Top Boys Seeds Advance as Eddie Herr J1 First Round Concludes; Razeghi Defeats Brown in Kalamazoo 16s Rematch; Shang and Frusina Beat No. 2 Seeds to Open Doubles Play; Top Three Seeds Still Intact in 12s, 14s, 16s Divisions

©Colette Lewis 2021--
Bradenton FL--

The weather was perfect again Tuesday, as were the seeds, with the remaining 22 first round singles matches of the ITF Eddie Herr International J1 providing no surprises.

Top seed Bruno Kuzuhara needed barely an hour to defeat qualifier Dominique Rolland of France 6-0, 6-1, while No. 2 seed Viacheslav Bielinskyi of Ukraine stopped qualifier Ellis Short 6-3, 6-2. All 16 qualifiers and two lucky losers were in action Tuesday, but only two managed to post wins: Teddy Truwit, who beat Luca Hotze 6-4, 6-2 and South Africa's Gabriella Broadfoot, who defeated wild card Luciana Perry 7-5, 6-2.

Last week's champions at the JA in Merida, both No. 5 seeds this week, continued their winning streaks, with  Mili Poljicak of Croatia beating Timothy Phung 6-4, 6-0 and Brenda Fruhvirtova defeating Lara Smejkal of Slovenia 6-4, 6-4. No. 3 seed Linda Fruhvirtova, who lost to Brenda in the final, defeated Emma Charney 6-1, 6-2.

The rematch of the 2021 Kalamazoo 16s final between Texans Alex Razeghi and Lucas Brown didn't produce a different result, with the 15-year-old Razeghi again getting the better of Brown, now 17 years old. The Kalamazoo score was 6-3, 6-2, today's score was 6-1, 6-3, but Razeghi said this one was more difficult.

"It was way tougher than the last time I played him," Razeghi said. "His backhand was better than the Kazoo final. I was just more physical than he was, won more of the important points."

Razeghi expected Brown to change tactics after the opening set, which he did.

"He looked pretty tired and he started dropshotting a lot," Razeghi said. "I couldn't get to most of them, so he was hitting a lot of winners on drop shots."

The key game in the second set came with Razeghi serving at 2-3. Brown could be heard chastising himself for not taking his "golden opportunities" to get a break lead.

"He had a lot of chances, so once I got out of that game, I knew that I had momentum," Razeghi said. "That was a really tough game, and I knew I wanted to break, because he was down, that was his game. I did that, held easily, which was big."

Brown kept fighting to stay in the match, but Razeghi eventually held to win his fourth straight game, and the match.

"That last game was pretty tough," Razeghi said. "I had like five match points and the guy just did not miss on my match points at all. I had to earn every single one, until the one I won it on, he finally missed."

Razeghi will face No. 14 seed Adam Jurajda of the Czech Republic in Wednesday's second round.

The first round of doubles was nearly completed today, with two girls matches unfinished due to darkness. The match between qualifier Valeria Ray and No. 13 seed Alina Shcherbinina of Russia, won by Shcherbinina 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-3, extended into mid-afternoon, pushing back their first round doubles matches, which will be completed early Tuesday afternoon.

Top seeds Diana Shnaider of Russia and Petra Marcinko of Croatia earned a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Sayaka Ishii and Ena Koike of Japan, but the Fruhvirtova sisters, seeded No. 2, were taken to a match tiebreaker before beating Ariana Pursoo and Ahmani Guichard 6-4, 4-6, 10-6.

Kuzahara and Poljicak, the top-seeded boys team, beat Brown and Preston Stearns 6-1, 6-2. The No. 2 seeds, Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic and Coleman Wong of Hong Kong, were beaten by the wild card team of Juncheng Jerry Shang and Alexander Frusina 6-4, 2-6, 10-5.

All second round singles and doubles matches are on Wednesday's schedule.

The seeds in the younger divisions have held up well throughout the first two rounds, with none of the top three seeds in any of the eight draws exiting.

The first round of the girls 16s singles was completed today, after rain overnight Sunday caused a two-hour delay that eventually led to one half of the first round matches being canceled Monday night. 

