michelsen faced a considerable adjustment from the heat of Melbourne, Australia where he knocked off Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the Australian Open round of 16, to the indoor air conditioning of Tapei City where he said the balls felt a bit dead at times.
"I had a good bit of rest between my last match in the Australian Open and today’s match," Michelsen said. "I had a good amount of preparation, I had a great preparation week, doing all the right things.
"I felt the court speed was slower than in Australia, just because it was super hot down there, and inside here it’s very cold, very air-conditioned, which is amazing. I love that. But it was cold, and the balls were dying quick here, for sure. A little different than Australia, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter, I’m going to go out there and compete and do my best."
In a clash of commanding servers, Michelsen said the first set was crucial.
"I thought we both served exceptional in the first set," Michelsen said. "He was dropping some heat, I don’t know how many aces he had in the first set, it was a lot. I feel like I’m a pretty good returner, and he was just passing me here and there, so just couldn’t find the rhythm on the return and just was fortunate to get through in the breaker.
"I feel like I didn’t play my best tennis from the baseline in the beginning, but that’s also because he was putting good pressure, hitting good depth on his shots. So once I got into the breaker, I feel like I managed my nerves pretty well and found some more first serves and more free points than he did, and that’s why I got through that first set."