Girls Top Seed Bresson Falls; Unseeded Bowles Reaches Semifinals

©Colette Lewis 2005--
Mobile Alabama--

Girls Top Seed Bresson Falls: Unseeded Bowles Reaches Semifinals--

Six hours, two days and six match points saved later, Magdalena Bresson lost her fourth round Spring Nationals contest to Austin Smith, but no one who saw the match would ever doubt either girls' poise under pressure and zest for the battle.
Smith's 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(4) victory contained a tournament's worth of drama. At 3-4 in third set, Smith broke Bresson and served for match, but could not win that elusive match point on four occasions. Often the points were ten, 15 or 20 stroke rallies, tension building with each shot. But even after giving so much, Bresson and Smith stepped to the lines and picked up the struggle again, neither relenting until it was 6 all. In the tiebreaker, Bresson quickly went up 2-0 but after a failed pass and an umpire's overule, the top seed from Florida lost four consecutive points. Smith was staring at four more match points, and fortunately for the spectators, including her father Stan, she needed only three of them, finally eliciting a forehand error from Bresson that produced a spirited "c'mon" from Smith and a collective exhalation from the crowd. The 13th seeded lefthander from Hilton Head then faced a well-rested quarterfinal opponent Eleanor Peters, who had completed her fourth round match on Sunday, and Smith was unable to clear that hurdle, dropping a 6-4, 6-4 decison to the sixth seed.
Peters will face Lindsay Burdette, the third seed, in one semifinal on Tuesday. Burdette had an emotionally exhausting match of her own, defeating unseeded Ashley Weinhold 6-1, 2-6, 7-5. In the other girls semifinal, unseeded Reka Zsilinska will face 24th seed Melissa Mang, who upset second seed Kristen McVitty 7-5, 6-1.

The girls doubles final will feature the top seeded team of Burdette and Melissa Saiontz versus fifth seeds Peters and Laura Reichert.

The top half of the boys draw has gone according to form, with top seed Marek Czerwinski overcoming a stubborn Blake Strode (18) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 and third seed Maciek Sykut eliminating Brett Helgeson (8) 6-3, 6-4. The top seeded doubles partners meet each other in the semifinals Tuesday morning and will meet the third seeded team of Santiago Montoya and Adam Slagter in the afternoon doubles championship match.

Clint Bowles is playing in his first 18s National Championship and what a memorable rookie tournament it has been for him. Unseeded, he breezed through his first four matches, not losing a set. But his quarterfinal opponent, Justin Kronauge, was a step up in accomplishment and experience, and Bowles knew it.

"He's a good player, and I knew he'd won the last National Championship (the Winter Championships in Scottsdale)," said Bowles. "But when I'm playing, he's just another person."

Bowles, 16, showed no deference to the second seed, breaking him in the first game and holding on for a 6-4, 7-5 win. Adding the occasional deft drop shot to keep Kronauge off balance, Bowles used his staunch forehand to punish any short balls, and hit many outright winners, which Kronauge rarely allows.

"I thought I served well and hit my forehand really well," said the lefthander from Tampa, "and I didn't miss many volleys."

In the semifinals Tuesday morning, Bowles will face 14th seed Wesley Miller, who beat fellow Californian Max Taylor 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.