Qualifying Continues, 12s Main Draw Underway at Eddie Herr

Qualifying Continues, 12s Main Draw Underway at Eddie Herr~~~
©Colette Lewis 2005
Bradenton FL--

We arrived early this afternoon to find hundreds of junior players, coaches and parents enjoying the cloudless skies and pleasant temperatures at the IMG/Bollettieri Tennis Academy, the site of the Eddie Herr tournament.

The 12s, who do not have a qualifying event, began main draw play today, and there were second round qualifying matches in the 14s, 16s and 18s, leaving a schedule so full that matches continued under the lights this evening.

I reacquainted myself with the court layout, and with 31 courts to keep track of, that takes some time. I caught most of the Clint Bowles and Cyprian Pisarek boys 18 qualifying match, won by Bowles 6-4, 6-2. Bowles missed the registration deadline and was given alternate qualifying status, but having gained entry, he is making the most of it. Pisarek had beaten the top seed in qualifying yesterday, but was unable to cope with the spins and defense of the lefthanded Bowles, who won the Chanda Rubin Grade 2 earlier this month.

I also briefly watched Jeff Dadamo's 16s second round qualifying match, and that's not to imply that I left early--I saw the whole thing, but his 6-0, 6-0 win didn't take long. Dadamo had a wrist injury that kept him from playing Kalamazoo this year, but he appears to be healthy now, and simply in need of more match play, which is one of the benefits of qualifying tournaments.

The second round of the 12s start at a bright and early 8 a.m. tomorrow, so I'm keeping this short, but for more coverage of today's action see Annie Paton's story at juniortennis.com. For all results, go to the Eddie Herr draws.