EDWARDSVILLE – Some predictably unpredictable weather played some havoc with the opening day of main-draw play for the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit Edwardsville Futures tennis tournament presented by the EGHM Foundation Tuesday morning and afternoon at the Edwardsville High School Tennis Center.
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Overnight showers persisted into the morning and then into the afternoon, forcing play to be delayed past the scheduled 8:30 a.m. start; all of Tuesday’s scheduled singles play was pushed into Wednesday, but conditions cleared enough by mid-afternoon to allow all eight first-round doubles matches to be played; the weather also forced the move of Tuesday evening’s scheduled Youth High-Performance clinic to Belleville’s Kings Point Sports Club. According to The Weather Channel, conditions Wednesday will be partly cloudy with a high of 87; Thursday’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with a high of 90. The chances of rain are listed at 10 percent both days.
Despite the rain delays, tournament officials were happy to get in the first round doubles matches in. “We had quite a bit of rain delays throughout the day, but we were able to get our first round of doubles in, so we played eight matches,” said assistant tournament director Emily Cimarolli. “Great competition in the doubles field tonight; a lot of the matches went three sets, which just shows you how tight this competition really is and how strong these players really are – they’re fighting all the way.
“There were (several) 10-point tiebreakers to win the match (in a third set, winners must be the first to 10 points by two to win the set).”
All scheduled singles matches Tuesday were postponed to Wednesday’s schedule; as a result, all 16 first-round singles matches are scheduled to be played beginning at 9 a.m. today, with the four doubles quarterfinal matches set for no earlier than 3 p.m. today after players get sufficient rest from the singles matches. “It will be a little bit of a long day for both the (tournament) staff and players,” Cimarolli said. “Things did get done; that’s the thing with any outdoor sport, you can’t control the weather, so you just have to roll with the flow and make it work. Thankfully, we did get eight matches in.
“All the USTA officials and our interns really stepped up to get those courts clean several times throughout the day; it makes for a long day for the players to make sure they stay active and ready for their match times.”
Tuesday’s results included the elimination of all four top seeds in the tournament; No. 1 seed Sebestian Boltz (France) and Luis Patino (Mexico) were ousted 7-5, 6-3 by Finn Bass (Great Britian) and Guy Orly Iradakunka (Burundi); No. 2 seed Julian Bradley (Ireland) and Nick Chappell (USA) were eliminated by Trevor Johnson and Alex Knight (USA) 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 10-5; No. 3 seed Tim Kopinsky and Alex Lawson (USA) were defeated by Charlie Emhardt and Alfredo Perez (USA) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4; and No. 4 seed Francesco Ferrari (Italy) and Kento Takeuchi (Japan) were eliminated by Matic Spec (Slovenia) and Maxime Cressy (France) 4-6, 6-4, 10-1; another player of note, Carson Haskins of St. Louis County, teamed with Brandon Lam of Los Angeles for the doubles, but they were eliminated by Americans Trent Bryde and Vasil Kirkov 3-6, 6-3, 10-5.
Updates on today’s matches can be found at www.edwardsvillefutures.com and at www.itftennis.com.
2018 EDWARDSVILLE FUTURES
PRESENTED BY THE EGHM FOUNDATION
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
DOUBLES – FIRST ROUND
Trevor Johnson/Alex Knight (USA) def. Julian Bradley (Ireland)/Nick Chappell (USA) 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 10-5
Nicholas Meister/Evan Zhu (USA) def. Santago Fa Rodriguez Taverna (Argentina)/Alex Lebedev (USA) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
Matic Spec (Slovenia)/Maxime Cressy (France) def. Francesco Ferrari (Italy)/Kento Takeuchi (Japan) 4-6, 6-4, 10-1
Nicholas Alvarez (Peru) Liam Caruana (Italy) def. Paul Oosterbaan/Ronnie Schneider (USA) 7-5, 4-6, 11-9
Alex Brown/Sean Scully (USA) def. Collin Markes/Michael Redlicki (USA) 3-6, 6-2, 10-8
Finn Bass (Great Britian)/Guy Orly Iradakunka (Burundi) def. Sebastian Boltz/Luis Patino (Mexico) 7-5, 6-3
Charlie Emhardt/Alfredo Perez (USA) def. Tim Kopinski/Alex Lawson (USA) def. 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
Trent Bryde/Vasil Kirkov (USA) def. Carson Haskins/Brandon Lam (USA) 3-6, 6-3, 10-5
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8
ORDER OF PLAY
COURT 2: Alex Knight (USA) vs. Sebastian Korda (USA), 9 a.m.; Trent Bryde (USA) vs. Maxime Cressy (France), not before 10 a.m.; Axel Geller (Argentina) vs. Carson Haskins (USA), not before 11 a.m.; Michael Reducki (USA) vs. Alexander Lebdev (USA), not before noon (Court TBA); Nicholas Meister/Evan Zhu (USA) vs. Trevor Allen Johnson/Alex Knight (USA), after rest but not before 3 p.m. (Court TBA)
COURT 3: Trevor Allen Johnson (USA) vs. Sebastian Boltz (France), 9 a.m.; Finn Bass (Great Britian) vs. Ronnie Schneider (USA), not before 10 a.m.; Santiago Fa Rodreiguez Taverna (Argentina) vs. Vasil Kirkov (USA), not before 11 a.m.; Ryan Shane (USA) vs. Alex Blumenberg (Brazil), not before noon (Court TBA); Trent Bryde/Vasil Kirkov (USA) vs. Charlie Emhardt/Alfredo Perez (USA) after rest but not before 3 p.m. (Court TBA)
COURT 5: Andres Andadre (USA) vs. Evan Zuh (USA), 9 a.m.; Kento Takeuchi (Japan) vs. Guy Orly Iradukunda (Burundi), not before 10 a.m.; Alfredo Perez (USA) vs. Grey Hamilton (USA), not before 11 a.m.; Nick Chappell (USA) vs. Aziz Dougaz (Tunisia), not before noon (Court TBA); Finn Bass (Great Britian)/Guy Orly Iradukunda (Burundi) vs. Alexander Brown/Sean Sculley (USA), after rest but not before 3 p.m. (Court TBA)
COURT 7: Nicholas Alvarez (Peru) vs. Sean Sculley (USA), 9 a.m.; Francisco Ferrari (Italy) vs. Liam Caruana (Mexico), not before 10 a.m.; Luis Patino (Mexico) vs. Paul Oosterbaan (USA), not before 11 a.m.; Strong Kirchheimer (USA) vs. Collin Markes (USA), not before noon (Court TBA); Maxime Cressy (France)/Matic Spec (Slovenia) vs. Nicholas Alvarez (Peru)/Liam Caruana (Mexico), after rest but not before 3 p.m. (Court TBA)
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