In boys 16s, 15-year-old wild card Rudy Quan defeated No. 4 seed Tanner Povey 6-0, 6-0 last night and lost only one game in his second round match today. Quan, who went 41-2 in the 12s and 14s in 2018, winning the 12s Easter Bowl, Clay Courts and Nationals, has played very little since 2019 due to injuries.

Complete draws for the 12s, 14s and 16s can be found here.

Michelsen Defeats No. 6 Seed Wong, Top Girls Seeds Roll at Eddie Herr ITF J1; Few Upsets in Eddie Herr 12s and 14s Divisions; USTA National Indoors Final Results

©Colette Lewis 2021--

Bradenton FL--

Twenty-two seeded players began their quest for the Eddie Herr ITF J1 titles Monday on the Har-Tru courts at the IMG Academy, with 17 of them posting victories.

The top two seeds in the girls draw, No. 1 Kristina Dmitruk of Belarus, the 2021 US Open girls finalist, and No. 2 seed Diana Shnaider of Russia, breezed through their opening matches under partly cloudy skies. Dmitruk defeated Ava Krug 6-0, 6-0 and Shnaider eliminated Tatum Evans 6-2, 6-2 on the courts of the main site, while No. 4 seed Petra Marcinko of Croatia also advanced in straight sets, beating Madeleine Jessup 6-0, 6-3 at the Academy Park courts.

No. 8 seed Clervie Ngounoue, one of only two seeded American girls, lost to Canadian Mia Kupres 5-1, ret. The other seeded US girl, No. 14 seed Alexis Blokhina, barely survived, winning the last three games of her two-hour, 45-minute, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory, after Canadian Kayla Cross had served for the match at 5-4 in the third.

No. 9 seed Johanne Christine Svendsen of Denmark lost to Kristyna Tomajkova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5.

Three seeded boys lost Monday, including No. 6 seed Coleman Wong of Hong Kong. Alex Michelsen, one of the last players to receive entry into the main draw, pulled off the upset, despite the 200 places in the ITF Junior rankings separating them.

Michelsen, who is from Southern California, is playing just his second event on clay this week.

"I played on clay two days before I came out here," said the 17-year-old right-hander. "This is my second ever clay tournament. I played the USTA Clay Courts this year in July for the first time. The courts here are pretty quick, which I like. The clay courts back home, they're terrible in California, it's too dry, but it was good preparation. These courts are quick, so it helped."

Michelsen said he was able to control the match in classic clay court fashion.

"I made a lot of balls, I didn't miss much," said Michelsen, a junior who recently made a verbal commitment to the University of Georgia. "I just kind of waited for him to miss. I don't think he played his best, to be honest, he was spraying some balls, so I just tried to keep it in play on every point, didn't go for too much, played smart tennis."

Michelsen said he gained a lot of confidence from his run to the final of the UTR Pro Series event in Newport Beach two weeks ago, while also noting the impact of his college decision.

"It's a weight off the shoulders for sure," Michelsen said. "I feel like it's helped me play a little better. I've been playing well since I committed; I think it's helped a lot actually."

The other two boys seeds who lost were No. 11 Abedallah Shelbayh of Jordan, the University of Florida freshman, and No. 13 seed Sebastian Dominko of Slovenia. Lennon Jones of Japan defeated Shelbayh 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-1 and Alexander Blockx of Belgium beat Dominko 6-3, 7-5.

With 42 first round singles matches played today, just 22 are on the schedule for Tuesday, but they include the top two boys seeds: Bruno Kuzuhara and Viacheslav Bielinskyi of Ukraine, both of whom take on qualifiers.

I'll be taking special note of the match between qualifier Lucas Brown and wild card Alexander Razeghi, which is a rematch of this year's Kalamazoo 16s final, which Razeghi won 6-3, 6-2.

Most of Tuesday's action in the J1 will be in doubles, with all 32 first round matches on the schedule.  Kuzuhara and Mili Poljicak of Croatia are the No. 1 seeds, with Wong and Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic the No. 2 seeds. Wong and Mensik will take on the wild card team of Juncheng Jerry Shang of China and Alexander Frusina. ITF junior No. 1 Shang, who trains at the IMG Academy, has won three $15,000 tournaments on the USTA Pro Circuit since reaching the US Open boys final. After playing the Puerto Vallarta Challenger last week, he returned to Bradenton and decided to ask for a wild card for the J1 doubles.

