Garin, Isner advance at U.S. Clay Court Championships

Photo by Darla Tamulitis
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2022
All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 8, 2022) Friday action at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship saw four quarterfinal singles and two semifinal doubles matches at Houston's River Oaks Country Club.

Kicking off the day was the first doubles match, on Court 3, found Serbians Ivan Sabanov and Matej Sabanov facing Americans William Blumberg and Max Schnur. After a very intense, which propelled the winners to the final on Saturday evening, the duo from Serbia were victorious by the score of 6-3, 7-5.

In singles action, American and No. 3 seed Reilly Opeika needed only 78 minutes to down Gijs Brouwer (Netherlands) by the score of 6-3, 7-5. Next up was a scheduled match between Michael Mmoh (USA) and Nick Kyrgios (Australia). Kyrgios advanced to semi-final, where he will face Opeika, as a result of a walkover, when Mmoh withdrew from the tournament due to an injury. Saturday's semifinal will be the first for Opeika at River Oaks.

In the third match of the day, which lasted two hours, 43 minutes, Chile's Cristian Garin needed three sets to dispatch American Taylor Fitz by the score of 6-2, 6(5)-7, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals, Garin will take on John Isner (USA, shown above), who needed three sets to advance to the semifinals, in defeating  fellow American Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

In the final match of the evening, Australians Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell  defeated Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) and Hunter Reese (USA) 6-4, 6-3.

Christin Garin upsets No. 2 seed at U.S. Men's Clay Court Champs

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 10, 2019) In a match that lasted a bit over three hours, Christian Garin (right)  defeated the number two seeded Jeremy Chardy 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(7) in second round play of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships at River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas. The 22-year-old Chilean saved five match points to upset the number two seeded Chardy. The match was was the fourth longest in U.S. Clay Court history. Garin is 5-0 in deciding sets this year and is headed into the quarterfinal to face Henri Laaksonen (Switzerland), who downed American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 7-5.

Steve Johnson begins quest for third straight U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship title

Story and Photo Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 8, 2019) It is an occurrence that has not occurred since 1938. In that year, Seabiscuit beat War Admiral, the New York Giants beat the Green Bay Packers 23-17 for the NFL title, and the New York Yankees swept the Chicago Cubs in four straight games to claim the World Series. In addition, Bobby Riggs won his third consecutive U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship title. At River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Steve Johnson, who was the champion in 2017 and 2018, will attempt to the match Riggs’ success in winning the 2019 title.

Play at River Oaks kicks off on Monday, with Johnson slated to begin take to the court on Thursday, as the number one seed. He will face the winner of the Daniel Elahi Galan (Columbia) versus Paolo Lorenzi (Italy). The Galan-Lorenzi match will be on court three on Tuesday, April 9 with a 12 noon CDT start.

This is the second ATP Tour tournament at which Johnson has held the number one seed. His other top seeding was at Newport in 2016. He is 11-4 lifetime at River Oaks, winning his last nine matches. The 29-year-old Johnson, who is ranked No. 39 in the world, is coming off Round of 64 loss to Joao Sousa at the ATP Masters 1000 Miami. In the same tournament, Johnson teamed with Marcel Granollers; losing in the doubles bracket to Nikola Mektic and Dominic Thiem. In the 2017 Clay Court Championship, Johnson downed Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7-5) for his first title, following up with a 7-6(7-2), 2-6, 6-4 win over Tennys Sandgren in 2018.

Bill Tilden won six consecutive clay court championships from 1922 to 1927, in addition to the title in 1918. Since the championship has been held in Houston, Andy Roddick has won three titles (2001, 2002, 2005) and Juan Monaco has two (2012, 2016).

Weather postpones qualifying at U.S. Clay Court Championship; play resumes on Monday

Action from the 2017 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship
Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2019, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 7, 2019) Due to severe and hazardous weather passing through the Houston area on Sunday, April 7, 

the final qualifying matches for the 2019 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship at River Oaks Country Club were suspended and postponed.


Play will resume on Monday, April 8 with the matches suspended on Sunday, with play beginning at 12 noon CDT. First round matches scheduled for Monday will kick off at the regular posted time of 3 p.m. 

Two former U.S. Clay champions headline the first night session at River Oaks Country Club. Ivo Karlovic, who won the 2007 title in the event's last year at Westside Tennis Club, opens play at 3 p.m. against Ryan Harrison. Marcel Granollers, who won the following year when the tournament moved to River Oaks, will play 2018 semifinalist Taylor Fritz at 6 p.m. 

