Winner to face Medvedev or Halys in QF.
Two big serving giants will meet on the OWL Arena on Wednesday, when Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex Michelsen look to grab a quarterfinal entry ticket at the 2025 Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, Germany. The two-time Grand Slam finalist is back on his least favourite surface, and an American mountain awaits him. Who will reign supreme?
Surprisingly, the Alex Michelsen match-up is one that hasn’t been kind to Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek freak is yet to register a victory over his 20-year-old opponent. Michelsen boasts a 50% winning record in 2025 – his best performances include an Australian Open Round of 16 entry and a semifinal finish at Delray Beach. On the other hand, Tsitsipas won the Dubai Tennis Championships in February-March.
The 26-year-old has won 93% service games in his solitary grass court encounter thus far. Although his style of play means that he enjoys time on the ball and higher bounce which grass doesn’t offer, Tsitsipas has the ability and adaptability to find success. His only title on this surface came at Mallorca in 2022.
0-2 is the head to head between Tsitsipas and Michelsen. The American has won both encounters in thrilling fashion against his Greek counterpart.
This will be the first match in this rivalry outside of outdoor hard courts. At the ATP-500 in Tokyo last year, Michelsen pulled off a magnificent comeback to pip Tsitsipas in the Round of 32. The Greek maestro seeked revenge at the Australian Open in early 2025, but failed to overpower the American young gun.
| Event | Round | Winner | Score |
| 2025 Australian Open | Round of 128 | Alex Michelsen | 7-5 6-3 2-6 6-4 |
| 2024 Tokyo | Round of 32 | Alex Michelsen | 4-6 6-1 6-2 |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas | Category | Alex Michelsen |
| 0 | Grand Slams | 0 |
| 12 | ATP Singles Titles | 0 |
| 2 | ATP Doubles Titles | 0 |
| 3 | Masters-1000 Titles | 0 |
| QF (Paris 2024) | Olympics Best Performance | – |
| No. 25 | Current World Ranking | No. 33 |
Contrary to what the rankings suggest, we predict Alex Michelsen to stun the former World No. 3 and retain his unbeaten record against Tsitsipas. The American can take advantage of the fact that Tsitsipas endured a draining match in Round-1. He also has the serve and groundstrokes to trouble the single-handed backhand of the Athens-born starlet, as was seen in their previous two tussles.
Prediction: Alex Michelsen in three sets.
Great comeback win from Michelsen in Halle. pic.twitter.com/xqa8ZQTt3E
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 17, 2025
Stefanos Tsitsipas is the minnow in this encounter against Alex Michelsen. It is a very close 51-49 affair, and the money line suggests a tight finish. Here are the odds (sourced via BetMGM):
Stefanos Tsitsipas Win: 21/20
Alex Michelsen Win: 3/4
When it comes to the sets and games odds, the market predicts a long drawn battle. Both players have been given favourable odds by the bookmakers to win over 12.5 games. Here are the odds for total games as well as total sets for both players (sourced via BetMGM):
Total Games Under 23.5: 22/25
Total Games Over 23.5: 9/10
Total Games by Tsitsipas Over 12.5: 10/13
Total Games by Michelsen Over 12.5: 2/3
Total Sets Over 2.5: 6/5
Total Sets Under 2.5: 13/20
(All Odds According to BetMGM: BetMGM offers exclusive promo codes, bonus deals and accurate odds for users upon signing up. Use BetMGM to ace your betting game in all sports!)
A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.
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