They’ve all rolled into Charlottesville for the Men’s Pro Tennis Challenger, and this is one stacked challenger, people. It’s basically an American 250 without Isner and Sock. Ryan Harrison, Tim Smyczek, Robby Ginepri, Denis Kudla, Stefan Kozlov, Rhyne Williams, Tennys Sandgren, Michael Russell, Rajeev Ram. You get the point.
But today was an off day for those guys. The Americans spent their Sunday watching NFL Football, while the British players took in a Premier League gem at the Boar’s Head resort.
Ed Corrie and Liam Broady got a brief lesson in NFL rules from Ryan Harrison during the morning game between the Lions and Falcons, which was, oddly enough, being played in London. But as soon as the Premier League match got underway between Chelsea and Manchester United, they quickly and predictably lost interest in our quirky football.
There was some good-natured ribbing going on, too. As Denis Kudla passed the UK contingent fixated on the pitch at Old Trafford, he yelled, “Don’t you guys know the NFL is on?”, and then Stefan Kozlov looked up at the televised match and added “Well, at least it’s a real match, since Chelsea is playing”.
Then, a club employee came around and told the guys about a $100 gig–playing in tonight’s pro-am with club members. “And we pay in cash”, he added.
His pitch was well-received.
The UK & USA both agreed on that.
—S. Fogleman
CHARLOTTESVILLE MEN’S PRO CHALLENGER – CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, USA
$ 50,000.00
27 OCTOBER – 2 NOVEMBER 2014
RESULTS – OCTOBER 26, 2014
Qualifying Singles – Second Round
Qualifying – L Lokoli (FRA) d J Shane (USA) 63 63
Qualifying – K King (USA) d [WC] J Cornish (GBR) 62 60
Qualifying – D Nguyen (USA) d N Kryvonos (USA) 64 63
Qualifying – M Willis (GBR) d B Lock (ZIM) 76(4) 64
Qualifying – M Giron (USA) d [WC] R Shane (USA) 64 64
Qualifying – E King (USA) d J Spir (COL) 61 61
Qualifying – S Bangoura (USA) d A Ritschard (SUI) 64 62
Qualifying – F Nielsen (DEN) d G Ouellette (USA) 62 61
Qualifying Doubles – First Round
Qualifying – [1] C Ball (AUS) / R Harrison (USA) d M Arevalo (ESA) / D King (BAR) 63 64
Qualifying – [WC] J Shane (USA) / R Shane (USA) d [2] S Bader (AUT) / E Elliott (USA) 46 75 10-5
ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2014
COURT 7 start 10:00
Final Round Qualifying – Qualifying – D Nguyen (USA) vs E King (USA)
Final Round Qualifying – Qualifying – K King (USA) vs M Giron (USA)
Not Before 13:00
E Corrie (GBR) vs D King (BAR)
T Daniel (JPN) vs [WC] M Styslinger (USA)
Not Before 17:00
[1] T Huey (PHI) / F Nielsen (DEN) vs [WC] S Kozlov (USA) / R Ram (USA)
R Ginepri (USA) vs A Kuznetsov (USA)
COURT 9 start 10:00
Final Round Qualifying – Qualifying – L Lokoli (FRA) vs S Bangoura (USA)
Final Round Qualifying – Qualifying – M Willis (GBR) vs F Nielsen (DEN)
Not Before 12:30
Qualifying – [1] C Ball (AUS) / R Harrison (USA) vs [WC] J Shane (USA) / R Shane (USA)
[WC] L Corinteli (USA) / D Kudla (USA) vs S Bangoura (USA) / E King (USA)
[WC] E Escobedo (USA) vs [6] J Duckworth (AUS)
W Odesnik (USA) / P Torebko (GER) vs F Dancevic (CAN) / M Reyes-Varela (MEX)
Tennis Atlantic 