Napa Valley Challenger & Laguna Niguel Futures Preview

California will be busy this week with both a challenger and futures tournament going on.

In Napa Valley, a $50K Challenger tournament will be held for the first time. The strong field will be led by number 1 seeded Denis Kudla from Arlington, VA, who was the US Open Junior Boys Runner-Up in 2010 for singles. Here are the seeds for the singles and doubles:
Singles:
1. Denis Kudla (USA)
2. Tim Smyczek (USA)
3. Rhyne Williams (USA)
4. Alex Kuznetsov (USA)
5. Bradley Klahn (USA)
6. Matthew Ebden (AUS)
7. Steve Johnson (USA)
8. Donald Young (USA)
Doubles:
1. Samuel Groth (AUS)/Chris Guccione (AUS)
2. Tennys Sandgren (USA)/Rhyne Williams (USA)
3. Bradley Klahn (USA)/Michael Venus (NZL)
4. Denys Molchanov (UKR)/Matt Reid (AUS)

Juniors and College Players in this Draw include:
Collin Altamirano-2013 Kalamazoo 18&Under Singles Champion
Thanasi Kokkinakis-2013 Australian Open & US Open Junior Singles Runner Up, Wimbledon Junior Doubles Champion (With Nick Krygios)
Ben McLachlan-California Golden Bears 1st Singles

Next, in Laguna Niguel a $10K ITF Futures tournament takes place. The field is headed by former USC Trojan Daniel Nguyen as the 1 seed. He got beat 6-1, 6-0 to Noah Rubin in last week's Costa Mesa tournament so he will need to bounce back. In the singles, Pepperdine teammates Alex Sarkissian and David Saofer play in the first round. Here are the seeds for the singles and doubles:
Singles
1. Daniel Nguyen (USA)
2. Daniel Garza (MEX)
3. Yoshihito Nishoika (JPN)
4. Jarmere Jenkins (USA)
5. Tyler Hochwalt (USA)
6. Jeff Dadamo (USA)
7. Haythem Abid (TUN)
8. Carsten Ball (AUS)
Doubles
1. Carsten Ball (AUS)/Daniel Garza (MEX)
2. Keith-Patrick Crowley (RSA)/Ashwin Vijayragavan (IND)

It is strange only 2 teams are seeded, but not a lot of the singles seeds are also playing doubles.

Juniors and College Players in this Draw include:
Trevor Johnson-Quarterfinalist in Kalamazoo 18&Under Singles this year.
Ernesto Escobedo-Quarterfinalist in Kalamazoo 18&Under Singles as well, and runner-up in the singles at last weeks Costa Mesa Futures.
David Saofer-Player for the Pepperdine Waves.
Alex Sarkissian-Also on the Pepperdine Waves.
Connor Farren-Freshman playing tennis for the USC Trojans.
Noah Rubin-Semifinalist in Kalamazoo 18&Under Singles this year, trains in New York City. Number 2 ranked junior in the US, behind Stefan Kozlov.
Clay Thompson-Player for the UCLA Bruins
Ray Sarmiento-Senior 1st singles for the USC Trojans
Yoshihito Nishoika-Top ranked Japanese junior player
William Griffith-Made the Round of 16 at Kalamazoo this year.
Marcos Giron-Junior for the UCLA Bruins, won the Claremont Futures two weeks ago in singles, and won the doubles with Mackie McDonald at the Costa Mesa Futures.