The luck of the Irish
was not with Ireland’s James McGee a day after St. Patrick’s Day as the ATP
World Tour-ranked No. 222 and top-seeded player in the USTA Men’s Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas fell in the first
round of singles play on Tuesday.
Former Duke All-American
Henrique Cunha of Brazil battled back from a tough first set tiebreaker loss,
14-16, to eliminate McGee, 6-4, 6-3, at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center
in the USTA $15,000 Pro Circuit Futures event.
“I’ve practiced with
him before and knew he’d be tough and had an aggressive forehand,” said Cunha,
who graduated in 2013, of McGee. “I had a decent summer and then hurt my wrist
in the Fall, but am finally starting to play better now that I’m healthy.”
TV star and tennis
player and fan Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting watched the last match of the night as her
husband Ryan Sweeting and partner Gary Sacks lost to the top-seeded doubles
team of Sekou Bangoura and Evan King, 6-1, 6-3.
The 26-year-old wild-card
Sweeting drew No. 4-seeded Roberto Marcora of Italy in the first round of
singles on Wednesday and will play the last match on Stadium Court.
In a matchup of
Southern Californians, No. 3-seeded Jason Jung of Torrance beat current UCLA
senior and wild card Clay Thompson, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3.
“He was tough,” said
Jung, the former Michigan star, of the current No. 1-ranked player in the ITA
collegiate rankings who hails from Venice. “He played a great breaker to win
that second set.”
Sixteen-year-old
Stefan Kozlov of Florida won his first-round match by downing No. 8-seeded
Darian King of Barbados, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 1-0, ret. King called for a trainer for
an injured ankle before calling it quits after a game of the third set.
On Tuesday, it was
announced that last week’s USTA Bakersfield Futures winner and No. 5-seeded
Daniel Kosakowski (back sprain) was forced to withdraw from the tournament and
will be replaced in the draw by Australia’s Ryan Agar.
EVENTS: A USPTA Coaches
workshop with one or two of the Pro Circuit players and their coach will take
place on Tuesday, March 18 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Adult Pro-Am drill is
Friday, March 21, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Community Tennis Association &
USTA League appreciation night is Friday, March 21st starting at 6 p.m. A USTA
Junior Team Tennis Kid’s Day with a Tennis Carnival is Saturday, March 22 from
4 p.m. till 5:30 p.m., and a VIP sponsor dinner reception is Saturday, March 22,
from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The Kaley Cuoco & Friends Exhibition is Saturday
evening before the singles semifinals.
Tuesday’s Main-Draw Scores
Singles
Evan King, U.S., def.
Carl-Henrik Hansen, Sweden, (wc), 6-2, 6-4
Jason Jung, U.S. (3),
def. Clay Thompson, U.S. (wc), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3
Mate Pavic, Croatia
(6), def. Marek Michalicka, Czech Republic, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (1)
Stefan Kozlov, U.S.,
def. Darian King, Barbados (8), 6-3, 6-7 (6), 1-0, ret.
Henrique Cunha,
Brazil, def. James McGee, Ireland (1), 6-7 (14), 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
Collin
Altamirano/Taylor Fritz, U.S., def. Alan Nunez Aguilera, Mexico/Evan Song,
U.S., 7-6 (9), 7-6 (8)
Fabian Matthews/Kyle
McMorrow, U.S. (4), def. Jimmy Roberts, U.S./Andres Zepeda, Mexico, 6-3, 6-4
Dennis Novikov/Connor
Smith, U.S., def. Alexios Halebian/Daniel Nguyen, U.S., 7-6 (4), 6-2
Tyler Hochwalt,
U.S./Joshua Milton, Great Britain, def. Jason Jung/Chad Rhoden, U.S. (wc), 6-3,
6-3
Damon Gooch, South
Africa/Roberto Marcora, Italy, def. Adam Chadaj, Poland/Marek Michalicka, Czech
Republic (3), 0-6, 7-5, 10-4
Ryan Agar,
Australia/Erik Elliott, U.S. (2), def. Quinn Borchard, U.S./Carl-Henrik Hansen,
Sweden, 7-6 (2), 4-6, 10-2
Stefan
Kozlov/Mitchell Krueguer, U.S., def. Nicholas Ballou/Matt Seeberger, U.S., 6-1,
6-3
Sekou Bangoura/Evan
King, U.S. (1), def. Gary Sacks, South Africa/Ryan Sweeting, U.S. (wc), 6-1,
6-3
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