The quest for the coveted main-draw slots Down Under (one men's, one women's) began with second seed and defending champion of this event, Rhyne Williams, taking on Chase Buchanan. Even though Williams is ranked inside the Top 150 and Buchanan sits right outside No. 300, both men knew what to expect from each other. The two first played when they were 10 or 11, according to Buchanan’s memory.
Up a set and serving at 6-5, Williams couldn’t close out the match, allowing Buchanan to steal the second set in a tiebreaker. Williams was not pleased with his play throughout the tiebreak, throwing his racquet all over the court, which culminated in him smashing it altogether. Buchanan took a firm grip on the match after winning the tiebreaker, with the final score, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Three sets were not hard to come by in a couple of the early women’s matches. Third-seeded Georgia native Grace Min enjoyed the comforts of being back home, living only about a five-minute drive from the Life Time Athletic facility, but struggled to get going. She hadn’t played in a tournament setting since October.
“I thought I was playing well in the first set—I was just missing a little bit,” Min said. “I think I tightened some things up and finished more at the net, which helped a lot.”
Min advanced in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, to reach the quarterfinals, where she will face Sachia Vickery, who took down second-seeded Madison Brengle, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The latter match was a roller coaster, perhaps to be expected, seeing as the pair split the two matches they played against each other this year. Vickery struggled with her emotions throughout the match. Like several of the other competitors, she was somewhat confused by the line judges.
“I normally never get called for foot faults,” Vickery said. “But I guess I did today so I moved my foot back a little and just tried to get over it and move on.”
On the other half of the women’s draw, club favorite Victoria Duval started off shaky. The 18-year-old used to train at the host club, which was called Racquet Club of the South when she was around two-and-a-half years ago.
After starting the match down 2-5, the fourth seed nailed away five straight games to take the first set 7-5. But Maria Sanchez, a three-time All-American at the University of Southern California, didn’t let her younger opponent get away with the match that easy. Duval scrambled from sideline to sideline, getting lots of balls back in play. She eventually took the match in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5.
Duval will face top-seeded Shelby Rodgers, who made quick work of her opening match, 6-4, 6-2. Rodgers hasn’t played a tournament match since October, which gave her plenty of time to prepare.
“It was the longest offseason I’ve ever had—spent a lot of time in Boca [Raton, FL] with the trainers and on court,” Rodgers said. “I feel really good about everything and I’m healthy, so I have no complaints.”
The top seed on the men’s side of the draw is Kudla. He has made a steady ascension up the ATP rankings, where he got a taste of being ranked inside the Top 100 this past fall, but currently sits at No. 114. Like many of the other competitors, Kudla and his opponent, Jarmere Jenkins, have been friends for years. Kudla got by Jenkins quicker than expected, 6-4, 6-1.
“I knew his favorite shot was his inside out forehand, he hits it really well, so I was looking for that,” Kudla said. “And I tried to hit down the lines to move him side to side so he wasn’t able to set up. I think I did that really well—didn’t leave too many balls hanging in the middle of the court.”
Kudla will have his hands full with fourth seed Tennys Sandgren, who axed Austin Krajicek, 6-3, 6-0, in what Sandgren said was, “one of my better days.” Sandgren is turning in the best results of his life of late, reaching the semifinals of the Knoxville Challenger and winning the Champaign Challenger to close out his 2013 season in November. He currently sits at a career-high ranking of No. 183 in the world.
Rounding out the results was third seed Steve Johnson, who overcame 2011 boys’ singles French Open champion, Bjorn Fratangelo, 6-3, 7-6 (2). Johnson, one of the most decorated NCAA tennis players of all time at the University of Southern California, will next face Buchanan, who also had a very accomplished NCAA career at Ohio State.
Yet again, it will be a face-off of familiar acquaintances. Johnson and his Trojans stopped Buchanan and his Buckeyes twice in the NCAA Tournament; in their freshman seasons, USC took down OSU in the national final. In 2011, Johnson stopped Buchanan in the first round of the NCAA doubles tournament.
“Did Stevie win?” Buchanan asked after his match. Indeed, the old college rivals will tangle again.
“Yeah, he’s beaten me a bunch,” Buchanan said. “He hurt our NCAA tournament runs a couple times—he didn’t do a lot of losing at USC.”
Buchanan will try to write a new chapter tomorrow against the four-time NCAA Champion.
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