ATLANTA Recently crowned U.S. Open Clay Court Champion Mardy Fish of the United States was two points away from being upset by SEA Games Double Gold Medalist Cecil Mamiit of the Philippnes in the second set before pulling out a come-from-behind win 4-6 7-5 6-3 here at the clay courts of the Atlanta Athletic Club in the second round of the $25,000 Association of Tennis Professionals Challengers event.
Mamiit, who beat Bradley Cox of the U.S. 6-1 6-1in the first round, outplayed Fish in the 1st set and was up several breakpoints during the 2nd set see-saw battle but the 5-foot-8 former US NCAA Singles Champion was unable to convert important points in the 7th and 9th games to pull off a major win.
The 114th ATP ranked Fish who had recent wins over Tommy Haas, in turn broke Mamiit who is ranked ATP240, in the 11th game of the second set to win 7-5. Fish broke early again in the 3rd set and held on to seal off the match to advance to the quarterfinals versus Michale Russel who defeated Jesse Witten 7-6 6-1.
Meanwhile, RP Davis Cupper P atrick John Tierro and ATP world-ranked 927th will be competing in the $25,000 ATP/ITF Satellite Circuit in Indonesia from May 08 until June 02 in Jakarta. Tierro whose trip is sponsored by sportsman Jean Henri Lhuillier of Cebuana Lhuillier is accepted in the main draw of the 4-leg tour where he is 10th in the entry list out of 32 internationally ranked players
The event will mark the first time the 6-foot-1 Tierro, will not have to go through the qualifying rounds. This is due to his strong finish in the just concluded Association of Tennis Professionals/International Tennis Federation Satellite Circuit in New Delhi and several Challenger qualifying rounds in Chikamagalur and Dharwad, all in India where he placed 10th in the final standings.
1st and 2nd round results:
ATP Tennis $25,000 Challenger
Atlanta, GA, USA, May 1-7, 2006
Singles Seeds:
1. Bobby Reynolds
2. Mardy Fish
3. Kevin Kim
4. Frank Dancevic
5. Vasilis Mazarakis
6. Kristian Pless
7. Zack Fleishman
8. Rik de Voest
First Round
Wayne Odesnik (USA) d. (1)Bobby Reynolds (USA) 6-3 6-1
(q)Tyler Cleveland (USA) d. (SE)Eric Nunez (USA) 4-6 7-6(2) 6-4
(q)Wesley Whitehouse (RSA) d. Hugo Armando (USA) 6-2 5-7 6-4
(6)Kristian Pless (DEN) d. Nathan Healey (AUS) 6-1 3-6 6-2
(4)Frank Dancevic (CAN) d. (WC)Scoville Jenkins (USA) 5-7 6-1 6-3
Todd Widom (USA) d. (WC)Evgeni Mikheev (BLR) 6-7(2) 6-2 6-1
(q)Luka Gregorc (SLO) d. Andre Sa (BRA) 6-4 7-6(3)
(8)Rik de Voest (RSA) d. (SE)Robert Kendrick (USA) 2-6 6-1 6-3
Diego Hartfield (ARG) d. (7)Zack Fleishman (USA) 6-4 3-6 7-6(3)
Harel Levy (ISR) d. Brian Vahaly (USA) 6-1 6-1
(q)Alex Kuznetsov (USA) d. (WC)A.J. Bartlett (USA) 6-1 6-0
Alun Jones (AUS) d. (3)Kevin Kim (USA) 6-4 6-4
Michael Russell (USA) d. (5)Vasilis Mazarakis (GRE) 6-3 6-0
Jesse Witten (USA) d. Amer Delic (USA) 6-3 7-6(6)
Cecil Mamiit (PHI) d. (WC)Bradley Cox (USA) 6-1 6-1
(2)Mardy Fish (USA) d. Dudi Sela (ISR) 6-4 6-2