The top seeds in the girls doubles are Marcinko and Shnaider, with Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic the No. 2 seeds.

Unexpected rain overnight led to a two-hour delay in the start of the tournament for the 12s, 14s and 16s, which are played on the IMG Academy's hard courts. As of 9 p.m., 16s matches were still being put on court, but the 12s and 14s are complete. The top seeds all advanced, with the exception of B14s No. 4 seed Calvin Baierl, who lost to Roben Gavani of Bulgaria 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-4. and No. 5 G14s seed Katie Rolls, who lost to Ishika Khune 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Draws for the 12s, 14s and 16s can be found here.

The USTA National Indoor Championships concluded today, with results of the singles and doubles finals below. To view the full draws, click on the heading.

B12s:

Singles: Colin McPeek[1] d. Michael Antonious[2] 6-3, 7-5

Doubles: Colin McPeek/Izyan Ahmad[1] d. Mateo Pouso/Tanishk Konduri 8-2

B14s:

Singles: Nicholas Patrick[1] d. Ronit Karki[2] 6-1, 6-3

Doubles: Adrien Abarca/Jon Gamble[2] d. Nicholas Patrick/Dominick Mosejczuk 8-6

B16s:

Singles: Stephan Gershfeld d. Ian Bracks 6-1, 6-3

Doubles: AJ Mercer/Matthew Forbes d. Joshua Mandelbaum/Oliver Narbut[2] 8-6

B18s: 

Singles: Alexander Visser[1] d. Dean Kamenev[9] 6-4, 6-4

Doubles: Cooper Woestendick/Nikita Filin d. Alexander Aney/Jason Shuler 8-2

G12s:

Singles: Sophie Suh[3] d. Kalista Papadopoulos[12] 7-6(3), 6-0

Doubles: Carrie-Anne Hoo/Nancy Lee[1] d. Aubrey Meis/Sydney Barnhart[2] 8-2

G14s:

Singles: Kenna Erickson d. Leena Friedman[4] 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Doubles: Kinley Vanpelt/Emerey Gross[2] d. Summer Chandler/Ahniya Vustsina[7] 8-5

G16s:

Singles: Erin Ha[10] d. Amber Yin[1] 6-2, 6-2

Doubles: Savannah Webster/Olivia Center[8] d. Natasha Rajaram/Jessica Bernales[3] 8-4

G18s:

Singles: Daria Smetannikov[9] d. Gayathri Krishnan 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-1

Doubles: Stephanie Yakoff/Kaitlyn Carnicella[2] d. Shannon Lam/Daria Smetannikov 8-4

Eddie Herr Seeds, Draws Revealed with First Round Action Monday for 12s, 14s, 16s and ITF J1; Brenda Fruhvirtova, Poljicak Win JA Titles in Merida

©Colette Lewis 2021--
Bradenton, FL--

The qualifying for the ITF J1 Eddie Herr International Championships was the only competition going on today at the IMG Academy, with the 12s, 14s and 16s having a day off before their first round play begins on Monday. But with two rounds of qualifying, there was plenty of action all day, with the players below earning their places in the main draw.

Boys:

Ellis Short[1], USA

Preston Stearns[2], USA

Dominique Rolland[14], FRA

Learner Tien[10], USA

Federico Bondioli[13], ITA

Ty Switzer, USA

Lucas Brown[11], USA

Teddy Truwit, USA

Girls:

Akasha Urhobo, USA

Gabriella Broadfoot[2], RSA

Elizabeth Tindera[3], USA

Isabella Chhiv[13], USA

Valeria Ray[5], USA

Bridget Stammel, USA

Sophia Wang, USA

Yujin Kim[8], KOR

Learner Tien defeated No. 4 seed Jack Loutit of New Zealand 6-4, 7-6(2) in the final round of qualifying after dropping only two games in his first and second round qualifying matches. The left-hander from Irvine California, who turns 16 next week, didn't panic when Loutit, also a left-hander, broke him to take a 6-5 lead in the second set.

