Germany’s Maximilian Marterer is looking to break into the Top 100 of the ATP rankings for the first time this week. A back-to-back title in Fairfield, following his win over Bradley Klahn in the Monterrey final on Monday, would see him join that coveted group.
Marterer is the 4th seed with a ranking of No.108 this week, his highest ranking to date. The tournament’s top seed Ernesto Escobedo got his late season form back on track with a hard-fought win over Alexander Sarkissian. Escobedo lost the first set but then lost just two more games in the 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 win.
Escobedo will face former World No.63 Bradley Klahn in the second round. Klahn moved his ranking up more than 100 places last week after reaching the Monterrey final. Klahn has struggled with injuries, chiefly to his back, with surgeries costing him nearly three years of his career. Klahn used a protected ranking in Monterrey and defeated 1st seed Vicotr Estrella Burgos and 3rd seed Quentin Halys en route to the final. Klahn defeated Kevin King 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of Fairfield.
Felix Auger-Aliassime is unseeded this week, but the Canadian youngster has embraced the lack of pressure. After being thrashed in his last two events as a seed, the prodigy defeated qualifier Jan Satral 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to move to a meeting with 8th seed Nikola Milojevic, who defeated Brayden Schnur 6-1, 7-5.
Junior star Axel Geller faces Sebastian Fanselow in the first round as a wildcard. Geller is the Junior World No.2. The winner of that match will face Evan King or 9th seed Michael Mmoh. Mmoh was moved up to a seeding after Stockton winner Cameron Norrie withdrew with a shoulder injury.
2nd seed Tennys Sandgren will face Mitchell Krueger as the bottom half of the draw will be completed. The winner of that match will take on Noah Ruin after he defeated Sam Groth 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Rubin was aided by twelve double faults from the Australian, including three in the final game.
