BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 11, 2026

Alex Michelsen

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/A. Michelsen

6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Obviously he's proven to be a tough matchup for you. Did it feel different today?

ALEX MICHELSEN: No, I mean, he's always played that way, all three times I played him. I don't count last year when I played him here because I pulled out because I was sick. The three times I have played a full match against him, I kind of thought the same thing.

I think he's playing even more aggressive now, and that was something I wasn't, I wasn't expecting to do it that well today. He was hitting the ball super well. I didn't really have any answers. Tough matchup for me. I'll figure it out one day.

Q. Were you more frustrated than usual?

ALEX MICHELSEN: Yes.

Q. What do you take away from the tournament overall?

ALEX MICHELSEN: It's a great tournament. I had to beat a lot of good guys to get to the fourth round, and I'm playing some good ball right now, and played a guy who we just talked about, it's a tough matchup for me. That's tennis. Life moves on, and on to Miami in a couple days.

Yeah, feeling good.

Q. As you say, you played really top opposition here, and he's a former No. 1, Grand Slam champion. From playing them, does that help you get a sense of what you need to do to make the next step?

ALEX MICHELSEN: For sure. Playing a match like that is for sure a great learning experience. I think all the guys I lost to this year have been very, very good tennis players, and they've all been great learning experiences for me, and it's only going to help me get better in the future.

Q. Second set, there were some close points there. He had a set point. Did you feel like you were getting through one of those, you were really in the mix?

ALEX MICHELSEN: Yeah, I mean, that's how tennis goes, right. I was one point away from, you know, I played a great point on the breakpoint, he aced me on the other one. But I was one point away from being back at 5-All, and maybe things go differently, maybe they don't, who knows, but that's tennis.

I had points like that against Humbert and Fritz, and they're like, oh, I could have got a point here, point here, and that's how it goes, so...

Q. What's the goal for the rest of the season for you?

ALEX MICHELSEN: I don't like to say my goals, because then it's not going to happen, at least that's what I think. Yeah, I definitely have some high aspirations for the rest of the season, and I have seven, eight more months to figure it out, so I'm not too worried.