Lester Cook Takes Out Seeded Australian Millman In First Round at Calabasas

Written by: Staff on 21st October 2010

Lester Cook Takes Out Seeded Australian Millman In First Round at Calabasas |

A change of environment has done Lester Cook some good recently as the hometown kid from Calabasas now calls the Saddlebrook Academy in Tampa, Fla., his new home.

Cook beat No. 8 seeded John Millman from Australia 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday in the first round of the USTA Men’s Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas. It was pair’s third meeting this year with Cook now holding a 2-1 lead over the 21-year-old who recently made headlines by winning the Sacramento $50,000 Challenger.

Cook said he did it without playing his best. “I was hitting like 25 percent of my first serves,” said Cook, who grew up playing at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center and still has a number of local fans who came out cheering for him. “It was raining off and on and kind of hard to find my rhythm but I played well enough to get through.”

Cook, also newly engaged, will play Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round. Later in the evening, Cook teamed with Amer Delic to win a first-round singles match against Daniel King-Turner and Fredrik Nielsen, 7-5, 4-6, 10-4. It’s the third consecutive tournament the pair have played together.

Also on Wednesday, 18-year-old Ryan Harrison took out No. 5 seeded Izak Van Der Merwe of South Africa, 6-4, 6-3, in a match that was carried over after a rain delay on Tuesday. Harrison next plays Bobby Reynolds, who just last month took out Cook in the finals of the Tulsa $50,000 Challenger.

In the night match, two wild cards battled before a boisterous crowd with former Calabasas High and USC standout Gary Sacks beating last year’s semifinalist and former USC star Cecil Mamiit 6-4, 7-5, to complete the first round.

10sBalls.com is proud to have come on board as a sponsor of the Calabasas event. We want to thank tournament director, Jeff Richards and his entire team, for putting on such a great event. Anyone living in the Los Angeles or southern California region should make a priority to attend before the close. For more information, including ticket pricing, check out the official website, calabasaschallenger.com.

Wednesday’s First-Round Singles Scores

(wc: wild card; q: qualifier)

Marinko Matosevic, Australia, (6) def. Ryler DeHeart, U.S., 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Greg Jones, Australia, def. Daniel Kosakowski, U.S., (q) 6-2, 6-3

Ryan Sweeting, U.S., (2) def. Nicholas Monroe, U.S., (q) 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-2

Ryan Harrison, U.S., def. Izak Van Der Merwe, South Africa, (5) 6-4, 6-3

James Lemke, Australia, def. Rik De Voest, South Africa, 7-6 (5), 0-6, 6-1

Lester Cook, U.S., def. John Millman, Australia, (8) 6-4, 6-4

Gary Sacks, South Africa, def. Cecil Mamiit, U.S., (wc) 6-4, 7-5

Men’s First-Round Doubles

Greg Jones, U.S. / Jesse Witten, U.S., def. Chris Klingemann, Canada / Michael Venus, New Zealand (q), 6-0, 3-6, 10-3

Alex Kuznetsov, U.S. / Tim Smyczek, U.S., def. Carsten Ball, Australia / Marinko Matosevic, Australia, 6-4, 6-4

John Paul Fruttero, U.S. / Izak Van Der Merwe, South Africa, def. David Martin, U.S. / Travis Parrott, U.S., (2) 2-6, 6-3, 11-9

Lester Cook, U.S., / Amer Delic, Bosnia, def. Daniel King-Turner, New Zealand / Fredrik Nielsen, Denmark, 7-5, 4-6, 10-4

Thursday’s Order of Play

CENTER start 10 a.m.
[WC] T Smyczek (USA) vs [3] R Kendrick (USA)
R Harrison (USA) vs B Reynolds (USA)
[WC] G Sacks (RSA) vs [2] R Sweeting (USA)
[WC] M Ein (USA) / K Kim (USA) vs [3] R Harrison (USA) / T Rettenmaier (USA)
L Cook (USA) / A Delic (BIH) vs J Fruttero (USA) / I Van Der Merwe (RSA)

COURT 3 start 10 a.m.
G Jones (AUS) vs [6] M Matosevic (AUS)
[1] D Young (USA) vs J Lemke (AUS)
L Cook (USA) vs [Q] N Basilashvili (GEO)
[1] R DeHeart (USA) / P Duclos (CAN) vs N Monroe (USA) / D Young (USA)
[4] R de Voest (RSA) / B Reynolds (USA) vs [WC] A Gerst (USA) / G Sacks (RSA)

COURT 6
Not Before 11:00 AM
J Baker (GBR) vs A Delic (BIH)
F Nielsen (DEN) vs J Witten (USA)
[1] R DeHeart (USA) / P Duclos (CAN) or N Monroe (USA) / D Young (USA) vs P Bester (CAN) / A Kumar (USA) – To Be Arranged
[4] R de Voest (RSA) / B Reynolds (USA) or [WC] A Gerst (USA) / G Sacks (RSA) vs G Jones (AUS) / J Witten (USA) – To Be Arranged
A Kuznetsov (USA) / T Smyczek (USA) vs [WC] M Ein (USA) / K Kim (USA) or [3] R Harrison (USA) / T Rettenmaier (USA) – To Be Arranged

Download Thursday’s (10/20/10) Schedule: Click Here

Download Wednesday’s (10/19/10) Draw: Click Here

Topics: Amer Delic, Australia 6, Bobby Reynolds, Boisterous Crowd, Cecil Mamiit, Consecutive Tournament, Daniel King, Director Jeff, Gary Sacks, Home Cook, Jeff Richards, John Millman, Lester Cook, Rain Delay, Ryan Harrison, Southern California Region, Tennis Championships, Usta Men, Van Der Merwe, Wild Cards