TALLAHASSEE, April 23, 2016
A rematch of last year’s final between Facundo Arguello and Frances Tiafoe headlines the first round match ups at the 2016 Tallahassee Tennis Challenger.
Defending champion Arguello will face familiar foe in USA’s Tiafoe in the opening round of play. The duo met last year in the final with the Argentine winning 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4. Arguello defeated five young US-Americans on his 2015 championship run, including Jared Donaldson and Tommy Paul.
Tiafoe returns to Tallahassee for a second straight year in the hopes of once again claiming the USTA Pro Circuit Roland Garros Wild Card.
Three all-American match-ups also headline the 2016 singles draw, which features thirteen men from the USA. Top seed Donald Young, who won the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2011, will meet Ernesto Escobedo for the first time.
Tim Smyczek, the 2012 champion, will face off with Brian Baker, who returned to play earlier this year after a two and a half year hiatus due to a right knee injury. This will be the pair’s first meeting since 2011, when Baker scored a straight sets win over Smyczek at the Knoxville Challenger.
Former University of Kentucky standout Eric Quigley, who received a wild card in to the main draw, will play 2014 junior Wimbledon champion Noah Rubin in the first round. These two met last year at the Charlottesville, with Rubin clinching the win in a tight three sets.
Wild card Benjamin Lock, who is the number one player at Florida State University, will kick off his tournament against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev.
Main draw play kicks off Monday morning at Forestmeadows Tennis Complex.