"I was kind of expecting to go into a match tiebreaker, but at the same time, I was fairly confident I could break him," Tien said. "I had broken him two or three times earlier, in both sets actually, so I was just hoping he would play a looser game."

Loutit berated himself for his shot selection at 30-all in that game, after missing a backhand down the line, and Tien took advantage on the next point to force the tiebreaker. 

"I got a pretty good start, and after 1-all, 2-1, I got a lot of momentum," said Tien, who made no mistakes in the last six points, all of which he won.

Tien, who won the J4 in Corpus Christi this fall, said he decided to skip the 16s division at the Eddie Herr and the Orange Bowl this year.

"I talked with my parents and my coaches about that, and I just don't think I'll get anything out of it really, except purely matches," Tien said. "I feel like I get a lot more out of playing a higher age group. There are no really easy matches now. If you go out there and are not feeling your best, every match is loseable. In a lower age group, I could get away without playing well."

Tien, as a qualifier, will have a day off on Monday, with his first round match Tuesday.

Fourteen-year-old Akasha Urhobo does not have an ITF ranking, with her previous appearances on the ITF Junior Circuit ending in the qualifying or first round. But after three wins this weekend, including a 6-4, 6-2 win over Jasmin Makela in the final round of qualifying, she will compete in the main draw of a J1 for the first time.

Urhobo said her mental game was a key to advancing.

"I would say what led me to the main draw was trying my best to keep my composure," said Urhobo, who has been playing tennis for as long as she can remember, with her father a coach at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center in Fort Lauderdale. "Just letting one point get to me could ruin the whole game, and then that moves on to the set and the whole match."

Growing up in Florida Urhobo is comfortable on the green clay, but is looking to improve some of the physical aspects of her game the surface demands.

"I could improve my endurance,," Urhobo said. "After a few points, especially really long points, I find myself gasping for air sometimes. If I could just fix that, I think I would be ok."

Urhobo said it wasn't a given that she would play tennis, despite her father's occupation.

"He played on tour, and then he became a coach and he didn't really want the drama that goes in between to happen for me," Urhobo said. "But I guess, in the end, he allowed me to start, and I'm happy that he did."

The younger age divisions, which finish on Saturday, will play one round a day beginning Monday. The 12s, 14s and 16s draws, with times, can be found here. Below are the top eight seeds in all eight divisions:

Eddie Herr Top 8 Seeds:

ITF Boys:

