Quarterfinal Singles Results:
Michael Yani (USA), the former Duke Blue Devil, defeated Jamie Baker(6) (GBR) 6-0, 6-4 to send the 6th and final remaining seeded player out of the singles draw. Baker steadied himself after dropping a whirlwind first set at love, and just when it looked like a tiebreaker was looming with Baker serving at 4-5, Yani delivered with the only second set break to put the match in the books.
Yani was born in Singapore and currently resides in Durham, North Carolina. In 4 years as a Duke University Blue Devil, he accumulated a singles record of 81-27, and in 2003 was named the ACC men’s tennis player of the week. He is currently ranked 261, with a career best rank of 143 (March 2010). His career highlights include having won a qualifier spot for the US Open twice (2009, 2011) and for Wimbledon (2009). In 2011 he reached the semi-final of the Newport RI ATP event.
Baker, 25, is from Glasgow, Scotland and currently ranked 201 in the world. He has 1 futures win this year, and advanced to the semi-final of the Bath, Great Britain Challenger event.
Daniel King-Turner from New Zealand ended the run of Rhyne Williams (USA) in a 2 set battle 6-4, 7-6(3). King-Turner had the bigger first serve and delivered 12 aces in the match against none for Williams. The first set ended in a bad break for Williams, serving at 4-5, when King-Turner scored the break point and secured the set with a net cord winner. King-Turner has played mainly on the Futures circuit, but did reach the quarter-finals of the Kaohsiung, Japan Challenger event this year.
Williams, 21, a former top junior and University of Tennessee standout, turned pro last summer after winning a Pro Circuit Futures event in Florida. He was a 2 time All American at Tennessee and advanced to the NCAA singles final in 2011.
Fritz Wolmarans, the qualifier from South Africa, delivered a final point ace to finish off Greg Ouellette(USA) in their quarterfinal match for a 6-1, 6-4 win. Wolmarans has played for the South African Davis Cup team and is currently ranked 510 in the world. In October 2011 he reached his best ATP ranking of 198. He has reached 2 Futures semi-finals this year, and captured 1 Challenger level event win in 2011.
Ouellette, 26, from Ormond Beach FL was a 5 time All-American at the University of Florida and was #2 in the ITA Division 1 collegiate rankings during his senior year in 2008.
Adrien Bossel, (SUI) continued his run into the semi-finals at the LG&T in a thrilling 7-6(4) 7-6(5) win over American Michael McClune. McClune, 22, is improving his ranking after recovering from a hip injury in 2010. In 2007, he won the USTA 18’s singles title to win a wild card berth into the US Open main draw. This year he reached the finals in 3 Futures events, last year he reached the final in 1 Challenger event. His current ATP ranking is 362. Bossel, 25, currently ranked 393 in the world, won 2 Futures events and was a finalist in a third in 2011.
Bossel and McClune will get together again tomorrow when they team up to take on the University of Tennessee team of Tennys Sandgren and Rhyne Williams in a doubles semi-final match.
Doubles Results:
In the last remaining quarter-final doubles match, University of Michigan teammates Shaun Bernstein (USA) and Evan King (USA) defeated Jamie Baker (GBR) and Christian Harrison (USA) 6-3, 6-7(5) 10-6. Bernstein just completed his sophomore year at Michigan where he captured Academic All American honors, and King is a 2 time ITA All American (2011, 2012) and Big 10 Athlete of the year (2012). Bernstein and King will be on the courts again tomorrow when they take on the veteran Israeli doubles team of Dudi Sela and Harel Srugo in a semi-final match.