Alex Michelsen

Michelsen is tall, moves unusually well for his height and plays a clean, low-error baseline game rather than a spectacular one. The serve is the biggest weapon and the backhand is the shot he trusts most, which is an unusual combination in the American group around him. Hard courts are comfortably his best surface, and his results pattern is that of a player who beats those ranked near him consistently and needs one more gear against the top ten.

Michelsen is a solid favourite-backing proposition against players outside the top 40 and short enough against them that the value sits in game handicaps. Against seeded opponents he is the kind of price that looks generous on form and is usually fair on class. His straight-sets win over Nakashima is the strongest evidence yet that the gap is closing. Odds are approximate at time of writing.