On the first day of the 30th annual $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger presented by Santa Cruz County Bank, four out of the eight seeded players in the tournament lost in the first round.
Malek Jaziri, who was the top seed of the tournament and currently ranked No. 76 in the world, lost 6-2, 6-1 to Austin Krajicek (USA), who was one of four U.S. qualifiers for the main draw.
Jaziri, of Tunisia, and Krajicek have faced each other six times now, with the latter winning five of those meetings. This match, however, lasted only a 57 minutes.
Earlier in the day, No. 2 seed, Jordan Thompson, of Australia, lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to his countryman Akira Santillan, who is only 20 years old and currently ranked No. 161 in the world.
Additionally, No. 4 seed Ruben Bemelmans, of Belgium, lost 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to U.S. qualifier Liam Brody, while No. 8 Bjorn Fratangelo, of the U.S., fell 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 to unseeded Aussie Sam Groth.
