BINGHAMTON, July 18, 2016

A pair of rain delays marred action Monday at the 23rd Levene Gouldin & Thompson Tennis Challenger at Binghamton’s Recreation Park. Evan King, Jose Statham, Erik Crepaldi and unseeded Aleksandar Vukic each qualified for the main draw with wins on Monday.

Eric Quigley and Crepaldi had split two tiebreakers when rain came with Quigley leading, 3-2, in the third set. After a stoppage of just over an hour, the two resumed play on center court. In a match that clocked in at just over three hours, the players battled to another tiebreaker. Crepaldi got ahead early and eventually took a 6-4 lead. After Quigley extended the match once, Crepaldi ended a long rally, forcing Quigley to hit into the net and end the contest.

Erik Crepaldi wins! Takes match point to win 3rd-set tiebreak 7-4 over Quigley. Crepaldi earns last qualifying spot pic.twitter.com/D7Tzr2UAlJ

— BinghamtonChallenger (@BingChallenger) 18. Juli 2016

King, the top seed among qualifiers, came from behind to defeat sixth-seeded Cameron Norrie, 3-6, 6-0, and 6-2. King was strong on his first serve, especially in the last two sets, when he won 19-23 first-serve points.

Eighth-seeded Statham upset three seed Finn Tearney in three sets, winning by scores of 6-3, 6-7 (6), and 6-4. The players were even through two sets, but Statham broke Tearney’s serve in the third, grabbing control of the contest and edging out a win to qualify for the main draw.

Vukic upset second-seeded Peter Kobelt, 6-4 and 6-2, in their qualifying final. He served nine aces while Kobelt double-faulted seven times in the sweep. Vukic won three matches in three days to advance to the main draw this week.

In doubles qualifying play, Juan Benitez and Raleigh Smith rallied to beat Hunter Callahan and Damon Gooch, 5-7, 6-4, and 10-4. In the decisive third set, Benitez and Smith teamed up to win all four first-return points to take control and advance to the main draw.

Two main draw matches were postponed to Tuesday, as contests between Noah Rubin and Lloyd Glasspool and John-Patrick Smith and Liam Broady were both pushed back due to weather.

Main draw competition will begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow with singles action on three courts. There are 14 main draw singles matches slated, with every seeded player due to be in action at Rec Park.

Monday, July 18 – RESULTS

Singles – Qualifying Round Three

Aleksandar Vukic, Australia def. Peter Kobelt (2), United States, 6-4, 6-2

Evan King (1), United States def. Cameron Norrie (6), Great Britain, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2

Jose Statham (8), New Zealand def. Finn Tearney (3), United States, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4

Erik Crepaldi (5), Italy def. Eric Quigley (4), United States, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5)

Singles – Main Draw Round One

Noah Rubin (5), United States vs. Lloyd Glasspool, Great Britain-postponed

John-Patrick Smith (4), Australia vs. Liam Broady, Great Britain-postponed

Doubles – Qualifying Round Two

Juan Benitez, Columbia, and Raleigh Smith, United States def. Hunter Callahan, United States, and Damon Gooch, South Africa, 5-7, 6-4, 10-4