AMERICANS ADVANCE IN FIRST ROUND QUALIFYING ACTION
AT ORACLE CHALLENGER SERIES IN NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. Japan’s Kei Nishikori to Play 1st Round Main Draw Match on Tuesday
Kei Nishikori
Newport Beach, Calif. – (January 20, 2018) – Nineteen-year-old Caroline Dolehide of Orlando, Fla., advanced to the second round of qualifying at the Oracle Challenger Series with a hard-fought 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ashley Kratzer of Newport Beach, Calif.
After splitting the first two sets on Stadium Court at the Newport Beach Tennis Club, Dolehide took a 5-2 lead in the third set and went on to close out the match in two hours as she broke Kratzer’s serve in the tenth game.
“She (Kratzer) played a really amazing first set and then I stepped up my level. She was playing really well and when someone is playing that well, you just have to stay in there doing the right things,” Dolehide said after her victory. “Coming from Australia, this is the perfect spot. It’s really good for Oracle to have this kind of a tournament.”
In other first-round qualifying action, Americans Dennis Novikov of San Jose, Calif., and JC Aragone of Yorba Linda, Calif., advance by winning third-set tiebreakers in their respective matches. Novikov defeated Japan’s Kaichi Uchida 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (1), while Aragone got past Dominik Koepfer of Germany 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5).
Among the Americans in the women’s qualifying draw who advanced to the second round were Amanda Anisimova of Aventura, Fla., who eliminated fellow American Hanna Chang 6-4, 6-4 and Danielle Lao of Arcadia, Calif., a 6-3, 7-5 winner over Sofya Zhuk of Russia.
Tournament officials announced that men’s top seed Kei Nishikori of Japan will play his first-round main draw singles match on Tuesday, January 23 against a qualifier. Tuesday’s Order of Play will be released on Monday afternoon.
The Oracle Challenger Series – Newport Beach is free to spectators. General Admission tickets will be distributed on a first come, first served basis at the Newport Beach Tennis Club starting at 9 a.m. each day. Tickets will not be available in advance. Individual spectators will be permitted up to two tickets at the time of entry.
Ticket availability updates during the tournament, are available on Twitter at @OracleChallngrs and Facebook at www.facebook.com/OracleChallngrs/
For Sunday’s men’s Order of Play, click here.
For Sunday’s women’s Order of Play, click here
For the men’s singles qualifying draw, click here.
For the women’s’ singles qualifying draw, click here.
For the men’s and women’s main singles draws and live scoring, go to: http://oraclechallengerseries.com/
About the Oracle Challenger Series – The Oracle Challenger Series was created to offer American tennis players more opportunities and builds on Oracle’s commitment to help support U.S. tennis for men and women at both the collegiate and professional level. The Series will feature equal prize money in a groundbreaking tournament format that combines the ATP Challenger Tour and WTA 125K Series.
Beyond expanding the number of chances to compete, the Series offers an unmatched potential prize of wild cards for top American finishers into the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open, which is widely considered the top combined ATP World Tour and WTA professional tennis tournament in the world.
About the Newport Beach Tennis Club – Established in 1966, the Newport Beach Tennis Club is one of the most prestigious tennis clubs in the country. With 19 fully lit tennis courts, full service restaurant, bar and catering, junior olympic pool, fitness center and gorgeous grounds, the Newport Beach Tennis Club has it all. Expanding over seven acres, the Newport Beach Tennis Club boasts a beautiful layout for the Oracle Challenger Series, featuring a sunken center court, six other match courts, and four practice courts.
Oracle Challenger Series Newport Beach Tennis Club Newport Beach, Calif. Sunday’s ResultsMen Qualifying Singles First Round
[1] B. Schnur (CAN) d [WC] P. Kypson (USA) 64 76(3)
[3] D. Novikov (USA) d K. Uchida (JPN) 61 36 76(1)
A. Gonzalez (COL) d [4] A. Collarini (ARG) 63 64
C. Garin (CHI) d [5] A. Sarkissian (USA) 76(7) 64
[WC] L. Bambridge (GBR) d [6] A. Krajicek (USA) 67(6) 75 75
[7] D. Galan (COL) d [WC] A. Halebian (USA) 63 62
[8] M. Giron (USA) d [WC] H. Craig (USA) 62 64
G. Olaso (ESP) d A. Pavic (CRO) 63 63
J. Aragone (USA) d D. Koepfer (GER) 26 61 76(5)
C. Eubanks (USA) d [WC] M. Redlicki (USA) 63 67(5) 63
R. Statham (NZL) d M. Gonzalez (ARG) 61 76(2)
R. Sarmiento (USA) d U. Blanch (USA) 36 61 64
R. Shane (USA) d J. Satral (CZE) 46 62 64
J. Hiltzik (USA) d I. Cervantes (ESP) 76(5) 63
S. Fanselow (GER) d D. Nevolo (USA) 63 61
Women Singles Qualifying First Round
[1] C. Dolehide (USA) d A. Kratzer (USA) 26 63 64
[2] M. Bouzkova (CZE) d T. Kinard (USA) 60 60
[3] S. Zhuk (RUS) d V. Rodriguez (MEX) 61 62
[4] A. Anisimova (USA) d H. Chang (USA) 64 64
[5] D. Seguel (CHI) d A. Guarachi (CHI) 63 64
G. Olmos (MEX) d [6] L. Chirico (USA) 62 26 75
[WC] S. Santamaria (USA) d [7] F. Stollar (HUN) 61 64
[8] D. Lao (USA) d K. Muchova (CZE) 63 75
[9] E. Kostova (BUL) d E. Bektas (USA) 62 57 61
[10] A. Hesse (FRA) d [WC] C. Branstine (CAN) 63 76(4)
[11] M. Hibi (JPN) d J. Jaksic (SRB) 61 61
C. Ferrando (ITA) d [12] U. Arconada (USA) 61 64
