Qualifiers Advance at Clay Court Championships in Houston

By Robert H. Kelly
Copyright 2008 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 13, 2008) The four qualifier spots for the 2008 USA Men’s Flay Court Championships were determined Sunday at River Oaks County Club in Houston.. The four victors will enter the 32 player tournament on Monday with hopes of raising their ATP ranking and winning a chunk of the $436, 000 in prize money.

In the first match of the day, Diego Hartfield (Argentina) defeated Franko Skugor (Croatia) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the 1 hour 58 minute match. Hartfield is ranked 128th in the world, while Skugor is ranked 338th.

Harel Levy (Israel) defeated Scott Lipsky (USA) 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 to make the final round of 32. Levy is ranked 162th in the world, while Lipsky is currently ranked 1138th. Match time was 1 hour 58 minutes.

Fernando Vicente (Spain) dispatched Chris Wettengel (USA) 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour 20 minutes. Vincente has a ranking of 173 while Wettengel is ranked 678th.

In the only upset of the day, Ryan Harrison of the USA (ranked 1280th) beat fellow American Alex Reichel (ranked 1014) 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour 8 minuets.

Action continues Monday with matches (both singles and doubles) beginning at 12 noon. Evening matches are scheduled for 6:00 pm.

James Blake (USA) is the top seed with Tommy Haas (Germany), Mardy Fish (USA), and Sam Querrey (USA) rounding out the top four seeds.