If ever there was a player more deserving of a USTA-granted US Open wild card heading into the year’s final Grand Slam, it was Aliso Viejo’s Alex Michelsen. 

In the past five weeks alone, all the 18-year-old recent high school grad has managed to do is beat the likes of former World Top 4 Kei Nishikori, former NCAA singles and doubles champ Mackie McDonald, former world No. 8 John Isner and former NCAA doubles winner Max Cressy, all three of the latter coming on his way to the ATP 250 Hall of Fame Championships final where he finally fell to No. 2 seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. 

Throw into that list of solid wins his first ATP Challenger title in Chicago and you can see why Michelsen was an easy choice to gain entry into the US Open, which kicks off on Tuesday with qualifying action. 

ESPN commentator and former world No. 4 Brad Gilbert has been impressed with Michelsen’s game ever since watching him play last January in the SoCal Pro Series, and also watched him again at the Calabasas Pro Circuit event in March. Gilbert told ATPTour.com the 6-foot-4 Michelsen has his own style, but has some Jenson Brooksby and Tommy Paul traits, as well.  

Gilbert said Michelsen’s greatest attributes are his booming serve and his world-class backhand. Both of Michelsen’s parents, Erik and Sondra, are former college tennis players.

Michelsen leads a handful of talented SoCal men’s and women’s players also awarded wild cards into both the main draw and qualifying draw, where 16 men and 16 women will get into the main draw after winning three matches. 

Michelsen is one of three Orange County natives on the men’s side granted a main draw wild card as Irvine’s Learner Tien and veteran Steve Johnson earned their way into the 128-play draw with Tien winning the USTA Boys’ National 18s and Johnson gaining the most points in the USTA Wild Card Challenge.

On the women’s side, 43-year-old Venus Williams will join Santa Barbara’s Kayla Day in the main draw. Day, like Johnson, was the top standings winner in the Wild Card Challenge.

Wild cards into qualifying from SoCal on the men’s side include: Altadena’s Tristan Boyer, Torrance’s Aidan Mayo and San Diego’s Trevor Svajda, who lost to Tien in the best-of-five Kalamazoo final. On the women’s side, Katrina Scott and Katherine Hui were given wild cards. Like Svajda, fellow San Diegan Katherine Hui was a runner-up in the Girls’ Nationals.