TALLAHASSEE, April 27, 2018
20-year old Marc Polmans powered his way into the $75,000 Tallahassee Tennis Challenger semifinals Thursday evening, after a 5-7, 6-0, 7-6(0) win over Michael Mmoh.
In the first set, Polmans and Mmoh kept the rallies long and it took the American over an hour to take the opening set 7-5. In the second set, Polmans shifted the tides and took the set 6-0 to even up the match. In the final and decisive set, Mmoh found his groove again and was able to take the match to a set tie break. Polmans dominated the tie break, taking the match 5-7, 6-0, 7-6(0).
Polmans is having a standout season after taking home his first ATP Challenger Tour singles title in Launceston this past February. He then went on to win the next three futures events he played on the ITF Pro Circuit. Polmans is currently ranked No. 206 in the world and with the quarterfinal win he is expected to break back into the top 200 on Monday.
Max Purcell (photo: Jacob Stuckey/Tallahassee Tennis Challenger)
Polmans will now take on fellow Aussie #NextGenATP star Max Purcell. Earlier in the afternoon, Purcell defeated Juan Ignacio Londero 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, in a tough three-set match. Purcell and Polmans have played each other on four separate occasions with two recent matchups in 2018. They have split these two recent meeting with Purcell taking the last match earlier this month in Mornington, Australia.
Also advancing to the semifinals were Noah Rubin and Hugo Dellien. In the first match of the day, Rubin took on Christian Garin. Rubin quickly overpowered the 21-year old Chilean and took the match 6-3, 6-4. Next up, Sarasota Open singles Champion Hugo Dellien took on former world No. 21 Thomaz Bellucci. The two battled it out for nearly two hours, but Dellien was able to pull out the win 7-5, 7-6(2).
The semifinals get underway on Friday at 2:00 p.m. with what will be an action-packed afternoon. In the first singles semifinal of the day, Noah Rubin and Hugo Dellien will battle it out second match after 2:00 p.m. In the featured evening singles match it will be the battle of the Aussie’s as Polmans and Purcell take to the court.
