Unseeded Girls Make Their Mark at Spring International

Unseeded Girls Make Mark at Spring International--
©Colette Lewis 2005--
Carson CA

Jennifer Stevens and Julia Boserup are at very different stages of their junior tennis careers, but both have had impressive runs at the ITF Spring Internationals.

A resident of Los Angeles, Boserup is only 13, but has marched through the 16s draw, beating the second and eighth seeds prior to her win over sixth seed Logan Hansen in Friday's semifinal. Although Boserup has a relatively short list of accomplishments, her recent semifinal showing at the Chanda Rubin 18s in College Station gave her confidence a boost and she was able to prevail 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-1 in a long, tense match. She will face top seed Alison Ramos, who is even more local, as she hails from Carson, where the Home Depot Center is located.

Stevens, a polished player with a lengthy junior resume, met practice partner and fellow Floridian Jenni-Lee Heinser, the second seed, for the first time since the Orange Bowl 10s and came away with a straight set win, 6-4, 6-4. Stevens was unable to serve out the first set at 5-3, or the second at 5-1 and 5-3, but managed to break Heinser each time to secure that elusive final game.

"I changed my served a month and a half ago and it wasn't working out, so I changed it back," the sixteen-year-old said of her serving deficiencies. "I'm not really confident in it right now. I'm just dinking it over--it's really ridiculous. But I feel if I can get the return back, I've got a pretty good chance, since my groundstrokes are solid."

The next seed in Stevens' path is Vania King (3), who also has yet to lose a set in the tournament. In the other 18s semifinal, top seed Alexa Glatch will meet fourth seed Andrea Remynse.

By the time the boys 18s took the courts, the light poles were swaying and groaning in the stiff and chilly wind. But the difficult conditions didn't faze giantkiller Pavel Chekhov. The 14th seeded Russian avoided any letdown after taking out top seed Kellen Damico on Thursday, surviving another three set marathon by beating 11th seed Dylan Arnould 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-3. Chekhov will take on 10th seed Jamie Hunt, who has won every set he's played this week, including two Friday against Matt Bruch by the scores of 7-6(5) and 6-2.

The impressive run of unseeded Peter Aarts came to an end on Friday, when 15th seeded Californian Sam Querrey eliminated the future Michigan Wolverine 6-7(7) 6-2, 6-3. Querrey has lost the first set of his last three matches, but eventually has solved the puzzle of his opponent.

"I couldn't get my game together in the first set, missing a few easy shots," said the taciturn 17-year old. But he also credited Aarts' game as a contributing factor. "He had a great backhand, flat and hard, and a tough kick serve, too," said Querrey, who lives an hour away from the Carson site, and has had several family members cheering him on throughout the week.

"And I kind of like playing a new player," he said of Aarts, whom he had never faced. "It's something different, more exciting."

Querrey meets second seed Jesse Levine on Saturday. Levine wriggled out of a tight spot against doubles partner Michael Shabaz, going down a set and 5-3 before reeling off four straight games to square the match. The talkative lefthander from Florida then continued his domination of fellow IMG Bollettieri student Shabaz, allowing him only one more game in the 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 win. But several hours later Shabaz and Levine were on the same side of the net, defeating Chekhov and Leo Rosenberg in three sets to advance to the doubles final, where they will meet Philip Bester and Holden Seguso.

In the boys 16s, Dennis Nevolo found himself in his first true test of the tournament, but he eventually subdued Jeffrey Gast 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. His opponent in Saturday's final will be big-serving Bozhidar Katsarov, who has cruised through his five matches, losing only 14 games.

The girls 18s doubles final on Saturday will see the top seeds, Heinser and Liz Plotkin, take on the second seeded team of King and Yasmin Schnack.

The girls 16s doubles title was won by Stacey Tan and Rika Tatsuno. Tyler Hochwalt and Christopher Price took the boys 16s doubles championship.