Tuesday, August 5, 2014

All eight seeds advance in Aptos Challenger

   The $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos is notorious for upsets. In the tournament's 27-year history, no top seed has won the title.
   It's still early, but the Challenger has gone according to form so far. All eight singles seeds have reached the second round, a rarity in professional tennis.
   Third-seeded Evgeny Donskoy of Russia had the closest call today at the Seascape Sports Club. The 2013 semifinalist held off qualifier Sanam Singh of India 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 11 minutes.
   Meanwhile, top-seeded Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan and No. 2 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus coasted.
   Kukushkin, ranked 55th in the world, dismissed qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan 6-2, 6-3.
   Baghdatis, the champion of last week's Vancouver Challenger and runner-up in the 2006 Australian Open, outclassed wild card Andre Dome of the United States 6-1, 6-3.
   Dome earned All-America honors at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, a 2 1/2-hour drive down Highway 101 from Aptos, last year as a senior.
   In Wednesday's featured evening match (not before 5:45), fourth-seeded Go Soeda of Japan will play Alex Kuznetsov of the United States in a rematch of the 2006 final won by Kuznetsov.
$100,000 COMERICA BANK CHALLENGER
At Seascape Sports Club
First-round singles
   Rhyne Williams, United States, def. Kevin King, United States, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   Evgeny Donskoy (3), Russia, def. Sanam Singh, India, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.
   Ze Zhang, China, def. Chase Buchanan, United States, 6-4, 7-5.
   Andrea Collarini, Argentina, def. Daniel Nguyen, United States, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
   Alex Kuznetsov, United States, def. Austin Krajicek, United States, 7-6 (2), 6-4.
   James Ward, Great Britain, def. Emilio Gomez, Ecuador, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
   Mikhail Kukushkin (1), Kazakhstan, def. Yasutaka Uchiyama, Japan, 6-2, 6-3.
   Farrukh Dustov (7), Uzbekistan, def. Dennis Nevolo, United States, 6-3, 6-4.
   Somdev Devvarman (5), India, def. John-Patrick Smith, Australia, 7-6 (2), 7-5.
   Marcos Baghdatis (2), Cyprus, def. Andre Dome, United States, 6-1, 6-3.
   Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium, def. Taro Daniel, Japan, 6-4, 6-2.
Wednesday's schedule
Center Court
(Starting at 11 a.m.)
   Evgeny Donskoy (3), Russia, vs. Juan Ignacio Londero, Argentina.
   Rhyne Williams, United States, vs. Farrukh Dustov (7), Uzbekistan.
(Not before 2:30 p.m.)
   Matt Seeberger and Clay Thompson, United States, vs. Gonzalo Lama, Chile, and Juan Ignacio Londero, Argentina.
(Not before 5:45 p.m.)
   Alex Kuznetsov, United States, vs. Go Soeda (4), Japan.
Court 5
(Starting at 11 a.m.)
   Marton Fucsovics (8), Hungary, vs. Di Wu, China.
   Andrea Collarini, Argentina, and Cesar Ramirez, Mexico, vs. Somdev Devvarman, India, and Ante Pavic, Croatia.
   Austin Krajicek, United States, and John-Patrick Smith (1), Australia, vs. Marton Fucsovics, Hungary, and Di Wu, China.
(Not before 4 p.m.)
   Taro Daniel, Japan, and Jordan Kerr, Australia, vs. Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak (3), New Zealand.  
(Not before 5 p.m.)
   Farrukh Dustov, Uzbekistan, and Illya Marchenko, Ukraine, vs. Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium, and Laurynas Grigelis, Lithuania.
Court 6
(Starting at noon)
   Nicolas Meister and Dennis Novikov, United States,vs. Alex Bogomolov Jr., Russia, and James Cerretani, United States.
   Emilio Gomez, Ecuador, and Ze Zhang, China, vs. Kevin King, United States, and Divij Sharan (2), India.
   Purav Raja and Sanam Singh (4), India, vs. Chase Buchanan and Rhyne Williams, United States.  

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