Alex Michelsen’s rise into the ATP Tour top 50 has drawn attention for one reason beyond results: the game he plays now was built by two parents who came to tennis from different directions. Sondra Michelsen, his first coach, stayed at the baseline and made every ball. Erik Michelsen preferred to serve and volley, come forward and improvise. Alex says he took both styles and combined them into one game.
That family story matters now because Michelsen, one of the most promising young Americans on the ATP Tour, is no longer a junior project or a local name. He first picked up a racket at age three in Aliso Viejo, California, and by 2023 he was describing to how the contrasts at home shaped his game. The search around Michelson tennis is really a search for how a player this young arrived so quickly.
Sondra’s path gives that rise a different weight. She grew up in Mission Viejo in a community far more focused on swimming, did not pick up a racket until around age 11 and then started junior events throughout Southern California at 12. She competed for her high school, walked on at San Diego State University without a scholarship or even a guaranteed roster spot, and worked her way to the top of the lineup before becoming the team’s No. 1 player. After college, she coached tennis for a few years, earned her teaching credential and spent more than a decade teaching third grade at St. Mary’s School in Aliso Viejo while Alex and his older brother, Jake, attended there.
For Alex, the lesson came daily. He said Sondra taught him how to play and that they hit together almost every day until he was 15 or 16. He also remembered being four years old, crying when rain stopped play. Those are the details that explain why her influence mattered so much: she was not just a parent in the stands, but the first coach who was still teaching school by day and tennis by evening.
Erik Michelsen’s side of the story is just as rooted in the sport. He was a three-time All-American at the University of Redlands near San Bernardino, California, following in his own father’s footsteps before later building a career as a lawyer. Alex said his father liked to serve and volley and be more creative, while his mother wanted him to stay steady from the baseline. Eric Diaz said that balance has served him well because his parents know when to teach and when to let him grow on his own.
That is the quiet edge in the Michelsen story. Both parents helped build the player, but neither tried to shape him into a copy of themselves. They gave him two different patterns, then let him turn them into one. Now they often stay home while he travels on the tour, and that may be the point: the family influence is still there, but his game is the part that has moved on.
