TALLAHASSEE, April 28, 2017
US-American Mitchell Krueger took to the court in a winning fashion Thursday afternoon, defeating Stefan Kozlov in the singles quarterfinal of the $75,000 Tallhassee Tennis Challenger and then partnering with Luke Bambridge to defeat Jarryd Chaplin and Tennys Sandgren in doubles.
In singles, Krueger took on fellow US-American and 19-year old Stefan Kozlov, who had knocked out Austrian veteran Jürgen Melzer in the second round. In the first set Krueger quickly got a break. Both players continued to hold serve, but the 23-year old was able to close out the opening set 6-4. In the second set Kozlov attempted to rally a comeback, but Krueger was able to shut his hopes out and close out the match 6-4, 7-5 after one hour and 41 minutes.
In doubles, Krueger paired with Australia’s Luke Bambridge as the took on the US-American team of Jarryd Chaplin and Tennys Sandgren. Much like in singles, they quickly took the first set, before Chaplin and Sandgren attempted to mount a comeback. Krueger and Bambridge closed out the match 6-3, 7-5.
Krueger was the top-ranked US-American junior boy in 2012, and peaked at No. 5 in the world junior rankings. He advanced to the boys’ singles semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2012 and turned pro that July. In 2014, he won the doubles title at an ITF Circuit event in Australia and reached the singles quarterfinals or better at six events around the world. In 2015, he won his first USTA Pro Circuit event at the $15,000 Futures in Los Angeles.
Next up for Krueger will be Blaz Rola. The qualifier from Slovenia eased past US-American Dennis Novikov, winning 6-1, 6-2. Rola sent down five aces and won 64 per cent of the total points played to finish the encounter after 67 minutes.
Also advancing to the singles semifinals were qualifier Andrea Arnaboldi of Italy, who defeated US-American wild card Bradley Klahn 6-2, 7-6. The 29-year-old from Milan saved both break points he faced, converting two of his own to secure victory in one hour and 33 minutes.
Arnaboldi will next take on Ramkumar Ramanathan, who benefited from the retirement of Argentine Guido Andreozzi at 4-6, 7-5, 1-1.,
On the doubles side, Scott Lipsky and Leander Paes received a walkover to advance to the semifinals. The Argentine duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Leonard Mayer advance alongside lucky losers Gonzalo Escobar and Roberto Quiroz.
Semifinal action get underway on Friday at 2:00 p.m. local time with Krueger kicking off the first two matches in singles and doubles. In the featured evening session, the No. 1 seeds and fan favorite team of Lipsky and Paes get play going with hopes of reaching Saturday’s finals. Tickets to semifinal matches are only $15 for the day.