1. Bruno Kuzuhara, USA

2. Viacheslav Bielinskyi, UKR

3. Jakub Mensik, CZE

4. Leo Borg, SWE

5. Mili Poljicak, CRO

6. Coleman Wong, HKG

7. Aleksander Orlikowski, POL

8. Edas Butvilas, LTU

B16s

1. Juan David Velasquez Ariza, COL

2. Rei Sakamoto, JPN

3. Chase Fralick, USA

4. Tanner Povey, USA

5. Amir Milushev, UZB

6. Maxim Michaels, USA

7. Thanaphat Boosarawongse, THA

8. Emmett Potter, CAN

B14s

1. Maxwell Exsted, USA

2. Andrea De Marchi, ITA

3. Timofey Derepasko, RUS

4. Calvin Baierl, USA

5. Boxiong Zhang, CHN

6. Yubel Ubri, USA

7. Thijs Boogaard, NED

8. Benjamin Willwerth, USA

B12s

1. Navneet Raghuram, USA

2. Teodor Davidov, USA

3. Vihaan Reddy, USA

4. Jordan Lee, USA

5. Jerrid Gaines, USA

6. Juan Miguel Bolivar, COL

7. Tam Sin Hang, HKG

8. Gadin Arun, USA

ITF Girls

1. Kristina Dmitruk, BLR

2. Diana Shnaider, RUS

3. Linda Fruhvirtova, CZE

4. Petra Macinko, CRO

5. Brenda Fruhvirtova, CZE

6. Solana Sierra, ARG

7. Mirra Andreeva, RUS

8. Clervie Ngounoue, USA

G16s

1. Piper Charney, USA

2. Kinaa Graham, USA

3. Brooklyn Olson, USA

4. Kate Kim, USA

5. Noemi Basiletti, ITA

6. Claire An, USA

7. Mayu Crossley, JPN

8. Krisha Mahendran, USA

G14s

1. Rositsa Dencheva, BUL

2. Eva Oxford, USA

3. Wakana Sonobe, JPN

4. Maya Iyengar, USA

5. Katie Rolls, USA

6. Aurora Nosei, ITA

7. Tahlia Kokkinis, AUS

8. Amelie Justine Hejtmanek, GER

G12s

1. Lia Belibova, MDA

2. Rin Ito, JPN

3. Kristina Penickova, USA

4. Anna Bugaienko, USA

5. Anita Tu, USA

6. Abigail Gordon, USA

7. Bela Martinez, PUR

8. Joyce Geng, CAN

The JA in Merida Mexico finished late Saturday night, with 14-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova, the No. 4 seed, defeating her 16-year-old sister Linda, the No. 3 seed, 7-5, 7-5 to claim the girls singles title. Linda had beaten Brenda in the final of the J1 a week ago in Guadalajara Mexico.

In the boys final, No. 4 seed Mili Poljicak of Croatia defeated No. 6 seed Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 for the title. 

Vallejo is the only one of the four finalists who is not playing this week's Eddie Herr.

With many American juniors taking the week off for Thanksgiving, and playing the National Indoors or Eddie Herr, there was only one title for the US on the ITF Junior Circuit this week, at the J5 in Panama. Top seeds Roy Horovitz and Stefan Regalia won the boys doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Luis Fernandez and Chile's Piero Fernandez Moreno 6-4, 7-6(5) in the final.

Eddie Herr Qualifiers in 12s, 14s and 16s Divisions; First Round of ITF J1 Eddie Herr Qualifying Complete; Lincer Reaches $15K Singles Final, Reed Wins Doubles Title

©Colette Lewis 2021--
Bradenton FL--

A perfect day for tennis saw the end of the qualifying for the younger divisions at the Eddie Herr International Junior Championships and the beginning of the qualifying for the ITF J1.

Clear skies, no wind and temperatures in the upper 60s was the backdrop, and with an absence of weather issues, all the younger qualifiers were free to enjoy the great weather, with all matches completed by 12:30 p.m. 

Below is the list of qualifiers. I have added the country name of each qualifier, information that is not available on the website. All qualifying draws can be found here.

Boys 12s:

Jae Jun Shin[1], Korea

Julian Zhang[8], USA

Amir Khan[14], USA

Qi Ao[6], USA

Levi Taylor[5], USA

Jaime Gomez Lopez[3], MEX

Matias Erices, USA

Victor Pignaton[2], BRA

Girls 12s: (finished Friday)

Camila de la Casas[1], PER

Meher Rao[7], USA

Briyana Ivanova, BUL

Luma Teixeira[6], USA

Zoe Vanina Doldan Vinales, USA

Aurora Lugo, PUR

Pepper Rickert[8], USA

Ji Yun Oh[2], KOR

Boys 14s:

Nathan Germino[1], USA

Rajat Shirur[12], USA

Keane Chambers, USA

Luise Ignacio Roble Flores[9], CHI

Nicolas Genereux[8], CAN

Venkat Rishi Batlanki, IND

Ryan Szilagy[14], USA

Jorge Andres Rodriguez Palacios[2], BOL

Girls 14s:

Vasilina Andronov[1], ISR

Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett, CAN

Dylan Gelber[4], CAN

Gretchen Wolfe[5], USA

Marianne Angel Gonzalez[11], MEX

Anna Maria Fedotova[3], DOM

Lillian Santos[8], USA

Zaire Clarke[2], USA

Boys 16s:

Jack Di Menna[13], USA

Arjan Mann, CAN

Kristian Thomas, CAN

Jack Ling[11], USA

Maxim Prunoiu, USA

Kaito Hanada, JPN

Raul de la Vega, BRA

Nathan Gold[2], USA

Girls 16s:

Stephanie Hylton, USA

Allie Bittner, USA

Ashikha Amalnathan, USA

Delanie Tribby[4], USA

Raphaelle Leroux[1], CAN

Lucia Donnelly[9], USA

Mollie Garcia[15], USA

Juhnyee See[11], USA

The J1 qualifying didn't feature any of the top nine seeds, who all received byes into Sunday's second round, and most of the 10-16 seeds advanced. The only exceptions in the girls draw was No. 11 seed Maya Iyengar, who gave a walkover to Abigail Thurmer, and No. 15 seed Violeta Martinez, who lost to Eleana Yu 6-0, 6-3.

