CLEVELAND, Ohio – After winning the Cleveland TopNotch Wildcard Series earlier this year, Cleveland State junior Nico Mostardi is one of four remaining players vying for a wild card entry into the Main Draw of the upcoming Cleveland Challenger.
Mostardi will take on Felix Corwin in his semifinal contest, who is currently ranked #670 in the world. Mostardi's semifinal match is slated for a 2:30 p.m. start on Wednesday, January 23 at the Cleveland Racquet Club.
In the other semifinal match, Mikael Torrpegaard (current #297 in the world) will take on Brady Draheim (Oklahoma State sophomore), with the two winners set to compete in the finals later in the week.
The winner will earn a wild card into the Main Draw of the Cleveland Challenger (Jan. 28 – Feb. 3) – the first ATP event to be hosted in Cleveland in over 30 years.
Mostardi earned his spot in the four-person playoff after winning the Cleveland TopNotch Wildcard Series, where he posted a 5-0 record with the following wins:
Round of 32 | Def. Sasha Pachnev, 6-1, 6-1
Round of 16 | Def. Parker Banning, 6-2, 6-0
Quarterfinals | Def. Ilya Tiraspolsky, 6-3, 6-1
Semifinals | Def. Jacob Dunbar, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(8)
Finals | Def. Ian Dempster, default
The highlight of Mostardi's wins at the Cleveland TopNotch Wildcard Series came during the semifinals, when he defeated a top-800 player in Jacob Dunbar.
Cleveland was one of four cities to host a TopNotch Wildcard Series this year, joining Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Kansas City.