Seeds hold in men’s, women’s competition at Simpson Open Saturday

SEE HUMPHREY INTERVIEW:

GODFREY – Day 2 of the Bud Simpson Open tennis tournament at the Simpson Tennis Center at Lewis and Clark Community College went well Saturday, with one championship determined and finals in all divisions readied for today.

The seeds the men’s singles held, with top seed Carson Haskins and second seed Kris Ortega reaching this morning’s semifinals, set for 9 a.m.; Haskins will meet fourth-seeded Andy Graf of Mascoutah and Ortega will take on third-seeded Mason Johnson in the semis, with the winners clashing for the title at noon; the two top-seeded women’s singles players, Shannon Gordon-Carney and Hannah Blythe, will meet at 10:30 a.m. today for the crown in that division.

Tournament director James Humphrey was happy with how the day went overall. “Things are running super-smoothly and we’ve had fantastic weather; we’ve been having fantastic matches,” Humphrey said. “There should be some really good semifinals tomorrow morning.”

A good number of young players have been playing in the tournament over the past few years; Humphrey believes the caliber of play among those players has improved over the years. “There’s been a lot of kids who have played over the years and they keep getting better and better,” Humphrey said. “You can watch players like Laura Moore (of Godfrey, who defeated Aubrey McCormick to reach Sunday’s women’s 3.5 singles final), who’s just becoming a fantastic player and Dan McCluskey (also of Godfrey, who was defeated by Johnson in his first-round men’s singles match), who had a fantastic match with (Johnson); he’s advanced in the (consolation draw)

“It’s amazing to watch how these young players get better year after year.”

Haskins, who won the Edwardsville Open recently over Ortega, reached the semis with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Godfrey’s Adam Ruckman in the first round and a 1-0 (retired) win over Allan Bower of Alton, while Ortega got to the final four with 6-0, 6-0 win over Godfrey’s Silas Chapman and a 6-0, 6-0 win over Jerseyville’s Mitch McKee.

“It happens sometimes,” Haskins said of his win over Ruckman, who had a foot problem that forced him to retire from his match. “Hopefully I can get some more matches in and get some good practice in and see how it goes.”

Haskins first played the Simpson Open after his freshman year at Parkway South. “It’s nice to have that history (of the Simpson family legacy to tennis in the Alton area),” Haskins said.

“It’s a great facility,” Ortega said of the Simpson Tennis Center. “It’s the first time I’ve played in this tournament; the courts are great, the facility’s nice, the tournament director’s great; you can’t really ask for much more. I’m playing really well and I’m looking forward to the semifinals.”

Haskins and Ortega are also teaming up together for the doubles competition; the duo reached the final of that bracket with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Jacob Guse of St. Jacob and Nick Parsons of Troy in the semifinals Saturday; their final against Riley Muren of O’Fallon and Erik Weiler of Edwardsville will be played at 3 p.m. today.

The tournament is a fund-raiser for the Bud and Robert Simpson Memorial Junior Tennis Program in the Alton/Godfrey area; the Simpson family’s legacy to Alton-area tennis has meant much over the years. “We’re making a lot of good progress as the Simpson Memorial Tennis Program committee,” Humphrey said. “We’re making strides with the tennis center at Gordon Moore Park.”

One title was determined Saturday, with Callaghan Adams of Edwardsville and Morgan Colbert of Glen Carbon taking the women’s doubles crown over Shannon Gordon-Carney and Cindy Tabscott, both of St. Louis, by a 6-2, 7-5 score.

Results from all of the tournament’s matches can be found at tennislink.usta.com, then click under tournaments.

2018 BUD SIMPSON OPEN TENNIS TOURNAMENT

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

MEN’S SINGLES – FIRST ROUND: Carson Haskins, Ballwin, Mo., def. Adam Ruckman, Godfrey, 6-0, 6-0; Allan Bower, Alton, def. Jonathan Claywell, Alton, 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (6); Andy Graf, Mascoutah, def. Will Harness, St. Louis, 6-1, 6-3; Erik Weiler, Edwardsville, def. Nick Parsons, Troy, 6-1, 6-1; Jason Dilly, Clear Lake, Minn., def. Travis Blair, Jerseyville, 6-2, 6-3; Mason Johnson, Henderson, Ky., defeated Daniel McCluskey, Godfrey, 6-3, 6-1; Mitch McKee, Jerseyville, def. Joe Segnen, Alton, 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (12); Kris Ortega, Homer Glen, Ill., def. Silas Chapman, Godfrey, 6-0, 6-0

MEN’S SINGLES QUARTERFINALS: Haskins def. Bower 1-0 (ret.); Graf def. Weiler 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (8); Johnson def. Dilly 6-2, 7-6 (7-2); Ortega def. 6-0, 6-0

WOMEN’S SINGLES FIRST ROUND: Hannah Macias, Godfrey, def. Sara Kreutztrager, Roxana, 6-4, 6-2; SEMIFINALS: Shannon Gordon-Carney, St. Louis, def. Susan Nunez, St. Louis, 6-0, 6-0; Hannah Blythe, Vandalia, def., Macias 7-6 (7-4), 6-2

MEN’S 45 SINGLES SEMIFINALS: Michael Peri, Lake St. Louis, Mo., def. Jeff Wagner, Edwardsville, 6-1, 6-1; David Snider, Collinsville, def. Bill Blythe, HoVandlia, 7-5, 6-1

MEN’S 55 SINGLES (ROUND-ROBIN): Bobby Stierwall, St. Louis, def. Dan Dafick, Chesterfield, Mo., 6-2, 6-2; Dennis Myers, Wentzville, Mo., def. David Spitze, Belleville, 6-1, 6-3; Spitze def. Sherwall 6-2, 6-0; Myers def. Stierwall 6-1, 6-3

WOMEN’S 3.5 SINGLES SEMIFINALS: Princess Imoukhuede, Champaign, def. Sabrina Ingram, Jerseyville, 6-0, 6-0; Laura Moore, Godfrey, def. Aubrey McCormick, Dow, 6-1, 6-0

MEN’S DOUBLES SEMIFINALS: Carson Haskins, Ballwin, Mo./Kris Ortega, Homer Glen, Ill., def. Jacob Guse, St. Jacob/Nick Parsons, Troy, 6-0, 6-0; Riley Muren, O’Fallon/Erik Weiler, Edwardsville, def. Eduardo Abilez, Ballwin, Mo./Steve Moehn, St. Louis, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2

WOMEN’S DOUBLES SEMIFINALS: Callaghan Adams, Edwardsville/Morgan Colbert, Glen Carbon, def. Megan Hammond, Weldon Spring, Mo./Julia McNeil, Lake St. Louis, Mo., 6-1, 6-2; FINAL: Adams/Colbert def. Shannon Gordon-Carney/Cindy Tabscott, both St. Louis, 6-2, 7-5

MIXED DOUBLES (ROUND-ROBIN): Shannon Gordon-Carney/Terry McNabb, both St. Louis, def. Sara Kreutztrager, Roxana/Adam Ruckman, Godfrey, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (4); Jesse Macias/Laura Moore, both Godfrey, def. Nuran Ecal/Bobby Stierwall, both St. Louis, 6-1, 7-5

More like this: