16 Feb 2023 DBO Daily Notebook Wednesday, Feb.15
DBO Daily Notebook – WEDNESDAY, FEB. 15
Top Things To Know
1) Sons of Top 10 Parents Face Off
When top seed Taylor Fritz faces Emilio Gomez, they will be carrying on the family business. They both have parents who played and reached the Top 10 in the world. Fritz’s mother, Kathy May, was a top 10 player on the WTA Tour, while Gomez is the son of 1990 French Open champion Andres Gomez.
2)Americans Are Hot
World No. 18 Tommy Paul made his first Grand Slam semifinal last month at the Australian Open, then led the US to a Davis Cup group win in Uzbekistan. He is back home in Delray and will take on American Denis Kudla in a second-round match. JJ Wolf is at a career high No. 39 this week after reaching the semifinals in Dallas. This time last year Wolf ranked No. 216 and lost in the first round of qualifying. Mackenzie McDonald, who defeated Australian Open top seed Rafael Nadal in the second round there, upset Delray fifth seed Yoshihito Nishioka Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals and will face another hot American, Michael Mmoh, who upset third seed Denis Shapovalov. American Marcos Giron ended the run of local qualifier Matija Pecotic to reach the quarterfinals.
3) Back to the Office for Pecotic
Matija Pecotic won two matches in qualifying and then defeated 2017 Delray Beach Open champion and former Top Tenner Jack Sock to earn his first-ever match win in his debut ATP Tour main draw – at age 33 and ranked No. 784. His run came to an end, however, against Marcos Giron. He’ll move up about 200 places in the rankings. Pecotic works full-time at Wexford Real Estate in West Palm Beach but was an All-American player at Princeton and graduated from Harvard business school. He’ll head back to his 9-6 job for now, but he’s open to any tournament wild cards that might be offered to him. Hear him tell his journey in this video.
4) Mmoh Upsets Shapovalov, Going for Mmore
Michael Mmoh, ranked 87, upset third seed and 27th-ranked Denis Shapovalov in the second round. Mmoh reached his career high of 83 last month after defeating world No. 13 Alexander Zverev to reach last month’s Australian Open third round as a lucky loser.
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*Official Photographers: Andrew Patron, Gina Fontana & Juarez Santos
