TIBURON, September 28, 2017
US-American Michael Mmoh highlighted Wednesday’s second round action at the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger, saving match point in the third set tiebreaker against German Tobias Kamke.
Kamke is no stranger to Tiburon, taking the singles title in 2010, and after breaking Mmoh as he served for the match at 5-4 in the final set, it was looking like he could pull off the win. The fourth seed from the United States was able to keep his composure, however, and delivered two massive serves to take the match 9-7 in the third set tiebreaker. Mmoh’s 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 victory lasted two hours and 33 minutes.
He will next face Cameron Norrie of Great Britain. The eighth seed ralllied from a set down to overcome US-American Mitchell Krueger 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in two hours and one minute.
Frank Dancevic beat wild card entry Tom Fawcett from the United States, who knocked out the tournament’s top seed Ruben Bemelmans in the opening round. The 33-year-old Canadian sent down seven aces, winning 82 per cent of his first service points to seal a 6-3, 6-4 victory in 63 minutes.
Dancevic will next take on Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India, who edged past US-American Deiton Baughman 7-6, 6-4 in one hour and 34 minutes.
First Round Doubles Action
It was an all-doubles afternoon that didn’t disappoint, with match points being saved by the number-one seeds to keep their title hopes alive. Marcelo Arevalo from El Salvador partnering with Miguel Reyes-Varela of Mexico won their thirteenth straight match after being down 7-9 in the match tiebreaker against Darian King of Barbados and Cameron Norrie.
Number four seeds Mikelis Libietis of Latvia and Andreas Siljestrom from Sweden went the distance against South African Ruan Roelofse and Mitchell Krueger with Libietis/Siljestrom taking it 10-8 in the third set tiebreaker.
The final match of the day kept everyone glued to their seats with yet another match tiebreaker decision. Michael Mmoh and Deiton Baughman won the first set 6-1 and lost the second 6-7 to Frank Dancevic and Ruben Bemelmans. The match tiebreaker saw both teams having chances, but some strong and creative volleying from Dancevic combined with Bemelmans’ lefty ground strokes got them across the finish line and into the next round, winning the match breaker 10-7.
One of the highlight match-ups on Thursday will be Denis Kudla taking on fellow US-American Mackenzie MacDonald.
Men’s Singles, Second Round
[4] M. Mmoh (USA) d. T. Kamke (GER) 63 26 76(7)
[8] C. Norrie (GBR) d. M. Krueger (USA) 46 62 62
F. Dancevic (CAN) d. [WC] T. Fawcett (USA) 63 64
P. Gunneswaran (IND) d. [Q] D. Baughman (USA) 76(5) 64
Men’s Doubles, First Round
[1] M. Arevalo (ESA) / M. Reyes-Varela (MEX) d. D. King (BAR) / C. Norrie (GBR) 67(4) 63 11-9
[2] L. Bambridge (GBR) / D. O’Hare (IRE) d T. Sandgren (USA) / T. Smyczek (USA) 63 36 10-5
[3] B. Klein (GBR) / J. Salisbury (GBR) d D. Kudla (USA) / M. McDonald (USA) 36 61 10-8
[4] M. Libietis (LAT) / A. Siljestrom (SWE) d M. Krueger (USA) / R. Roelofse (RSA) 61 26 10-7
[PR] R. Bemelmans (BEL) / F. Dancevic (CAN) d [WC] D. Baughman (USA) / M. Mmoh (USA) 06 76(6) 10-6
[Q] T. Fawcett (USA) / E. Leshem (ISR) d H Hach Verdugo (MEX) / R. Ramanathan (IND) 61 61