One other former U.S. Clay winner is in action Monday, with 2009 singles champion Lleyton Hewitt playing doubles with fellow Australian Jordan Thompson against the second seeded team of Austin Krajicek and Artem Sitak.

American Steve Johnson wins 2017 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship

Steve Johnson kisses the trophy after winning
the 2017 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.
Photo by Richard Fletcher, Bigshot Snapshots
Copyright 2017 TexSport Publications

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2017 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 16, 2017) It took No. 4 Steve Johnson (USA) two hours, 24 minutes to down No. 8 Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5) in Sunday's Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship singles final at River Oaks Country Club in Houston. The tournament, which ended on Sunday, April 16, 2017 saw Johnson win his second career title He is now 2-0 versus Bellucci, having won their previous meeting in straight sets in the second round of the 2016 Australian Open. 

Both Bellucci and Johnson arrived late into Houston following Davis Cup ties last weekend. Bellucci was 2-0 in singles as Brazil won 5-0 at Ecuador. Johnson was part of the winning US doubles team in a 3-2 World Group quarterfinal defeat at Australia in Brisbane. For the ninth time in the 10 years since the tournament moved to River Oaks, an American was competing the final, with an American won the title four times since the tournament came to River Oaks. The three previous American wins include Ryan Sweeting in 2011, John Isner in 2013 and Jack Sock in 2015.

Johnson had never reached the semifinals at an ATP clay court event before this week. His lone title came on grass in Nottingham in last summer. Bellucci is the first player to make the final in his Houston debut since Nicolas Almagro in 2013 and was the first Brazilian in the U.S. Clay final since Fernando Meligeni won the 1996 title. 

Jack Sock downs Tommy Haas in second round action in Houston

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2017 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 13, 2017) In the headline match at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’sClay Court Championship on Thursday, April 13, 2017, it took No. 1 seed Jack Sock three sets to down 2004 champion Tommy Haas 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The match, which was held on center court, saw Sock, who is ranked number 15 in the world, take the first set 6-4 before dropping the second set to the German 6-3. In the third set, Sock took a 4-1 lead with Haas moving the score to 5-3 before the 2015 champion closed the books on the match with a 6-3 score. The match lasted in one hour, 55 minutes.

The stats were fairly equal, with both players serving five aces. Sock shot a bit better on first service, 65% to 62% and on second service won, 58% to 55%. Haas had the edge on first service won 76% to 74%. Sock is now 12-3 in matches at River Oaks, in his fifth appearance on the Houston clay. In 2013, he was eliminated in the second round, while in 2014, he advanced to the quarter finals. His championship title came in 2015 and dropped the final match in 2016 to Juan Monaco 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

In previous head-to-head competition, Haas downed Sock 7-6(3), 6-2, 7-5 in the Round of 64 at in 2013 on clay at Roland Garros (France). In 2014, Sock won the matchup on hard court, in the Round of 16 at Auckland, New Zealand, in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. At 24-years-old, Sock is the youngest No. 1 seed in the tournament since 23-year-old Andy Roddick was number one in 2006. Haas, at 39-years-old, is the oldest US Clay singles participant since 43-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1978. Haas, who announced this will be his final season downed 19-year-old 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 in the first round. Next up for Sock will be the winner of the Feliciano Lopez (Spain) vs. Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) match.

A slideshow from the match, by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography can be wiewed by clicking here.

Draw Released for 2017 Tournament at River Oaks

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 7, 2017) The main draw for the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship was made Friday afternoon at River Oaks Country Club and can be found below. Four players will be added to this draw following the conclusion of the two-round qualifying tournament that will take place this weekend.

Qualifying play begins at 10 am Saturday and admission is FREE.

ORDER OF PLAY - Saturday, April 8
Court 3 - 10 am Start
Noah Rubin (USA) vs (6) Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo (Spain)
(2) Guido Andreozzi (Argentina) vs Benjamin Becker (Germany)
(3) Peter Polansky (Canada) vs Teymuraz Gabashvili (Russia)
(4) Denis Kudla (USA) vs (WC) Brian Baker (USA)

Court 7 - 10 am Start
(1) Renzo Olivo (Argentina) vs (WC) Bradley Klahn (USA)
Dennis Novikov (USA) vs (7) Maximo Gonzalez (Mexico)
Steven Diez (Canada) vs (8) Tennys Sandgren (USA)
Tim Smyczek (USA) vs (5) Leonardo Mayer (Argentina)

Lopez, Hewitt, and Bryan Brothers advance at US Men's Clay Court Championship

Photo by JB Fletcher-Big Shot Snapshots

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2014 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 8, 2014) Tuesday, April 8, 2014 action at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship saw the No. 5 and No. 7 single players and the top ranked doubles team advance at River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas.

