LAHAINA, January 26, 2016
The Men’s Singles Main Draw of the $50,000 Sportmaster Tennis Championships of Maui started today with an exciting matchup of (3) James Duckworth (AUS) vs. Andrey Golubev (KAZ). Duckworth dominated the first set, but Golubev made it interesting in the second set taking it to a tiebreak. Duckworth prevailed, 6-3, 7-6(3).
Looking to the Americans in the Men’s Singles Main Draw, the match of the day went to wildcards, Noah Rubin (USA) and Thibaud Berland (FRA). Rubin, was fresh off his travels from the Australian Open where he had a career high win over world no.17 Benoit Paire (FRA) 7-6(4), 7-6(6), 7-6(5) in the first round.
Berland, who is Hawaii Pacific University’s top player, earned a wildcard from a local wildcard tournament from the USTA Hawaii Pacific Section. He is no stranger to upsets in Maui, with a win over Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-1, at the 2014 Maui Challenger. Rubin and Berland were back and forth the whole match, but Rubin regained rhythm in the third set and secured the win 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
“I was a little slow throughout the first set and didn’t want it to go to the second, but it did,” Rubin said. “Probably not how I wanted the first round to go, but I had to battle it out. Everyone is a good player here.”
The ATP recently recognized that this was a record as far as amount of American teens in the Maui Challenger main draw citing Jared Donaldson, Taylor Fritz, Noah Rubin, Frances Tiafoe, Stefan Kozlov, Michael Mmoh, and Ernesto Escobedo. Rubin mentioned the level of these up and coming American players.
“It’s great, now we have a lot of competition with each other,” exclaimed Rubin. “Now we can really push each other and I think it pushes the older Americans like Jack Sock and Steve Johnson and it pumps them up,” he concluded.
Rubin looks forward to the matches ahead and his future on the tour. He is confident in his play and that he is on the path to success while recognizing he still has room to grow. When asked about his win at the Australian Open and how that impacted his career, Rubin looked within.
“It still hasn’t really kicked in,” he started. “I don’t really even want it to kick in. I had a lot of fun and I loved Australia. It shows I can play with guys like that, but I still have a lot more prove. I am excited for the future,” he concluded.
RESULTS – MONDAY
Men’s Singles – First Round
[3] J. Duckworth (AUS) d A. Golubev (KAZ) 63 76(3)
[8] D. Novikov (USA) d H. Laaksonen (SUI) 76(6) 63
[WC] N. Rubin (USA) d [WC] T. Berland (FRA) 64 26 64
Men’s Doubles – First Round
[2] A. Bolt (AUS) / F. Moser (GER) d [WC] H. Bode (GER) / N. Petrov (BUL) 64 63
Z. Li (CHN) / D. Wu (CHN) d M. Donati (ITA) / A. Golubev (KAZ) 63 62
Mens Qualifying Singles – Third Round
Qualifying – [5] E. Quigley (USA) d [1] A. Bolt (AUS) 76(6) 64
Qualifying – [4] N. Meister (USA) d [6] G. Quinzi (ITA) 46 63 76(4)
Qualifying – [7] E. Escobedo (USA) d G. Austin (USA) 61 62
Qualifying – M. Mmoh (USA) d E. Johnson (USA) 62 46 62
ITF Q. Women’s Singles – Second Round
Qualifying – [1] M. Linette (POL) d R. Ueda (JPN) 63 61
Qualifying – [2] R. Ushijima (JPN) d [WC] K. Hancarova (CZE) 75 60
Qualifying – C. Mcdonald (USA) d [3] A. Riley (USA) 62 46 64
Qualifying – S. Leon (MEX) d [4] N. Chimura (JPN) 62 57 63
Qualifying – [5] J. Failla (USA) d N. Knickerbocker (USA) 61 61
Qualifying – A. Kratzer (USA) d [6] N. Hanatani (JPN) 62 62
Qualifying – [7] E. Levashova (RUS) d S. Hsieh (TPE) 60 61
Qualifying – [8] B. Boren (USA) d M. Liu (CHN) 62 62
ORDER OF PLAY – TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2016
CENTER start 9:00
ITF – Qualifying – [1] M. Linette (POL) vs [5] J. Failla (USA)
ATP – D. Molchanov (UKR) vs T. Fritz (USA)
ATP – [6] J. Donaldson (USA) vs [LL] A. Bolt (AUS)
ITF – J. Brady (USA) vs [2] S. Crawford (USA)
COURT 5 start 9:00
ATP – M. Donati (ITA) vs [2] R. Albot (MDA)
ATP – [WC] S. Kozlov (USA) vs [Q] N. Meister (USA)
ATP – J. McGee (IRL) vs [5] R. Harrison (USA)
ATP – [1] K. Edmund (GBR) vs A. Sarkissian (USA)
ATP – T. Fritz (USA) / S. Kozlov (USA) vs [4] T. Matsui (JPN) / D. O’Brien (RSA)
COURT 1 start 9:00
ITF – Qualifying – [2] R. Ushijima (JPN) vs [8] B. Boren (USA)
ITF – [3] N. Broady (GBR) vs L. Kichenok (UKR)
ITF – [5] J. Pegula (USA) vs J. Wacnik (USA)
ITF – [1] A. Muhammad (USA) / M. Sanchez (USA) vs [WC] K. Hancarova (CZE) / N. Hoynaski (AUS)
ITF – M. Gordon (USA) / C. Liu (USA) vs S. Luk (USA) / T. Parravi (USA)
COURT 2 start 9:00
ITF – Qualifying – C. Mcdonald (USA) vs [7] E. Levashova (RUS)
ITF – [WC] M. Gordon (USA) vs [6] P. Kania (POL)
ITF – [8] M. Kato (JPN) vs L. Zhang (HKG)
ATP – [Q] M. Mmoh (USA) vs [WC] J. Martinez Vich (ESP)
ATP – R. Gonzales (PHI) / D. Walsh (GBR) vs J. Jung (TPE) / D. Novikov (USA)
COURT 6 start 9:00
ATP – [Q] E. Quigley (USA) vs J. Jung (TPE)
ATP – [7] B. Rola (SLO) vs [Q] E. Escobedo (USA)
ATP – Z. Li (CHN) vs T. Sandgren (USA)
ATP – D. Wu (CHN) vs C. Smith (USA)
