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Saturday, July 25, 2015

Mmoh vs Hiltzik, Daniell vs Herring in Pro Circuit Finals; Bryde and Paul Win Qualifying Matches at BB&T Atlanta Open; USTA Boys 18 Team Event Underway


Michael Mmoh has reached his second career Futures final at the $15,000 Pro Circuit event and will face Jared Hiltzik in Sunday's final in Godfrey, Illinois.  Mmoh, the No. 6 seed, beat No. 7 seed Evan King 6-4, 6-3 in Saturday's semifinals, while No. 8 seed Hiltzik, a rising senior at Illinois, defeated Clay Thompson 6-2, 6-3 to reach the first Pro Circuit final of his career.

At the $10,000 women's event in Evansville, Andie Daniell reached her first Pro Circuit final, with the 17-year-old incoming Alabama freshman winning a grueling 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 decision from No. 7 seed Alexa Graham in Saturday's semifinals.  Daniell will play qualifier Lauren Herring, the Georgia All-American who is in her second $10,000 final since graduating in May.  Herring defeated Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the other semifinal Saturday.

Herring and teammate Kennedy Shaffer lost in the doubles final Saturday, with the unseeded pair falling to top seeds Nicha Lertpitaksinchai and Peangtarn Plipuech of Thailand 6-2, 6-3.

Wild card Brooke Austin defeated Robin Anderson in Friday night's quarterfinal at the $50,000 Sacramento tournament, but lost to No. 8 seed Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinals.  Kalinina will play top seed An Sophie Mestach of Belgium in Sunday's final. By advancing to the semifinals, Austin now ties Sanaz Marand for the top spot in the USTA US Open Wild Card Challenge with one more tournament this coming week in Lexington, left to decide it.

At the Binghamton Challenger, top seed Kyle Edmund of Great Britain will take on No. 2 seed Bjorn Fratangelo in the final after Edmund defeated qualifier Sekou Bangoura 6-3, 7-6(4) and Fratangelo downed Brydan Klein of Great Britain 6-4, 6-2.

In the first round of qualifying for the BB&T Atlanta Open, 15-year-old Trent Bryde and Tommy Paul picked up victories.  Bryde defeated Catalin-Ionut Gard 7-6(4), 6-2 to advance to a second round match against top qualifying seed Denis Kudla.  Paul defeated fellow wild card Walker Duncan 6-3, 7-6(9) and will play No. 8 seed Sugita of Japan in the second round.  The fourth wild card, Reilly Opelka, lost to unseeded Shuichi Sekiguchi of Japan 6-4, 6-4.  Jared Donaldson also reached the second round of qualifying with a win today.

The Atlanta main draw has been posted, with wild card Frances Tiafoe drawing Sam Groth of Australia and wild card Christopher Eubanks, a rising sophomore at Georgia Tech, playing Czech veteran Radek Stepanek.

The USTA's Boys 18s Team Championships got underway today at the University of Illinois.  The draw is here, and the rosters for each section are here. Live streaming is available at a cost of $19.99 for the event.

10 comments:

tennis junky said...

Atlanta - why is the USTA ill handing out wild cards to Ryan Harrison? His record is as volatile as his on court behavior.

Dave said...

Agreed, hard to understand why they would give a WC to Harrison and not Donaldson, who has a similar ranking but is 4 years younger. Hard to believe but Donaldson, who did not play a lot of international junior tournaments but had consistent success in futures and now challengers, is still operating under the radar. He is our best 18 and under player right now but gets very little coverage on this site and in the tennis media compared to Tiafoe, Fritz and others.

Tennismom said...

And why isn't Harrison playing the challengers to try to win a wildcard for the US Open?

The evils of WCs said...

This is why he struggles, too many WCs given to him, never had to earn it or fight for it. Can't believe it is still going on. What a shame he has had around 30 of them, when there are so many hungry players out there looking for just one break. WCs should be dispersed to more players and more fairly. Limit every up and coming player to 3 and that's it. No telling who could have done what if they were given a jumpstart with WCs like the selected few versus grinding week in and week out. Where would Sock be today without getting all those WCs especially to Challengers to start his career? Another zillion WC member, not counting WCs given after injuries. WCs put who USTA wants in there, not who earns their way. Give them to other players out there!

ATP Events? said...

I still want to know why ATP Tournaments, like Atlanta & Washington are not included in the equation for the US Open wildcard instead of just 3 Challengers. The Challengers are not enticing tons of players to enter, even with the US Open Carrot. Players should be rewarded for earning points at a higher level (ATP events) as well as the Challenger level. Just like Houston should be included for the French Open wildcard.

Dave said...

I agree, having 250s or 500s not count toward the USO Series WC makes little sense. Somebody outside the top 100 shouldn't be penalized for having success in a bigger tournament.

Seems like not a lot of open spots for the main draw WC at the US Open this year. 3 reciprocal WC, 1 to Ryan Shane, 1 to Zoo winner, 1 to USO Challenger series winner, and gotta figure Tommy Haas will get one. That leaves one available for somebody in the 100-200 range. Fratangelo, Harrison, Krajicek, Donaldson are highest ranked. Thoughts?

Colette Lewis said...

@Dave:
There are only 2 reciprocal wild cards. Wimbledon does not participate.

US Open Wildcards said...

Here are your US Open Mens Wildcards - this year will be fairly straightforward….(Dave - Tommy Haas is in MD - he used his Protected Ranking)

1 - Kalamazoo Winner
2 - Ryan Shane - NCAA Winner
3 - French Open Exchange
4 - Australian Open Exchange
5 - Challenger Wildcard Winner
6 - Jared Donaldson
7- Frances Tiafoe
8 - Bjorn Fratangelo (if does not win Challenger WC)
ALT - Noah Rubin

Qualifying Wildcards:

1 - Tommy Paul
2 - Reilly Opelka
3 - Taylor Fritz
4 - Michael Mmoh
5 - Kalamazoo Finalist (if different from above names)
6 - Noah Rubin - If not in Main Draw
7 - Mackie McDonald
8 - TBA (Thai Kwiatkowski or Gonzales Austin)?

Dave said...

Thanks for clarification re: Haas and Wimbledon reciprocal.

That list looks pretty good to me, although I do think Harrison will get a look for a main draw WC based on his ranking and popularity. Also I think Kozlov is in line for a qualifying WC.

Obviously spots could open or close depending on if Tiafoe wins Zoo/Fratangelo wins Challenger WC.

Qualifying WC said...

Marcos Giron won the 2014 U.S. Open College invitational and is in line for a qualifying WC for said win