LAS VEGAS, October 19, 2019
The top three seeds of the Las Vegas Tennis Open fell in the quarterfinals of the $54,160 ATP Challenger event. Ernesto Escobedo knocked out fellow US-American Steve Johnson, the tournament’s No. 1, on Friday afternoon.
Escobedo withstood 29 aces and broke his opponent’s serve two times to seal a 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(6) victory in two hours and 14 minutes. Up next for the 23-year-old from California will be No. 5 seed James Duckworth of Australia, the highest ranked player left in the singles draw.
Vasek Pospisil of Canada took out second seed Taro Daniel, winning 6-4, 6-1. The World No. 191 from Canada will take on in-form Australian Christopher O’Connell, who fought past No. 3 seed Marcos Giron from the United States 7-6(7), 3-6, 7-6(6) after two hours and 22 minutes.
Men’s
Singles – Quarterfinals
E. Escobedo (USA) d [1] [WC] S. Johnson (USA) 64 67(6) 76(6)
V. Pospisil (CAN) d [2] T. Daniel (JPN) 64 61
[10] C. O’Connell (AUS) d [3] M. Giron (USA) 76(7) 36 76(6)
[5] J. Duckworth (AUS) d [WC] S. Kozlov (USA) 62 63
Doubles – Semifinals
R. Gonzales (PHI) / R. Roelofse (RSA) d [3] E. King (USA) / H. Reese (USA) 62 36 10-4
N. Pasha (USA) / M. Schnur (USA) d J. Withrow (USA) / D. Young (USA) 76(5) 63
