COLUMBUS, September 23, 2016

Top seed Benjamin Becker headlined Thursday’s second round action at the $50,000 Columbus Challenger, held at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center.

The world number 97 and only top 100 player in the draw defeated Sam Groth 6-3, 6-2. Becker didn’t face a break point, converting three of his own to secure victory in only 63 minutes. The German veteran will next play Mikelis Libietis. The qualifier from Latvia edged past Cameron Norie of Great Britain, winning 6-4, 7-6.

With Gonzales Austin another player, who battled through the qualfiying, advanced to the stage of the final eight. The 23-year-old from the United States is playing is first main draw at Challenger level and overcame Canadian Frank Dancevic 7-6, 6-3. Austin sent down four aces, winning 85 per cent of his first service points to prevail in one hour and 25 minutes. The world number 641 will next take on Ohio State’s local “Buckeye” Mikael Torpegaard.