Day 4: SportMaster Tennis Championships of Maui

January 26, 2017, 8:28 AM HST

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Day 4 of the 2017 SportMaster Tennis Championships of Maui concluded on Wednesday with four players through to the next round of the main draw. The closest match of the day went to world number 271, Austin Krajicek who took on Marco Chiudinelli (SUI).

Chiudinelli outranked Krajicek by 143 ranking points and was a former top 50 player in the world. Krajicek started the match strong and took the first set with ease. In the second set, Krajicek saw his first match point at 5-4 (40-30), only to have it taken away by a down the line passing shot by Chiudinelli. Krajicek would go on to lose that game and the set 5-7.

“It’s really easy to get discouraged when serving out the match and having a match point,” said Krajicek. “I was serving well throughout the match up until that point.”

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After saving a Chiudinelli match point, Krajicek took him to a tiebreak and sealed the match 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5). Krajicek is looking forward to a good start in 2017 and to get back to his career high singles ranking of 94.

“I’ve been taking it match by match,” started Krajicek. “Physically, I feel good so if I play the right tournaments I know I can play good tennis and get back to where I was before,” he concluded.

The tournament continues through Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017 in Lahaina with total prize winnings of $75,000, and the winner taking home $10,800.

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The event features 32 players including seeded entrants: Jared Donaldson (USA), Hyeon Chung (KOR), Yuichi Sugita (JPN), Taro Daniel (JPN), Marco Chiudinelli (SUI), Ernesto Escobido (USA), Henri Laaksonen (SUI), and Vasek Pospisil (CAN).

Mackenzie McDonald sailed through his match on Wednesday against qualifier Antoine Bellier 6-2, 6-4. The 2016 NCAA Singles and Doubles champions recently turned pro six months ago and is adjusting well to the tour lifestyle.

“I’m loving it,” exclaimed McDonald. “I’m traveling a lot, seeing a lot of new places, and meeting a lot of cool people.”

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McDonald has a tough next round draw against two-seed Hyeon Chang (KOR). Mitchell Krueger and Tennys Sandgren also move on to the next round.

Matches reconvene at 10 a.m. today.

RESULTS – JANUARY 25, 2017
Men’s
Singles – First Round
Tennys Sandgren (USA) d [3] Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 64 64
[4] Taro Daniel (JPN) d [Q] Roberto Quiroz (ECU) 63 64
Austin Krajicek (USA) d [5] Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 64 57 76(5)
Go Soeda (JPN) d [6] Ernesto Escobedo (USA) 61 61
[Q] Zhe Li (CHN) d [WC] Andre Ilagan (USA) 61 60
Cameron Norrie (GBR) d James McGee (IRL) 46 63 64
Mitchell Krueger (USA) d Jan Satral (CZE) 36 64 76(2)
[Q] Kento Takeuchi (JPN) d Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 76(5) 36 76(4)
[WC] Mackenzie McDonald (USA) d [Q] Antoine Bellier (SUI) 62 64

Men’s Doubles – First Round
[1] Denis Novikov (USA) / Julio Peralta (CHI) d [WC] Filip Dolezel (CZE) / Jakub Hadrava (CZE) 63 62
Ernesto Escobedo (USA) / Mackenzie McDonald (USA) d [3] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) / Christopher Rungkat (INA) 46 76(4) 10-6
[WC] Bradley Klahn (USA) / Tennys Sandgren (USA) d [4] Ruben Gonzales (PHI) / Toshihide Matsui (JPN) 63 76(4)
Luke Bambridge (GBR) / Joe Salisbury (GBR) d Michael Mmoh (USA) / Tommy Paul (USA) 64 60
Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) / Tatsuma Ito (JPN) d [WC] Hendrik Bode (GER) / Yann Renault (FRA) 63 64
[Q] John Paul Fruttero (USA) / Zihao Xia (CHN) d Yuichi Sugita (JPN) / Di Wu (CHN) 63 60