Florida’s Rybakov Wins 2nd Consecutive USTA Pro Circuit Tennis Title

Rain caused an eight-hour delay in the second set, but the final of the LB Futures $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament was worth the wait for No. 4-seeded Alex Rybakov of Florida, who defeated unseeded Markos Kalovelonis of Russia 7-6(6), 7-5 in Rochester, N.Y., for his second consecutive pro circuit title in two weeks.

The 21-year-old Coral Springs resident last week won the Sargent & Collins, LLP Men’s $25,000 Futures event in Buffalo, N.Y. The rising senior at Texas Christian University has now won two USTA Pro Circuit titles in a year for the first time in his career.

Rybakov dropped only one set during the week, in the quarterfinals working past Argentina’s Mateo Nicolas Martinez 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Martinez had also won the first set in their match the week prior in the Buffalo quarterfinals before Rybakov prevailed 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3. In the Saturday semifinals he beat Florida rising sophomore and wild card Andres Andrade 6-1, 6-4. 

The victory will see Rybakov close to a Top 500 spot on the ATP rankings.

Unseeded Americans Cannon Kingsley and John McNally won the doubles title, in the final upsetting No. 2 seeds Alejandro Gomez of Colombia and Pavel Krainik of Canada 6-4, 6-4. Kingsley of New York is a 17-year-old rising high school senior committed to Ohio State, and Cincinnati’s McNally is a 19-year-old freshman at Ohio State.

With more than 90 tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from $15,000-$125,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, John Isner, Sloane Stephens, Kei Nishikori, Victoria Azarenka, and Sam Querrey and are among today’s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit.

For more info go to www.procircuit.usta.com.