GODFREY – Severe thunderstorms that rolled through the area early We
dnesday morning weren't enough to dampen play on Day 5 of the United States Tennis Association's $25,000 Lewis and Clark Community College Men's Futures Tournament at LCCC's Simpson Tennis Center.
The start of play was delayed for two-and-a-half hours because of the storms, but all scheduled matches were played to completion; the final 11 matches of the first round of singles play and the doubles quarterfinals were held.
The tournament's second seed in the singles competition, Facundo Mena of Buenos Aries, Argentina, advanced with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Dekel Bar of Haifa, Israel. “I thought I played a good match,” Mena said. “I played my game and was able to dominate him on the court, so I felt good. It's a good tournament with good players; I saw many people coming out to watch my match and it's nice seeing so many people coming to watch the tournament.”
“He (Mena) played well; the first set, I had my chances and didn't take it,” Bar said. “The second set, I didn't play too well and he kept playing better and better.”
Another first-round singles match had a pair of Australians going up against each other, with Marc Pohlmans of Melbourne advancing with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Daniel Hobart of Adelaide. “I knew I had to try to stay as solid as I could and limit my unforced errors,” Pohlmans said, “and give myself the best opportunity; that's what I tried to do today. I just try to take it one match at a time and keep focusing on my game and see what happens.”
“My opponent's (Pohlmans) a very, very good player; he's won three of the last four pro tour events,” Hobart said, “and I knew I was in for huge challenge today. My main strength is my serve, and when you don't serve well against a quality player, it's very hard to win.”
Here are Wednesday's full results:
SINGLES – FIRST ROUND
Facundo Mena (Argentina) def. Dakal Bar (Israel) 6-2, 6-1; Dayne Kelly (Australia) def. Alfredo Perez (USA) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3; Sameer Kumar (USA) def. Henrik Wiersholm (USA) 6-1, 6-1; Marc Pohlmans (Australia) def. Daniel Hobart (Australia) 6-2, 6-3; Luke Bambridge (Great Britain) def. Felix Corwin (USA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Grayson Goldin (USA) def. Alexander Brown (USA) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4; Rhyne Williams (USA) def. Gonzalez Austin 6-2, 6-2; Robbie Mudge (USA) def. Farris Fathia Gosea (Great Britain) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2; Dominik Koepfer (Germany) def. Tigre Hank (Mexico) 6-4, 6-0; Wil Spencer (USA) def. Austin Smith 6-1, 6-2; Jonathan Chang (USA) def. Christopher Eubanks (USA) 6-2, 6-3
DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS
Jesus Bandres (Colombia)/Facundo Mena (Argentina) def. Vasil Kirkov/John McNally (USA) 7-5, 6-4; Tennys Sandgren/Rhyne Williams (USA) def. Austin Smith/Dane Webb (USA) 6-3, 7-5; Nathan Pomwith/Emil Reinberg (USA) def. Justin Roberts (Bahamas)/Andrew Watson (Great Britain) 6-3, 6-2; George Goldhoff/Martin Redlicki (USA) def. Daniel Hobart (Australia)/Mico Santiago (USA) 6-4, 6-4
Second-round singles matches and the doubles semifinals are on Thursday's card, which gets under way at 9 a.m. at the Simpson Center; here is the schedule of matches for Thursday; live scoring and tournament updates are available at www.lc.edu/usta (rain or other weather conditions could alter the schedule):
Court 1: Alfredo Perez (USA) vs. Rhyne Williams (USA), 9 a.m.; Johnathan Chang (USA) vs. Dominik Koepfer (Germany), not before 10 a.m.
Court 2: Tennys Sandgren (USA) vs. Sameer Kumar (USA), 9 a.m.; Christian Harrison (USA) vs. Wil Spencer (USA), not before 10 a.m.; Jesus Bandres (Colombia)/Facundo Mena (Argentina) vs. Tennys Sandgren/Rhyne Williams (USA), court and time TBA
Court 6: Collin Johns (USA) vs. Blake Mott (Australia), 9 a.m.; Marc Pohlmans (Australia) vs. Grayson Goldin (USA), not before 10 a.m.; George Goldhoff/Martin Redlicki (USA) vs. Nathan Pomwith/Emil Reinberg (USA), immediately following previous match
Court 7: Eddie Grabill (USA) vs. Facundo Mena (Argentina), 9 a.m.; Luke Bambridge (Great Britain) vs. Robbie Mudge (USA), not before 10 a.m.
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