Fairfield, October 9, 2024: Cooler temperatures and a nice breeze made conditions just right for fans but added some challenges for the players as the Round of 16 for singles and doubles got underway Wednesday at the Taube/Kennedy-Grossman Solano Challenger men’s professional tennis tournament.
After multiple days of 100-degree weather, Wednesday’s mid-80s temperatures at Solano Community College made for enjoyable viewing during the matches.
For top-ranked Learner Tien (148) (USA), the cooler temps and light wind made for some tricky conditions on the courts.
“The weather was pretty tough today, honestly,” Tien, 18, said after defeating Toby Kodat (377) (USA) 7-5,6-4, to earn a spot in the quarterfinals on Friday. “It was a little bit cooler today and some of the balls were a bit slower.” Nonetheless he was happy with his play and felt he did a “good job problem solving” through the match.
In other Round of 16 singles action, Patrick Kypson (184) (USA) defeated Edas Butvilas (261) (LITH) 6-3, 6-4 to move on to the quarterfinals.
Bernard Tomic (233) (AUS) defeated wildcard Max Basing, (663) (GBR) 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-1. Basing was playing for his fifth day in a row. Things didn’t improve when Basing and his double’s partner Harsh Parikh (USA) were defeated later in the afternoon by the doubles team of Dmitry Popko (KAZ) and Alexy Zakharov 6-2, 6-4.
Canadian Alexis Galarneau (249) earned a spot in the singles quarterfinals by defeating New Zealands’s Kiranpal Pannu (467) 6-4,6-1. But Pannu and his doubles partner Keegan Smith (USA) went on to defeat Calum Puttergill (AUS) and Luke Saville (AUS) 6-4,7-5 for a spot in the quarterfinals for the doubles tournament.
In other Round of 16 doubles matches:
Trey Hilderbrand (USA) and Alex Lawson (USA) defeated Gabriel Roveri Sidney (BRZ) and Tennyson Whiting (USA) 6-1, 6-1; Marcus Daniell (NZL) and Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX) defeated Robert Cash (USA) and JJ Tracy (USA) 6-3, 6-4; Zachary Fuchs (USA) and Wally Thayne (USA) defeated Patrick Harper (AUS) and Mac Kiger (USA) 6-3, 7-6(5); Gonzalo Oliveira (VNZ) and Kelsey Stevenson (CAN) defeated Kody Pearson (AUS) and Joshua Sheehy (USA) 7-6(5), 5-7, 12-10; Ryan Seggerman (USA) and Patrik Trhac (USA) defeated Toby Kodat (USA) Andres Martin (USA) 6-2, 6-2; and Gabi Boitan (ROM) and Bruno Kuzuhara (USA) defeated Christian Langmo (USA) and Bernard Tomic (AUS) 6-3, 6-3.
Order of play on Thursday will be:
TAD TAUBE COURT (start 10 a.m.)
Round of 16 singles Ethan Quinn (USA) vs Rudy Quan (USA) followed by (not before noon) Dmitry Popko (KAZ) vs Ryan Seggerman (USA), followed by Eliot Spizzirri (USA) vs Brandon Holt (USA) and then (following appropriate rest) doubles quarterfinal Ryan Seggerman (USA) / Patrik Trhac (USA) vs Dmitry Popko (KAZ) / Alexy Zakharov.
EVE ZIMMERMAN COURT (start 11 a.m.)
Round of 16 singles Alexy Zakharov vs Tristan Schoolkate (AUS) followed by doubles quarterfinals Gonzalo Oliveira (VEN) / Kelsey Stevenson (CAN) vs Marcus Daniell (NZL) / Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX), and then Tret Hilderbrand (USA) / Alex Lawson (USA) vs Zachary Fuchs (USA) / Wally Thayne (USA)
KENNEDY-GROSSMAN COURT (start 11 a.m.)
G. Boitan (ROU) / B. Kuzuhara (USA) vs K. Pannu (NZL) / K. Smith (USA)
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