Embree, Radeva and Sundling Champions at Easter Bowl

Embree, Radeva and Sundling Champions at Easter Bowl--
©Colette Lewis 2005--
Palm Springs, CA--

Nelly Radeva had little reason for optimism coming into the Easter Bowl. The fourteen-year-old from Orange County had lost her first round qualifying match (in the 18s division) at the ITF International Spring event in Carson the previous week, and was unseeded in the 16s age group in Palm Springs.

But by the time she was awarded her first USTA gold ball on Sunday afternoon, after a riveting 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over fourth seed McCall Jones, she could look forward to a future as bright as the desert sun that blazed overhead.

Admitting to a case of nerves in the first set, Radeva, who had beaten four seeded players including number two Kirsten Flower in Saturday’s semifinal, fell behind 5-1. But she gave a glimpse of her fortitude when she won a four-deuce game to bring it to 5-2. Even being broken at love to cede the first the set didn’t seem to bother the slender right-hander, as she continued to slug her powerful forehand deep into the corners.

Jones and Radeva held their serves the first two games of the second set, but it wasn’t until nine games later--all of them breaks--serving at 6-5, that Radeva managed to pull even in the match.

After a ten-minute rest period, Jones and Radeva returned to the court and when Radeva jumped out to a 4-0 lead, the drama really began in earnest.

Jones, who also had used her forehand to advantage, refused to accept her fate. Still slapping her thigh and verbally encouraging herself, she held at love then broke and held to get to 3-4.

A few errors began to creep into Jones’ game, but to call them unforced is inaccurate. Both Radeva and Jones exhibited great depth and pace on their groundstrokes, and most points ended with a winner, not an error.

Serving at 3-5, Jones saved two match points, the second one a valiant swinging forehand volley off a rare moon ball from Radeva. In the next game, she also denied Radeva, who was having difficulty with her second serve.

“I tried to step in on her second serve,” said Jones, “maybe hit some angles or winners off it.”


“She attacked my second serve,” Radeva admitted, “but I didn’t get discouraged or anything.”

She did lose the game, however, throwing in five unforced errors, and squandering two more match points.

At 5-5, Jones could not hold, so once again Radeva stepped to the baseline with the championship on her racquet. This time, she didn’t falter, never needing a second serve in the four points played.

Jones, who invested so much emotionally in the match, was playing her fourth three-setter of the tournament, and although physically fatigued, she just kept fighting.

“When she had a match point, it really didn’t matter to me,” the fifteen-year-old from Southern California said. “I even went for more. Might as well just play to win instead of just letting it go, letting her hit a winner on me.”

Radeva recognized Jones’s determination.

“She’s a fighter, and she wanted to really beat me, but I wanted to win too.”

Radeva, who was a finalist in the 12s Nationals just a year and a half ago, has made impressive strides in tennis without devoting her life to it. She spends less than two hours a day on tennis and doesn’t play many tournaments, although the coach she has been working with for the last 18 months is the legendary Robert Lansdorp.

According to her father, who immigrated to the US with his family from Bulgaria thirteen years ago, she is happy living the life of a normal teenager. “She enjoys school, and she’s a winner going to school, so if it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” he laughed.

In the other two finals played on Sunday, top seed Lauren Embree of Florida overcame a quick start by unseeded thirteen-year-old Connie Hsu to win the girls 14s championship 2-6. 6-3, 6-2. The top-ranked girl in the country in the 12s last year, Hsu hits both her forehand and backhand with two hands, and that gave Embree difficulty at first.

“She’s a lefty, and her serve was different,” said Embree. “I wasn’t used to it at first, but I adjusted.”

The match, which lasted over two and a half hours, featured numerous breaks.

“That’s girls tennis,” laughed Lauren’s mother Nancy. “It’s an advantage not to serve half the time.”



Embree now has a gold ball in singles to add to her collection which features two doubles golds, three silvers and three bronzes.


In the final match of the day, JT Sundling gave Thousand Oaks California its second champion of the weekend when the eighth seed defeated unseeded Andre Dome 6-3, 6-3 for the boys 14s title.

Dome needed a wildcard to compete in the tournament because he had been playing in 16s, and he made the most of it, beating the 17th, 14th , sixth and fourth seeds, before shocking top seed Ryan Harrison in the semifinals on Saturday.

But on Sunday, the fourteen-year-old from Southern California hit the proverbial wall in the form of a big lefthander with a great serve and a forehand to match.

Dome, like Hsu, hits both forehand and backhand with two hands. It didn’t appear to trouble Sundling, who like his neighbor and idol, 18s Easter Bowl Champion Sam Querrey, did not lose a set in the tournament.

“I played really well,” said Sundling, 14, who won his first gold ball yesterday when he and Alexander Johnson took the doubles title. “I beat him the first time we played, but I lost to him the last couple of times.”


Dome could manage only one break of Sundling’s serve, and was on the defensive throughout most of the match. The threat of Sundling’s forehand pace kept Dome off balance and holding his own serve was a struggle.

Sundling’s coach Daryl Ahrens plans to have him play 14s events throughout the summer and move up to the 16s at the USTA Winter championships. Sundling’s domination of the 14s at the Easter Bowl has certainly brought him to the national forefront, and he'll be among the favorites for both the Clays and the Hard Courts.