| The Kiva Club Open is now into its main draw. The round of 16 was Thursday, and the level of play was remarkable. Here's a report on the eight matches: Noon: Top seed Chris Hanson easily defeated unseeded Mark Broekman, 11-3, 11-2, 11-2. The left-handed Hanson, who is currently No. 85 in the world, controlled the middle and forced Broekman into many early errors. Hanson lives in Greenwich, Connecticut. Broekman, who is ranked No. 215 in the world and stands 6-feet, 5-inches tall, is from Cheltenham in the United Kingdom. 1 p.m.: Italo Bonatti took more than an hour to beat Jon Geekie. Bonatti won the first two games, 11-7 and 11-8. Bonatti, from Guatemala City, Guatemala, mixed his shots well and caught the left-handed Geekie off-guard several times in the first game. In the second game, Bonatti started hitting deeper, and when Geekie attempted drops, Bonatti turned them into winners. In the third game, Bonatti took a 7-3 lead, but, facing elimination, Geekie won the next 8 points and took the game 11-7. Geekie, who lives in Lee on Solent in the United Kingdom and plays for Scotland, won the next two games, 11-7 and 11-8. Geekie increased his power and improved his shot mix. Bonatti seemed to lose concentration and gave up three strokes in the fourth game. By this time, both players were arguing lets and strokes with the referee. The final game was tense. Geekie made several unforced errors and Gould himself down 4-9. He then rallied to 8-10 before getting beat on a deep cross off a drop shot. Geekie was unseeded in the main draw, while Bonatti was seeded No.2 in the qualifying draw. He lost to Mexican Juan Gomez Dominguez, but drew a slot in the main draw as a "lucky loser" when No. 5 seed Nicholas Cabellero withdrew from the tournament. 2 p.m.: Unseeded Ahmad Alzabidi won a hard-fought victory over No. 6 seed Diego Gobbi. Alzabidi, who is ranked No. 304 in the world, won the first two games, 11-8 and 11-8, but the 203-pound left-hander seemed to tire toward the end of the second game. Gobbi, who is ranked No. 197 in the world, took next two games, 11-8 and 11-8. Alzabidi slowed the game down by making Gobbi delay his serve, but the 159-pound Gobbi remained fleet of foot and won points by tracking down and returning every shot. Alzabidi, who is from Amman, Jordan, and was ranked world No. 149 in December 2011, won the last game, 11-6. The game was tied 4-4 when Alazbidi won three straight points, including a stroke on a Gobbi drop to give him a 7-4 lead. "Yes!" Alzabidi yelled, pumping his fist at the stroke call. Gobbi, who is from San Paulo, Brasil, managed just two more points as Alzabidi steamed to the finish line. 3 p.m.: Unseeded Juan Gomez Dominguez upset No. 3 seed Babatunde Ajagbe. Gomez Dominguez, 19, won the first two games, 13-11 and 11-6, and seemed to have the match in hand. Ajagbe, a 28-year-old Nigerian, seemed exhausted, frequently bending over to gulp oxygen. (Santa Fe is 7,000 feet above sea level.) But Ajagbe made it a match, winning the third game 11-1. Gomez Dominguez, who is from Vera Cruz, Mexico, closed out by winning the fourth game, 11-8. Gomez Dominguez is ranked No. 361 in the world. Ajagbe is ranked No. 165. 4 p.m.: No. 4 seed Faraz Khan easily dispatched unseeded Maurico Sedano. Khan won in three straight games. The 22-year-old took the first game 11-6. Both he and the 24-year-old Sedano were hitting hard and deep. The second game opened with a brutal first rally that ended when Khan nailed Sedano with an attempted cross-court. The two players exchanged words, and that added an edge to the rest of the match. Khan, who is from Old Greenwich, Connecticut, than ran up a 5-1 lead. Sedano, who is from Guatemala City, Guatemala, doggedly retrieved shots, but Kahn extended his lead to 10-3 before Sedano tinned to give Khan the game. In the final game, Khan was his most creative, moving the ball around the court and taking advantage of his chances up front. Khan won the game 11-4 and took the match. Khan is ranked No. 170 in the world and Sedano is ranked No. 245. 5 p.m.: No. 7 seed Anthony Graham defeated unseeded Dylan Cunningham in a brutally physical match that ended without the players shaking hands. The 25-year-old Graham won the match three games to one. He beat the 21-year-old Cunningham 11-8 in the first game. Cunningham, who lives in Cleveland, OH, took the second game, 11-9. Graham, who is from Woodchester in the United Kingdom, won the final two games, 11-7 and 11-9. The games were filled with jostling and complaints about jostling, and the younger Cunningham was the most aggrieved. When the match ended, he declined to shake hands with Graham. Graham is currently ranked No. 195 in the world, and was ranked No. 98 in August 2012. Cunningham is ranked world No. 326. 6 p.m.: No. 8 seed Auguste Dussourd easily defeated unseeded Sam Gould. Dussourd, a 19-year-old Frenchman, won the match in three quick games, 11-4, 11-4, 11-6. Dussourd is world No. 248. Gould, a 26-year-old from Cambridge, MA, is world No. 310. 7 p.m: Unseeded teenage phenom Jesus Camacho swept past No. 2 seed Fred Reid. Camacho, a 17-year-old from Cuautitlan Izcali, Mexico, beat Reid with finesse, speed and the ability to retrieve every shot hit at him. The game scores were 11-4, 11-5 and 11-9. Reid, a 25-year-old Canadian, made many unforced errors, which contributed to the lopsided game scores. Reid is world No. 414, and was ranked 107 in September 2013. Camacho is world No. 202. |
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