In the boys draw, Landon Ardila picked up the only win over a 10-16 qualifying seed, beating No. 12 Meecah Bigun 6-3, 6-3.

Ardila, a 17-year-old from Texas, said he wasn't aware that the tournament was on clay, and had one hit on the Har-Tru before his first round match.

"Just the warmup this morning, that's about it," said Ardila, who had not played a match at the Eddie Herr before today. "I live in Dallas, and don't have clay at my club. It's a lot more grinding, you have to move a lot, be ready for the bad bounces. Flat serves, flat forehands aren't as effective, so you've got to hit heavier."

Ardila didn't play on the ITF Junior Circuit prior to this year, but his success this fall in two events in Texas, where he won the J5 in McKinney as a qualifier and made the final of the J4 in Corpus Christi, convinced him to sign up for the Eddie Herr.

"I played two ITFs in September and I did really well in those, so I decided to go the course of playing ITFs," Ardila said. "It's a huge tournament and a great chance to play some really good players. The first step is just to try to make main draw, get some ITF points. If I get there, I'll set some new goals."

Sunday's qualifying schedule for the J1 includes two rounds, with the first series of boys matches going out at 8:30 a.m., followed by the girls, then the boys final round and the girls final round.

The JA in Merida Mexico concludes tonight, with Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova meeting for the girls singles title for the second consecutive week. Linda, the No. 3 seed, defeated No. 2 seed Petra Marcinko of Croatia 6-3, 6-3, while 14-year-old Brenda took out top seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Last week in the final of the J1 in Guadalajara Mexico, Linda defeated Brenda 6-4, 7-6(5).

The boys singles final tonight features No. 4 seed Mili Poljicak of Croatia and No. 6 seed Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay. 

The doubles finals were played last night, with Victoria Mboko and Kayla Cross, the No. 6 seeds beating Annabelle Xu and Naomi Xu 7-5, 6-2 in an all-Canadian championship match.  

The boys doubles title went to No. 6 seeds Juan Manuel La Serna and Lautaro Midon of Argentina, who defeated No. 7 seeds Joao Victor Couto Loureiro of Brazil and Henrique Rocha of Portugal 6-4, 0-6, 11-9 in the final.

Two American girls who entered ITF World Tennis Tour women's events rather than junior events have had impressive showings this week in Guatemala.

Sixteen-year-old Olivia Lincer, who has yet to crack the ITF Junior Circuit Top 100, has advanced to the final of the $15,000 tournament in Guatemala. The unseeded Lincer, who does not have a WTA ranking, will face top seed Hurricane Tyra Black in Saturday's all-US final. Fifteen-year-old Lexington Reed, who Lincer beat in the second round in singles, won the doubles title today, with Paris Corley(LSU). The unseeded Reed and Corley defeated the top seeds in the second round, and in the final beat No. 4 seeds Black and her partner Fernanda Astete of Chile 4-6, 7-6(1), 10-5.

Eddie Herr Qualifying Concludes Saturday for 12s, 14s, 16s with ITF J1 Qualifying Beginning; Top Four Girls Seeds Reach Semifinals at JA in Mexico

©Colette Lewis 2021--
Bradenton FL--

Mia Kupres and Nathalie Tauziat of Canada
heading home for the day

The final round of qualifying for the 12s, 14s and 16s division of the Eddie Herr International Championships is scheduled for Saturday morning, with the first round of qualifying for the ITF J1 also beginning at 8 a.m. on the clay courts of the IMG Academy.

Eight players will reach the 64-player main draw, which begins Monday. All final round qualifying matchups are available here, under the Round of 16 button.

The ITF J1 qualifying draws did not fill, with the top nine boys and top nine girls seeds receiving byes. Ellis Short and Preston Stearns are the top two seeds in the boys qualifying. Teddy Truwit and Brayden Michna are blue chips unseeded in the qualifying draw. Daniella Ben-Abraham, who was given a wild card, is the top seed in the girls qualifying, with Gabriella Broadfoot of South Africa the No. 2 seed. Eleana Yu, Bridget Stammel and Katie Codd are blue chips who are unseeded in the qualifying draw.

