Pro Circuit Round-up: Paul tops Sandgren in Sarasota

In just his second tournament back after a quad injury, Tommy Paul defeated Tennys Sandgren in an all-American final at the Sarasota Open, a USTA Pro Circuit and ATP Challenger 100 event. 

In the 6-3, 6-4 championship match on Easter Sunday, Paul (pictured above) saved 15 out of 15 break points to claim his eighth career ITF singles title, six of which have come on clay courts. The No. 15-seeded champion has now won at least one singles title each year since 2015.

“The big points really went well for me today,” Paul told broadcaster Mike Cation after Sunday’s win (full interview available on ATPTour.com). “I think I played at a pretty high level from the start [of the tournament]. It was just a great tournament and a lot of fun out there. This week meant a lot to me.”

The 21-year-old’s path to the title included back-to-back three-setters against Daniel Elahi Galan (Round 3) and No. 5 seed Paolo Lorenzi (quarterfinals). He knocked off unseeded Italian Andrea Collarini, 6-1, 6-3, in the semifinals.

With the victory on the Florida green clay, Paul moves into first place in the USTA’s 2019 Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, which is now halfway through its four-week men's window. He also improved his ATP ranking to No. 158, up 46 spots from No. 204. The New Jersey native and North Carolina resident is now just nine spots off his career high of No. 149, achieved in January 2018. 

Marcos Giron, the No. 11 seed in Sarasota, defeated wild card Sebastian Korda, 6-1, 6-4, in an all-American quarterfinal, before falling to Sandgren, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2, in the semis.

Elsewhere on the men’s Pro Circuit, Alexander Ritschard was a singles quarterfinalist at the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 event in Orange Park, Fla., where Harrison Adams and Junior Ore reached the doubles final.

In women’s Pro Circuit action, Lauren Davis reached the singles final at the ITF World Tennis Tour W80 event in Dothan, Ala., where Francesca Di Lorenzo was a semifinalist. Davis, seeded No. 6, won a pair of three-setters en route to the final, where she was turned back, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, by qualifier Kristina Kucova of the Czech Republic. The 25-year-old American fell just short in the second-set tiebreak, 11-9, and her opponent rode that momentum to victory in the final set.

Usue Arconada, a wild-card quarterfinalist in the singles event, teamed with Caroline Dolehide to win the Dothan doubles title. The unseeded American duo defeated the Aussie pairing of Astra Sharma and Aiava Destanee, 7-6, 4-6, [10-7], for the title.

Other notable American results on the ITF Circuit last week included:

Men:

• Peter Kobelt was a singles semifinalist at the ITF World Tennis Tour M25 event in Abuja, Nigeria.
• Twin brothers Hunter and Yates Johnson took home the doubles title at the ITF World Tennis Tour M25 event in Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy.
• Evan Zhu reached the singles semifinals at the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 event in Cancun, Mexico, where Henry Craig and Adam El Mihdawy were quarterfinalists.
• Justin Butsch was a singles semifinalist at the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 event in Guyaquil, Ecuador, where Sebastian Murillo was a doubles finalist.

Women:

• Sebastiani Leon and Madison Westby reached the singles quarterfinals at the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 event in Cancun, Mexico.
• Sofia Sewing was a singles quarterfinalist at the ITF World Tennis Tour W15 event in Guyaquil, Ecuador, where Maria Schmidt was a doubles finalist.

Wheelchair:

• Dana Mathewson was a doubles finalist in the women’s open division at the Korea Open ITF 1 Series event in Seoul, Korea. David Wagner was a singles semifinalist and a doubles champion in the quad open division at the same event.