Stanford University senior Tom Fawcett officially spent 5 hours and 2 minutes on court Friday as the USTA Men’s Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas wild card upset the No. 1 and No. 6 seeded players both in three sets to advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
Before dispatching top-seeded Mathias Bourgue of France, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, in just over two and half hours, Fawcett beat No. 5-seeded Nicolaas Scholtz of South Africa, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in two hours, 28 minutes at the USTA Pro Circuit $25,000 Pro Futures event taking place at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center.
Two rounds of singles and a round of doubles were played on a marathon day of tennis Friday as the schedule recovered from two lost days because of rain. The singles semifinals will be played along with two rounds of doubles on Saturday to get completely caught up.
Tom Fawcett won the US Open Collegiate Invitational last September.
“I’m not really used to playing six singles sets in one day,” Fawcett said. “I was feeling it a little bit near the end and feeling it in my legs and maybe started to cramp up.”
Fawcett continued: “We practice four hours a day so I’m used to being on the court a lot, although for a match the intensity is different.”
Fawcett was broken at 5-all and Bourgue took the second set, but Fawcett said his adrenaline kicked in. He got an early break in the third set and held his way to an upset of the world’s No. 239th-ranked player.
Fawcett will next face No. 4-seed Marcos Giron of nearby Thousand Oaks. The former UCLA Bruin and NCAA singles champion beat former teammate Karue Sell in straight sets, then came back to record a three-set win over No. 6 Corentin Denolly of France, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, in a night match. Giron won Calabasas in 2014 and is attempting to be the first two-time winner of the 17-year Pro Circuit event, one of the most popular among players and fans on the circuit.
Each of the qualifying Redlicki brothers’ singles runs ended on Friday as UCLA senior Martin Redlicki fell to former University of Virginia player Collin Altamirano, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4) in just under three hours.
Denolly beat Martin’s brother Michael Redlicki, the former University of Arkansas All American, 0-6, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4).
“At the end of the day it’s just sports – someone has to win and someone has to lose,” Martin Redlicki said. “Just look at March Madness and Loyola of Chicago, they’ve won on three buzzer beaters.”
On Saturday and Sunday, tickets to the matches are $10 for adults, $5 for kids under 14. The VIP sponsor dinner reception is Saturday, March 24 starting at 6 p.m. A USTA Net Generation Kid’s Day and Carnival is Saturday, March 24 from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon.
For more information on the tournament, including draws and live scores, go to:
http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/men’s-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100041712
Friday’s First-Round Singles Scores
wc: wild card; q: qualifier
J.C. Aragone, U.S. (7), def. Ulises Blanch, U.S., 6-1, 6-0
Friday’s Second-Round Singles Scores
Marcos Giron, U.S. (4) def. Karue Sell, Brazil, 6-4, 6-1
Deiton Baughman, U.S., def. Kaichi Uchida, Japan (3), 6-3, 6-3
Mathias Bourgue, France (1), def. Ruan Roelofse, South Africa, 6-3, 6-4
Tom Fawcett, U.S. (wc), def. Nicolaas Scholtz, South Africa (5), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
J.C. Aragone, U.S. (7), def. Ronnie Schneider, U.S., 6-1, 6-3
Laurent Lokoli, France, def. Alex Sarkissian, U.S. (2), 6-3, 6-1
Corentin Denolly, France (6), def. Michael Redlicki, U.S. (q), 0-6, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4)
Collin Altamirano, U.S., def. Martin Redlicki (q), 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4)
Friday’s Quarterfinal Singles Scores
Marcos Giron, U.S. (4), def. Corentin Denolly, France (6), 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
Tom Fawcett, U.S. (wc), def. Mathias Bourgue, France (1), 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
Collin Altamirano, U.S., def. Laurent Lokoli, France, 6-2, 6-1
J.C. Aragone, U.S. (7), def. Ronnie Schneider, U.S., 6-1, 6-3
First-Round Doubles Scores
Sekou Bangoura, U.S. / Ryan Goetz, U.S. (wc), def. Jacob Bullard, U.S. / Jake Sands, U.S. (wc), 6-2, 5-7, 10-5
Andre Goransson, Sweden / Florian Lakat, France, def. Deiton Baughman, U.S. / Hans Hach Verdugo, Mexico (3), 3-6, 7-5, 10-6
Ruan Roelofse, South Africa / Nicolaas Scholtz, South Africa (4), def. Mathias Bourgue, France / Corentin Denolly, France, 6-2, 6-3
Sebastian Fanselow, Germany / Miles Seemann, U.S., def. Edward Bourchier, Australia / Harry Bourchier, Australia, 6-1, 6-7 (7), 10-3
Boris Arias, Bolivia / Federico Zeballos, Bolivia (1), def. Laurent Lokoli, France, Leny Mitjana, France, 6-3, 6-4
Ricardo Rodriguez-Pace, Venezuela / Alejandro Tabilo, Chile, def. Alexios Halebian, U.S. / Alex Sarkissian, U.S., walkover
Martin Redlicki, U.S. / Karue Sell, Brazil, def. John Lamble, U.S. / Ronnie Schneider, U.S. (wc), 6-2, 6-4
Bernardo Saraiva, Portugal / Sam Verbeek, Netherlands (2), def. Collin Altamirano, U.S. / Tom Fawcett, U.S., walkover