South Africa’s Lloyd Harris may have entered the $100,000 NorthBay Healthcare Men’s Pro Championship as the No. 2 seed, but his debut match on Tuesday was no pushover.
The 21-year-old native of Cape Town faced 29-year-old American veteran Donald Young Jr. in the opening round of the 32-man singles draw on the tennis courts at Solano Community College in Fairfield. Young entered having won over $4.5 million in prize money during his career and has played well at several majors, including two trips (2011 and 2015) deep into the fourth round of the U.S. Open.
Harris, winner of last weekend’s Stockton Pro Open, grinded out a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 victory that included a 14-12 tiebreaker in the first set. Harris also rallied from 5-2 down in the third set for the victory. As he walked away from the court, he felt wiped out but excited.
“A former top-40 player in the first round, it’s not easy,” Harris said. “Everyone saw the ability that guy has. He makes it look easy at times. That tiebreaker was draining. I thought I lost it after that. To come back and win it was awesome.”
Harris displayed a big serve with 17 aces, but he also had 12 double faults. The match lasted two hours, 33 minutes.
Tuesday’s competition in the ATP Challenger Series and USTA Pro Circuit event was laden with hard-fought singles matches. The courts were busy all day before the sun went down and gave way to the lights and the night session.
Maxime Janvier of France defeated American Alex Rybakov 7-6(8), 6-3. The 21-year-old Janvier has one Challenger title to his credit (2016, Morocco). JC Aragone of the U.S. held of Australia’s Marc Polmans 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-3. Aragone, a former University of Virginia player, made his Grand Slam debut at the U.S. Open in 2017.
Eighth-seed Alex Bolt outlasted Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in a battle of fellow Australians. Bolt came in ranked 155th in the world. Kokkinakis was at 196 but was best known for a win early this year at the ATP Miami Open against top-ranked Roger Federer.
Tommy Paul of the U.S. cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Darian King of Barbados. Paul is 21 and had a big junior career, one of the few Americans to win the French Open Boys Title in 2015. He also reached the finals at the U.S. Open the same year.
Sebastian Fanselow of Germany beat Cem Ilkel of Tunisia 6-2, 5-7, 6-0. Fanselow is 24 years old and ranked 423 in the world. Fifth-seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras of Spain held off Mitchell Krueger of the U.S. 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1. Menendez-Maceiras has won four Challengers and is ranked 132nd.
Bjorn Fratangelo of the U.S. rallied to beat John-Patrick Smith of Australia 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Fratangelo, ranked 158th, is like Paul as a French Open Boys champion (2011). Sixth-seed Casper Ruud, a 19-year-old from Oslo, Norway, defeated American Kevin King in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
In late afternoon matches, top-seed Jordan Thompson of Australia faced Jay Clarke of Great Britain. Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland met Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands. Americans Evan King and Jeffrey Wong squared off. Alex Geller of Argentina faced third-seek Noah Rubin of the United States.
In the late match, veteran service specialist Ivo Karlovic of Croatia faced Dominik Koepfer of Germany in the featured night match at Chris Cammisa Court. It was preceded by the only doubles match of the entire day. Americans Alex Lawson and Hunter Reese faced Toshihide Matsui of Japan and Frederik Nielsen of Denmark.
Tournament action resumes today with competition through Sunday. Evening session tickets, Wednesday through Friday, are just $5. There is no cost for day sessions. Cost for Saturday and Sunday is $15. USTA League Members can watch matches throughout Wednesday for free with proper identification.
The tournament benefits the Chris Cammisa Tennis and Education Foundation, which not only supports the men’s and women’s tennis programs at Solano College but also helps reach underserved youth throughout Solano County.
Information on the tournament is available at the website Fairfieldprotennis.com and on Facebook. Search for Chris Cammisa Tennis and Education Foundation on Facebook.
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