Day 2 was not an ideal day for the Americans that played at the Farmers Classic. Out of the five American players that played today, only one made it through to the second round.
Michael Russell found his stride in Los Angeles against fellow American Jesse Levine. The two battled in the afternoon sun, with the tour veteran taking charge of both sets and sending the youngster home 3 and 4.
Americans kept falling at the 2012 Farmers Classic
It was really unfortunate to see a tour veteran like James Blake fall early in a tournament. In the first set, Blake couldn’t seem to find the court, hitting balls wide, long, and into the net. Tobias Kamke took the first set in commanding fashion, 6-2. Blake and Kamke exchanged breaks in the second set, where eventually got himself an extra break to close the second set 7-5. In the third set, Blake showed signs of experience and dug deep to keep up with the German, though he didn’t have enough to close out the match. Kamke forced a third set tiebreak, and prevailed 7-4 in the breaker.
Newcomer on the ATP tour and first time Farmers Classic main draw player, Steve Johnson had his first round match against Igor Sijsling. The two time NCAA singles (USC) champion did was unable to push the Dutchman to show any signs of weakness. Johnson played an impressive first set, though lost some momentum in the second. Sijsling captured a solid win, 7-6, 6-3. Even though Johnson lost, that doesn’t mean he played poorly, he lacks some of the ATP experience that many of his opponents have. I am confident that he will find his range on the tour.
Day 3 of the 2012 Farmers Classic will feature more American tennis players, including Rajeev Ram and two time Farmers Classic Champion, Sam Querrey. Ram will face Chilean, Paul Capteville and Querrey will face Igor Sijsling. Day 3 of the Farmers Classic will also include first round doubles action with,
Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium / Xavier Malisse, Belgium
vs.
Paolo Lorenzi , Italy / Benoit Paire , France
Marcel Felder, Uruguay / Dudi Sela , Israel
vs.
Olivier Charroin, France / John Paul Fruttero, U.S.
(1) Santiago Gonzalez , Mexico / Scott Lipsky, U.S.
vs.
Chris Guccione, Australia / Marinko Matosevic , Australia
Keep up with with me while I live tweet during day 3 of the Farmers Classic @Tennisthis