Fairfield joins list of canceled NorCal men's Challengers

Christopher O'Connell, left, of Australia poses with his coach at the time,
David Moore, at the 2017 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger. O'Connell won
the last edition of the tournament in 2019. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   The $100,000 NorthBay Healthcare Men's Pro Championship, which had been scheduled for Oct. 11-17 in Fairfield, Calif., recently became the latest Northern California Challenger to be canceled. 

   Tournament director Phil Cello cited several reasons for the cancellation of the event for the second consecutive year:

   —Solano Community College, the tournament site, was unsure if students would be back on campus for the fall semester. One reason the college hosts the tournament is exposure, and having students on campus creates a positive impression.

   —NorthBay Healthcare was unable to participate this year because of financial losses caused by COVID.

   —The ATP's new policy that all players must be provided five days at a hotel, win or lose, adds to the cost.

   —The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells moved from March to Oct. 4-17 this year because of COVID. Many of the Fairfield Challenger's sponsors and volunteers go to Indian Wells for the tournament.

   The Aptos and Tiburon men's Challengers — normally held in August and September, respectively — previously were canceled for the second straight year because of COVID. Both, along with Fairfield, are scheduled to return in 2022, according to the tournament directors.

   The $60,000 Berkeley and $25,000 Redding women's Challengers in NorCal remain scheduled for the weeks of Sept. 27 and Oct. 4, respectively.

   ATP Challenger Tour — In the doubles quarterfinals of the €132,280 ($155,700) Szczecin (Poland) Open on clay, No. 2 seeds Andre Goransson (University of California, Berkeley, 2014-17) of Sweden and Nathaniel Lammons of Dallas defeated Szymon Walkow and Jan Zielinski of Poland 6-7 (4), 6-1 [10-0].

   No. 4 seeds Roman Jebavy and Zdenek Kolar of the Czech Republic eliminated Hunter Reese of Knoxville, Tenn., and Sem Verbeek (University of the Pacific, 2013-16) of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-3.

   In the doubles quarterfinals of the $52,080 Atlantic Tire Championships II on hardcourts in Cary, N.C., No. 4 seeds Christian Harrison of Bradenton, Fla., and Dennis Novikov of San Jose, Calif., topped alternates Strong Kirchheimer of Cary and Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan 4-6, 6-3 [10-4].

   USTA Pro Circuit — Gabi Adrian Boitan of Romania beat Connor Farren, a 26-year-old native of Redwood City in the San Francisco Bay Area, 7-6 (0), 6-3 on Wednesday in the first round of the $15,000 Atkins Group Open on hardcourts in Champaign, Ill.