Sandgren reaches round of 16 in Australian Open

Tennys Sandgren defeated Maximilian Marterer in four sets
today in the third round of the Australian Open. File photo
by Paul Bauman

   Even though he's only 26, Tennys Sandgren has taken a long, hard road to success.
   A resident of Gallatin, Tenn., in the Nashville area, Sandgren has toiled for years in front of few fans for little prize money on the Challenger circuit in places like Stockton, Calif., Charlottesville, Va., and Champaign, Ill.
   In addition, Sandgren underwent left hip surgery in 2014, missing more than six months and plunging to No. 714 in the world rankings.
   Sandgren's persistence has paid off. He defeated German left-hander Maximilian Marterer 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (5) today to reach the round of 16 in the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   Sandgren had ousted ninth-seeded Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 champion, in straight sets in the second round. Wawrinka was playing in his first official tournament since having knee surgery five months ago.
   The last American man in singles, Sandgren will play fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria on Sunday PST for a quarterfinal berth.
   "He's a beast," Sandgren said in his on-court interview. "I'm looking forward to it."
   Even if Sandgren loses, he will take home $192,218 (U.S.) and jump from No. 97 in the world to about No. 67.
   As usual, Sandgren played all three stops on the Northern California Challenger circuit last fall, reaching the final in Tiburon and the quarterfinals in Stockton and Fairfield. Marterer played Fairfield, advancing to the semifinals.
   Sandgren, by the way, was not named after tennis. He was given his great grandfather's Swedish name.
   In the second round of men's doubles, Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez defeated former Stanford All-American Scott Lipsky, 36, of Irvine in the Los Angeles area and David Marrero, 37, of Spain 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
   Lipsky led Stanford to the NCAA team title in 2000 and reached the 2002 NCAA doubles final with David Martin. Two of Lipsky's 16 ATP doubles titles came in San Jose (2008 with Martin and 2011 with Rajeev Ram).
   Also today, 13th-seeded Daniela Vismane of Latvia beat Stanford-bound Niluka Madurawe of Sunnyvale in the San Francisco Bay Area 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of girls singles.