Outstanding tennis was the highlight of the Tiburon Challenger’s opening, with two of the tournament’s qualifying wildcards starting the proceedings. Stevie Gould and Ryder Jackson gave it their all, but came up short against formidable opponents. Stevie lost to Alejandro Gomez (COL) and Ryder came second against Jan Choinski (GER). Both are local junior players from Marin County, and they gained valuable experience stepping into the arena with seasoned touring players.
Third seed in qualifying, USA’s Mitchell Krueger, won his first round match in an exciting battle against Frenchman Laurent Lokoli 7-6 (2) 6-1. Pablo Vivero Gonzalez of Spain upset No. 5 seed Kaichi Uchida of Japan 4-6 6-4 4-6 in a two-and-a-half-hour duel.
Among the other highlights of the day, “We’ve been fortunate to have Petr Korda, former world No.2 and Australian Open Champion on site as he coaches his son Sebastian. Meeting Petr has been one of my highlights of the event so far. What a great guy and role model, always showing gratitude and humility of which we all can take note … a great Champion!,” said tournament director Brendan Curry.
Men’s Qualifying Singles First Round
[1] L. Broady (GBR) d [WC] F. Lakat (FRA) 64 64
[2] C. Ilkel (TUR) d S. Korda (USA) 76(3) 62
[3] M. Krueger (USA) d L. Lokoli (FRA) 76(2) 61
[4] J. Choinski (GER) d [WC] R. Jackson (USA) 60 63
P. Vivero Gonzalez d [5] K. Uchida (JPN) 46 64 64
R. Olivo d [6] H. Heliovaara 62 36 76(2)
[7] R. Ortega-Olmedo (ESP) d S. Fanselow (GER) 61 62
[8] S. Diez (CAN) d N. Pasha (USA) 60 63
J. Hiltzik (USA) d D. Nguyen (USA) 64 67(3) 61
D. Kelly (AUS) d B. Ellis (AUS) 63 75
[W] J. Brooksby (USA) d J. Souza (BRA) 75 61
L. Saville (AUS) d P. Perez Sanz (ESP) 64 64
A. Sarkissian (USA) d F. Nielsen (DEN) 64 75
A. Gonzalez (COL) d A. Ritschard (USA) 61 64
A. Gomez (COL) d [WC] S. Gould (USA) 60 61
M Giron (USA) d M. Huesler (SUI) 62 76(1)
