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EDWARDSVILLE – Play got under way in the qualifying phase of the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit Edwardsville Futures tennis tournament presented by the EGHM Foundation Saturday morning at the Edwardsville High Tennis Center and SIU-Edwardsville's tennis courts.
Among the highlights of Saturday's play was Pro Wildcard Challenge runner-up Sam Shropshire defeating Alex Korbelt 6-2, 6-4 to advance in his portion of the bracket; Edwardsville's Erik Weiler dropped a 6-1, 6-1 decision to Alfredo Perez; Wildcard Challenge semifinalist Toby Boyer fell to Jake Jacoby 6-3, 6-4; Joseph Bishop fell to Great Britain's Alexander Rushin 6-3, 6-1; and inaugural 2011 Futures champion Blake Strode dropped a 6-4, 6-1 decision to Sweden's Gustav Hansson.
Edwardsville Futures Tourney Director Dave Lipe today marked the first day of the qualifers part of the tournament and it is a special level of play.
“These guys are working hard and fighting hard for their professional lives,” he said. “The players are from all over the world. I haven’t done a count of the different countries. They are here from Europe, Asia and Africa. They are from all over Southern and Northern America. We are very grateful to the university (SIUE) for allowing us to use five courts over there for the qualifying tournament today and tomorrow.”
Play is scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. Sunday at the EHS and SIUE courts, weather permitting; rain is in the forecast for Sunday. Ten second-round matches are scheduled for the EHS courts and the other six matches will be played at SIUE's courts; the eight winners of Monday's scheduled matches move into the 32-player main singles draw of the Futures, which gets under way Tuesday morning, with finals scheduled for Friday night (doubles) and Aug. 13 (singles). For updated information, visit edwardsvillefutures.com.
A community event with the organization Mitch 'n' Friends is scheduled for 6 p.m. this evening at the EHS Tennis Center.
Here are the results of Saturday's matches; all players are American unless otherwise indicated:
Simon Friis Soendergaard (Denmark) def. Dusty Boyer 6-3, 6-2; Jonas Zacho Larsen (Denmark) def. Piotr Landa 6-2, 7-5; Sam Shropshire def. Alex Kobelt 6-2, 6-4; Franciso Dias (Portugal) def. Patrick Davidson 6-3, 7-5; Or Ram-Harel (Israel) def. Alex Larson 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); Fabio Perasso (Italy) def. Yang Liu (China) 6-4, 6-4; Jack Murray def. Nishanth Doddamane (India) 6-0, 6-0; Anudeep Kodali def. Erroll Lawrence 6-4, 7-5
Gabriel Friedrich (Brazil) def. Jonathan Chang 6-1, 6-4; Thiago Barbosa (Brazil) def. Kaillim Stewart 3-6, 6-1, 7-5; Jake Jacoby def. Toby Boyer 6-3, 6-4; Alfredo Perez def. Erik Weiler 6-1, 6-1; Jeffrey Schorsch def. Bradley Holt 7-5, 6-4; Kris Ortega def. Matt Kuhar 6-4, 6-2; Nicholas Shamma def. Jason Siedman 6-1, 0-6, 6-4; Robert Galloway def. Perry Gregg 7-5, 7-5
Rowland Phillips (Jamaica) def. Benjamin Vandixhorn 7-5, 6-3; Henry Britton (Great Britain) def. Mahir Dalwani 6-0, 6-0; Alexander Rushin (Great Britain) def. Joseph Bishop 6-3, 6-1; Joshua Peck (Canada) def Jordan Parker 6-4, 6-3; Gustav Hansson (Sweden) def. Blake Strode 6-4, 6-1; Branch Terrell def. Nick Lapoint 6-1, 6-1; Joseph McAllister def. Mandeep Yadav (India) 6-2, 6-0; Joseph Van Meter def. Johnathan Binding (Great Britain) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Edward Bourchier (Australia) def. Kareem Al Allae (Syria) 6-2, 6-0; Vasillios Caripi (South Africa) def. Angelo Gigante 6-0, 6-1; Charlie Emhardt def. Anthony Gomez 6-4, 6-4; Austin Hussey def. Stefan Frljanic (Canada) 6-1, 6-3; Hunter Johnson def. Ian Ashton-Miller 6-0, 6-0; Agustin Maria Gascia (Argentina) def. Davis Wong 2-6, 6-2, 6-1; Justin Lunn (Bahamas) def. Jake Rabani 6-0, 6-0; Martin Joyce def. Yates Johnson 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
Brent Feeney also contributed to this story.
