Stanford, Cal players advance in NCAA singles

Stanford's Tom Fawcett, serving in the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.)
Challenger last October, beat Wayne Montgomery of host Georgia
today in the first round of the NCAA Men's Singles Championships
in Athens, Ga. Photo by Paul Bauman

   No. 8 seed Tom Fawcett of Stanford defeated Wayne Montgomery of host Georgia 6-1, 7-5 today in the first round of the NCAA Men's Singles Championships in Athens, Ga.
   Fawcett, a 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) junior from Winnetka, Ill., is scheduled to play Eduardo Mena of Tennessee Tech on Thursday at 8 a.m. PDT. Mena, a 6-foot (1.82-meter) junior from Spain, beat Maxime Tchoutakian of Baylor 6-4, 7-6 (6).
   Also advancing were Cal's Florian Lakat, seeded 9-16, and Andre Goransson. Lakat, a senior from France, defeated Ronnie Schneider of NCAA runner-up North Carolina 6-4, 6-3. Goransson, a senior from Sweden, dismissed Harrison O'Keefe of South Carolina 6-2, 6-2.
   One day after helping Virginia win its third consecutive NCAA title, junior Collin Altamirano of Sacramento lost to David Biosca of East Tennessee State 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Biosca, a senior from Spain, reached the doubles semifinals last year.
   Daniel Valent of Vanderbilt eliminated Columbia's Victor Pham, from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
   On the women's side, No. 9-16 seed Karla Popovic of Cal dispatched Katarina Adamovic of Oklahoma State 6-4, 6-0.
   Popovic's teammate Maegan Manasse lost to Arianne Hartono of Mississippi 6-2, 6-3. Manasse, a senior from Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles area, reached the singles round of 16 in 2015 and 2016 and the doubles final with Denise Starr last year.
   Melissa Lord of NCAA runner-up Stanford defeated Johnnise Renaud of Georgia Tech 2-6, 6-4, 6-0. Lord, a sophomore from Bloomfield, Conn., will face No. 6 seed Belinda Woolcock of NCAA champion Florida.
   Lord's teammate, Caroline Doyle of San Francisco, fell to Shannon Hudson of Arkansas 6-3, 6-1. Doyle, a senior, advanced to the doubles semifinals two years ago.
   In an all-Northern California matchup, Felicity Maltby of Texas Tech and Sunnyvale in the Bay Area, eliminated Kassidy Jump of Arizona State and Granite Bay in the Sacramento region 6-4, 6-2.
   Maltby, a sophomore, is set to meet Florida's Anna Danilina on Thursday at 10 a.m. Danilina stunned North Carolina's Hayley Carter, the No. 2 seed and last year's runner-up, 6-2, 6-3.  
   The second round of men's and women's singles and the first round of men's and women's doubles are scheduled to begin Thursday at 6 a.m. Video streaming and live scoring are available here.