When the city men’s open singles tournament draw came out, it looked like a rematch between the top two seeds, Michael Blevins and Matt Malinsky, was inevitable.
Anthony Sanders decided to not let that happen.
Sanders, a Columbus North graduate and a 2014 high school state quarterfinalist, got off to a great start and put Malinsky away 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 Tuesday night.
Sanders goes on to face Blevins, who defeated Rahul Jha in the other semifinal 6-3, 6-1. The final is scheduled for 6 p.m. today.
“I’ll definitely have to keep the ball in play (against Blevins),” Sanders said. “I just have to keep putting the pressure on him, and I can’t be tentative or else he will put me away.”
Jha gave Blevins trouble earlier on when Blevins fell behind 3-2 early in the first set but stormed back to win the next four games to take the first set and carried the momentum over in the second set.
“(Jha) was the one controlling the points early on,” said Blevins, the two-time defending city champion. “I was down 40-love at one point in one game, but I came back and won that game and from there, and I was able to take control.”
In the mixed open doubles semifinal match, Yijiang and Joey Zhao defeated top-seeded Melissa Sanders and Nickolas Sprague 7-6 (5), 6-4 to move on to today’s finals.
In the men’s B singles semifinals, a back-and-forth battle ensued between Kable Walton and Benjamin Meyers. Meyers captured the first set 6-3, but Walton fought back to claim the second set 6-2. Meyers eventually prevailed in an intense third set to win 7-5.
In the men’s B doubles semifinal match, Michael and Alex Pegram defeated Larry Bailey and Brett Kelch 6-1, 6-3.
The men’s 45 doubles championship also was decided Tuesday. John Burnett and Dan Prestal defeated Pete Khensouri and Mike Sickels 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3).
