Michelsen into Stockholm quarters as injured Etcheverry withdraws

Alex Michelsen booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Stockholm Open on Tuesday. The sixth seed beat Juan Manuel Cerúndolo 6-3, 6-2 in the opening match on Centre Court. Shortly afterwards, Argentina lost a second player without a ball being struck: fifth seed Tomás Martín Etcheverry withdrew injured, and his compatriot Thiago Agustín Tirante went through on a walkover.

Michelsen keeps rolling

The 22-year-old American has dropped only ten games in two matches at the Kungliga tennishallen. On Monday he opened his tournament with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Yannick Hanfmann. According to Tennis Majors, he was never broken in that match, saved the only break point he faced, hit 23 winners and won 12 of his 13 points at the net.

Against Cerúndolo, the Argentine who knocked out Swedish wildcard Elias Ymer in the first round, Michelsen was just as dominant. Their match was the first on Centre Court, scheduled for 1pm, and the American won it in straight sets.

Michelsen came to Sweden in good form. At the Paris Masters last week, he beat Jiří Lehečka before losing 7-6(4), 6-3 to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz. The world No. 35 is still looking for his first ATP title. He has lost all three tour-level finals he has played, the latest to Lorenzo Sonego in Winston-Salem in 2024. Sonego, who came through qualifying, is also still in the Stockholm draw after beating Quentin Halys 6-4, 7-6(4) on Tuesday.

No La Plata derby after Etcheverry injury

The second match on Centre Court was supposed to be an all-Argentine meeting between two childhood friends from La Plata. It never took place. Argentine outlets El Día and Vermouth Deportivo report that Etcheverry has an injury to his left soleus, a muscle in the calf. He first felt discomfort during his Paris match against Rinky Hijikata and did not recover in time. Etcheverry wore a bandage on his left leg in his first-round win over Swede Max Dahlin on Monday, and the tournament's order of play now lists Tirante as advancing by walkover.

The match would have been the first meeting between Etcheverry and Tirante at ATP level. According to El Día, the two have played three times on the lower tiers of the tour, and Etcheverry leads that head-to-head 2-1.

ATP rankings: Alcaraz closes on Sinner, Djokovic heads out of top 10

Tirante carries Argentine hopes

Tirante is ranked 51st in the world. He opened his week on Sunday with a 7-6(3), 6-3 win over Jaume Munar. With Cerúndolo beaten and Etcheverry out, he is the last Argentine left in the Stockholm draw. Vermouth Deportivo goes further and calls him the last Argentine still playing in the 2026 ATP regular season.

His quarter-final opponent will be the winner of the match between second seed Casper Ruud and qualifier Aleksandr Shevchenko. Shevchenko earned that match by beating lucky loser Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 6-3 on Court 1 on Tuesday.

Tuesday's evening session at the Kungliga tennishallen still had three singles matches to come. Arthur Rinderknech plays Miomir Kecmanović, 2022 champion Holger Rune takes on eighth seed Zizou Bergs, and third seed Lorenzo Musetti faces qualifier Toby Samuel, who knocked out Swedish wildcard Leo Borg in the first round.