Monday, September 25, 2017

Mmoh mauls Rubin in matchup of U.S. prospects

Michael Mmoh, shown in last year's Tiburon final, coasted to a 6-1, 6-2 victory
over Noah Rubin today. Photo by Getty Images
   Michael Mmoh had little trouble with Noah Rubin this time.
   In a matchup of top U.S. prospects, the fourth-seeded Mmoh routed Noah Rubin 6-1, 6-2 in 1 hour, 6 minutes today in the first round of the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger.
   Mmoh, last year's runner-up to Darian King of Barbados, won all 20 points on his first serve against Rubin, 21, at the Tiburon Peninsula Club in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   Rubin, the 2014 Wimbledon boys champion, defeated Mmoh 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals of last year's $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger in their only previous meeting. Mmoh aggravated an abdominal strain at 2-2 in the first set. Rubin, only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) and 150 pounds (68 kilograms), went on to lose to U.S. phenom Frances Tiafoe in the final.
   Mmoh, the 19-year-old son of former journeyman pro Tony Mmoh, will play Tobias Kamke, the 2010 Tiburon champion, on Wednesday in the second round. Kamke, a 31-year-old German, dismissed Christian Garin of Chile 6-3, 6-1 in one hour.
   Meanwhile, Mitchell Krueger of Orlando, Fla., defeated Sam Groth of Australia 6-4, 7-5. Groth, unofficially the world's fastest server, had eight aces and five double faults.
   In the final round of qualifying, Sekou Bangoura of Bradenton, Fla., defeated 2015 champion Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
   However, Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-check) advanced to the main draw as a lucky loser when Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area withdrew with an ankle injury.
   Novikov reached the singles quarterfinals and doubles final (with Quentin Halys of France) last year.
   Smyczek will play fellow American and friend Denis Kudla on Tuesday in a rematch of the 2015 final, a thriller won by Smyczek.
   Here are the singles qualifying draw, singles and doubles main draws, and Tuesday's schedule. Live streaming of the tournament is available.

No comments:

Post a Comment