Led by a four man South Australian contingent, day 1 of the City of Onkaparinga ATP Challenger 2015 saw eight singles qualifying matches completed in warm and blustery conditions.<\/p>\n
Happy Valley Tennis Club\u2019s very own Sam Longhurst<\/strong> struck the first ball of the tournament and got off to a good start taking the first set 6-3, before Andrew Harris<\/strong> (AUS) took the second and third sets 6-4 6-2 respectively to move into the second round.<\/p>\n In an all-South Australian affair, Darren Polkinghorne<\/strong> defeated Mislav Bosnjak<\/strong> in a close match 3-6 6-1 6-2, whilst fellow South Aussie Daniel Hobart,<\/strong> who earned his first ATP point in 2014, was defeated by Thailand\u2019s Sanchai Ratiwatana<\/strong> 6-2 6-3.<\/p>\n In other matches, Andrew Wittington<\/strong> (AUS) defeated Yannick Mertens<\/strong> (BEL) 7-6(5) 6-7(0) 6-3 to set up a second round clash with number one seed, Stefano Travaglia<\/strong> (ITA), whilst Sonchat Ratiwatana<\/strong> (THA) defeated Levente Godry<\/strong> (HUN) 6-1 7-6(9).<\/p>\n Christopher O\u2019Connell<\/strong> (AUS) overcame fellow Australian Marc Polmans<\/strong> (AUS) 7-6(10) 6-3, while in the bottom quarter of the draw, Jacob Grills<\/strong> (AUS) defeated Jules Marie<\/strong> (FRA) 6-4 6-2 and Roman Safiullin<\/strong> (RUS) was too strong for Mao-Xin Gong<\/strong> (CHN) 7-6(4) 7-6(1).<\/p>\n All seeded players moved directly through to the second round, with these matches to be played tomorrow starting at 10:00am.<\/p>\n