Qualifying gets under way for Edwardsville Futures

EDWARDSVILLE – Play got underway Saturday in the qualifying phase for the USTA Edwardsville Futures tennis tournament presented by the EGHM Foundation at the Edwardsville High School Tennis Center and SIU-Edwardsville tennis courts.

Qualifying for the final eight spots in the 32-player main singles draw continues through Monday, with the main competition of the $25,000 USTA and ITF Futures tournament starting Tuesday morning at the EHS center and running through Aug. 12. The tournament is part of the Futures Illinois Swing portion of the Futures Tour, including tournaments in Champaign-Urbana and Decatur.

Edwardsville’s Erik Weiler took on Duarte Vale of Portugal in a first-round match Saturday; Weiler dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision to Vale. Weiler was the only local player taking part Saturday.

Among matches involving players who took part in the Pro Wildcard Challenge tournament last week, Sid Donarski of Montreal, who lost to Alex Gray of Miami in the Wildcard Challenge final, advanced to Sunday’s play with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Justin Lunn of the Bahamas; Jibril Nettles of Detroit moved on with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win over American Perry Gregg; Catalin Fifea of Romania dropped a 4- 6, 7-5, 6-4 decision to Matic Spec of Slovenia; Jason Kerst of Michigan defeated American Fletcher Scott 6-4, 6-0.

Among other notable players in the field, Kris Ortega of Homer Glen, Ill., who reached the finals of the Edwardsville and Simpson opens earlier in the summer, advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 win over American Kaptan Kaster; Joe Van Meter moved on with 6-2, 7-5 win over David Perez of Great Britain; wild-card entry Julian Childers lost to A.trice Pickens of the USA 1-1 (retired); wild-card entry Parrish Preston of the USA dropped a 6-0, 6-0 decision to American Alexander Lebedev; wild-card entry Louis Siegler of the USA defeated Rico Gore of the USA 6-0, 6-0; wild-card entry Myles Schalet of the USA advanced with a win over American Davis Wong 4-6, 6-3, 4-0 (retired); and wild-card entry Vasil Kirkov of the USA, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, moved on with a 6-0, 6-0 win over American Chandreshwara Morales.

Play resumed at 8:30 a.m. today at the EHS tennis center; notable matches on the schedule include Kerst meeting Alfredo Perez; Donarski taking on Kirkov; Nettles meeting American Andres Andrade; and Ortega meeting Vale. At 6:30 p.m. this evening, the annual Mitch-n-Friends community tennis clinic will take place at EHS; Mitch-n-Friends is an organization that introduces tennis to those with special needs.

For updates and more information on the tournament, visit www.edwardsvillefutures.com.

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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