With courts dry and ready for a plethora of tennis on Wednesday, the fast paced schedule proved somehow beneficial to four unseeded players who toppled their ranked opponents in the opening round of the $25k Legends Long Beach USTA Pro Circuit event at El Dorado Park Tennis Center. Number two seed Marcos Giron (Thousand Oaks) was the most prolific name to fall, in straight sets, 7-6(0), 6-3 to the firey Collin Altamirano (USA).

Dzmitry Zhyhrmont (#5), Evan Song (#7), and Ulisses Blanch (#8) all fell in straight sets. Local hopefuls Martin Redlicki, Deiton Bauighman, and Alexios Halebian also succumbed on the first day of main draw competition.

JC Aragone (Yorba Linda) went the distance in a third set tiebreak to advance, as did Evan Zhu (Irvine), USC’s Logan Smith, and Los Angeles Pro Circuit winner Karue Sell.

Top seed Austin Krajicek, a wild card entry, advanced in three sets over Danny Thomas (USA), and #3 seed Kaichi Uchida (JPN) also moved on to the second round.

Thursday Highlights

Nearly all of the top Pro Circuit players at Long Beach will be on court today, competing either in singles or doubles action. Among the highlights, Logan Smith meets #6 JC Aragone in what should be a spirited match with local flavor. Alex Rybakov (USA) meets UCLA star Evan Zhu in their second round showdown, and every tandem in the doubles bracket will see action on Thursday as the double draw begins en masse.

Play begins at 10:30am, with numerous players taking the court twice throughout the day in both singles and doubles competition.

www.socalprocircuit.com