After receiving first-round byes, the top-seeds in the men’s singles draw will be in action on Tuesday at the USTA National Open Hard Court Championships. The national tournament at the Balboa Tennis Club features some of the top Open-Division players in the country.

Top-seeded Henry Craig of Murrieta, Calif., will make his first appearance as he will play his second-round match against unseeded Gabriele Boccaccini of La Jolla, Calif., at 11 a.m.   The 23-year-old Craig has played primarily on the USTA Pro Circuit since turning professional in 2016 and is currently ranked No. 632 in the ATP World Tour singles rankings (as of 5/28/18).

Second-seeded Emanuel Mensah of Chula Vista, Calif., will play unseeded Tristen Shaw of San Diego in second-round action at 10:30 a.m. The 29-year-old Mensah, who represented his native country of Ghana in Davis Cup play, won the USTA National Open Hard Court Championships in 2015 and 2016.

In Monday’s men’s first-round singles action, 17th seeded Brian Battistone, a former ATP World Tour professional who was ranked as high as No. 88 in the world in doubles, advanced to the second round after dispatching Colin Palmer of La Jolla, Calif., 6-2, 6-1.  He will face unseeded Elijah Strode of El Cajon, Calif., in a second-round match on Tuesday at 1 p.m.

The 38-year-old Battistone, a Florida-based teaching professional came to Southern California with two of his players and decided to enter the men’s singles draw. “I’ve been coaching full-time for about five years. I focus on the coaching, but once in a while I get to play. I try to play occasionally,” he said. “I haven’t played in San Diego in a couple of years, so I’m looking forward to it. I would like to go as far as I can. I love the Open format, it’s fantastic. You see all types of different players.”

First-round action in the women’s singles draw will get underway at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. All of the women’s singles seeds, including top-seeded Jessica Failla of Ramona, Calif., received first-round byes and will play their opening matches on Wednesday.

Failla played collegiate tennis for USC for two seasons before transferring last year to Pepperdine University, where she was a red-shirt this past season. Failla won the tournament singles title at the Balboa Tennis Club in 2016 and was a singles finalist last year.

Second-seeded Nicole Mossmer of La Jolla, Calif., a former USTA Girls’ 16s National singles champion, withdrew from the women’s singles draw due to an injury. Nazari Urbina, a former Mexican Fed Cup player from Tijuana, B.C., will replace Mossmer in the draw.

In addition to singles divisions, players will also compete in Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles divisions.  The champions in each division will be awarded a USTA gold ball, while the runner-up will receive a USTA silver ball. There will also be a 3rd/4th place playoff for the USTA bronze ball.  Prize money will be distributed to both finalists as well as third and fourth place finishers in each division.  All draws will have consolation events.

Scores and results for each day of the tournament can be viewed at the following link:

https://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=206573#&&s=8Results0

The starting times for the USTA National Open Hard Court Championships are as follows:

Tuesday, May 29 through Saturday, June 2 — 9 a.m.

Sunday, June 3 — 11 a.m. (Women’s Singles Final), Noon (Men’s Singles Final).

All times are PDT.

Admission and on-site parking at the Balboa Tennis Club is free and open to the public.

The USTA National Open Hard Court Championships was voted “Tournament of the Year” in 2011 by the San Diego District Tennis Association. The event has had several distinguished past champions and participants. U.S. Davis Cup star Jack Sock, who reached a career-high No. 8 in the ATP World Tour singles rankings last year, won the Men’s Singles Championship in 2010.

The 2018 USTA National Open Hard Court Championships are sponsored by United States Tennis Association, San Diego District Tennis Association, CH Court Tech, San Diego Aviators, Kashi, Martinis Above Fourth | Table + Stage, Wilson and Graphic Interfaces.

Monday’s Results
Men’s Singles First Round
Noah Dufort (17), Las Vegas, def. Roberto Ancira, San Diego, 6-1, 6-0
Jesse Ross (17), Ojai, Calif., def. David Evans, Encinitas, 6-2, 6-1
James Lievers, Escondido, def. Jesse Steinberg, Del Mar, 6-1, 6-1
Daniel Dulay, Chula Vista, def. Sam Hum, La Jolla, 6-3, 7-6
Jamie Vance, Henderson, Nev., def. Adham Pirbazari, Los Angeles, 6-1, 6-0
Xavier Smith (17), Chula Vista, def. Ryan Ghassemi, San Diego, 6-3, 6-4
Carlos Robles, Chula Vista, def. Christian Hausman, Los Angeles, 6-3, 7-5
Shawn Tran, San Diego, def. David Beach, Flower Mound, Texas, 6-1, 6-0
Brian Battistone (17), Las Vegas, Nev., def. Colin Palmer, La Jolla, 6-2, 6-1
Miguel Cuevas, San Diego, def. Rand Hogen, La Jolla, 6-0, Ret. (injury)
Alex Bose, Winter Haven, Fla., def. Matthew Mead, Corona Del Mar, Calif., 6-1, 6-3
Daniel Thornton, Naples, Fla., def. John Moore, Kenmore, Wash., 6-1, 6-1
Ryan Lee, La Canada Flintridge, Calif., def. Christopher Evola, Portland, Ore., 3-0, Ret. (injury)
Tristen Shaw, San Diego, def. Rico Gore, Washington, D.C., 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
Gabriele Boccaccini, La Jolla, def. Joon-ha Bae, Carlsbad, default
Andy Sun, Glendale, Ariz., def. Vincenzo Barba, Costa Mesa, Calif., 6-1, 6-0
Alexander Rushin (17), Rancho Santa Fe, def. Maddox Bose, Winter Haven, Fla., 6-0, 6-0
Danny Graves, Sioux City, Iowa, def. Job Zarate, San Diego, 6-3, 6-0
Andrew Ely, Boca Raton, Fla., def. Will Morrison, San Diego, 6-0, 6-0
David Hough, San Diego, def. Solomon Cadogan, Lauderhill, Fla., 6-4, 6-2
Sean Robles, Yorba Linda, Calif., def. Matthew Coelho, El Centro, 6-0, 6-0
Marco Alvarez, Chula Vista, def. Ryan Adam Stanbury, Los Angeles, 6-2, 6-3
Cliff Comfort, San Diego, def. Brian Espinoza, Chula Vista, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
William Ellis, El Paso, Texas, def. Mike Palacio, El Centro, Calif., 7-5, 6-3
Ivan Smith, Chula Vista, def. Rafael Maniego, San Diego, 6-0, 6-0
Graham Maassen (17), Santa Barbara, Calif., def. Sebastian Gomez Romero, Palm Desert, Calif., 6-0, 6-3
Vidal Castillo, Chula Vista, def. Trent Aaron, San Diego, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2
Jayson Blando, San Diego, def. Alan Pleat, Roslyn, N.Y., 6-3, 7-5
Dan Lempa, Palm Desert, Calif., def. Peter Dougherty, Solana Beach, 6-0, 6-1
Jack Vance, Henderson, Nev., def. Austin Marking, Chula Vista, 6-1, 6-0