Local Favorite Kweisi Kenyatte Has Memorable Qualifying Match During Day 2 Action At Edwardsville Futures - Will Also Guest Speak

EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville Futures continued yesterday afternoon and into the night. Day two of the tournament wrapped up qualifying play and began the round of 32 main draw singles matches.

The highlight match of the night has to be the three-set tiebreaker between a University of Illinois player and a local favorite [7] Kweisi Kenyatte (USA) who defeated [14] Tommaso Carnevale-Miiso (ITA) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(8).

Kenyatte dropped the first set and was clearly getting upset with himself. But after rallying back to win the second set and tie it up at one set a piece, he couldn't be stopped in the deciding tie-breaker third set.

He felt that the match should have been over much sooner saying that he couldn't find his rhythm.

"It's my first match back in a while, so it's pretty tough trying to get back out there and focus," Kenyatte said.

Kenyatte will move on to play [7] Makoto Ochi (JPN) this afternoon in the round of 32. He'll also play in the mixed double round of 16 with partner Cooper Williams (USA) against Peter Bertran (DOM) / [4] Osgar O'Hoisin (IRL).

More importantly, he'll be participating in the tournament's 'Diversity Day' this Friday. According to Edwardsville High School tennis coach and tournament director Dave Lipe, Kenyatte is the featured speaker during the event.

Kenyatte said: "It's awesome. Growing up in the inner city, playing tennis wasn't exactly the most popular thing. there was a group of black kids growing up with me that played, but I was one of the few that made it out here."

"You don't have to just play football or basketball, you can play any sport you want. Inspiring those kids is what really makes me happy," he finished with.

Catch Kenyatte playing a match this afternoon and then leading 'Diversity Day' on Friday.

(The flyer below says Wednesday, but due to rain 'Diversity Day' was moved to Friday, July 29)

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