Sandgren upsets top seed in Aptos qualifying

Tennys Sandgren, who played for the
California Dream in World TeamTennis
this summer, beat top-seeded Yasutaka
Uchiyama in the second round of qual-
ing for the Comerica Bank Challenger
in Aptos. Photo by Darryl Henick

   Tennys Sandgren, returning to Northern California, ousted top-seeded Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan 7-5, 6-4 Sunday in the second round of qualifying for the $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos.
   Uchiyama, 23, is ranked No. 212 in the world. Sandgren, a 24-year-old American rebounding from hip surgery last year, is No. 258. 
   As a World TeamTennis rookie, Sandgren helped the Sacramento-based California Dream go 9-5 in the regular season and reach the Western Conference final. The Dream lost at the Austin Aces 25-14 on July 30.
   Sandgren will face another Japanese player, No. 323 Takuto Niki, today for a berth in the main draw. Sandgren reached the quarterfinals in Aptos two years ago as a wild card.
   Also advancing was eighth-seeded Radek Stepanek, formerly ranked in the top 10 in singles and doubles. The 36-year-old Czech, who returned to competition in April after missing seven months with a lower back injury, beat American Sekou Bangoura 6-2, 5-4, default.
   Two former Wimbledon champions, Frederik Nielsen (men's doubles) of Denmark and Noah Rubin (boys singles) of New York, lost on Sunday.
   Nielsen, 31, fell to Deiton Baughman, a 19-year-old American, 6-2, 6-1. Rubin, 19, lost to German veteran Mischa Zverev, who reached a career-high No. 45 six years ago, 6-4, 6-4.
   The main draw of the Comerica Bank Challenger begins today. Highlighting the schedule, top-seeded John Millman of Australia will play Alexander Sarkissian of Glendale in the Los Angeles area not before 6 p.m., and Dennis Novikov of San Jose will face seventh-seeded Austin Krajicek of Bradenton, Fla., in the late afternoon. San Jose is 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Aptos.
   Sarkissian advanced to last year's NCAA singles final, losing to Marcos Giron of UCLA, as a senior at cross-town rival Pepperdine.   

$100,000 COMERICA BANK CHALLENGER 

At Seascape Sports Club in Aptos, Calif.

  Second-round qualifying

   Tennys Sandgren, United States, def. Yasutaka Uchiyama (1), Japan, 7-5, 6-4.

   Takuto Niki, Japan, def. Eric Johnson, United States, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
   Daniel Nguyen (2), United States, def. Daniel Evans, Great Britain, 6-2, 6-3.
   Ze Zhang (3), China, def. Alex Kuznetsov, United States, 6-1, 6-3.
   Ernesto Escobedo, United States, def. Nicolas Jarry, Chile, 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-5.
   Deiton Baughman, United States, def. Frederik Nielsen (7), Denmark, 6-2, 6-1.
   Mischa Zverev, Germany, def. Noah Rubin, United States, 6-4, 6-4.  

Today's schedule

Center Court

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

   Daniel Nguyen (2), United States, vs. Ernesto Escobedo, United States (final-round qualifying).

(Not before 11 a.m.)

   Radek Stepanek (8), Czech Republic, vs. Mischa Zverev, Germany (final-round qualifying).

(Not before 12:30 p.m.)

   Yoshihito Nishioka (8), Japan, vs. Mitchell Krueger, United States.
   Austin Krajicek (7), United States, vs. Dennis Novikov, United States.

 (Not before 6 p.m.)

   John Millman (1), Australia, vs. Alexander Sarkissian, United States.

   Court 5

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

   Ze Zhang (3), China, vs. Deiton Baughman, United States (final-round qualifying).
   Tennys Sandgren, United States, vs. Takuto Niki, Japan (final-round qualifying).

(Not before 12:30 p.m.)

   Jared Donaldson, United States, vs. Gastao Elias, Portugal.
   Brydan Klein, Great Britain, vs. Guido Andreozzi, Argentina.
   Marius Copil, Romania, and Andrey Rublev, Russia, vs. Ruben Gonzales, Philippines, and Darren Walsh, Great Britain.
   Farrukh Dustov, Uzbekistan, and Jurgen Zopp, Estonia, vs. Malek Jaziri, Tunisia, and Ze Zhang, China.