Sports
Tennis: Estimated 350 Show for Featured Match Night at Moraga Open
Wettengel dumps Newman for spot in quarterfinals in the match of the evening.
Barbecue dinner complete with a great tennis match was more than what people could ask for Thursday night at the Moraga Country Club.
According to tournament director Mark Orwig, 350 people attended Featured Match Night at the Moraga Open Tennis Championships, and those in attendance watched as No. 3-seeded Mark Wettengel defeated No. 9-seeded Noah Newman 6-1, 6-4.
"I think all had the fans had a great time watching the tennis," Orwig said. "I think the players showed the small difference between a guy that just has a little extra edge over him. A score like one that you think is not that close is actually very close."
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The final score did not reflect how close the match really was. Wettengel broke Newman's serve three times in the first set but only once in the second. Newman played a strong second set, but couldn't break Wettengel in the tenth game of the set, putting a return into the net to end the match.
"One guy was a little more consistent, a little more patient," Orwig added. "The other guy had to make things happen earlier in the point and just couldn't quite hang with him."
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The third and fourth games of the first set were the most crucial. Both times Wettengel came back after falling behind a few points in both games to take a 3-1 lead, and used the momentum to take the set and later the match.
"They could've gone either way, you're up 3-1 or down 3-1, luckily I won both of those games," Wettengel said.
He will face Andrew Guiffrida in the quarterfinals Friday at 11 a.m.
Featured Match Night finished without a hitch. According to Orwig, around 240 BBQ dinners were sold. This is the fourth year the tournament has held such an event, and each has seen similar results.
"This gives spectators a chance to come out and see what's going on," Orwig said. "If you work in the city, you get out here have a meal and come out and watch some tennis. It's really good for the spectators."
Results for entrants from Patch towns:
Moraga
On the women's side, St. Mary's student Alex Poorta advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Lyndsay Kinstler. She will play No. 4-seeded Tiya Rolle Friday at 9 a.m. She also advanced in mixed and women's doubles. She along with her mixed doubles partner, Geoffery Chizever, defeated the tandem of Lejla Jodzic and William O'Shea in a close match, 7-5, 7-5. In women's doubles, she and partner Tayler S. Davis easily advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-0, 6-2 triumph over Daron Moore and Monica Wiesener.
Sean Peterson fell to Orinda's Troy Akin in the round of 128, 128, 7-5, 6-2.
Orinda
Nicholas Ballou made it to the round of 32 before falling to Noah Newman 6-4, 6-4. Ballou advanced when Walnut Creek's Nick Bezzubchenko retired due to injury in the round of 64. Troy Akin couldn't get past No. 2 overall seed Brad Weston in the round of 64, losing 6-1, 6-0.
Luke Bohuslav couldn't get past the second round. After defeating James Scott 6-4, 6-1 in the round of 128, he fell in the round of 64 to Jay Wong 6-1, 6-0.
Lafayette
Nolan Richard fell to Connor Feuille in the round of 128 6-1, 6-1.
Walnut Creek
No. 4-seeded Tyler Browne earned a spot in the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Oren Motevassel. He will face No. 5-seeded Gregory Hirshman Friday at 9 a.m.
"It's always a tough tournament and there's still a lot of tennis to be played," Browne said. "There's still a lot of good competitors out there. I just take it one day at a time…I'm feeling pretty good. The competition is always stiff here so you just never know."
Browne and his doubles partner Geoffery Chizever also advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Nick Bezzubchenko and Trevor Sipos 6-0, 6-1. They will play the tandem of Bjorne Munroe and Adrian Bohane Friday at 12 p.m.
Nick Diefenbach and Chris Romero fell in the round of 16 to Nicholas Ballou and Andrew Guiffrida 7-5, 7-6 (7).
Pablo Schurig and his partner Vittorio Fratta fell in the round of 32 to Brad Weston and Chris Wettengel 6-4, 6-3.
Danville
In women's doubles, Karen Kay and Lin Silva will face Lindsey Marsh and Ane McPike of Southern California Friday at 12 p.m.
San Rafael
Zach Gilbert fell to Thai Tu in the round of 64 in one of the closest matches of the tournament 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(4).
In men's doubles, Zach Gilbert and partner Sky Lovill fell to the Wettengel/Weston tandem 7-6(5), 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
For more information visit the tournament website.
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