CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Hunter Heck, Kenta Miyoshi, Karlis Ozolins, and Alex Petrov all competed in the opening round of the singles main draw at the Fighting Illini Open on Wednesday.
Hosted at the Atkins Tennis Center, the Fighting Illini Open is a men’s tennis 25K Tournament on the International Tennis Federation World Tour. Both Miyoshi and Petrov advanced to the second round of singles competition, while Heck and Ozolins saw their respective singles runs draw to a close.
Miyoshi battled against No. 8 Murphy Cassone, ultimately advancing after his opponent retired. After narrowly falling in the first set, 7-5, Miyoshi pulled out a 6-4 victory in a back-and-forth second frame before Cassone retired in the third set.
Petrov took on Trey Hilderbrand after advancing through two rounds of qualifying earlier in the week. Clinching a 6-3 first-set win, Petrov overcame a late 5-4 deficit in the second set and advance to the second round following a 7-6 decision.
Ozolins played in the first match of the day, squaring off with third-seeded Naoki Nakagawa. After falling in a hard-fought first set, 6-3, Ozolins fell short in the second frame, 6-0, to see his singles run come to an end.
Heck opened his singles campaign against top-seeded Evgeny Donskoy. Though he pushed hard for the upset, Heck suffered a straight-set defeat, 6-1, 6-3.
Miyoshi will take on Cash Hanzlik in the first match of the day on court one at 10 a.m. CT on Thursday, while Petrov will face fifth-seeded Cannon Kingsley in his second-round contest.
Ozolins and Heck will return to action in the doubles portion of the Fighting Illini Open on Thursday, competing against Sebastian Gorzny and Chih Chi Huang in the quarterfinals in the third match of the day on court two.
RESULTS
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