Hurricane Ian Cancels Charleston Challenger, Hilton Head $15K; Evans and Ngounoue Reach Austin $25K Quarterfinals; Montgomery Advances at Templeton $60K

When the state of South Carolina declared a state of emergency in advance of Hurricane Ian, the chances of the two USTA Pro Circuits in progress being completed went to zero, with the ATP announcing last night that its Challenger 80 in Charleston had been canceled. The tournament did not get as far as the quarterfinals, with only the top half playing two rounds; the bottom half had completed just one.

Due to the expected impact of Hurricane Ian on South Carolina, the remainder of the #ATPChallenger event in Charleston has been canceled.

All players will receive ranking points and prize money for rounds reached. pic.twitter.com/TCaj96WoUa

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 28, 2022 

The formal announcement regarding the $15,000 women's tournament on Hilton Head was posted on the USTA's Women's Pro Circuit site. They did get through the first two rounds of singles and managed to get as far as the finals in doubles yesterday, but that was the extent of play for the week. 

That leaves just the men's $15,000 tournament in Albuquerque New Mexico and two women's tournaments: the $25,000 tournament in Austin Texas and the $60,000 tournament in Templeton California.

Texas Tech junior Olle Wallin of Sweden has continued his run after winning the $15K last week in Lubbock as a qualifier, with a special exemption into the main draw in Albuquerque. He defeated top seed Emil Reinberg in the first round and is through to the quarterfinals after beating Warren Wood(CMS) 6-4, 6-3 today. Sixteen-year-old Rei Sakamoto of Japan is also through to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Cal fifth year and No. 8 seed Yuta Kikuchi of Japan. 

Teens Clervie Ngounoue and Tatum Evans are through to the quarterfinals in Austin, with 16-year-old Ngounoue beating 19-year-old USC freshman Madison Sieg 6-1, 7-6(0). Wild card Ngounoue, who also reached a $25K quarterfinal in Texas in July, will face another 19-year-old, Jana Kolodynska of Belarus, who beat Samantha Crawford 4-6, 7-6(9), 6-2. 

Seventeen-year-old Evans, a qualifier, took out No. 4 seed Justina Mikulskyte(Kentucky) of Lithuania 6-3, 6-4 today and will play University of Texas freshman Nicole Khirin of Israel in the quarterfinals Friday. Khirin defeated Aldila Sutjiadi(Kentucky) of Indonesia 7-6(9), 2-6, 7-5.  

Former Pepperdine All-American Ashley Lahey was leading top seed Fernanda Contreras(Vanderbilt) of Mexico 6-2, 4-3 when Contreras retired. Lahey will play No. 6 seed and NCAA singles champion Peyton Stearns(Texas), who beat Martyna Kubka of Poland 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. 

In Templeton, 2022 US Open girls champion Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, who received a wild card, lost to No. 7 seed Katarzyna Kawa of Poland 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 in today's second round. Next for Kawa will be the 2021 US Open girls champion, Robin Montgomery. The 18-year-old Montgomery, a qualifier, beat wild card Vicky Duval 6-1, 6-2.

Top seeds Madison Brengle and Yue Yuan of China, who made last week's final in Berkeley, continued to have success, with Brengle beating qualifier Janice Tjen(Pepperdine) of Indonesia 6-1, 6-4 and Yuan taking out Astra Sharma(Vanderbilt) of Australia 6-3, 6-2.

Ken Thomas of radiotennis.com is providing match commentary for the Templeton tournament.