Top Seeds Win in Knoxville; Knoxville Challenger Recap

Due to school work, traveling and also covering the ITA Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, I didn't get to watch as much of this challenger as I wanted, but still got to see some of the action.

In a field featuring many big American names, trying to get their ranking inside the Top 100 to get in the Australian Open Main Draw, not many got far into the tournament. Denis Kudla (2 seed) was the first seed to go out in the first round, as Rik de Voest's slow pace was not favorable for Kudla. de Voest kept getting everything back slow, but deep in the court and Kudla could get any rhythm as he went down 6-1, 7-6. Jack Sock (3 seed) was next to follow, as a dangerous Peter Polansky took him down 6-4, 7-6. Polansky was coming off a loss in the Charlottesville final to Michael Russell in which Polansky was up 5-0 in the 3rd set. Ryan Harrison (6 seed) received a walkover after hometown favorite and former Tennessee Volunteer Rhyne Williams pulled out. Former USC Trojan Steve Johnson snapped his 6 match singles losing streak as he beat France's Laurent Rochette handily 6-3, 6-2. The top seeds in the doubles, Samuel Groth and John-Patrick Smith had to play each other in the first round of the singles, as Groth ended up winning 6-3, 6-3. Virginia's Mitchell Frank pulled out of the ITA Indoor Intercollegiate Championships to play this string of challenger events, and after qualifying for the main draw he beat Tennessee Volunteer Jarryd Chaplin 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.

Due to a back injury, Mitchell Frank also pulled out of this tournament in the 2nd round, allowing Rik de Voest to advance to the quarterfinals. Zimbabwe's number 1 player Takanyi Garanganga added onto his impressive run through the qualifying and beat fellow qualifier Kevin King to advance to the quarterfinals. After a decent week in Charlottesville, India's Sanam Singh made a statement in his second round match as he defeated 5th seeded Donald Young 6-3, 6-0. Another hometown favorite and former Tennessee Volunteer Tennys Sandgren used the home court advantage and beat Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-3, as Harrison continued to struggle. Another doubles team that had to play each other occurred in the 2nd round, as top seeded Tim Smyczek defeated Steve Johnson 5-7, 7-5, 6-4. That match featured Steve Johnson breaking 3 times in the 1st set to secure it, and many more breaks through the match.

In the quarterfinals, Tim Smyczek took down fellow American Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals. In the next matchup, Michael Russell couldn't build on his success from last week in Charlottesville as he had to retire due to a wrist injury, and allowed former Volunteer Tennys Sandgren to advance. In the bottom half of the draw, Peter Polansky kept rolling and took down a hot Sanam Singh 6-3, 6-3. Garanganga won once again in beating Rik de Voest to advance to his first ever Challenger Tour semifinal.

Unfortunately, Garanganga ran into Peter Polansky in his first ever semifinal. He did put up a fight in winning the first set 6-4, but from there it was all Polansky as Polansky went on to win the match 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. In the other semifinal, hometown favorite Tennys Sandgren came up just short, as top seeded Tim Smyczek edged the match out, winning 7-5, 7-6.

In the final, Polansky didn't have as much consistency that he has had the past few weeks, as Tim Smyczek upheld his number 1 seeding to win the final 6-4, 6-2.

Now for some doubles....

Due to early losses in singles, Ryan Harrison and Denis Kudla (who I thought would win it all) pulled out in the quarterfinals. The top seeds John-Patrick Smith and Samuel Groth took advantage of this as they moved onto the semifinals and ended up beating Alex Kuznetsov and Dennys Molchanov easily 6-0, 6-2. This would put them into the finals. 2 seeds Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren were hoping to have the top 2 teams in the final, but Carsten Ball and Peter Polansky had a different opinion, as they took out the 2 seeds 6-3, 7-6 in the semifinals.

In the finals, former Tennessee Volunteer John-Patrick Smith and partner Samuel Groth also upheld their top seeding as Peter Polansky lost his 2nd final of the day, as him and Carsten Ball lost 6-7, 6-2, 10-7.

Stay tuned for the Champaign Challenger preview.