Monday, August 6, 2018

Wild card Redlicki ousts sixth seed in $100K Aptos

   Wild card Martin Redlicki of Boca Raton, Fla, surprised sixth-seeded Mohamed Safwat of Egypt 7-6 (3), 6-4 today in the first round of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger at the Seascape Sports Club in Aptos.
   Redlicki, a 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) left-hander ranked No. 772, had seven aces and no double faults and won 65 percent of the points on his second serve (13 of 20).
   Safwat, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) right-hander ranked No. 173, finished with 10 aces and seven double faults and won only 29 percent of the points on his second delivery (11 of 38).
   Redlicki, 22, turned pro in June after a decorated four-year career at UCLA. He won two NCAA doubles titles (2016 and 2018), reached this year's NCAA singles semifinals as the top seed, and was named the 2018 Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year and Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Redlicki compiled a 3.61 grade-point average with a double major in political science and communications.
   Safwat, 27, played his first Grand Slam main-draw singles match in the French Open in May, falling to fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in the first round as a lucky loser.
   Redlicki, who grew up in the Chicago area, is scheduled to play 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) qualifier Marcos Giron, the 2014 NCAA singles champion from UCLA, on Wednesday. Giron, a 25-year-old Los Angeles-area resident, dismissed Tommy Paul, a 21-year-old U.S. prospect rebounding from an injury, 6-3, 6-0 in 58 minutes.
   Giron had surgery on his right hip on Christmas 2015 and on his left hip six weeks later. During his 14-month layoff, he returned to UCLA as a volunteer coach.
   Kaichi Uchida of Japan eliminated another U.S. hopeful, 20-year-old Stefan Kozlov, 6-4, 6-1. Kozlov, who reached the final of the 2014 Sacramento Challenger at 16, has dropped from No. 167 at the beginning of this year to No. 252.
   In the featured night match, wild card and second seed Michael Mmoh beat fellow American and 2016 Aptos quarterfinalist Evan King 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
   Mmoh, the 20-year-old son of Nigerian former pro Tony Mmoh, reached his second career ATP quarterfinal last week in Los Cabos. He also advanced to the quarters in Brisbane in January in his first tournament of the year.
   King, a 26-year-old left-hander, lost in the opening round for the fourth consecutive tournament and fell to 3-18 since March. He qualified for last year's U.S. Open, defeating Mmoh 6-3, 6-3 in the final round before losing to eventual semifinalist Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets.
   Eighth-seeded Prajnesh Gunneswaran, 28, of India held off wild card Brandon Holt, the 20-year-old son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. As a USC sophomore in the spring, Holt was named an All-American in singles for the second time and in doubles for the first time.
   Gunneswaran reached the second round in Stuttgart on grass on the ATP World Tour as a qualifier in June. He stunned 19-year-old Canadian sensation Denis Shapovalov, who was ranked 23rd at the time and is 26th now.
   Gunneswaran also advanced to the semifinals of the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger in the San Francisco Bay Area last September, losing to eventual champion Cameron Norrie.
   Ernesto Escobedo, a 22-year-old Los Angeles-area resident, beat Egor Gerasimov of Belarus 7-5, 7-6 (6). Escobedo has plunged from a career-high No. 67 in July 2017 to No. 188.
   Gerasimov, 25, reached the quarterfinals in Los Cabos last week, ousting fifth seed and defending champion Sam Querrey 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (6) in the second round before losing to top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro 6-1, 6-1.
  Here are the Aptos singles and doubles draws and Tuesday's schedule. Live streaming is available.

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