Louisville Open: Knudsen’s Streak Ended, Kiwi Brothers Progress

Matias Knudsen’s winning streak finally came to an end on day one of the Louisville Open, as New Zealand’s Chileshe brothers both progressed. 

Knudsen came into this event on the back of glory at the I SPAC Open, his third straight tournament win, but was troubled by a knee injury in his round-one matchup with France’s Edwin Clain, going down 3-0 in 25 minutes. 

Clain will now face Portugal’s No.5 seed Rui Soares for a place in the quarter-finals, in what will be their first ever meeting on tour. 

Top seed Leonel Cardenas and second seed Timothy Brownell also discovered who they will play in round two, with both of their opponents coming through in four games on the opening day. 

Cardenas will play India’s Veer Chotrani, who saw off Pakistan’s Muhammad Ashab Irfan, while Brownell begins the defence of his title against New Zealand’s Lwamba Chileshe. 

Brownell will be Chileshe’s fourth American opponent in a row, with the Kiwi having played Spencer Lovejoy and Dillon Huang in his last two tournaments, before beating Jamie Ruggiero in round one here. 

Huang, meanwhile, was beaten by Chileshe’s younger brother Temwa, who set up a second-round clash with Juan Camilo Vargas.

Results: Men’s Round One

Veer Chotrani (IND) bt [9/16] Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) 3-1: 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 13-11 (49m) 
[9/16] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt Dillon Huang (USA) 3-0: TBC 
[9/16] Edwin Clain (FRA) bt Matias Knudsen (COL) 3-0: 11-2, 11-6, 11-8 (25m) 
[9/16] Aly Hussein (EGY) bt [WC] Matias Lacroix (CHI) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 (38m) 
[9/16] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt Nicolas Serna (COL) 3-0: 13-11, 11-6, 11-8 (38m) 
[9/16] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt Macéo Levy (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (31m) 
[9/16] Andres Herrera (COL) bt Juan Hernandez (COL) 3-0: 11-2, 11-6, 11-6 (26m) 
[9/16] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt Jamie Ruggiero (USA) 3-1: 6-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-7 (44m)

Draw: Men’s Round Two

[1] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v Veer Chotrani (IND) 
[9/16] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) v [6] Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 
[5] Rui Soares (POR) v Edwin Clain (FRA) 
Aly Hussein (EGY) v [3] Leandro Romiglio (ARG) 
[4] Faraz Khan (USA) v Sanjay Jeeva (MAS)
Daniel Mekbib (CZE) v [8] Christopher Gordon (USA)
[7] Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) v Andres Herrera (COL) 
Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) v [2] Timothy Brownell (USA)