ORLANDO, January 4, 2019
Thursday’s action at the Orlando Open saw the top two remaining seeds advance, while more upsets saw a pair of US-Americans knock off higher-seeded fellow countrymen en route to the quarterfinals.
No. 1 seed Darian King of Barbados continued to cruise through the field with a second consecutive straight-sets win. Fifth-seeded Norbert Gombos of Slovakia, on the other hand, needed more than three hours and a third-set tiebreak to defeat US-American wild card Evan Song. King and Gombos will face off in the quarterfinals.
Also advancing on Thursday were US-Americans Ulises Blanch, Marcos Giron, and wild card Michael Redlicki. Giron defeated No. 9 seed Dennis Novikov in straight sets, while Redlicki knocked off No. 11 seed Kevin King in a pair of all-US-American third round matches.
Rounding out the singles quarterfinalists are No. 12 seed Gastao Elias of Portugal and No. 13 seed Nino Serdarusic of Croatia.
The Orlando Open is the first ATP Challenger event of the 2019 season held in the United States and is the highest level of tennis on display to date at the USTA National Campus, with a prize-money pool of more than $54,000.
Play continues Friday with the singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals. Play begins at 11 a.m local time. Admission to the Orlando Open is free.
Thursday, January 3 – Results
Singles Main Draw – Third Round
(1) Darian King (BAR) def. (16) Johan Tatlot (FRA) 6-3, 6-3
(5) Norbert Gombos (SVK) def. (WC) Evan Song (USA) 6-7(3), 7-5, 7-6(4)
(12) Gastao Elias (POR) def. (7) Roberto Cid Subervi (DOM) 6-0, 6-4
Marcos Giron (USA) def. (9) Dennis Novikov (USA) 6-1, 6-2
(WC) Michael Redlicki (USA) def. (11) Kevin King (USA) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
(13) Nino Serdarusic (CRO) def. Stefan Kozlov (USA) 6-2, 7-5
(14) Mathias Bourgue (FRA) def. (WC) Sam Riffice (USA) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
Ulises Blanch (USA) def. (LL) Gijs Brouwer (NED) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
Doubles Main Draw – Quarterfinals
(1) Romain Areneodo (MON) / Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) def. Gonzalo Escobar (ECU) / Roberto Maytin (VEN) 7-5, 6-7(2), [10-6]
(3) Goncalo Oliveira (POR) / Andrea Vavassori (ITA) def. Laurynas Grigelis (LTU) / Uladzimir Ignatik (BLR) 6-4, 6-2
(4) Evan King (USA) / Hunter Reese (USA) def. Ulises Blanch (USA) / Sam Riffice (USA) 6-3, 6-4
Luis David Martinez (VEN) / Andreas Siljestrom (SWE) def. JC Aragone (USA) / Alex Lawson (USA) 3-6, 7-6(6), [10-5]
