EDWARDSVILLE - The top two seeds in the singles, American Tyler Zink advanced, while second seeded Leandro Riedi of Switzerland, was forced to retire in his opening round match, while top seeded doubles team Abraham Asada of Ghana and Leo Vithoontien of Japan were eliminated in their first round match, on an eventful day four of the $25,000 Edwardsville Futures tennis tournament, presented by the EGHM Foundation, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at the Edwardsville Tennis Center.
Play went on despite another heat delay, plus a brief shower, at mid-day, but all matches were able to be played.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Wednesday was also the annual Diversity Day, presented by McConnell And Associates, where young players played in a clinic at Liberty Middle School, and were lated treated to pizza and soda at the Jon Davis Wrestling Center, while hearing from guest speakers Devon Alexander, a three-time boxing champion from St. Louis, and Kweisi Kenyatte, a former tennis player from the University of Illinois who competed at the Futures and is now a coach and tennis director at Genesis Health Club and Thrive Tennis Academy in Des Moines, Ia.
In the upper half of the single main draw, Zink won over Taha Baadi of Morocco 6-1, 7-5, Alexander Raghezi of the United States defeated fellow American Kaylan Bigun 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, American player Nathan Ponwith took a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 decision over Alan Magadan of Mexico, seventh seeded Kyle Kang of the United States won over Victor Lilov, also of the USA, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, Kenta Miyoshi, from Japan eliminated American Bruno Kuzuhara 6-3, 6-4, it was Nicolas Ian Kotzen from the USA winning over Braden Shick, also of the United States, 7-6 (7-5 in the tiebreak), 6-4, Oliver Ojakaar of Estonia won over Zeke Clark of the United States 6-1, 7-6 (7-3 in the tiebreak), and sixth seeded Aiden Kim of the United States won over Karl Poling of the USA 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.
In the lower half of the draw, eighth seed and American Jacob Brumm won over American Alexander Bernard 6-2, 6-4, Si Montsi of South Africa took at 7-6 (7-5 in the tiebreak), 6-2 win over Nick Steiglehner of the United States, Quinn Vandercasteele of the USA won over Ryan Fishback, also of the USA, 6-4, 6-4, third seed Aiden McHugh of Great Britain won over fellow Englishman Oliver Okonkwo 6-1. 6-7 (5-7 in the tiebreak), 6-4, Vithoonien defeated Adhithya Ganesan of the United States 7-6 (7-2 in the tiebreak), 3-6, 6-4, it was Marko Miladonovic winning over American Jonah Braswell 6-7 (8-10 in the tiebreak), 6-2. 3-0, when Braswell was forced to retire from the match, top qualifying seed Mikael Arsenault of Canada won over William Manning of the United States 6-1, 7-5, and Evam Bynoe of the United States won over Reidi 6-4, 3-2, when Reidi retired.
In the upper bracket of the doubles, Kang and Alexander Razegh of he United States upset top seeded Asaba and Vithoonien 7-5, 6-3, with Henry Barrett of the United States and Vladislav Melnic of Romania winning over Alexander Brown and Liam Krall, both of the USA, 7-6 (7-4 in the tiebreak), 1-6, 10-7, Hunter Heck of the United States and Miyoshi won over Okonkwo and Matthew Shearer of New Zealand 6-3, 7-6 (7-1 in the tiebreak), and Fishback and Steiglehner defeated the American team of Devon Moskowitz and Nick Shirley 6-2, 6-4.
In the lower half of the draw, Spencer Johnson of the United States and Kotzen defeated Americans Jayson and Michael Blando 1-6, 6-3, 10-5, Kuzuhara and Ponwith won over Arsenault and fellow Canadian Adan Farag-Cao 6-3, 6-3, Manning and Shick won over Bynoe and fellow American Pablo Paternostro 6-3, 6-1, and second seeds Magadan and Poling defeated Americans Hank and Jake Trondson 1-6, 6-4, 10-5.
In Thursday's schedule, the second round of the singles commences at 8:30 a.m., with Brumm meeting Montsi, and Vandecasteele going against McHugh. At 9:30 a.m., matches include Miyoshi meeting Kotzen, Vithoontien plays Miladonovic, and Arsenault plays Bynoe. At approximately 10 a.m., Zink plays against Razegh, Ponwith meets Kang, and Ojakaar goes against Kim.
In the doubles quarterfinals, Manning and Shick meets Magadan and Poling at approximately 10 a.m., while Heck and Miyoshi goes against Fishback and Steiglehner at around 1 p.m., while at approximately 3 p.m., it'll be Johnson and Kotzen against Kuzuhara and Ponwith, and Kang and Razegh meet up with Barrett and Melnic.
On Thursday evening at the Edwardsville YMCA, the annual Mitch-n-Friends clinic for special needs players takes place from 6 to 7 p.m.
