Day 4 at the Dayak Tennis Championships features second round action, with Nigeria’s Joseph Imeh among those seeking quarter final berths at the National Tennis Centre. Imeh, the last home player standing confronts Brazil’s Pedro Sorgi on Thursday.
Elsewhere, defending champion, Maximilian Neuchrist will seek to stay on track for a successful title defense, while 17-year-old Jack Draper takes on Ukraine’s Danylo Kalenichenko.
The 21-year-old Imeh heads into his match against Sorgi on the back of a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over his compatriot, Emmanuel Audu, in the first round. The Nigerian had got in through two rounds of qualifying, beating Emmanuel Idoko in straight sets and USA’s William Bushamuka 7-6, 7-6. Can he keep it going with victory over Sorgi on Thursday?
8th seed, Sorgi is fresh off a 6-1, 1-0 (rtd) win against Greece’s Michail Pervolarakis, who retired due to injury. The Brazilian, ranked 570 in the world, is chasing his second ITF World Tour title and first since 2013. Last week at the Tombim Open, he fell in the opening round to Jaimee Floyd Angele. He has already bettered that this week, and will attempt to go even further on Thursday. He didn’t have much trouble getting through the first round, but he will face a sterner examination against Nigeria’s Imeh.
Pedro Sorgi advanced to the second round after his Greek opponent retired due to injury.
An intriguing clash will wrap up singles play on Court One on Thursday, as defending champion and top seed, Maximilian Neuchrist takes on the in-form Jaimee Floyd Angele of France.
Still on the comeback trail after a 7-month injury lay-off, Neuchrist opened his Dayak campaign a 6-3 6-4 victory over Tuki Jacobs, but he now faces a huge test to keep his title defense hopes alive. Floyd Angele, ranked 667th in the world, made a strong run to the Tombim Open final last week, and has started in the same fashion here this week, beating Musa Mohammed 6-1, 6-2 in under an hour in the first round.
Jaimee Floyd Angele went past Musa Mohammed (R) in straight sets to reach R2 in Abuja on Wednesday.
Will Angele edge closer to a first ITF World Tour title with victory on Thursday? Or will Neuchrist stay on track in his title defence?
Young Brit, Jack Draper, takes on 25-year-old Danylo Kalenichenko for a place in the quarter-finals. Both men recorded straight-sets victories in their first round encounters and will be looking to keep up the tempo.
Draper holds a 1-0 lead in career meetings against Kalenichenko, having defeated the Ukrainian 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Lagos Open last year, a tournament he went on to win.
The 595th-ranked Kalenichenko lost in the second round of the Tombim Open last week. Can he do better this week by exacting revenge on the Brit and go a step better? Or will Draper get another one over the Ukrainian and move into the last eight?
Draper holds a 1-0 head-to-head lead over Kalenichenko.
Other matches highlighting Thursday’s play include fourth seed, Tom Jomby against India’s Kunal Anand, and sixth seed, Benjamin Lock of Zimbabwe facing USA’s Peter Kobelt.
Thursday’s Order of Play
Centre Court
Starting at 10:00
Peter Kobelt (USA) vs. Benjamin Lock (ZIM) [6]
Followed By
Fabien Reboul (FRA) [5] vs. Guy Orly Iradukunda (BDI)
Not Before 12:30
Joao Pedro Sorgi (BRA) [8] vs. Joseph Imeh (NGR)
After Rest, Not Before 14:00
Danylo Kalenichenko (UKR) / Niels Lootsma (NED) vs. Dan Added (FRA) / Michail Pervolarakis (GRE) [4]
Court 1
Starting at 10:00
Kunal Anand (IND) vs. Tom Jomby (FRA) [4]
Followed By
Dominik Palan (CZE) vs. Gilbert Soares Junior (BRA)
Not Before 12:30
Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) [1] vs. Jaimee Floyd Angele (FRA)
After Rest, Not Before 14:00
William Bushamuka (USA) / Simon Yitbarek (SWE)
vs. Benjamin Lock (ZIM) / John Lock (ZIM) [2]
Court 5
Starting at 10:00
Dan Added (FRA) vs. Niels Lootsma (NED)
Followed By
Danylo Kalenichenko (UKR) vs. Jack Draper (GBR) [7]
After Rest, Not Before 13:00
Arjun Kadhe (IND) / Sundar Prashanth (IND) [1] vs. Tom Jomby (FRA) / Peter Kobelt (USA)
After Rest, Not Before 14:00
Sadio Doumbia (FRA) / Fabien Reboul (FRA) [3] vs. Dan Hiddleson (USA) / Markus Schultz (SWE)
