LAHAINA, January 27, 2016
It was an all American day of tennis at the $50,000 SportMaster Tennis Championships of Maui. The first match of the day on center court was a Main Draw Women’s Singles matchup of top seed Christina McHale (USA) and Nicole Vaidisova (CZE). McHale came into the match swinging and commanded the first set 6-0. Vaidisova turned things up in the second set taking it to a tiebreak, but McHale held strong and pulled through, 6-0, 7-6(5). Vaidasova had a career high singles ranking of no. 7 in the world back in 2007. McHale moves on to play fellow American, Danielle Lao, in the quarterfinals.
16-year-old Ashely Kratzer also advanced with a win over Risa Ushijima (JPN) 6-3, 7-6(6). Taylor Townsend followed suit with a win over Mayo Hibi (JPN) 6-4, 6-3.
Taylor Fritz (photo: Ryan Trujillo/USTA Hawaii)
In the Men’s Singles draw, majority of the American teens advanced with the exception of Taylor Fritz as he fell to James Duckworth (AUS) 6-3, 7-6(5). Duckworth played a solid match giving little opportunity to Fritz.
Another exciting matchup was between Frances Tiafoe (USA) and Denis Novikov (USA). It was a heated battle as players from both ends had something to say to the chair umpire and each other on multiple occasions. The first set went to a tiebreak where Novikov took the set 7-6(5). Tiafoe turned things around in set two and the match went to a third set. Tiafoe then seemed to get into Novikov’s head and eventually would take the match 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3.
The final American teen to advance was Ernesto Escobedo with a win over Tennys Sandgren 6-2, 6-2.
RESULTS – WEDNESDAY
Men’s Singles – Second Round
[3] James Duckworth (AUS) d Taylor Fritz (USA) 63 76(5)
Fraces Tiafoe (USA) d [8] Dennis Novikov (USA) 67(5) 64 63
[Q] Ernesto Escobedo (USA) d Tennys Sandgren (USA) 62 62
[WC] Noah Rubin (USA) d Mitchell Krueger (USA) 46 61 61
Men’s Doubles – Quarterfinals
[2] Alex Bolt (AUS) / Frank Moser (GER) d Zhe Li (CHN) / Di Wu (CHN) 63 75
James Cerretani (USA) / Max Schnur (USA) d [3] Mao-Xin Gong (CHN) / Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) 63 75
Philip Bester (CAN) / Peter Polansky (CAN) d [4] T. Matsui (JPN) / Dean O’Brien (RSA) 26 63 10-3
Jason Jung (TPE) / Dennis Novikov (USA) d Mitchell Krueger (USA) / Henri Laaksonen (SUI) walkover
ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2016
CENTER start 9:00
ITF – T. Townsend (USA) vs [2] S. Crawford (USA)
ITF – [3] N. Broady (GBR) vs [Q] M. Linette (POL)
ATP – [1] K. Edmund (GBR) vs [Q] M. Mmoh (USA)
ATP – P. Bester (CAN) / P. Polansky (CAN) vs [2] A. Bolt (AUS) / F. Moser (GER)
COURT 5 start 9:00
ITF – M. Sanchez (USA) vs [4] S. Vickery (USA)
Not Before 10:00
ATP – [LL] A. Bolt (AUS) vs J. Jung (TPE)
ATP – [Q] N. Meister (USA) vs J. McGee (IRL)
ATP – J. Jung (TPE) / D. Novikov (USA) vs J. Cerretani (USA) / M. Schnur (USA)
COURT 1 start 9:00
ITF – [1] [WC] C. Mchale (USA) vs D. Lao (USA)
ITF – [5] J. Pegula (USA) vs [Q] A. Kratzer (USA)
ITF – [1] A. Muhammad (USA) / M. Sanchez (USA) vs B. Boren (USA) / S. Leon (MEX)
ITF – J. Pegula (USA) / T. Townsend (USA) vs [2] L. Kichenok (UKR) / M. Linette (POL)
COURT 2 start 9:00
ITF – [Q] E. Levashova (RUS) vs J. Cako (USA)
ITF – [8] M. Kato (JPN) vs R. Kingsley (USA)
ITF – M. Hibi (JPN) / C. Hsu (TPE) vs J. Cako (USA) / D. Lao (USA)
ITF – M. Gordon (USA) / C. Liu (USA) vs [3] N. Broady (GBR) / P. Kania (POL)
COURT 6 start 9:00
ITF – C. Hsu (TPE) vs [6] P. Kania (POL)
Not Before 10:00
ATP – D. Wu (CHN) vs M. Donati (ITA)
