COLLEGE TENNIS PLAYERS HAVE BIG DAY AT
USTA CLAREMONT CLUB PRO CLASSIC
CLAREMONT, Calif., (Sept. 11, 2018) – All seven first-round singles winners Tuesday at the Claremont Club Pro Classic are current or former college tennis players.
Two Oklahoma State players led the way as qualifier Artur Dubinski of Belarus, a Cowboys senior, and his OSU teammate transfer Matej Vocel each posted wins during the first day of main-draw play at the USTA Pro Circuit $15,000 tournament taking place at the Claremont Club for the 23rd straight year.
Dubinski won the closest match on the day and his fifth straight of the tournament as he toppled No. 6-seed Mousheg Hovhannisyan, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-5. The 26-year-old Hovhannisyan played four seasons at Pepperdine, finishing up in 2013. Born in Armenia, Hovhannisyan’s father, Stepan, was a star table tennis player in the Soviet Union.
Vocel, the No. 7 seeded player from the Czech Republic, had the easiest match of the day as he dropped just one game against American Jeremy Sonkin, 6-0, 6-1.
In a matchup of two of Southern California’s top Open pro players, No. 2-seeded Henry Craig of Murrieta defeated tournament wild-card Gage Brymer of Irvine, 6-3, 6-4. Craig is a former two-time Summit League Player of the Year (2014-15) at the University of Denver and Brymer played No. 1 at UCLA.
Dominik Kellovsky (currently at Arizona State), Sam Shropshire (formerly of Northwestern University), Paul Oosterbaan (formerly of the University of Georgia), and Sumit Sarkar (Rice University sophomore) each posted victories.
The 6-foot-7 Oosterbaan is 22 years old and the No. 4 seeded player from Kalamazoo, Mich. A member of four SEC championship teams for the Bulldogs, he reached the singles final at an ITF Futures tournament in Calgary in June.
Eight first-round doubles matches were also contested on Tuesday.
For more information, check on the web at:www.procircuit.usta.com, www.claremontclub.com; Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Claremont-Club/236147226396
Tuesday’s First-Round Singles Scores
Paul Oosterbaan (US) [4] def. Conor Berg (US), 6-4, 6-3
Sumit Sarkar (US) [8] def. Milen Ianakiev (GER), 6-3, 6-1
Matej Vocel (CZE) [7] def. Jeremy Sonkin (US), 6-0, 6-1
Dominik Kellovsky (CZE) [5] def. Tyler Mercier (US), 6-1, 6-4
Sam Shropshire (US) def. Joshua Ortlip (US) [wc], 2-6, 6-3, 4-0, retired
Artur Dubinski (BLR) [q] def. Mousheg Hovhannisyan (US) [6], 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-5
Henry Craig (US) [2] def. Gage Brymer (US) [wc], 6-3, 6-4
USTA Pro Circuit
With more than 90 tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from $15,000 to $125,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. The USTA launched its Pro Circuit 39 years ago to provide players with the opportunity to gain professional ranking points, and it has since grown to become the largest developmental tennis circuit in the world, offering more than $3 million in prize money. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries competed in cities nationwide. Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, John Isner, Sloane Stephens, Kei Nishikori, Victoria Azarenka, and Sam Querrey and are among today’s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. Follow the USTA Pro Circuit at #USTAProCircuit and www.procircuit.usta.com.
