Bobby Reynolds is a seasoned veteran of the ATP Tour, a journeyman who has battled in or near the top 100 for the better part of 10 years.
It takes a lot to surprise the 30-year-old from Cape Cod, Mass., but that’s just what 20-year-old American qualifier Denis Kudla did on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Dallas Tennis Classic at the Four Seasons Resort & Club in Irving.Kudla converted two of three break chances — one in each set — and did not face a break point on his serve to beat Reynolds 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals against German wild card Philipp Petzschner, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over qualifier Olivier Rochus of Beglium.Reynolds was impressed by Kudla, a finalist in the 2010 U.S. Open junior championship in which he lost in three sets to fellow American Jack Sock.“He played very well,” Reynolds said of Kudla. “He served surprisingly well, which kind of caught me off guard. He didn’t face a break point. I didn’t feel like I returned the best I could, and obviously, I didn’t serve the best I could, but that’s how it goes. But he’s striking the ball very well, and he’s a great player.”The victory continues a nice run for the No. 160-ranked Kudla, who advanced to the semifinals of an ATP Challenger event for the first time since winning in Charlottesville, Va., in October. In that tournament, the highest-ranked player Kudla faced was No. 183 Izak Van der Merwe of South African.In Irving, Kudla has already knocked off No. 8 seed and No. 62-ranked Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic and No. 109-ranked Matthias Bachinger of Germany.“I played well today,” Kudla said. “It’s definitely the best match I’ve played in the last six matches, and I’m pretty happy with that.“Bobby’s got a lot of experience, but I feel like I have a good amount now since I’ve been on the tour for about two years. It was our first time playing. We’ve practiced a couple of times, but I served really well today, and to get a win against someone like that … it was a really good win.”Also advancing to the semifinals was No. 5 seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria, who defeated No. 3 seed Denis Istomin 6-1, 3-6, 7-5. Melzer will play qualifier Illya Marchenko of Ukraine, who dispatched his fellow countryman Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.In doubles, No. 2 seeds Eric Butorac, U.S. and Dominic Inglot of Great Britain defeated Andre Begemann and Martin Emmerich of Germany 7-5, 6-3 to reach the semifinals. They will play No. 3 seeds Johan Brunstrom of Sweden and Raven Klaasen of South Africa, who beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg and Simon Stadler of Germany 6-4, 6-4.Top-seeded doubles team Melzer and Petzschner reached the final with a walkover against Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France and Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands.The tournament runs through Sunday. Tickets are available at Dallastennisclassic.com.Rusty Hall, 817-390-7816 Twitter: @RustyHall10s
