Hunt Upsets Mayer in Boys 18s Second Round; Girls 18s Action Produces No Surprises

Hunt Upsets Mayer in Boys 18s Second Round; Girls 18s Action Produces No Surprises~~~
©Colette Lewis 2005
Bradenton FL--

BOYS 18 SINGLES
A chill north wind blew into the IMG Bolletteri Tennis Academy Wednesday, bringing with it clear skies and several upsets in boys 18 singles.

Due to rain on Tuesday, two rounds were played in boys 18 singles, pushing many matches late into the afternoon and evening.

Jamie Hunt and third seed Leonardo Mayer of Argentina split their first two sets--6-4 for Mayer in the first; 6-4 for Hunt in the second-- when darkness chased them from their original court. Under the lights on court three, Hunt overcame a 1-4 third set deficit to shock the ITF's fifth ranked junior.

"I lost to him 6-4 in the third at the Canadian Open, so I knew I would have my chances," said Hunt, who recently signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Georgia in 2006.

"My game matches up well with his," Hunt said. "I had a lot of chances in the first set and lost that, so I knew if I just stayed patient, I'd have a chance."

Hunt joins Marcus Fugate as the only two U.S. players in the Round of 16. Fugate had not one, but two victories by retirement today, the second by fellow IMG Bollettieri Academy student and friend Holden Seguso, the 16th seed. Fugate squandered six set points in dropping the first set in a tiebreak, but after losing the second set 7-5, Seguso retired.

Joining Seguso on the sidelines was fifth seed Kellen Damico (USA), who was defeated in the first round by Tim Goransson of Sweden. Also in the first round, Mateusz Kecki (USA) dropped Croatia's Luka Belic, seeded seventh, and Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium took out 14th seed Pavel Chekhov of Russia. Only Goransson was able to sustain the morning's first round momentum, as he defeated the Ukraine's Alexander Dolgopolov to advance to the Round of 16.



The top two seeds, Marin Cilic of Croatia (1) and the Bahamas' Ryan Sweeting (2), both 2005 Grand Slam titleholders, had no trouble in their first two rounds.

GIRLS 18s
The girls 18 singles second round followed form throughout, as all remaining seeds advanced to the Round of 16. Qualifier Kristy Frilling (USA) continued her stellar play with a 6-2 5-7, 6-1 win over Jelena Durisic, also a qualifier. Third seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia survived a scare but overcame Ksenia Pervak of Russia 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Wild card Jasmina Tinjic, a 14-year-old Croatian who trains at IMG Bollettieri, ended qualifier Eleanor Peters' string of victories with a hard-fought 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 decision.

BOYS & GIRLS 16s
The Boys 16s lost its second and seventh seeds, but through withdrawals, not losses.
Top seed Alejandro Gonzalez of Columbia escaped a determined challenge from Kayvon Karimi (USA) 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. Third seed Drew Daniel (USA) advanced in straight sets as did lucky loser Jeff Dadamo (USA). Qualifier Joseph Cadogan (USA) continues to impress as does wild card Rhyne Williams (USA), who lost only one game between them in second round victories.

Darkness forced suspension of many of the girls 16 singles matches scheduled for Wednesday, but top seed Ksenia Lykina of Russia and second seed Nigora Sirojiddinova of Uzbekistan did move through to the Round of 16.

BOYS & GIRLS 14s
Borut Puc of Slovenia, the boys 14 number one seed, and second seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria advanced in straight sets, but third seed Martim Trueva of Portugal was dumped by qualifier Andres Herrera (USA) 6-2, 6-2.

In the girls division, the top three seeds advanced, with Kai Chen K. Chang of Taipei, Gabriela Paz of Venezuela and Connie Hsu (USA) winning in straight sets. Fourth seed Olivia Bennett of Trinidad and Tobago was upset by Canada's Khristina Blajkevitch and sixth seed Fabiano Rojas Ocampos fell victim to Carling Seguso.