SAVANNAH, April 23, 2015
What a great day of tennis on Wednesday at the St. Joseph’s/Candler Savannah Challenger. Kicking off the day’s action, we had American wild card Frances Tiafoe taking on No. 6 seed Frank Dancevic. Dancevic quickly took the first set 6-2, but Tiafoe fought back taking the second set 6-4. In the third set, Tiafoe fired in five aces, taking the final set 6-2. The 17-year-old has reached his second straight ATP Challenger quarterfinal after reaching the final eight in Sarasota last week.
Frances Tiafoe has reached another ATP Challenger quarterfinal (photo: instudioEphoto)
Next up on Stadium Court was 18-year old American, Jared Donaldson, and Argentina’s Facundo Arguello. Arguello quickly took the first set, but Donaldson was able to fight back, winning the match 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Meanwhile over on Court 6, Americans Bjorn Fratangelo and Tommy Paul took to the court. Paul upset No. 2 seed, Ruben Bemelmans yesterday in a epic three set match. Paul was unable to repeat his performance today, losing the match 6-2, 6-1 in just under an hour.
In the featured singles night match, American Mitchell Krueger took on Great Britain’s Liam Broady in another epic three set match. Just like the matches before him earlier in the day, Krueger quickly dropped the first set, but was able to come back and take the match. Krueger won the match 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 and advances to his first ATP Challenger quarterfinal.
Tournament director Scott Mitchell (photo twitter: @scottmitch10s)
Off the court, SATA Ladies’ Day was a huge success! Over 100 women showed up and attended the fun morning clinic. It included tennis, fitness, yoga, massages, and lots of prizes. After the morning clinic the ladies enjoyed frozen yogurt, a lunch special, and even some margaritas provided by Nightshade. “We want to thank our ladies day sponsor Savannah Area Tennis Association for all their hard work leading up to the event” said Scott Mitchell, tournament director of the St. Joseph’s/Candler Savannah Challenger.
Looking ahead to Thursday, Special Pops Day will include a fast serve contest this year with the top two servers in each category (3.0, 3.5, 4.0) coming back on Sunday to compete for the title on St. Joseph’s/Candler Stadium Court just before the finals. This great community program for special athletes is hosted throughout the year at The Landings Club. Come out and test your serve speed and help support Special Pops of Savannah.
Wednesday, April 22 – RESULTS :
Singles – Second Round
WC-Frances Tiafoe (USA) d. Frank Dancevic (CAN) (6), 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Jared Donaldson (USA) d. Facundo Arguello (ARG) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) d. Q-Tommy Paul (USA) 6-2, 6-1
ALT-Mitchell Krueger (USA) d. Liam Broady (GBR) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
Doubles – First Round
Guillermo Duran and Horacio Zeballos (ARG) (1), d. Jarmere Jenkins and Stefan Kozlov (USA) 6-3, 6-2
James Cerretani (USA) and Frank Dancevic (CAN) d. Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh (IND) 7-6(2), 7-6(5) Facundo Arguello and Facundo Bagnis (ARG) (4), d. Tommy Paul (USA) and Alexander Ward (GBR) 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 Alex Kuznetsov and Tennys Sandgren (USA) d. Andrea Collarini and Renzo Olivo (ARG)7-6(7), 6-7(6), 10-8
Dennis Novikov (USA) and Julio Peralta (CHI) d. Fabrice Martin (FRA) and Purav Raja (IND) (2), 7-5, 6-4
(Savannah Press Release, April 22, 2015)
