Edwardsville Futures sets 7 qualifying finals after heat suspends play

EDWARDSVILLE – Seven of the eight qualifying finals are set at the Edwardsville Futures, leaving 17 of the original 45 players in contention for the final eight spots in the tournament’s main draw.

Twelve matches were completed Monday before excessive heat suspended play for the day at the EHS Tennis Center. The remaining qualifying semifinal and all eight qualifying finals were scheduled for Tuesday.

The Edwardsville Futures is the St. Louis region’s only professional tennis tournament. The event opened July 26 with qualifying and runs through Aug. 2, when the singles championship will be decided.

Unseeded Rohan Belday delivered the biggest upset of the second day, rallying past top-seeded Oliver Okonkwo 4-6, 6-2 [10-7].

Belday, a 20-year-old rising junior at Washington, played as high as No. 2 in singles and doubles for the Huskies last season and received the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

Okonkwo, an Illinois graduate and fan favorite, was making his third consecutive singles appearance in Edwardsville.

Belday will face 11th-seeded Hiroki Sakagawa in a qualifying final. Sakagawa advanced with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Shou He Kang on July 26.

Second-seeded Jerry Roddick advanced with a 6-4, 5-4 retirement victory over Zachery Foster. He will face 16th-seeded Jon Gamble, who defeated Nicholas Shirley 6-4, 6-4.

Roddick, the nephew of former tennis star Andy Roddick, played collegiately at Texas A&M. Gamble recently graduated from Gooding Todero Academy in Orlando and has signed with Illinois.

Malhar Patel upset third-seeded Alexander Bernard 6-1, 4-6 [10-2] to earn a meeting with 13th-seeded Ilija Palavestra. Palavestra defeated Kostiantyn Zviahintsev 6-0, 6-1 on July 26.

Patel is a rising sophomore at Dartmouth, while Palavestra is an incoming Ohio State recruit.

Fourth-seeded Noah Johnston defeated Ethan Muza 6-1, 6-2 and will face Jelani Sarr, who rallied past 12th-seeded Evan Burnett 2-6, 6-3 [10-8]. Johnston is a rising sophomore at Georgia, while Sarr is a rising senior at Arizona State.

Sixth-seeded Lev Seidman moved into a qualifying final with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Luca Lo Nardo. He will face 10th-seeded Cooper Woestendick, who eliminated St. Louis teenager Shaan Patel 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).

Seidman has signed with UCLA. Woestendick, a rising junior at TCU, is a three-time All-Big 12 first-team selection and a former Big 12 Freshman of the Year.

Another qualifying final will match seventh-seeded Maximus Dussault against ninth-seeded Nikita Filin. Dussault defeated Simon Caldwell 6-4, 6-4, while Filin beat Arman Zamani 6-1, 6-2.

Dussault is a rising sophomore at TCU. Filin is a rising junior and an All-American doubles honoree at Ohio State.

Eighth-seeded James Weber earned a matchup with Jonah Braswell by defeating Sachin Kolachana 6-0, 6-1. Braswell advanced with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over 14th-seeded Tyler Bowers.

Weber is an incoming freshman at Georgia, while Braswell recently graduated from Texas.

Eric Crivei advanced after 15th-seeded Zac Hamill retired while trailing 6-2, 3-0. Crivei, a rising junior at Middle Tennessee, will face the winner of the remaining semifinal between Andrew Kotzen and fifth-seeded Manel Lazaro Juncadella.

The eight qualifying finals are scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday  across six courts at the EHS Tennis Center. The doubles portion of the main draw will also begin Tuesday.