STANFORD/STARNBERG, August 17, 2023

One week ahead of the start of the US Open, the Golden Gate Open has unfolded its first chapter on the ATP Challenger Tour. The $160,000 hard-court tournament is being held alongside a WTA 125 event at the Stanford Taube Tennis Center in California. The combined event is the first equal prize money tournament at that level.

One of the most striking storylines of the men’s tournament is the remarkable performance of US-American players, as four home favourites have stormed into the quarterfinals. In the top half of the draw, No. 3 seed Michael Mmoh defeated Czech youngster Dalibor Svrcina 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 37 minutes on Wednesday and will next take on fellow countryman and qualifier Tristan Boyer.

“I think this is a very nice place to play a Challenger 125 before the US Open. The university and the hotel are very nice,” said Svrcina, quoted by the ATP Tour website. “I think it’s very cool that it’s a combined event and even better for women, that they can have equal prize money. It is a good change for tennis.”

Seventh favourite Aleksandar Kovacevic from the United States, who beat his compatriot Denis Kudla and Bulgarian Adrian Andreev in the previous two rounds, will face US-American qualifier Emilio Nava.

Watanuki leads quarterfinals line-up

World No. 90 Yosuke Watanuki, the highest-ranked player of the tournament after the withdrawal of Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech due to a calf injury, leads the bottom half of the draw. The No. 2 seed from Japan edged past Nicolas Moreno de Alboran from the United States 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 23 minutes in Wednesday’s second round and awaits sixth-seeded Australian James Duckworth in the quarterfinals.

No. 5 Borna Gojo of Croatia and fourth favourite Constant Lestienne from France round out the final eight.

Emphatic 🤜

🇯🇵 @W412Yosuke defeats Moreno De Alboran 7-5, 6-3 to storm into the quarterfinals in Stanford!#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/ehwpfxDVYY

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 17, 2023