Little Rock in Perspective

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- After his 6-4, 6-3 loss to Artem Sitak in the finals of the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament, Matt Roberts said, "He was solid. He was on his game for sure. I haven't played anyone this week that patient."

He had not played anyone like Sitak all week. A little known fact is that many of the players on the Futures circuit were invited to bigger tournaments like the ones in Tallahassee, Florida, and Mexico. The players that Roberts ran through on the way to the final were not accustomed to playing this deep in the tournament.

As an example, Julio Peralta, whom Roberts beat in the semifinal, never made it to the main draw of the recent Mobile Futures having been knocked out in the first round of the qualifying round.

Adam El Mihdawy, whom Roberts beat in the quarterfinal, got knocked out in the second round of Mobile.

In contrast, Sitak lost to the eventual winner in Mobile and received extensive praise from the champion Travis Rettenmaier. Sitak also won a Futures this year in McAllen, Texas.

Little Rock Player Excites Hometown Crowd

Matthew Roberts.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Little Rock is buzzing about its own home-grown talent Matthew Roberts. Roberts is making a run in the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament and celebrated a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Adam El Mihdawy.

Roberts earned a spot in the semifinals against Julio Peralta in this Futures tournament.


Adam El Mihdawy.

Mobile Futures Stacked With Talent

The qualifying round of the 2008 Newton Cox USTA Men's Professional Tennis continues 10 a.m. Monday in Mobile, Alabama.

The tournament, part of the Futures series, is being held at the Newton Cox Tennis Center.

Qualifying Round

Monday, April 7. All matches begin at 10 a.m.

Alexander Sadecky (Switzerland) vs Filip Krajinovic (Serbia)

Richard Ruckelshausen (Austria) vs Adam El Mihdawy (USA)

Erik Halaj (Slovak Republic) vs Jean-Michel Durango (Ecuador)

Chris Lam (USA) vs Sergio Ramirez (Colombia)

Jarmaine Jenkings (USA) vs Tommy Garrison (USA)

Patricio Alvarado (Ecuador) vs Justin Malina (USA)

Marcus Fugate (USA) vs Vlademyros Mavropoulos-Stoliarenko (Greece)

Derek Schwandt (USA) vs Christopher Klingemann (USA)

El Mihdawy Brings Soccer Style to Tennis

Adam El Mihdawy is a soccer player trapped in tennis player's body. He has taken a charging, full-court style from the soccer field and transformed it to the tennis court.

He has strong family ties in both sports. His grandfather played and coach professional soccer in Egypt and his brother Magdy played college tennis.

El Mihdawy has his work cut out for him in the 2008 Newton Cox USTA Men's Professional Tennis Classic. He plays against Richard Ruckelshausen at 10 a.m. Monday at the Newton Cox Tennis Center in Mobile Alabama.

This match is part of the qualifying round of this tournament which is also known as the Mobile Futures.

In earlier qualifying round matches, El Mihdawy beat Benjamin Lankenau 6-1, 6-2; and Attila Nagy 6-0, 6-0.