Rain postpones singles quarterfinals of 100K Fairfield

No. 8 seed Maximilian Marterer of Germany is scheduled to face
Quentin Halys, 19, of France today in the quarterfinals of the
$100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Persistent rain postponed the singles quarterfinals of the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger at Solano Community College on Friday. The doubles semifinals were played indoors 41 miles (66 kilometers) away at the San Francisco Tennis Club.
   All singles quarterfinals are scheduled for today at 10 a.m. at Solano, followed by the all-American doubles final between Sekou Bangoura and Eric Quigley and wild cards Brian Baker and Mackenzie McDonald not before noon.
   Weather permitting, the singles semifinals will be played simultaneously Saturday afternoon. More rain is forecast starting between 3 and 5 p.m., and there's a 50 percent chance of rain on Sunday.
   The singles matchups are No. 2 seed Santiago Giraldo of Colombia against Grega Zemlja of Slovenia, No. 5 Alessandro Giannessi of Italy versus Joris De Loore of Belgium, No. 8 Maximilian Marterer of Germany against Quentin Halys of France, and Tommy Paul of Boca Raton, Fla., versus qualifier Brydan Klein of Great Britain.
   Halys, who ousted No. 1 seed Frances Tiafoe in the second round, and Paul, last year's French Open boys singles champion, are 19.
   Giraldo, 28, and Zemlja (pronounced ZEM-lee-uh), 30, will meet for the second time. Zemlja won 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round of the 2013 French Open. The other quarterfinals will be first-time meetings.

   Both Giraldo and Zemlja are former top-50 players who have reached the third round of Grand Slam tournaments. Giraldo has plunged from a career-high No. 28 in September 2014 to No. 124. Zemlja has tumbled from a high of No. 43 in July 2013 to No. 161.

   Baker, 31, seeks his second Challenger doubles title in two weeks. He won last week's $100,000 Stockton Challenger with Sam Groth of Australia.

   Groth lost in the singles and doubles quarterfinals of the $100,000 Monterrey (Mexico) Challenger this week. He played doubles with former Cal All-American John Paul Fruttero.

   The 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter), 218-pound (99-kilogram) Groth holds the unofficial record for the world's fastest serve at 163.7 mph (263.4 kph) in the 2012 Busan (South Korea) Challenger.
   McDonald, a 21-year-old native of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, turned pro in June after sweeping the NCAA singles and doubles titles as a UCLA junior.