All American players in Knoxville will have an extra incentive to do well in this the second of three American Challengers that count towards the USTA Australian Open Wildcard race. The wildcard is awarded to the American who performs the best over the Charlottesville, Knoxville and Champaign events, with Reilly Opelka in pole position following his Charlottesville title.
That being said, there is still plenty at stake for the non-Americans. No one knows that better than top seed Dan Evans, who performed superbly in these events last year that helped him set up a terrific 2016 that has seen him take a place as a Top 100 player for the first time. He starts against the unpredictable Mitchell Kreuger, after Krueger returns to the American Challengers following an unsuccessful spell in the Australian events.
Evans section is littered with other potential pitfalls including Krueger. Peter Polansky’s return to form has seen him become a dangerous opponent at this level and he could meet Evans in the second round. Mackenzie McDonald is also in Evans section and the Charlottesville semi-finalist will need to beat Evans to replicate or improve upon that run in Knoxville. McDonald,a NCAA titlist is quickly climbing the rankings after winning the 2016 singles and doubles crowns.
Two out-of-form Americans complete the top section, Denis Kudla and Dennis Novikov are both desperately in need of a win to kick-start their late season form but one of them is guaranteed and early departure in Knoxville.
Jared Donaldson has the opportunity to take revenge against Henri Laaksonen if they both reach the quarter-finals. Donaldson went down to Laaksonen 7-5, 6-3 in the Charlottesville quarter-finals last week.
Last week’s Charlottesville winner Reilly Opelka is unseeded in Knoxville and a potential encounter with Stefan Kozlov in the second round waits if they beat Tennys Sandgren and Sam Barry respectively. Bjorn Fratangelo and Sam Groth also feature in Kozlov’s quarter.
The bottom quarter is almost completely American with only Brydan Klein and an undetermined qualifier not hailing from the USA. Tim Smyczek and Frances Tiafoe will be looking for strong weeks to boost their wildcard chances. Brian Baker and Michael Mmoh represent tough opposition in the quarter.
