San Diego, Calif. – (May 30, 2016) – After receiving first-round byes at the USTA National Open Hard Court Championships, all 16 seeded players in the men’s singles draw will be in action in the second round on Tuesday at the historic Balboa Tennis Club.
Top-seed and defending men’s singles champion Emmanuel Mensah of San Diego will begin his title defense at 9 a.m. (PDT) against fellow San Diegan Luis Argote, who advanced with a hard-fought 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 first-round victory over Ryan Lee of La Canada Flintridge, Calif., on Monday morning following a 90-minute rain delay.
The 27-year-old Mensah, a local tennis teaching professional, played Davis Cup for Ghana from 2006 to 2013, representing his native country in 25 ties. In last year’s USTA National Open Hard Court singles final, Mensah defeated Jacob Brumm of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., 6-1, 7-5 to win the title.
Sixth-seeded Brian Battistone of Las Vegas will also play his opening match on Tuesday. He will face unseeded Christopher Dalton of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. In 2010, the 36-year-old Battistone achieved a career-high No. 88 in the ATP World Tour doubles rankings.
In other first-round action on Monday, Alan Pleat of Roslyn, N.Y., defeated San Diego’s Maxwell Weishan, 7-6, 6-1 to move into the second round, where he will meet second-seeded Nicholas Kamisar of Sammamish, Wash. The 24-year-old Kamisar played collegiate tennis for the University of Washington.
Women’s first-round matches are scheduled to begin on Wednesday. Jessica Failla of Ramona, Calif., the women’s top seed, received a first-round bye and will play her second-round match on Thursday at 9 a.m. (PDT). Failla captured the San Diego Section CIF singles title in 2013 and recently completed her freshman year at the University of Southern California. The 18-year-old posted a 23-13 record in singles and finished at 20-5 in doubles for the Trojans.
Matches will begin each day at 9 a.m. (PDT) from Tuesday, May 31 through Saturday, June 4. The men’s and women’s singles finals are slated for noon on Sunday, June 5. Admission for spectators is free and open to the public. On-site parking is free. All draws will have consolation events.
The winners of each division of the USTA National Open Hard Court Championships will be awarded a USTA gold ball, while the runner-up will be awarded a USTA silver ball. There will also be a 3rd/4th place playoff for the USTA bronze ball. Prize money will be distributed to both finalists as well as third and fourth place finishers in each division.
The men’s singles champion will receive a wild card into the qualifying draw for this year’s USTA Men’s $10K Pro Futures tournament in Laguna Niguel, Calif., while the women’s singles champion will earn a qualifying wild card for next year’s $25,000 Morgan Run Women’s Open at Morgan Run Club & Resort in Rancho Santa Fe.
The USTA National Open Hard Court Championships, which was voted, “2011 Tournament of the Year” by the San Diego District Tennis Association, has had several distinguished participants in past events.
Current American men’s tennis star Jack Sock, who is currently No. 25 in the ATP World Tour singles rankings (as of 5/23/16), won the tournament singles title in 2010. Coco Vandeweghe, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year, earned a USTA bronze ball at the 2007 Hard Court Championships. Former WTA touring professionals Gretchen Rush and Ros Nideffer won the Women’s Open Doubles title seven times and Alison Bradshaw won the singles title in 2007.
USTA National Open Hard Court Championships Balboa Tennis Club San Diego, Calif. Monday’s ResultsMen’s Singles First Round
Alan Pleat, Roslyn, N.Y., def. Maxwell Weishan, San Diego, 7-6, 6-1
Krishna Samperio, Chula Vista, def. Rico Gore, Washington, D.C., 6-7, 7-5, 6-4
Luis Argote, San Diego, def. Ryan Lee, La Canada Flintridge, Calif., 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
Manuel Ortiz, La Jolla, def. Juan Cobas, Charlotte, N.C., 6-0, 6-0
Dimitri Doan, Corona, Calif., def. Yousef Benhamida, San Diego, Walkover (ill)
Christopher Dalton, Rancho Palos Verde, Calif., def. Wesley Tahara, Ladera Ranch, Calif., Walkover (ill)
