APTOS, August 13, 2015
Wednesday at the US-$ 100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos featured a face off of between two phenomenal athletes who have yet to turn 20 years old. Japanese 19 year-old, Yoshihito Nishioka conquered 18 year-old American, Jared Donaldson after each player earned a set a piece. In the third set emotions ran wild, as both players stayed on serve for the first four games. Nishioka remained fluid, and was able to find cracks in Donaldson’s game. An unbelievable behind-the-back winner from Nishioka set the tone for the second half of the third set resulting in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. Nishioka has had an incredible year, appearing in several Challenger semi-finals and winning the 2014 Shanghai Challenger.
No. 1 seed John Millman won his second round match today with ease, or at least it appeared that way. At the beginning of last summer his ranking fell to No. 1,193 after an unfortunate should injury in 2013. However, in just the last year Millman has worked his way back up to No. 84 in the world.
The energy on the doubles court was at an all time high when No. 47th ranked doubles player, Artem Sitak and his No. 64th ranked partner, Chris Guccione came out on top. After splitting sets against Daniel Nguyen and Dennis Novikov, Sitak and Guccione won 10-6 in a nerve-racking ten-point tiebreaker. Other notable teams who will move on to the second round after today’s play, include Rublev and Copil and Ymer and Khachanov.
There was a devoted crowd around court five to cheer on Japan’s Taro Daniel who has been adopted as an Aptos local. Daniel found himself down a set after missing crucial opportunities against challenger veteran, Farrukh Dustov. Up 6-5 in the second, one could see the determination in Daniel’s eyes as he continued to break his opponent down by working his shot pattern point after point. Daniel’s commitment throughout the entire match had both new and old fans thoroughly impressed.
“It is really nice having so much support here because usually it is just my coach and I at other tournaments,” Daniel said.
On Thursday night former world No. 2, Tommy Haas will take on Australia’s Mathew Ebden at 6 p.m. on center court. Haas turned pro in 1996 and holds 15 career ATP titles. Earlier in his career, Haas defeated elite players: Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Novak Djokovic and many more.
RESULTS – AUGUST 12, 2015
Men’s Singles – Second Round
[1] J. Millman (AUS) d G. Andreozzi (ARG) 63 62
[3] K. Edmund (GBR) d [Q] D. Nguyen (USA) 75 63
[5] T. Daniel (JPN) d F. Dustov (UZB) 67(5) 75 60
[8] Y. Nishioka (JPN) d [WC] J. Donaldson (USA) 46 63 63
Men’s Doubles – First Round
[1] C. Guccione (AUS) / A. Sitak (NZL) d [WC] D. Nguyen (USA) / D. Novikov (USA) 26 75 10-6
[2] A. Krajicek (USA) / N. Monroe (USA) d [WC] D. Baughman (USA) / E. Johnson (USA) 63 76(3)
[3] D. O’Brien (RSA) / R. Roelofse (RSA) d G. Andreozzi (ARG) / N. Jarry (CHI) 57 63 10-8
Y. Bhambri (IND) / M. Ebden (AUS) d [4] J. Peralta (CHI) / M. Seeberger (USA) 76(5) 76(3)
[LL] R. Gonzales (PHI) / D. Walsh (GBR) d G. Clezar (BRA) / B. Klein (GBR) 76(4) 67(5) 10-8
K. Khachanov (RUS) / E. Ymer (SWE) d C. Ball (AUS) / S. Devvarman (IND) 67(3) 61 10-8
M. Jaziri (TUN) / Z. Zhang (CHN) d F. Dustov (UZB) / J. Zopp (EST) 75 75
[Q] M. Copil (ROU) / A. Rublev (RUS) d [WC] A. Dome (USA) / J. Fruttero (USA) 63 76(3)
