Sandgren nips Haskins in Edwardsville Futures match, singles, doubles action continues

EDWARDSVILLE – Carson Haskins has had quite a bit of success in his junior tennis career so far.

Haskins, a rising junior at Parkway South, has won the last two Missouri Class 2 state individual tennis championships for the Patriots without even losing a match; he also won the Edwardsville Open singles title in June and the wild-card spot in this week's USTA Edwardsville Futures tournament presented by the EGHM Foundation that went with it.

Haskins was paired with No. 2 seed Tennys Sandgren of Tennessee in the opening round of the tournament Wednesday morning and held his own against the winner of last week's Lewis and Clark Community College Men's Futures Tournament in Godfrey, but was eliminated 6-4, 6-3 in a match at the Edwardsville High School Tennis Center.

The Haskins-Sandgren match was one of 12 opening-round singles matches held Wednesday to complete the first round; two doubles quarterfinal matches also took place on Day 5 of the tournament. The top-seeded team of Luke Bambridge of Great Britain and Marc Polmans of Australia advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Mexicans Daniel Garza and Carlos Ramirez Utermann in Wednesday's doubles play.

Top-seeded Blake Mott of Australia also advanced in singles, taking a 6-3, 6-3 win over Mexico's Lucas Gomez. Australians Polmans and Omar Jasika, Argentine Facundo Mena. Ecuador's Gonzalo Escobar and Americans John McNally, Emil Reinberg, Connor Smith and Evan King were among seeded players who also advanced Wednesday.

Here are Wednesday's full results; all matches are best-of-three and are listed in bracket order:

SINGLES – FIRST ROUND

Blake Mott (Australia) def. Lucas Gomez (Mexico) 6-3, 6-3; Christian Harrison (USA) def. Dane Webb (USA) 6-3, 6-1; Tom Fawcett (USA) def. Tigre Hank (Mexico) 6-3, 6-3; Marc Polmans (Australia) def. Daniel Hobart (Australia) 6-4, 6-1; Omar Jasika (Australia) def. Alejandro Gomez (Colombia) 6-1, 3-6, 7-5; Emil Reinberg (USA) def. Mwendwa Mbithi (USA) 6-4, 6-4

Facundo Mena (Argentina) def. Julian Zlobinsky (USA) 6-3, 6-4; Gonzalo Escobar (Ecuador) def. Grayson Goldin (USA) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5); John McNally (USA) def. Luke Bambridge (Great Britian) 6-1, 6-4; Evan King (USA) def. Vasil Kirkov (USA) 6-4, 6-2; Connor Smith (USA) def. Dennis Nevolo (USA) 6-4, 6-0; Tennys Sandgren (USA) def. Carson Haskins (USA) 6-4, 6-3

DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS

Luke Bambridge (Great Britian)/Marc Polmans (Australia) def. Daniel Garza/Carlos Ramirez Utermann (Mexico) 6-2, 6-3; Evan King/Michael Zhu (USA) def. Tom Fawcett/Sameer Kumar (USA) 6-3, 6-4

Here is the scheduled order of play for Thursday, which will include all eight second-round singles matches and the other two doubles quarterfinal matches; matches are slated to begin at 9 a.m., but rain and other weather factors may delay or change the schedule. Courts for later matches are tentative and may be moved to other courts as play dictates; admission is free and the public is invited.

Also scheduled for 6-8 p.m. Thursday is the second night of a High-Performance Clinic for junior players conducted by University of Virginia assistant tennis coach Dustin Taylor, who is also a member of the USTA's Men's Collegiate Team coaching staff.

For more information on the tournament or for updates on the day's play, visit www.edwardsvillefutures.com:

SINGLES – SECOND ROUND

Court 2: Connor Smith (USA) vs. Roberto Quiroz (Ecuador), 9 a.m.; John McNally (USA) vs. Evan King (USA), not before 10 a.m.

Court 3: Omar Jaskia (Australia) vs. Jared Hiltzik (USA), 9 a.m.; Blake Mott (Australia) vs. Christian Harrison (USA), not before 10 a.m.

Court 5: Emil Reinberg (USA) vs. Facundo Mena (Argentina), 9 a.m.; Tom Fawcett (USA) vs. Marc Polmans (Australia), not before 10 a.m.

Court 7: Gonzalo Escobar (Ecuador) vs. Carlos Gomez-Herrera (Spain), 9 a.m.; Rhyne Williams (USA) vs. Tennys Sandberg (USA), not before 10 a.m.

DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS

Court 2: Lucas Gomez (Mexico)/Andres Schneiter (Argentina) vs. Connor Smtih/Jackson Withrow (USA), not before 1 p.m.

Court 7: George Goldhoff/Martin Redlicki (USA) vs. Gonzalo Escobar (Ecuador)/Alejandro Gomez (Colombia), not before 1 p.m.

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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