FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y.—University of Hawai'i men's tennis alum Andre Ilagan saw his historic run at the U.S. Open come to an end in the Men's Singles Qualifying Round 2, falling to third-seeded Hugo Gaston of France in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, on Wednesday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

Ilagan, who concluded his decorated collegiate career at Hawai'i in 2023 after winning a pair of state singles titles at Farrington High School, continued setting records by becoming the first Hawai'i player to compete at the U.S. Open this week.

Men's Singles Qualifying Tournament: Round 1
On Tuesday in Round 1 of qualis, Ilagan defeated Tristan Moyer in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. In Set 1, Ilagan raced out to a 5-2 lead before Moyer chipped away to close within one game at 5-4. But Ilagan was able to hold off Moyer and won the first set 6-4.

Moyer took care of business in Set 2, winning 6-3. Then, both players battled it out in Set 3. Ilagan held his serve to take a 5-4 lead, and out-dueled Moyer down the final stretch to break him to seal the hard-fought win.

For the match, Ilagan held an 8-6 advantage in aces and a 63%-to-50% edge in first-serve percentage while winning 73% of his points on those first serves. Ilagan edged out Boyer 89 to 86 in total points.

Men's Singles Qualifying Tournament - Round 2
On Wednesday, Ilagan's record-setting run at the U.S. Open was thwarted by third-seeded Hugo Gaston of France, who won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. Gaston started the match by rolling out to a 5-0 lead before Ilagan held serve to trail late, 1-5. Gaston closed out the frame soon after, 6-1.

But Ilagan took his momentum into Set 2. He opened the frame by holding serve for an early 1-0 lead. He fell behind 1-2 after Gaston won his serve and broke Ilagan after a pair of deuces. Ilagan battled back to break Gaston right back to tie the set at 2-2, then held serve to leapfrog to a 3-2 lead. The two fought hard over the remaining games, but Gaston held off the charging Ilagan to take Set 2, 6-3.

Gaston led Ilagan in almost every statistical category, except first-serve percentage (57%-to-46%) and winners (15-to-11). Unfortunately, Ilagan struggled with 31 unforced errors to Gaston's nine.

Ilagan ended his first U.S. Open and his first major tournament with a 1-1 record in the Men's Singles Qualifying tournament.


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