Wind Blows Seeds Out at International Spring Championships

©Colette Lewis 2006
Carson CA--
Morning showers gave way to cold winds gusting over 30 miles per hour, making the afternoon's tennis at the Home Depot Center an adventure. Conditions kept several players in their warmup pants throughout their match, and if a ball toss was high, it could take several attempts just to get one to hit.

Liz Plotkin was one of several seeds in the 18s that couldn't overcome the frustrating conditions. Stefanie Nunic outlasted the second seed 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, and with top seed Julia Cohen's loss on Monday, the girls draw has opened considerably. Plotkin was joined on the sidelines by eighth seed Andrea Remynse, who squandered a 5-2 lead in the third set and fell to wild card Asia Muhammad 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (6). Fourteen-year-old Melanie Oudin had no difficulty with ninth seed Yvette Hyndman, taking their first round match 6-1, 6-1 and Mallory Cecil advanced when 16th seed Yasmin Schnack retired down 6-2, 2-0.

Thirteen-year-old qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal, making her ITF debut, battled back to defeat Maria Mokh 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, while another qualifier, Logan Hansen, overwhelmed Kristy Frilling 6-0, 6-1.

On the boys side, only one seed failed to advance, 16th seed Tyler Hochwalt, who lost to fourteen-year-old Chase Buchanan 6-2, 6-4. Buchanan, who has been a titlist and semifinalist in his last two ITF events, played very steadily, while Hochwalt could not find his range until late in the second set. Saving half a dozen match points with outright winners, Hochwalt finally missed, and Buchanan had his upset.

Second seed Kellen Damico withstood a stern challenge from Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-4, 6-4, while Damico's doubles partner, sixth seed Nate Schnugg, advanced with a 6-0, 6-3 win over lucky loser Andrew Landwerlen.

Due to the day and a half lost to rain, doubles has been shortened to four game sets, and as of 8 p.m. PDT, matches were still being played.

For complete draws, see usta.com.