Rain Postpones Main Draw; Qualifiers Win Slots

A pair of rain delays marred action Monday as Evan King, Jose Statham, Erik Crepaldi and unseeded Aleksandar Vukic each qualified for the main draw.

Eric Quigley and Crepaldi had split two tiebreakers when rain came with Quigley leading, 3-2, in the third set. After a stoppage of just over an hour, the two resumed play on center court. In a match that clocked in at just over three hours, the players battled to another tiebreaker. Crepaldi got ahead early and eventually took a 6-4 lead. After Quigley extended the match once, Crepaldi ended a long rally, forcing Quigley to hit into the net and end the contest.

King, the top seed among qualifiers, came from behind to defeat sixth-seeded Cameron Norrie, 3-6, 6-0, and 6-2. King was strong on his first serve, especially in the last two sets, when he won 19-23 first-serve points.

Eighth-seeded Statham upset three seed Finn Tearney in three sets, winning by scores of 6-3, 6-7 (6), and 6-4. The players were even through two sets, but Statham broke Tearney’s serve in the third, grabbing control of the contest and edging out a win to qualify for the main draw.

Vukic upset second-seeded Peter Kobelt, 6-4 and 6-2, in their qualifying final. He served nine aces while Kobelt double-faulted seven times in the sweep. Vukic won three matches in three days to advance to the main draw this week.

Doubles

In doubles qualifying play, Juan Benitez and Raleigh Smith rallied to beat Hunter Callahan and Damon Gooch, 5-7, 6-4, and 10-4. In the decisive third set, Benitez and Smith teamed up to win all four first-return points to take control and advance to the main draw.

Two main draw matches were postponed to Tuesday, as contests between Noah Rubin and Lloyd Glasspool and John-Patrick Smith and Liam Broady were both pushed back due to weather.