HOUSTON, November 14, 2019
Tennys Sandgren opened his title bid at the Oracle Challenger Houston on a chilly Wednesday with a second-round win over Edan Leshem from Israel. The top seed from the United States sent down seven aces and won 76 per cent of his first-service points to secure a 6-3, 7-5 victory in one hour and 29 minutes.
“It was warmer than yesterday, which was good, I was happy about that,” Sandgren said, as quoted on the Oracle Challenger Series website. “I served well for the majority except for when I got broken in the second. He played a good game and got back on serve – he actually hit his backhand return really well and neutralized a lot of my first serves if I didn’t hit it perfect.”
Sandgren, a winner of three ATP Challenger titles, recognizes that he is the favorite by ranking, but that anything can happen in a field this deep.
“Everybody’s good and everybody can play, and the level is really strong, even if I am the favorite by a small margin. I do get to play on Court 1, which is nice. I’m just enjoying the fact that I’m able to play and am healthy. Happy to be in Houston.”
The World No. 70, who clinched his maiden crown on the ATP Tour in Auckland at the beginning of this season, will next take on fellow US-American Michael Redlicki.
Superb tennis from Tennys 💯
No. 1 seed Sandgren upends Edan Leshem 6-3, 7-5 and will play Michael Redlicki for a spot in the QF. #RoadtoIndianWells pic.twitter.com/ZCfOc2m47u
— Oracle Challenger Series (@OracleChallngrs) November 13, 2019
Play begins at 11 am on Thursday, as all players will be in action vying for spots in Friday’s quarterfinals. Additionally, the Oracle Champions Cup – a men’s legends event featuring Andy Roddick, James Blake, Tommy Haas and Juan Carlos Ferrero – will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday at the Tudor Fieldhouse at Rice University. Tickets are still available and can be purchased here.
RESULTS – NOVEMBER 13, 2019
Women’s Singles – Second Round
Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) d [1] [WC] Danielle Collins (USA) 60 36 63
[2] Taylor Townsend (USA) d Anna Danilina (KAZ) 62 64
[4] Katarina Zavatska (UKR) d Jessica Ponchet (FRA) 36 63 64
[6] Catherine Mcnally (USA) d Mari Osaka (JPN) 62 60
[7] Stefanie Voegele (SUI) d Fanny Stollar (HUN) 64 36 63
Dalma Galfi (HUN) d [9] Whitney Osuigwe (USA) 75 26 62
[10] Mandy Minella (LUX) d [WC] Katarina Jokic (SRB) 16 63 64
[11] Usue Arconada (USA) d Hanna Chang (USA) 60 60
[WC] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) d [12] Allie Kiick (USA) 60 60
Irina Falconi (USA) d [LL] Quinn Gleason (USA) 57 75 62
Women’s Doubles – First Round
[1] Sharon Fichman (CAN) / Ena Shibahara (JPN) d Dalma Galfi (HUN) / Valentini Grammatikopoulou (GRE) 60 62
Hayley Carter (USA) / Jamie Loeb (USA) d [3] Giuliana Olmos (MEX) / Sabrina Santamaria (USA) 46 63 10-8
Men’s Singles – Second Round
[1] Tennys Sandgren (USA) d Edan Leshem (ISR) 63 75
[2] Bradley Klahn (USA) d Filip Cristian Jianu (ROU) 75 63
[4] Marcos Giron (USA) d [WC] Brandon Holt (USA) 76(4) 67(7) 62
[5] Jason Jung (TPE) d Daniel Nguyen (U SA) 63 62
[6] Christopher O’Connell (AUS) d Andrea Vavassori (ITA) 63 57 64
[9] Alexey Vatutin (RUS) d Diego Hidalgo (ECU) 16 75 63
[Q] Alexis Galarneau (CAN) d [10] Donald IYoung (USA) 36 63 60
[11] Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) d Collin Altamirano (USA) 64 60
[12] Pedja Krstin (SRB) d Nick Chappell (USA) 61 16 61
[13] Jenson Brooksby (USA) d Gonzalo Villanueva (ARG) 62 62
[14] Michael Mmoh (USA) d Raymond Sarmiento (USA) 46 64 64
Men’s Doubles – First Round
[2] Luke Bambridge (GBR) / Nathaniel Lammons (USA) d Jason Jung (TPE) / Mitchell Krueger (USA) 61 76(4)
[3] Ariel Behar (URU) / Gonzalo Escobar (ECU) d Robert Galloway (USA) / Roberto Maytin (VEN) 64 60
[4] Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) / Fernando Romboli (BRA) d Luis David Martinez (VEN) / Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves (BRA) 64 64
N. Sriram Balaji (IND) / Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) d Luca Margaroli (SUI) / Andrea Vavassori (ITA) 63 46 10-7
[PR] Treat Huey (PHI) / Sem Verbeek (NED) d Bradley Klahn (USA) / Jackson Withrow (USA) 64 36 10-7
[PR] Nathan Pasha (USA) / Max Schnur (USA) d Evan King (USA) / Hunter Reese (USA) 64 62
