EDWARDSVILLE – Day 2 of the main draw for the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit Edwardsville Futures tennis tournament presented by the EGHM Foundation pretty much went to form Wednesday.

Get The Latest News!

Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.

Unlike Tuesday’s doubles first round matches that saw all four top seeds eliminated, only one seeded player – Tunisian Aziz Dougas, who was the No. 8 seed – was eliminated in Wednesday’s first-round singles matches.

Wednesday’s play nearly had to deal with heat rules, but all 16 first-round singles matches and the four doubles quarterfinal matches took place as scheduled under partly cloudy skies at the Edwardsville High School Tennis Center; the singles second round and doubles semifinals are scheduled for today at EHS beginning at 9 a.m.

“We were close to heat-index issues for the guys, but they were resilient,” said tournament director Dave Lipe.

Recent Parkway South graduate Carson Haskins, who will be heading to Indiana this year, was defeated in his first-round match Wednesday, falling to Axel Geller of Argentina – a former world No. 1 junior player who played at Stanford last season – by a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 score; Haskins earned a wild-card entry after his win earlier in the summer at the Edwardsville Open tournament.

“Carson Haskins had a tough loss, but he played well and showed he is capable of winning sets at this level,” Lipe said of the four-time Missouri high school singles champion with the Patriots. “I think his level of play will continue to grow; I thought Carson played well.

“All the other players’ matches were competitive; we saw a lot of fine play.”

“My shoulder, unfortunately, started hurting toward the beginning of the second set; it was kind of tough, but it happens,” Haskins said of his loss to Geller, who was the runner-up in last year’s Wimbledon and U.S. Open junior singles and won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2017 as well.

Haskins got out of the gates well in the opening set against Geller; he credited his serving for the fast start. “I think I got a little bit more of a rhythm on my serve,” Haskins said. “I was getting balls deeper in the first set and I think that helped me. I think I could have played a little bit better; I picked up my energy in the second set.

“I competed in that first set and came back in that first set; I just want to prove myself out here, that’s all I want to do.”

Article continues after sponsor message

Top-seeded Ryan Shane advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Brazil’s Alex Blumenberg Wednesday, while No. 2 seed Liam Caruana of Italy advancing with a 6-4, 6-1 win over fellow Italian Francesco Ferrari and the other top seeds – Michael Radlicki (USA), Sebastian Boltz (France), Ronnie Schneider (USA), Kento Takeuchi (Japan) and Strong Kirchheimer (USA) all advancing to the second round, while Dougaz was eliminated by American Nick Chappell 6-4, 6-4.

One other notable result Wednesday was American Sebastian Korda – who won this year’s Australian Open junior singles and is ranked No. 2 in the world juniors – defeating Alex Knight, who won the Pro Wildcard Challenge tournament last week, in three sets.

In the doubles quarterfinals, Americans Alex Brown and Sean Sculley, Nicolas Alvarez of Peru and Caruana, Americans Trent Bryde and Vasil Kirkov and Americans Nicolas Meister and Evan Zhu all advanced to today’s semifinal matches, which will be played this afternoon; the doubles final is set for Friday evening.

Korda will meet up with Schneider not before 10 a.m. today in one of the notable second-round singles matches today; the singles quarterfinals are set for Friday. Updated information and scores from today’s matches will be available at www.edwardsvillefutures.com and at www.itftennis.com


USTA PRO CIRCUIT $25,000 EDWARDSVILLE FUTURES
PRESENTED BY THE EGHM FOUNDATION

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS (IN BRACKET ORDER)

SINGLES – FIRST ROUND
Ryan Shane (USA) def. Alex Blumenberg (Brazil) 7-5, 6-3; Santiago Fa Rodriguez Taverna (Argentina) def. Vasil Kirkov (USA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Nicholas Alvarez (Peru) def. Sean Sculley (USA) 6-1, 6-3; Nick Chappell (USA) def. Aziz Dougaz (Tunisia) 6-4, 6-4

Michael Redlicki (USA) def. Alex Lebdev (USA) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); Paul Oosterbaan (USA) def. Luis Patino (Mexico) 6-1, 6-3; Sebastian Korda (USA) def. Alex Knight (USA) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3; Ronnie Schneider (USA) def. Finn Bass (Great Britian) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Strong Kirchheimer (USA) def. Collin Markes (USA) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); Axel Geller (Argentina) def. Carson Haskins (USA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; Andres Andrade (USA) def. Evan Zhu (USA) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Sebastein Boltz (France) def. Trevor Johnson (USA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Kento Takeuchi (Japan) def. Guy Orly Iradukunda (Burundi) 5-7, 6-2, 6-3; Alfredo Perez (USA) def. Grey Hamilton (USA) 7-6, 6-4; Maxime Cressy (France) def. Trent Bryde (USA) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5); Liam Caruana (Italy) def. Francesco Ferrari (Italy) 6-4, 6-1

DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS
Alex Brown/Sean Sculley (USA) def. Finn Bass (Great Britian)/Guy Orly Iradukunda (Burundi) 6-3, 6-2; Nicolas Alvarez (Peru)/Liam Caruana (Italy) def. Maxime Cressy (France)/Matic Spec (Slovenia) 6-4, 6-3; Trent Bryde/Vasil Kirkov (USA) def. Charlie Emhardt/Alfredo Perez (USA) 7-5, 3-6, 10-8; Nicolas Meister/Evan Zhu (USA) def. Trevor Johnson/Alex Knight (USA) 6-4, 6-2.


THURSDAY, AUGUST 9

ORDER OF PLAY
COURT 2: Nicolas Alvarez (Peru) vs. Nick Chappell (USA), 9 a.m.; Sebastian Korda (USA) vs. Ronnie Schneider (USA), not before 10 a.m.; Ryan Shane (USA) vs. Santiago Fa Rodriguez Taverna (Argentina), not before noon

COURT 3: Maxime Cressy (France) vs. Liam Caruana (Italy), 9 a.m.; Andres Andrade (USA) vs. Sebastian Boltz (France), not before 10 a.m.; Strong Kirchheimer (USA) vs. Axel Geller (Argentina), not before noon

COURT 7: Kento Takeuchi (Japan) vs. Alfredo Perez (USA), 9 a.m.; Michael Redlicki (USA) vs. Paul Oosterbaan (USA), not before 10 a.m.; Trent Bryde/Vasil Kirkov (USA) vs. Nicolas Meister/Evan Zhu (USA), after rest but not before noon; Alex Brown/Sean Sculley (USA) vs. Nicolas Alvarez (Peru)/Liam Caruana (Italy), after rest but not before 1 p.m.

More like this:

Jul 27, 2023 - Edwardsville Futures Main Draw Singles Action Concludes First Round In Style