Although little has changed around the clay courts, the massive new construction on the East Campus has dramatically changed the look around the courts there. The tournament headquarters for the younger age groups remains in the indoor bubble where it has alway been, but with all the other ongoing construction surrounding it, the atmosphere in the area has completely changed.

I've gotten accustomed to all the changes on the West Campus, but wasn't prepared for all the demolition that has happened on the original grounds of the academy over the past two years.

The JA tournament this week in Merida Mexico is down to the semifinals, but with the matches being played so late there and no live scoring I can't stay up until the results are posted given the early start of the Eddie Herr tomorrow. The girls semifinals tonight featured all four of the top seeds, with No. 1 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra playing No. 4 seed Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic and No. 3 seed Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic facing No. 2 seed Petra Marcinko of Croatia.  No. 6 seed Clervie Ngounoue was the only American to reach the quarterfinals; she lost to Jimenez Kasintseva last night 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

The boys semifinals consist of No. 15 seed Lautaro Midon of Argentina versus No. 6 seed Adolfo Vallejo of Paraguay and an all-Croatian battle between No. 4 seed Mili Poljicak and No. 16 seed Dino Prizmic. Prizmic defeated No. 2 seed Leo Borg of Sweden 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 in last night's quarterfinals.

Happy Thanksgiving! Draws Posted for USTA National Indoor Championships, Beginning Friday at Eight Sites Across the Country

photo by Joseph Gonzalez, via unsplash

As is customary for me, I will be taking Thursday off for Thanksgiving, so I want to use tonight's post to wish everyone a happy holiday. Thanks for reading Zootennis, and I'll be back on Friday with updates on the JA going on this week in Merida Mexico, and the qualifying tournaments at the Eddie Herr.

The USTA National Indoor Championships are returning after a year's absence, with matches beginning Friday at eight sites--one for each age group and gender. 

Below are the top eight seeds in each division; the 64-player draws mean two singles matches a day on Friday and Sunday, with the finals scheduled for Monday.

B12s, Pendleton IN

1. Colin McPeek
2. Michael Antonius
3. Izyan Ahmad
4. Erik Schinnerer
5. Mateo Pouso
6. Anish Poojari
7. Akshay Mirmira
8. Safir Azam

G12s, Manchester MA

1. Sydney Barnhart
2. Nancy Lee
3. Sophie Suh
4. Ellery Mendell
5. Carrie-Ann Ho
6. Reagan Levine
7. Aubrey Meis
8. Anjani Vickneswaran

B14s, Chicago

1. Nicholas Patrick

2. Ronit Karki

3. Dominick Mosejczuk

4. Evan Sharygin

5. Zachary Cohen

6. Roman Sancilio

7. Jon Gamble

8. Andre Alcantara

G14s, Toledo

1. Laima Frosch

2. Capucine Jauffret

3. Emerey Gross

4. Leena Friedman

5. Olivia Cutone

6. Addison Lanton

7. Calla McGill

8. Paige Wygodzki

B16s, Nicholasville KY

1. Kaveh Brian Taheri

2. Aaron Sandler

3. William Hseih

4, Kase Schinnerer

5. Declan Galligan

6. Noah McDonald

7. Rahul Sachdev

8. Carson Baker

G16s, Minneapolis

1. Amber Yin

2. Saray Yli-piipari

3. Jessica Bernales

4. Ava Bruno

5. Elena Daskalova

6. Angela Huang

7. Clara Zou

8. Victoria Zhao

B18s, Overland Park KS

1. Alexander Visser

2. Marko Mesarovic

3. Grant Lothringer

4. Chad Miller

5. Vignesh Gogineni

6. Connor Smillie

7. Eric Li

8. Jason Shuler

G18s, Indianapolis

1. Kaitlyn Carnicella

2. Theadora Rabman

3. Charlotte Owensby

4. Maddy Zampardo

5. Alice Xu

6. Vivian Miller

7. Stephanie Yakoff

8. Reese Miller