Ram gets an easy one, Gregorc takes advantage


Ryan Sweeting(USA) def Richard Bloomfield(GBR), 6-3,6-3
Sam Warburg(USA) def Brendan Evans(USA), 6-3,3-6,6-3
Brian Wilson(USA) def Nikita Kryvonos(USA), 6-4,7-6(4)
Luka Gregorc(SLO) def Marco Crugnola(ITA), 6-1,6-1
Nick Lindahl(USA) def Jesse Witten(USA), 7-6(3),3-6,6-3
Rajeev Ram(8)(USA) def Colin Ebelthite(AUS), 4-1 Ret.


Alex Bogomolov(USA)/Noam Okun(ISR) def Bjorn Rehnquist(SWE)/Marcus Sarstrand(SWE), 2-6,6-4,1-0(6)
Richard Bloomfield(GBR)/Kyu Tae IM(KOR) def Nikita Kryvonos(USA)/Jesse Levine(USA), 6-3,6-3
Brendan Evans(USA)/Brian Wilson(USA) (4) def Adam Davidson(USA)/Vahid Mirzadeh(USA), 6-3,6-1
Juan Pablo Brzezicki(ARG)/Marco Crugnola(ITA) (2) def Billy Mendler(USA)/Kris Shumway(USA), 6-1,6-2

Rajeev Ram, the only seed in singles action, advanced after Colin Ebelthite retired in a match that was over before it even got started. Ebelthite seemed out of sorts from the very beginning of the match, and the powerful groundstrokes and smooth backhands that Ram kept feeding him did not do much to improve his demeanor. The straw that broke the emotional camel's back was a line call that went against Ebelthite with Ram serving at 2-1. Ebelthite looked like a fisherman trying to show his friends the size of the fish he caught as he spread his hands a foot apart while screaming at the chair umpire how far the ball was out. For the remainder of the match, Ebelthite was not able to clear his head of the line call, which the gallery of local tennis players appeared to agree it was questionable. Ebelthite's last service game before he retired was a disaster, every serve was struck in anger save for one drop serve that was thrown in for good measure, along with him grousing at the chair umpire between and during his serve.

To the complete surprise of the gallery, the drama ended with Ebelthite retiring with a neck injury at 1-4. The injury was not apparent during the match... but something was obviously out of sorts.

Was it indeed a neck injury? Find out more in the Press...click here to go to the press online.

A shame to have an evening shortened like that. Binghamton knows pretty well why the ATP is looking to modify the yearly schedule, we've had our share of retirements and walkovers in the last year.

Ryan Sweeting advanced over Richard Bloomfield in a match where Bloomfield struggled with his serve. Bloomfield’s 1st serve percentage dropped to 38% in his last 3 service games, with 3 double faults and 2 breaks for Sweeting to end the match. Not going to work when he's charging the net.

Brian Wilson advanced over Nikita Kryvonos, a native of New York. Kryvonos improved as the match progressed, with Wilson having 2 long service games in the 2nd game and the 6th game of the 2nd set, but Nikita couldn’t get the break on 6 break point chances in those games. The set finished on serve until the tie break, where Wilson took advantage of a couple of unforced erros from Kryvonos. Kryvonos had some compact strokes.

Gregorc got in the main draw as a lucky loser, since Bozoljac withdrew. He took advantage of his opportunity and quickly dispatched Crugnola.

Tomorrow will be a good one. Thomas Johansson, the first grand slammer to play at Rec Park, will face off against Scoville. Should be a fun atmosphere at 5p... a worthy outing for even the slightest sports fan. Hard to imagine a better $2 expense on a Tuesday. Johansson has some QF appearances this year... couple of good wins on the ATP level. Jenkins, a former top American junior in 2004, had that big win at the Open in 5 sets last year or the year before.