The MarketBeat Open Match Play Journal
October 20, 2024
Main Draw Gets Underway Monday at MarketBeat Open with 6 Matches
No. 6 seed Kypson, No. 8 Holt, among Eight Americans in Action
SIOUX FALLS – Main draw first round action gets underway on Monday at the MarketBeat Open presented by USTA Northern, with No. 6 seed Patrick Kypson and No. 8 Brandon Holt among the eight Americans on the schedule.
This is the first time a professional tennis tournament in South Dakota has been held as the Huether Family Match Pointe plays host on the Sanford Sports Complex. Overall there are 17 Americans in the 32-player $82,000 ATP Challenger Tour event (not including qualifiers).
There are six main draw and six qualifying singles matches on the order of play. Qualifying play begins at 10 a.m. on Stadium 1 and Stadium 2. In the first main draw match on Stadium 1, Holt takes on Frenchman Enzo Coucacaud for the first time. Holt is a two-time Challenger runner-up this season (Indian Wells-1, Tyler). In the second match on, former World No. 53 Denis Kudla plays Bor Artnak of Slovenia. Kudla is a winner of nine career Challenger titles, the most of any player in the draw.
In the third main draw match on, Kypson and last year’s NCAA singles champion from the Univ. of Georgia, Ethan Quinn, square off. Kypson was the winner of last year’s USTA/Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, earning a main draw WC into the ’24 Australian Open.
On Stadium 2, the first main draw match (third-on) is an all-American battle between wild card Colton Smith and Martin Damm. Next on is Alastair Gray of Great Britain against American Ozan Baris and last on is Stefan Kozlov against No. 5 Dmitry Popko of Kazakhstan.
The tournament’s Top 3 seeds of Americans Christopher Eubanks, Mitchell Krueger and Zachary Svajda all play qualifiers in their first match on Tuesday.
Former Wimbledon Quarterfinalist Eubanks Leads 13 Americans in MarketBeat Open
ATP Challenger Tour Event to be held October 20-27
SIOUX FALLS – The entry list for the inaugural MarketBeat Open presented by USTA Northern is out and leading the 32-player field is last year’s Wimbledon quarterfinalist Christopher Eubanks, who has reached a career-high No. 29 in the ATP Rankings.
Eubanks is one of 13 Americans with direct entry into the $82,000 ATP Challenger Tour tournament. The first time men’s professional tennis event in South Dakota will be held October 20-27 as the Huether Family Match Pointe plays host on the Sanford Sports Complex.
Eubanks, 28, captured his first ATP Tour title in Mallorca, Spain in July 2023 and followed it with a quarterfinal run at Wimbledon where he beat No. 13-ranked Cameron Norrie in the second round and No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round before losing to No. 3 Daniil Medvedev in five sets. Eubanks was also on the U.S. Olympics tennis team in July.
“We are thrilled with the field we have coming, said tournament director and Match Pointe executive director Mark Vellek. “It's a really exciting mix of players who have been at the top of the game and players on their way up with very bright futures. This is a level of tennis that has never been played in this part of the country and is going to create a really special week for the community.”
Joining Eubanks among the top five entries are fellow Americans Zachary Svajda, 21, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 102 in August; Mitchell Krueger, who reached the second round at the US Open as a qualifier and is a winner of two Challenger titles this season.
Other notable American entries are Nishesh Basavareddy, 19, who has climbed over 250 ranking spots this season and is the fourth-youngest player in the Top 200 at No. 199; last year’s NCAA champion Ethan Quinn, former World No. 53 Denis Kudla; last year’s No. 1 collegiate player in the country from Univ. of Texas Eliot Spizzirri, who qualified for his first Grand Slam tournament at the US Open; and Brandon Holt, who is the son of former two-time US Open champion, former World No. 1 and Tennis Hall of Famer, Tracy Austin.
A pair of former World Top 20 players are also in the field with British wild card Kyle Edmund, who reached a career-high No. 14 in 2018 after advancing to the semifinals at the Australian Open earlier that year.
The MarketBeat Open will offer valuable ATP Ranking points for American players to earn for the upcoming Australian Open Wild Card Challenge. The men's wild card will be awarded to the American with the most ranking points earned from a maximum of three events during a four-week window that begins the week of October 21 and runs through the week of November 11. All indoor and outdoor hard-court tournaments at the M25 level and above, including ATP Tour and Challenger events, will be included in the Challenge.
The USTA and Tennis Australia have a reciprocal agreement in which main draw wild cards for the 2025 Australian Open and US Open will be exchanged.
Midco Sports will be televising the tournament throughout the week.
Tickets are now on sale and for more information, go to marketbeatopen.com.
Tournament Schedule
Sunday, October 20 – Singles Qualifying
Monday, October 21 – Singles Qualifying/Singles First Round
Tuesday, October 22 – Singles First Round/Doubles First Round
Wednesday, October 23 – Singles Round of 16/Doubles First Round
Thursday, October 24 – Singles Round of 16/Doubles Quarterfinals
Friday, October 25 – Singles Quarterfinals/Doubles Semifinals
Saturday, October 26 – Singles Semifinals/Doubles Championship
Sunday, October 27 – Singles Championship