Nordic Naturals Challenger Presented by Santa Cruz County Bank A USTA Pro Circuit Event Seascape Sports Club Aptos, CA Purse: $100,000 ​ Surface: Hard-Outdoor ​ For more information, please contact: Haley Kepler, Tournament Press-Aide Cell phone: 831 334-0221 ​ Email: [email protected] ​ ​ ● Live Streaming: http://www.procircuit.usta.com ​ ● Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seascapesportsclubofficial/ ​ ​ ● Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXAQG1Arf7vw9JR8vMMePyg ​ ● Twitter: @USTAProCircuit ​ ​ Nordic Naturals Challenger: Fountain of Youth Taylor Fritz (USA) and Tennys Sandgren (USA) battled it out in the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger presented by Santa Cruz County Bank. Closing it out in straight sets, 19-year-old Taylor Fritz (USA) reached a career-high ranking of No. 53 last year in August and became the youngest American to reach an ATP final (Memphis) since Michael Chang in 1989. Also, in 2016 he competed in all four Grand Slam events and reached the quarterfinals of the ATP tournament in Acapulco. Rewind to the beginning of the day, Alexandra Bublik (KAZ), also known as “Sasha” secured the first set of his match against Dennis Novikov (USA) in only 19 minutes, and went on to win the match 6-1, 6-4. 20-year-old Alexander Bublik (KAZ) is very close to breaking the top 100, and will go on to play Sam Groth (AUS) in the semi-finals of the Nordic Naturals Challenger. Directly following this match, Liam Broady (GBR) came through the qualifying rounds to defeat Raymond Sarmiento(USA) in the quarterfinals 6-4,6-4. This was a big match for 23-year-old Liam Broady (GBR) as he enters back into the top 300, and will now go on to play in his first semi-final of 2017 against Taylor Fritz (USA). Another great match made its way to center court as two Australians battled it out for a spot in the semi-finals. Akira Santillan (AUS), 20, who peaked at a career-high ranking of No. 160 in the world this July came up short against Sam Groth (AUS). This match was filled with aggressive serving and powerful groundstrokes by both parties, but Groth came out on top. Tomorrow look out for some exciting semi-final doubles matches. One of them features 2015 Nordic Naturals doubles champion and this years’ No. 1 seed, Artem Sitak (NZL) who pairs with Wesley Koolhof (NED) to take on Australian duo Alex Bolt (AUS) and 23-year-old Jordan Thompson (AUS), who holds a current singles ranking of 78 in the world. ABOUT THE USTA PRO CIRCUIT: With approximately 90 tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from .$10,000 to $100,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the ​ ​ US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring tennis players and a frequent ​ ​ battleground for established professionals. The USTA launched its Pro Circuit 38 years ​ ​ ago to provide players with the opportunity to gain professional ranking points, and it has since grown to become the largest developmental tennis circuit in the world, ​ ​ offering nearly $3 million in prize money. John Isner, Maria Sharapova, Sam Querrey, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Sloane Stephens, Kei Nishikori, Victoria Azarenka and Andy Murray are among today’s ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. NORDIC NATURALS CHALLENGER PRESENTED BY SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BANK - APTOS, CA, USA $100,000 RESULTS - AUGUST 11, 2017 Men's Singles - Quarterfinals [WC] T. Fritz (USA) d [6] T. Sandgren (USA) 75 76(1) [Q] L. Broady (GBR) d R. Sarmiento (USA) 64 64 A. Bublik (KAZ) d [WC] D. Novikov (USA) 61 64 S. Groth (AUS) d A. Santillan (AUS) 75 76(6) ORDER OF PLAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 2017 CENTER COURT start 9:30 am PINK DAY 11:00 am [3] J. Erlich (ISR) / N. Skupski (GBR) vs [LL] R. Bemelmans (BEL) / J. De Loore (BEL) A. Bublik (KAZ) vs S. Groth (AUS) [WC] T. Fritz (USA) vs [Q] L. Broady (GBR) [1] W. Koolhof (NED) / A. Sitak (NZL) vs [4] A. Bolt (AUS) / J. Thompson (AUS) .