Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Having both suffered tough first-round singles defeats on Tuesday, Deiton Baughman and his doubles partner Stefan Kozlov came back to record a straight-set doubles upset over the No. 3-seeded team on Wednesday at the USTA Men’s Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas.

Baughman, 19, and Kozlov, 18, eliminated Keith-Patrick Crowley of South Africa and American Max Schnur, 6-1, 7-6 (4) to advance at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures event taking place at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Club.

For Baughman, it was sweet revenge as he had lost in doubles to the Crowley/Schnur pairing a few week back at a similar $25,000 Futures event.

“In doubles, it’s just a little bit more relaxing being out there, which is nice,” said Baughman. “Especially playing with Koz; someone I’ve trained with so much in Florida the last few years.”

The last we’d heard of Carson’s Baughman he was raising the trophy at the $25,000 Claremont tournament the week after the US Open in September. He spent the rest of the fall struggling with exhaustion and was later diagnosed as having a long bout with Mononucleosis.

“Toward the end of the year I was feeling so tired and run down but kept brushing it off,” said Baughman, who needed a wild card to get into Calabasas with a current world ranking just outside the world top 400. “It was my first year on tour and I thought I was just tired.”

Once diagnosed, Baughman spent four weeks in bed, going a full three weeks without even hitting a ball. “It’s been a nightmare start to the year,” said Baughman, still trying to get back into playing shape. “I went from playing five-straight three setters going 7-6 in the Florida heat to not even being able to finish a set and a half.”

Another former Southern California Futures winner, Texas’ Mitchell Krueger, moved into the second round with a three-set win over qualifier Alexios Halebian of Glendale, Calif., 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

The No. 3-seeded Krueger won his first USTA Pro Circuit event in 2015 at the $15,000 Futures at USC. Krueger was the top-ranked American junior boy in 2012, peaking at a career-high No. 5 in the world junior rankings. He decided to turn pro, passing up a tennis scholarship to Texas A&M after signing a national letter of intent. Krueger’s father played for the Aggies and his mother is a tennis coach in Dallas having played for Louisiana Tech.

Three of the eight qualifiers in action on Wednesday were winners, and all from South American, including Brazil’s Marcelo Zormann, Joao Pedro Sorgi and Colombia’s Alejandro Gomez.

Wednesday’s First-Round Singles Scores

wc: wild card; q: qualifier

Henri Laaksonen, Switzerland (1), def. Hubert Hurkacz, Poland (q), 6-4, 6-4
Mark Michalicka, Czech Republic (6), def. Tyler Hochwalt, U.S. (q), 6-4, 6-4
Alejandro Gomez, Colombia (q), def. Francis Alcantara, Philippines (wc), 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
Marcelo Zormann, Brazil (q), def. Nick Meister, U.S., 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Eric Quigley, U.S. (7), def. Joan Soler (q), France, 6-0, 7-5
Mitchell Krueger, U.S. (3), def. Alexios Halebian, U.S. (q), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
Dennis Nevolo, U.S., def. Jose Daniel Bendeck, Colombia (q), 6-4, 6-1
Joao Pedro Sorgi, Brazil (q), def. Jan Choinski, Germany, 6-4, 6-3

Wednesday’s First-Round Singles Scores

Deiton Baughman, U.S. / Stefan Kozlov, U.S., def. Keith-Patrick Crowley, South Africa, def. Max Schnur, U.S. (3), 6-1, 7-6 (4)
Francis Casey Alcantara, Philippines / Adrien Puget, France, def. Quinn Borchard, U.S. / Calle Hansen, Sweden (wc), 7-6 (5), 7-5
Henri Laaksonen, Switzerland / Mark Michalicka, Czech Republic, def. Sekou Bangoura, U.S., Ruben Gonzales, Philippines, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6
Matthew Barton, Australia / Matt Reid, Australia, def. Luke Bambridge, Great Britain / Liam Broady, Great Britain (4), 7-6 (6), 4-6, 10-5

Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.