(March 25, 2016) CALABASAS, Calif., — Six of the eight top-seeded players won singles matches on Thursday at the USTA Men’s Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas with five of those being won in straight sets.
Americans were part of two of those wins as No. 3-seeded Mitchell Krueger and No. 7 Eric Quigley advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures event taking place at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Club.
Ernesto Escobedo of nearby West Covina, Calif., was one of the two unseeded players to move on as he downed No. 8 Australian Matt Reid, Australia, 6-3, 7-5, while Marcelo Zormann of Brazil was the only qualifier to advance, taking care of No. 4-seed Sekou Bangoura of Florida, 6-2, 6-2.
The No. 5-seeded Liam Broady of Great Britain was the only player to win after being extended to three sets as he came back to beat Gonzalo Escobar of Ecuador, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Broady’s quarterfinal opponent will be Krueger of Dallas, Texas, who in 2012 was the No. 1-ranked U.S. boy in the junior world rankings.
Fourteen months ago Krueger captured his first USTA Pro Futures Tournament ($15,000) at USC. “Since I won here in L.A., I’ve made five or six quarterfinals at the Challenger level ($50,000),” Krueger said. “I haven’t played many of the Futures events.”
Top-seeded Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland beat former Pepperdine All-American Sebastian Fanselow of Germany, 7-6 (3), 6-1. He next plays the 19-year-old Escobedo in the first match on Friday at 11 a.m.
Laaksonen is a former Swiss Davis Cup team member. “Of course it’s nice to be the top-seeded player and not have to face the top guys right off the bat,” said Laaksonen, who has played the Tiburon Challenger and some other Northern California events, but had yet to visit Southern California before this week. “I’ve never played Ernesto, but I’ve seen him at a lot of tournaments and he’s got a big forehand. He’s got a nice overall game.”
Thursday’s Singles Second-Round
wc: wild card; q: qualifier
Eric Quigley, U.S. (7), def. Orlando Luz, Brazil, def. 6-2, 6-2
Ernesto Escobedo, U.S., def. Matt Reid, Australia (8), 6-3, 7-5
Matthew Barton, Australia (2), def. Alejandro Gomez, Colombia (q), 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Liam Broady, Great Britain (5), def. Gonzalo Escobar, Ecuador, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3
Henri Laaksonen, Switzerland (1), def. Sebastian Fanselow, Germany, 7-6 (3), 6-1
Marek Michalicka, Czech Republic (6), def. Joao Pedro Sorgi, Brazil (q), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
Marcelo Zormann, Brazil (q), def. Sekou Bangoura, U.S. (4), 6-2, 6-2
Mitchell Krueger, U.S. (3), def. Dennis Nevolo, U.S., 6-4, 6-4
Thursday’s Doubles Quarterfinals
Alexios Halebian, U.S. / Evan Song, U.S. (wc), def. Matthew Barton, Australia / Matt Reid, Australia, 7-5, 6-4
Nick Meister, U.S. / Eric Quigley, U.S. (1), def. Alejandro Gomez, Colombia / Joao Pedro Sorgi, Brazil, 7-5, 6-2
Deiton Baughman, U.S. / Stefan Kozlov, U.S., def. Orlando Luz, Brazil / Marcleo Zormann, Brazil, 6-7 (1), 6-1, 10-7
Henri Laaksonen, Switzerland / Mark Michalicka, Czech Republic, def. Francis Casey Alcantara, Philippines / Adrien Puget, France, 6-4, 6-4
Written by Steve Pratt