Tennis
2026-09-08 - Frances Tiafoe vs Alex Michelsen
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : US Open Tennis Quarter Final
Tuesday 8th September 2026 - Scheduled 1pm EST
6pm (British Time)
Preview
The Women's tournament is guaranteed to have one American Semi Finalist and the same can be said for the Men's draw with the winner of this one heading into the final four.
Out of the American players on the Tour, you'd have to say that Alex Michelsen being in this position is the surprise.
Like many of his compatriots, Alex Michelsen is more than comfortable on the hard courts, but this is a player who reached the Quarter Final in Washington before relatively early defeats in Montreal and Cincinnati. A Challenger success will have given Alex Michelsen confidence, but he would have been pretty far down the shortlist of American players that could make it through to the final four of the home Grand Slam.
After reaching the Final in Cincinnati, more of a case could be made for Frances Tiafoe who has also enjoyed his time in New York City in the past. The World Number 12 is a two time US Open Semi Finalist and has also reached the Quarter Final here so any run that Frances Tiafoe has been able to put together is far less surprising than the one Alex Michelsen has produced.
There will be the added factor of knowing a win here would take Frances Tiafoe into his career best World Ranking well inside the top ten.
However, the opportunity to win a Grand Slam has to be the main motivator and Frances Tiafoe has beaten the highest Ranked opponent in the run to the Quarter Final when he saw off Daniil Medvedev in the Fourth Round.
Alex Michelsen will not be lacking of confidence with an important win over Brandon Nakashima under his belt and he will certainly feel he is serving well enough to give himself a chance.
The key may be to reverse the negative trajectory of his success on the return, but that will be challenging against someone like Frances Tiafoe who continues to perform above the level that the numbers may state. The higher Ranked of the two American players has been returning with more consistency than Alex Michelsen and that has proven to be the difference when these two have met two previous times on the Tour.
It does feel the return will be key again and Frances Tiafoe will be grateful he got off the court in straight sets in the Fourth Round after a grind. That should give him the time he needs to be refreshed and the expectation is that he can win a few more big points that can be the margin needed for success or failure in what is expected to be a very competitive match.
Win enough of those big points and it can lead to the sets needed and Frances Tiafoe can earn his victory through superior experience and perhaps a tie-breaker or two to avoid having to go really long in this Quarter Final.
Prediction
This should be an intense Quarter Final between two compatriots and it is the higher Ranked of the American players that can book his place in the last four of the 2026 US Open.
The Pick :
Frances Tiafoe 3-1 Alex Michelsen
