Photo by S. Paige Allen, Lewis and Clark Community College photographer
Mitchell Frank defeated No. 1 Liam Broady in main draw action Wednesday in the 17th Annual Lewis and Clark Community College Men’s Pro Tennis Classic, a USTA Men’s Pro Circuit Futures event.
GODFREY – The top-seeded singles player in the 17th Annual Lewis and Clark Community College Men’s Pro Tennis Classic fell to an unseeded player Wednesday at the Andy Simpson Tennis Complex.
For Mitchell Frank, Wednesday’s match against No. 1 Liam Broady was like a repeat of the Tulsa $10K Futures championship final this past weekend.
Frank won his first Futures tournament Sunday in Tulsa against Broady 6-2, 6-1, and Wednesday he bested Broady 6-4, 6-2.
“It feels great to win and move into the next round of this Futures tournament. To play against Broady again so soon made it a good challenge,” Mitchell said. “He is a good player, and I had to keep my focus on every point.”
Mitchell is a University of Virginia junior who recently was ranked No. 10 by the NCAA. He has a world ranking of No. 833 and will play American Martin Redlicki in the second round. Redlicki defeated Tim Kopinski 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 6-3.
Broady, of Stockport, England, has a No. 382 world ranking and reached the Junior Wimbledon Final in 2011. He and Luke Bambridge, also of the United Kingdom, won their doubles match Wednesday and will play in the semifinal round Thursday against Americans Cameron Silverman and Quinton Vega.
Also playing in the doubles semifinal Thursday are Americans Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin, who will face Americans Brett Clark and Ronnie Schneider.
One of the top junior tennis players in the nation, Redlicki, of Hawthorn Woods, Ill., recently signed a grant-in-aid scholarship to join UCLA beginning this fall. He has represented the United States in all four of the junior Grand Slams. His best result was at the 2013 US Open, where he reached the round of 16 in singles and won the doubles title with partner Kamil Majchrzak of Poland.
Kopinski is a University of Illinois player who just finished his junior year as an All-American. He made First-Team All-Big Ten, Big Ten Tennis Athlete of the Week, and was named a Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree.
No. 2 Marcelo Arevalo, of Spain, who has a world ranking of No. 473, made it through after defeating Toby Martin, of the United Kingdom, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(4).
Fares Ghasya, of Libya, who plays for The University of Illinois, defeated No. 5 Ernesto Escobedo 6-4, 6-7(7),7-6(6) and will play American Andre Dome.
No. 6 Sebastian Boltz, of France, defeated American Julian Allen Childers 6-1, 6-3 and will play American Ronnie Schneider.
Childers, another Fighting Illini, earned a wild card into the main draw of LCCC Futures tournament after winning the Bud Simpson Open in June.
Boltz will play American Ronnie Schneider, who won 6-4, 6-2 against Yuanfeng Li of China.
Schneider, a standout player at the University of North Carolina, made his way up through the qualifiers in the LCCC tournament for the second consecutive year.
“Playing in the qualifying rounds and making it through to the main second round is a great feeling,” Schneider said. “I just plan to continue to play my best every game and try to get through another round.”
No. 7 Jeff Dadamo posted a win 6-4, 6-1 over qualifier Winston Lin and will play American Jeremy Efferding, who defeated Arthur Surreaux, of France, 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(6).
Dadamo, a graduate of Texas A&M, earned a wild card into the 2013 US Open Qualifying Tournament by winning the US National Playoffs Men’s title (out of 649 men who competed.) He has won two USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles and one singles title in his career.
No. 8 Daniel Nguyen defeated Eduardo Nava 7-5, 6-3. A former standout USC player, Nguyen won two consecutive ITF Futures singles titles in Seoul in 2013 — bringing his total pro title count to three.
Nava was the top-seeded qualifier and drew a lucky loser spot to play in the main.
Other qualifiers who won Wednesday and will move on to round two are Americans Nick Chappell, Brett Clark and Elliott Orkin.
Americans Andre Dome and Jeremy Efferding also earned wins Wednesday.
Dome defeated Alex Blumenberg of Brazil 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 and Efferding defeated Arthur Surreaux of France 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(6).
Singles play continues Thursday and the doubles semifinal will start not before 2:30 p.m. at the Andy Simpson Tennis Complex.
For more information, call the tournament desk at (618) 468-6252 or visit www.lc.edu/usta. To view and download photos from the tournament, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/lewisandclarkcc.