CARY, September 15, 2017

In his best career win, Kevin King defeated top seed and fellow US-American Ernesto Escobedo in Thursday evening’s second round match at the $50,000 Atlantic Tire Championships at Cary Tennis Park.

King, a Georgia Tech alumni, played tough defense against the hard-hitting Escobedo. The 21-year-old from California capitalized on Escobedo’s second serve, winning 65 per cent of those points. King secured a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory after two hours and 23 minutes and will face Facundo Mena in the third round on Friday.

The 24-year-old Argentine knocked off the No. 8 seed Dennis Novikov 6-4, 6-3 in earlier Thursday action. The last time Mena and Novikov played was in the 2016 Qualifying rounds at Indian Wells, with Novikov taking the win. Mena’s strong serving today, winning over 77 per cent of his first serve points helped him to win the match in 68 minutes.

Cameron Norrie upset the second seed Tennys Sandgren, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. The 22-year-old Briton, who captured his maiden ATP Challenger title in Binghamton earlier this season, broke serve six times to prevail after one hour and 54 minutes. Norrie will next face the tournament’s No. 7 Mackenzie McDonald from the United States.

Thursday September 14 – RESULTS
Singles– Second Round

Noah Rubin (6), United States, def. Joao Pedro Sorgi, Brazil, 6-4, 6-2

Mackenzie McDonald (7), United States, def. Christian Harrison, United States, 6-3, 7-5

Cameron Norrie, Great Britian, def. Tennys Sandgren (2), United States, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2

Kevin King, United States def. Ernesto Escobedo (1), United States, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Marcelo Arevalo, El Salvador, def. Q-Julian Zlobinsky, United States, 6-2, 7-6(5)

Facundo Mena, Argentina, def. Dennis Novikov (8), United States, 6-4, 6-3

Mitchell Krueger (5), United States, def. WC-William Blumberg, United States, 6-2, 6-2

Christian Garin (9), Chile, def.  Luke Bambridge, Great Britain, 6-1, 6-4

Doubles-Quarterfinal

Facundo Mena, Argentina, and Joao Pedro Sorgi, Brazil, def. Luke Bambridge, Great Britain, and David O’Hare (2), Ireland, 7-5, 6-3

Austin Krajicek and Jackson Withrow (1), United States, def. Luis Patino (Mexico) and Raymond Sarmiento, United States, 6-2, 3-6, 12-10

Mikelis Libietis, Latvia, and Dennis Novikov, United States, def. Thai-Son Kwiatkowski and Mackenzie McDonald, United States, 6-1, 6-3