The number five seed, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, defeated American Robby Ginepri in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2.

Lleyton Hewitt, who came into River Oaks as the number seven seed, took three sets to dispatch Canadian Peter Polansky 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

In unseeded action, Donald Young (USA) easily downed fellow American Ryan Harrison 6-0, 6-1, while Michael Russell (USA) used straight sets to down Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 7-6 (2).

Germany’s Benjamin Becker, who played his college tennis for the Baylor Bears, needed three sets to down Ruben Ramirez-Hildago 6-1, 1-6. 6-3.

American Steve Johnson rounded out the singles action by beating Denis Kudla (USA) 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Photo by JB Fletcher-Big Shot Snapshots

In doubles action, the USA brothers duo of Bob and Mike Bryan quickly defeated Nicholas Monroe and Donald Young 6-3, 6-4.

In other doubles match saw Australians Matt Ebden and Sam Groth beating Ken and Neal Skupski and 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Action continues on Wednesday with five singles and six doubles matches.

The headline matches of the evening include number one seed John Isner (USA) facing Dustin Brown (Germany) while the Bryan brothers will play the Australian pair of Matthew Ebden and Samuel Groth.

Top Seeds Fall at US Men's Clay Court Championships

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 13, 2012) Thursday action at the 2012 US Clay Court Championship saw the number one seed fall while the number two, four and five seeds advance in second round singles action.

Unseeded Michael Russell shocked the crowd at River Oaks Country Club by downing nop teeded Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-1.

Number two seed John Isner had a bit tougher time in his match, having to go to three sets to defeat Horacio Zeballos 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2.

Juan Monaco, seeded number four easily downed Tatsuma Ito 6-3, 6-3 while number five seed Kevin Anderson took three sets to dispatch Sam Querrey 6-3 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (2).

In addition action, Ryan Harrison beat Igor Kunitsyn 6-2, 6-4 and Ryan Sweeting downed Bobby Reynolds 6-3, 6-2.

In doubles quarterfinal matches, the top four seeds fell leaving only unseeded teams advancing to the semi-finals.

The duo of James Blake and Sam Querrey downed the top seeded team of Alex Bogomolov and Scott Lipsky 6-3, 6-3 while Treat Conrad and Dominic Inglot beat the number two seeded team of Mark Knowles and Xavier Malisse 3-6, 6-4, 10-8.

The number three seeded duo Michale Kohlmann and Alexander Waske fell to the team of Ivo Karlovic and Frank Moser 7-5, 7-5.

In addition, number four seeded team of Johan Nrunstrom and Dick Norman lost to Bobby Reynolds and Michael Russell 6-3, 6-2.

Action will continue on Friday will an adjusted start time of 1 p.m.

On the stadium court, Juan Monaco will face Kevin Anderson in the first match with Michael Russell taking on Ryan Harrison at 3 p.m.

Beginning at 6 p.m. Horacio Zenallos or John Isner will play Ryan Sweeting followed by the Feliciano Lopez-Carlos Berlocq match.

In doubles action, Blake and Querrey will face off against Karlovic and Moser at 4:30 p.m. on court 3.

Huey and Inglot will play Reyonald and Russell in the second match.

Singles semifinals and doubles action is scheduled for Saturday with the singles final set for Sunday.

Live coverage of the tournament begins with Friday's night session on Tennis Channel. It continues will all the matches on Saturday and Sunday.

US Men's Clay Court Championship: Sunday Q Results and Monday Schedule

Fans were on hand for Sunday's qualifying matches
at the 2012 US Men's Clay Court Championships.

Photo by Robert H Kelly, Copyright 2012 ,

TexSport Publications, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 8, 2012) Day two of pre-tournament qualifying for the 2012 US Men’s Clay Court Championship concluded on Sunday and the final draw in both singles and doubles was released.

With the withdrawal from the tournament of the Bryan brothers late Saturday afternoon, the second seeded duo of Alex Bogomolov Jr. and Scott Lipsky will become the top seed and will play their first match later in the week.

