EDWARDSVILLE – The final eight slots in the field of 32 for this week’s USTA Edwardsville Futures tennis tournament presented by the EGHM Foundation were filled following Monday’s eight final qualifying matches.
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Rain delayed the main draws on Tuesday, as of 10 a.m., the doubles part of the tourney was scheduled to start no earlier than noon. There are showers and storms in Tuesday’s forecast, according to The Weather Channel) with all eight first-round doubles matches and five first-round singles matches on the card, in addition to a youth high-performance clinic set for 6 p.m. featuring USTA national coach Michael Woodson, who is also an assistant coach at Baylor University; Scott Radecki, a professional with the Peoria Racquet Club; and professional players at the tournament and the Edwardsville Tennis Academy coaching staff. Singles were cancelled for today, Tournament Director Dave Lipe announced just before noon.
“The tournament’s going great,” said Lipe. “Our field of 32 is set and we’re looking forward to getting the main draw started; we’ve got some doubles and singles. We’ve got a full slate and we’re looking forward to starting the tournament.
“We’ve got our high-performance clinic tomorrow night; as far as the field of play goes, we’ve got 32 great players that are trying to the end – somebody’s got to win five matches to get to the end of the tournament.”
Lipe feels this year’s field is an outstanding one, featuring No. 1 seed Ryan Shane of the USA, No. 2 seed Liam Caruana of Italy; Carson Haskins of St. Louis County, who won a wild-card spot by winning the Edwardsville Open earlier in the summer after an outstanding high school career at Parkway South, where he won four straight MSHSAA singles crowns; Alex Knight, who won the Pro Wildcard Challenge tournament last week; and 13 international players representing Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Tunisia, Mexico, Great Britain, France, Japan, Burundi and Italy in the tournament.
“It’s outstanding; it’s one of the best that I can recall,” Lipe said of the field of 32 for this year’s tournament. “The field has always been strong, the field’s great; the good players see the points (earned in the tournament for advancing into higher levels of competition) and they want the points.
“It’ll be a good test tomorrow; everyone’s looking forward to it. We’ll have to take the weather as it comes and do what we can.”
Monday’s final results included Vasil Kirkov (USA) defeating Gage Brymer (USA) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; Alex Blumenberg (Brazil) defeating Jorge Montero (Chile) 6-4, 6-3; Trent Bryde (USA) defeating S. Hernandez Ramirez (Colombia) 6-2, 2-0 (retired); Andres Andrade (USA) defeating Kyle Johnson (USA) 6-2, 6-1; Alexander Lebedev (USA) defeating Alexander Brown (USA) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11); Maxime Cressy (France) defeating Charles Broom (USA) 6-1, 6-7 (7-1), 6-3; Alfredo Perez (USA) defeating Matic Spec (Slovenia) 6-3, 6-2; and Sean Scully (USA) defeating Duarte Vale (Portugal) 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
The Futures tournament has quickly become one of the top tournaments of its type in the USTA Missouri Valley region. “It’s one of our premier Pro Circuits (tournaments) that we have for men,” said USTA Missouri Valley executive director Mary Buschmann. “We also have some women’s (Futures) tournaments that are around this section as well.”
That the Edwardsville Futures tournament has become so successful since the inaugural tournament in 2011 is a feather in the caps of Lipe and his staff over the years, Buschmann feels. “It’s definitely in Dave’s cap and the city of Edwardsville,” Buschmann said, “how they support them, and this community is outstanding.”
The tournament will be a very competitive one, Buschmann thinks. “It’s always going to be competitive and it’s great to see great college players here, which is terrific for them and their careers that they’re building on,” Buschmann said. “This gives them a taste of what it’s like to be on the professional side of things.”
The tournament runs through Sunday, with the doubles final set for Friday evening and the singles final scheduled for Sunday morning. Updated information can be found at www.edwardsvillefutures.com and at www.itftennis.com.
2018 USTA EDWARDSVILLE FUTURES
PRESENTED BY THE EGHM FOUNDATION
TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2018
ORDER OF PLAY
COURT 2: Strong Kirchheimer vs. Colin Markes, 8:30 a.m.; Charlie Emhardt/Alfredo Perez vs. Tim Kopinski/Alex Lawson, not before 9:30 a.m.; Colin Markes/Michael Redlicki vs. Alexander Brown/Sean Scully, after rest but not before 11 a.m. (Court TBA); Trevor Allen Johnson/Alex Knight vs. Julian Bradley/Nick Chappell, after rest but not before noon (Court TBA)
COURT 3: Trevor Allen Johnson vs. Sebastian Boltz, 8:30 a.m.; Carson Haskins/Brandon Lam vs. Trent Bryde/Vasil Kirkov, not before 9:30 a.m.; Sebastian Boltz/Luis Patino vs. Finn Bass/Guy Orly Iradukunda, after rest but not before 11 a.m. (Court TBA)
COURT 5: Luis Patino vs. Paul Oosterbaan, 8:30 a.m.; Alexander Ledbev/Santiago Fa Rodriguez Taverna vs. Nicholas Meister/Liam Caruana, not before 9:30 a.m.; Paul Oosterbaan/Ronnie Schneider vs. Nicolas Alvarez/Liam Caruana, after rest but not before 11 a.m. (Court TBA)
COURT 7: Kento Takeuchi vs. Guy Orly Iradukunda, 8:30 a.m.; Mark Chappell vs. Aziz Dougaz, not before 9:30 a.m.; Francesco Ferrari/Kento Takuchi vs. Maxime Cressy/Matic Spec, after rest but not before 11 a.m. (Court TBA)
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