The Cranbrook Tennis Classic has already had some very talented No. 1 seeds in its short lifespan.
James Duckworth (2023) reached the doubles quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2020. J.J. Wolf was once the top-ranked college player in the US and Big Ten Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Year. And last year’s No. 1, Learner Tien, who’s currently ranked 16th in the ATP singles charts, reached the Australian Open quarterfinals earlier this year, beating Daniil Medvedev (before losing to Alexander Zverev).
And yet, until this year, none of those top seeds had even gotten to the semifinals of the CTC.
So how much does seeding matter?
In ways, a lot, and in others, not at all.
It took some real work, but 21-year-old Alex Michelsen was able to buck that trend of No. 1s coming up short on Saturday afternoon. battling past Dhakshineswar Suresh 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2.
“You’ve got a target on your back being the 1-seed,” Michelsen said after his victory that sent him into Sunday’s final. “Everyone wants to beat you, everyone (else) can play a little bit more free because I’m ranked pretty high to be playing (in an ATP Challenger) 125 and there’s nothing for them to lose essentially playing me. So the level here’s very high and I’ve had to do a good job of defending my seed if you will.”
Michelsen, 21, already has career earnings of nearly $5 million, owns wins over two players currently ranked in the top-10 (Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz), and moved up to No. 40 himself after Saturday’s win, so targeted is a fair way to phrase it.
Photo gallery from the 2026 Cranbrook Tennis Classic
Meanwhile, Suresh reached the semis as the “Lucky Loser,” a tag assigned to the highest-ranked individual to reach but lose in the final round of qualifying who still gets in after a main draw player withdraws. But he beat last year’s singles runner-up, Andres Martin, in the quarterfinals, and then showed again on Saturday why he’s much better than his world ranking — and seeding, or lack thereof — would suggest.
“(Suresh) was way better than his ranking, seeding, Lucky Loser,” Michelsen said. “None of that means anything when you get on the court.”
Top-seeded Alex Michelsen reacts during his eventual victory over Dhakshineswar Suresh in Saturday’s second Cranbrook Tennis Classic singles semifinal. (BRYAN EVERSON – MediaNews Group)
As far as the opposite side of the bracket, the No. 2 and 3 seeds were nowhere to be found in Saturday’s first semifinal. Eighth-seeded Jacob Fearnley defeated No. 6 Michael Zheng, a rare back-to-back NCAA singles champion (2024-25), in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
Fearnley had lost to Zheng at the 2024 NCAA Tournament, though that didn’t stop Fearnley’s TCU Frogs from winning the team title.
Asked how much weight seeding holds, Fearnley replied plainly, “It matters. These tournaments are strong. If you don’t get to play a seed until the quarterfinals, that’s a huge bonus. It’s important. But at the end of the day, everyone can play. The depth of tennis nowadays is extremely high.
He went on to in some ways paraphrase Michelsen and praise his opponent, adding, “Suresh is supposedly ranked No. 450 in the world and he’s in the semifinals, he’s not 450th in the world. I could’ve played him first round and been a seed and that’s not a good draw for anyone. So seeding of course is great, but there’s a few wild cards in there and everyone can play.”
It’s when the tourney starts that players tend to ignore the seeding.
“Nah, nah, I never think about it to be honest,” Fearnley said. “Everyone has different motivations. Mine isn’t anything to do with ranking points, seedings, anything like that. I just play because I enjoy it. Sometimes it is difficult because the more matches you win the more kind of ‘baggage’ comes with being a tennis player, being an athlete, but when I’m playing, no matter what I try and enjoy myself out there and the seeding will follow.”
Other times, being the lesser seed, like with any sport, can be used as a slight to motivate.
“(As a top seed), when I’m on the court, I never really think about it, it’s just me (and the other guy), but off the court, you think about it, yeah,” Michelsen said. “Let’s just say for fun, if I was the 4-seed and there’s three guys better than me in the draw, if I run into one of them, I tell myself I’m the better player today and let’s get it done.”
Michelsen and Fearnley’s meeting in Sunday’s final isn’t their first ever, let alone recently. Fearnley, ranked 113th after his semifinal victory, battled back from down two sets to beat Michelsen at Wimbledon earlier this month.
Also Saturday, the No. 1-seeded team of Trey Hilderbrand and JJ Tracy beat Pruchya Isaro and Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha in consecutive sets for the doubles title.