EDWARDSVILLE – The second part of the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit Edwardsville Futures Presented by the EGHM Foundation tennis tournament gets under way at 8:30 a.m. today at the Edwardsville High School Tennis Center and tennis courts at SIU-Edwardsville as qualifying for the eight open spots in the 32-player main singles draw begins.
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Qualifying matches will run through Monday, with the main draw in both singles and doubles beginning Tuesday morning. Among the highlighted opening-round qualifying matches Saturday include Pro Wildcard Challenge runner-up Sam Shropshire meeting Alex Kobelt, top seed Dusty Boyer of the USA meeting Denmark's Simon Frils Sondergaard, Wildcard Challenge semifinalist Nicholas Shamma meeting meeting American Jason Seidman, Edwardsville's Erik Weller meeting Alfredo Perez of the USA, Wildcard Challenge semifinalist Joseph Bishop meeting Alexander Rushin of Great Britain, Canadian Stefan Frljanic, who reached the quarterfinals of the Wildcard Challenge, meeting American Austin Hussey and 2011 Futures champion Blake Strode taking on Gustav Hansson of Sweden.
The full draw for opening day can be found at the tournament website, www.edwardsvillefutures.com
Sunday's community events include the annual session with Mitch 'n” Friends at 6 p.m. Sunday at the EHS Tennis Center, presented by the Bob Emig Foundation, a foundation named for the late Emig, who was a sportswriter for the old Metro-East Journal and other media outlets as well as a youth sports coach and competition director for the Prairie State Games, an Olympic-style competition in Illinois.
Mitch 'n' Friends is a tennis program for those who are physically or mentally challenged; the program was founded by EHS tennis coach and Futures tournament director Dave Lipe for a four-year EHS tennis player Mitchell McGinnis, the twin brother of one-time EHS standout Morgan McGinnis. “We'll have some of the players in the tournament hit with the kids taking part,” Lipe said. “It's one of the most important community involvement things we do during the tournament.”
For more information on Mitch 'n' Friends, visit the Edwardsville Futures website under the Community section.
