Haskins Moves Ahead to Futures, Area Players Solid in Wildcard Tourney Efforts

EDWARDSVILLE – Carson Haskins of suburban St. Louis, who plays for Indiana University, defeated fellow Big Ten player Jason Kerst, from the University of Iowa, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5 in the tiebreaker) to win the Pro Wildcard Challenge presented by TheBANK Of Edwardsville/Busey Bank Saturday afternoon at the Edwardsville Tennis Center.

Both players battled tremendously throughout the match, but Haskins served an ace at match point to win the tournament, his second wild card tournament win of the year. By advancing to the finals, both Haskins and Kerst earned berths in the Edwardsville Futures tournament presented by The EGHM Foundation, which starts on Monday.

The weather, as it had been the previous two days, was glorious, with wall-to-wall sunshine and temperatures in the upper 80s, but without a trace of a breeze, which made for warm conditions.

In addition, local players performed well in the consolation bracket of the tournament, with Zach Trimpe advancing to the consolation semifinals.

In the semifinals of the main draw, Haskins won over Vimuktha De Alwis of White Plains, N.Y. 6-4, 6-3, while Kerst advanced when his opponent, South Africa’s Joshua Howard-Tripp, who plays for the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, was forced to retire with the first set tied at 5-5.

Over in the consolation draw, in Friday’s quarterfinals, Trimpe advanced over Matt Jansen of Washington, Mo., 6-0, 3-0, when Jansen retired, but Seth Lipe lost to Ian Deiters 6-1, 6-2. In Saturday’s semifinals, Deiters defeated Trimpe 3-6, 6-1, 10-8, while Max Skaer of Belleville won over Tom Bickel of Winnetka 6-4, 6-4. The result of the consolation final was not available.

Play in the Edwardsville Futures begins on Monday with the opening round matches. It will also be Net Gen Kids Night presented by the village of Glen Carbon, with popsicles, games, and vendors available throughout the evening.

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Dan Brannan also contributed to this story

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