The Honolulu Challenger, presented by American Savings Bank
A USTA Pro Circuit Event
Kailua Racquet Club, Kailua
January, 2012
Men's Singles 1st Round:
(Wildcard) Jack Sock (wearing orange)
vs.
(Wildcard) Dennis Lajola (wearing blue)
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In 2012, the Honolulu Challenger pro tennis tournament moved its location to the Kailua Racquet Club, from its previous spot at Central Oahu Regional Park & the Jarand Iwase Tennis Complex. Even though it only lasted at KRC for one year, the event flourished as players, staff, & spectators were treated to a country club like atmosphere with world class tennis accompanying it all. That year, two familiar wildcards faced each other in the 1st round: Local favorite Dennis Lajola & now multiple-time grand slam doubles champion Jack Sock.
Dennis Lajola was starting to embark on his debut on the pro circuit coming off of an illustrious college tennis career at the University of Hawaii Manoa. As a Rainbow Warrior, he lead UH to 3 WAC conference titles in row, including victories over division 1 teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation at the annual NCAA Tournament. Dennis qualified for the main draw of this event by winning the Challenger Wildcard Tournament at KRC a few weeks prior to this match. He had also been training & touring on the pro circuit with his coach Michael Chang, a former multi-time grand slam singles champion. At that time, Dennis' opponent, Jack Sock, was working his way up the world rankings & set his sights on becoming one of the next great American pro tennis players. In 2010, Jack claimed the US Open Junior Singles Championship as just a senior in high school. He then followed that up with a mixed open doubles championship with then partner Melanie Oudin at the 2011 US Open.
Personally, it was a real treat getting to see one of Hawaii's greats duel it out against one of American Tennis' next greats! After the match, Jack admitted that this was the biggest crowd he's ever seen at an opening round match during a Challenger event.
Here are highlights from this memorable encounter at Kailua Racquet Club!
#TennisNinja #HonoluluChallenger #JackSock #DennisLajola #ATPWorldTour #USTAProCircuit
Sources related to this match:
Jack Sock vs. Dennis Lajola Match Stats:
www.tennislive.net/atp/match/j...
Honolulu Challenger 2012 Tournament Draw:
www.stevegtennis.com/draw-res...
Honolulu Challenger 2012 By The Numbers Press Release:
assets.usta.com/assets/648/15/...[low-res]_-_2012_Honolulu_Challenger.pdf
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3 май 2020
