![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/michelsen-tien-fierce-feuds-toronto-2025-graphic.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Fierce Feuds
\n Michelsen vs. Tien: From Fortnite to tennis, friends become foes in Toronto<\/p>\n
American stars provide exclusive insight into their rivalry<\/p>\n
August 01, 2025<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Andrew Eichenholz\/ATP Tour<\/p>\n
Alex Michelsen and Learner Tien are meeting in an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time.
\n By Andrew Eichenholz<\/p>\n
Alex Michelsen<\/a> and Learner Tien<\/a> both cooled down from matches at the same time on Thursday at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers<\/a>. The longtime friends knew they will be competing against one another on Saturday for a place in the Toronto ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final, but tennis was not the first thing on their mind.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019d just got off the doubles court when I was walking back to the gym. We talked,\u201d Tien told ATPTour.com. \u201cHe\u2019s been trying to get me to buy a gaming laptop, so we can play games on the road, because he has one. I asked him, \u2018If you beat me, can you buy me a laptop?\u2019 He\u2019s not down for that!\u201d <\/p>\n This will be the pair\u2019s third Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting after Michelsen beat Tien in straight sets earlier this year on Houston\u2019s clay. They also met in the semi-finals of last year\u2019s Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF<\/a> \u2014 a match Tien won \u2014 and have clashed well into their junior days.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very surreal, I think, especially from where we\u2019ve come as juniors. This is going to be our third time playing [as pros], so it\u2019s nothing super new, and we played a good bit in juniors,\u201d Tien said. \u201cBut it\u2019s really cool. It\u2019s really cool to see him do well. I\u2019m always rooting for him, except when we play. So I think it\u2019s cool. We both love to go out there and compete, especially against each other. I think it adds another element, so I\u2019m excited.\u201d<\/p>\n Friends become foes on the court, and they also are often opponents off it. Michelsen and Tien play games like ping pong and Fortnite with each other.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m better at Fortnite for sure. You can ask him, he won\u2019t deny that,\u201d Tien said, cracking a laugh. \u201cPing pong it depends on the location. We just happen to stay at the same hotel every year at the [US] Open and there\u2019s a ping pong table in there, so on our days off we go down there and we play some games. Last year he started bringing his own paddle, so he\u2019s into it. I\u2019d say we\u2019re fairly even.\u201d<\/p>\n They are the two youngest Americans in the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings \u2014 with Michelsen No. 34 and Tien No. 61 \u2014 and both are still on the rise. The Jeddah alumni have also reshaped their teams in recent months. <\/p>\n Craig Boynton<\/a>, who most recently mentored Hubert Hurkacz<\/a>, has joined Robby Ginepri<\/a> and strength and conditioning coach Rodney Marshall on Michelsen\u2019s team. Jay Leavitt, who had previously worked with the American, is no longer able to travel because of a growing family, so Michelsen needed a traveling coach.<\/p>\n \u201cThey both have a lot of experience. Robby was a very good player on Tour. \u2018CB\u2019 has coached God knows how many guys, a lot of Americans, so he knows the drill for coaching. They both know the drill and they get along very well,\u201d Michelsen said. \u201cThey\u2019re very close off the court and that dynamic has helped me out a tonne.<\/p>\n \u201cCB was the perfect fit. The timing worked out: He was looking to come back to the Tour and I needed someone else to travel with and I found out that Robby and CB go back a long time and they\u2019re really tight, so it just worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"It](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754040307_890_it-all-adds-up-banner.jpg\"\/)
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