Clark Rallies To Defeat Second Seed King, Chrysochos Only Remaining Singles Seed, Doubles Final Set at Day Five Of Edwardsville Futures

Aug 10, 2019 2:34 PM Aug 11, 2019 7:24 AM

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EDWARDSVILLE – Zeke Clark, a senior-to-be at the University of Illinois, rallied back from being a set down and trailing in the second set 5-2 to take a very memorable upset win over second-seeded Kevin King 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the singles quarterfinals to highlight a big fifth day of the $25,000 Edwardsville Futures presented by The EGHM Foundation tennis tournament Friday at the Edwardsville Tennis Center.

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Clark used a very physical game to rally back in the second set to win five straight games, breaking King’s serve three straight times to force the third and deciding set, where Clark dominated, winning 6-1 to advance to Saturday’s semifinals.

Clark will meet up with sixth seed Petros Chrysochos of Cyprus and Wake Forest University in the semis. Chrysochos, the last remaining seeded player, won over Felix Corwin 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in another hard-fought match.

In the other two quarterfinal matches, Nathan Ponwith of Arizona State University in Tempe advanced with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Jacob Dunbar, and Alex Lebedev eliminated Santiago Fa Rodriguez Taverna of Argentina 6-4, 6-2 to go through to Saturday’s semifinals.

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In the doubles semifinals, defending champion Liam Caruana of Italy teamed up with Ponwith to win a tight match over Corwin and Nick Moreno de Alboran 7-6 (8-6 in the tiebreaker), 6-7 (4-7 in the tiebreak), 10-7 to advance to Saturday afternoon’s final. They’ll face George Goldhoff and Alfredo Perez, who defeated Sunday Doubles Shootout winners McClain Kessler and Preston Touliatos 6-2, 7-5 to go through to the final.

In Saturday’s doubles final, Caruana and Ponwith will go against Goldhoff and Perez in the final match of the day, with Caruana looking to become the first player in tournament history to repeat as a champion in either singles or doubles. Overall play starts at 11 a.m. with the first semifinal between Lebedev and Ponwith, followed immediately by the second semifinal between Chrysochos and Clark. The doubles final will take place upon the conclusion of the semifinals.

Saturday will also be Family Day at the Futures, presented by The Goddard School. Vendors will be on-site with food, games, crafts and general family fun from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. The singles final will take place on the tournament’s final day on Sunday.