During Sunday’s singles qualifying, eight players advanced to the tournament field which will begin Monday at 12 p.m.

The schedule for Monday matches is as follows:

Stadium Court: start at noon.
Michael Russell vs. Daniel Kosakowski
Go Soeda vs. Tommy Haas
Michael Kohlman and Alexander Waske vs. Robert Kendrick and Ryan Sweeting

Stadium Court: not before 6 p.m.
Carlos Berlocq vs. James Blake
Eric Prodon vs. Sam Querrey

Court 3: start at noon.
Horacio Zeballos vs. Jan Hernych
Ricardo Mello vs. Catalin-Ionut Gard

Court 3: not before 4 p.m.
Bjorn Phau vs. Diego Junqueira

Sunday’s results in the qualifying matches are as follows:
Go Soeda defeated Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-4
Horacio Zeballos defeated Nicholas Naumann 6-3, 6-1
Ricardo Mello defeated Peter Polansky 7-5, 6-3
Michael Russell defeated Denes Lukacs 6-4, 7-5
Tommy Haas defeated Chris Wettengel 6-3, 6-3
Catalin-Ionut Gard defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
Daniel Kosakowski defeated Yuichi Sugita 7-6 (4), 6-4
Jan Hernych defeated Michael Yani 7-6 (5) 10 retired

Check back for results and commentary from the tournament.

Bryan Brothers Win 4th U.S. Men's Clay Court Doubles Title

(Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loco Photography, Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved)


By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2011 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 9, 2011) The doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan added another title to their impressive resume by winning the 2011 US Men’s Clay Court Championships at River Oaks Country Club in Houston.

The Bryan brothers came from behind in defeating the team of John Isner and Sam Querrey 6-7 (4), 6-2, 10-5.

After loosing the first set and winning the second 6-2 the Bryan's rallied back to down their opponents in the third set 10-5 in the third set super tie-breaker.

The Bryan’s also claimed their 10th career major title earlier this year by winning the Australian Open.

The victory was their fourth in the tournament in Houston and their 69th in the ATP.

Their win netted them $ 24,500 and 250 ATP ranking points.

The number one doubles team in the world has a following in Houston, winning their fourth title in the Bayou City before of a sold-out crowd.

The brothers, who have won 16 straight games in Houston, got to the championship match by downing in the semifinals of the couple formed by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Pablo Cuevas in the semifinals, 7-5, 6-1.

River Oaks to host Clay Court Championships through 2012

HOUSTON, TEXAS (May 29, 2008) River Oaks Country Club will once again host the US Men’s Clay Court Championships. A four year agreement has been reached with the United States Tennis Association confirming the club will host the annual chamionship through 2012. After pulling off an enormously successful event in 2008 River Oaks Country Club is excited to host the Championship once agai. The USTA’s managing director of tournament operations, Jim Curley, said that River Oaks hosted “ a first class event” and that the tournament would continue to grow and be successful over the next four years.

Tournament Director Van Barry feels that “It’s the right situation for us, the right thing for them, and the right thing for the city of Houston.” Through community partnerships the tournament staff has created a feeling of camaraderie within the Houston tennis community. With eight of twelve sessions sold out last year, Barry encourages everyone to look into tickets early this year. Individual tickets will be on sale in January and season tickets available by September.

The dates for 2009 are April 6 – 12. 2009 marks the 75th anniversary of River Oaks hosting a professional tennis tournament.

Granollers-Pujol Upsets Blake to Win U.S. Clay Court Title

By Robert H. Kelly
Copyright 2008 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 20, 2008) Marcel Granollers-Pujol upset top-seeded James Blake 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 today in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship at River Oaks Country Club on Houston. The win was the first tour title for the Spaniard.

Granollers-Pujol showed great determination, fighting back from 3-0 deficit in the third set. Blake had been hitting well, winning 18 of 19 points, but the Spaniard just would not give up. He clinched his first title when Blake hit a backhand long.

The 22-year-old, who came into the event ranked 84th in the world and seeded seventh, had never previously advanced past the quarter-finals of an ATP tournament but he battled back gamely against the world number eight to seal a deserved victory.

"It's the best day of my life, I think, and I'm very happy for this," Granollers-Pujol told reporters

"I've played tennis since I was very young and have always dreamed of a day like this," added the Spainiard, who jumped into the swimming pool at the River Oaks Country Club to celebrate his win.