TOURNAMENT NEWS

 

Seeds Hold Strong Monday in Lexington

Main Draw for men’s singles begins Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET

 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Four seeded players advanced into the second round of the 2023 Lexington Challenger presented by Meridian Wealth Management on Monday as the No. 2, 4, 5 and 7 seeds in the men’s main draw all moved on into the final 16. Three of the four seeded players in action Monday used straight-sets to dispatch their opponents as [2] Steve Johnson (USA), [4] Seongchan Hong (KOR) and [5] Tennys Sandgren (USA) all won in straights.

 

Sandgren, known for his hardcourt prowess, was facing an uphill battle against [WC] Joshua Lapadat (CAN) on Monday, as Lapadat, a member of the University of Kentucky tennis team, served for the opening set and was broken by Sandgren, who then went on to win the final two games of the first set to take the lead in the match. Later in the second set, Sandgren took a double break lead and closed out the first round win over Lapadat, 7-5, 6-3.

 

In the night session, Steve Johnson (USA) won the big points at the most crucial times as he took care of business in the opening round on the showcourts. Johnson was up 3-0 in the opening set before his opponent, Billy Harris (GBR) broke back to level the proceedings. The first set went to a tiebreak, and down a minibreak at 5-4, Johnson won the final three points of the breaker to take the opening set. Johnson then again played the big points well, as he broke for the first time at four all in the second set to take a 5-4 lead and served out his spot in the second round with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Harris.

 

Play on Tuesday begins at 10 a.m. ET with women’s qualifying finals matches and men’s main draw singles matches.