HOUSTON, November 18, 2018
Oracle Challenger Series Championship Sunday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center at Rice University in Houston will get underway at 11:30 am local time, with wild card Peng Shuai of China taking on US-American qualifier Lauren Davis in the $125,000 WTA final.
Peng knocked out No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula from the United States 6-4, 6-3. Davis rallied past the tournament’s No. 7 Sofya Zhuk of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 in one hour and 42 minutes. Peng and Davis have met twice before, each winning once.
In the $150,000 ATP Challenger event, US-American Bradley Klahn looks for his second Challenger title of the year, and wild card Roy Smith will stand in his way. Smith advanced to the finals when Kamil Majchrzak from Poland was forced to retire mid-match due to right leg injury.
Klahn defeated Dominik Köpfer from Germany 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 13 minutes. Klahn and Smith will meet for the first time.
In doubles action, two all-US-American teams emerged victorious, with Maegan Manasse and Jessica Pegula triumphing over Desirae Krawczyk and Guiliana Olmos; and Texans Austin Krajicek and Nicholas Monroe outlasting Marcelo Arevalo and Jamie Cerretani.
Women’s Singles – Semifinals
[WC] S. Peng (CHN) d [4] J. Pegula (USA) 64 63
[Q] L. Davis (USA) d [7] S. Zhuk (RUS) 36 63 60
Women’s Doubles – Final
M. Manasse (USA) / J. Pegula (USA) d [3] D. Krawczyk (USA) / G. Olmos (MEX) 16 64 10-8
Men’s Singles – Semifinals
[2] B. Klahn (USA) d [8] D. Koepfer (GER) 63 64
[WC] R. Smith (USA) d K. Majchrzak (POL) 64 23 Retired
Men’s Doubles – Final
[1] A. Krajicek (USA) / N. Monroe (USA) d [3] M. Arevalo (ESA) / J. Cerretani (USA) 46 76(3) 10-5
