Kells' Comeback is Highlight of Sensational Semifinals

©Colette Lewis 2006
Rockville MD--

In a day full of dramatic matches, Andrew Kells topped them all, coming from a set and 5-1 down and saving eight match points to defeat Bo Seal 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5 in Saturday's 16s semifinal action at the National Clay Courts.

The 16-year-old from Tiburon, California faced down two match points in the second set when serving at 3-5, but the real drama unfolded at 4-5 in the third. That eight-deuce game saw Kells save six match points, with on-the-line winners or unreturnable serves, or, on a couple of occasions, by coaxing errors from Seal.

"My first serve saved me today," said Kells, a 17 seed who now has beaten a nine seed, two five seeds and no. 2 seed JT Sundling. "He was attacking me a lot, but at 5-2, I think he started to get a little nervous, and I started to play better."


"He picked it up in the second," said Seal, who never lost his composure after seeing his big lead dissolve. "I kind of relaxed when I was up 5-1, thinking I'd just serve it out, and that was my mistake. He came up with the goods when he needed to. You've got to give him credit for that."

After that excruciating tenth game, Seal lost his serve at love and when Kells got an opportunity to end the match, he converted, hitting an ace on his first match point.

Kells, who trained for several days on a private Har-Tru court near his home in Marin country, wasn't entirely unprepared for such an amazing comeback.

"I was once down a set and 6-0 in the second set tiebreak and came back to win," he said. "But that wasn't in a big event like this."

But even shortly after the match, when the disappointment was still fresh, Seal was philosophical about the result.

"When you play tennis that long, it'll happen," said the 15-year-old from Chattanooga, Tennessee. "You have to get used to it."

Kells now takes on top seed Brennan Boyajian, and he's getting used to seeing the Floridian across the net, as they've played either singles or doubles against each other the last five national level 1 events.

Boyajian is seeking his second straight National gold ball and just as he did in the Easter Bowl, he's done it in dominating style, without the loss of a set. In his semifinal encounter with third seed Jason Smith, Boyajian took control early and then survived a shaky stretch of serving in the second to win 6-1, 6-4.

The variety of shots in Boyajian's arsenal would seem perfect for clay; he actually prefers hard courts. "But I'm from Florida, so we play a lot on clay," he said. "The last two months that's all I've played on in tournaments."

For Kells, California hard courts are what he knows, but he's adapting well to clay. "I like it because it gives me time to set up for my shots," he said. On Sunday, he'll have the opportunity to use his newfound affinity for clay to pull off his biggest upset yet.

On most days the 18s singles semifinals would get top billing if they were as tense and unpredictable as the Saturday matches. Although upstaged later by the Kells-Seal drama, Marcus Fugate and Davey Sandgren's contest was nearly three hours of high quality tennis, with top seed Fugate escaping with a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 victory.

For Sandgren, it was another day, another grueling three-setter, as he went the distance against Ryan Thacher on Thursday and Jarmere Jenkins on Friday. But this time it was Sandgren who wore down.

"He made me work for everything," said Sandgren, who managed to break Fugate for the first time at 5-4, only to lose his own serve the next game, allowing Fugate a second chance to serve for the first set. "At this level, a couple of points can make the difference. In the third set I could just feel it in my arms, I was tired, I think Marcus felt it too."

The no. 1 seeded Fugate, playing in his first junior tournament of the year, didn't agree.

"We train hard at Bolletteri," said Fugate, who played three consecutive Futures tournaments on clay before taking a shot at the Legg-Mason main draw wild card that goes to the 18s winner. "That's what they train us for, for matches like this."

With temperatures in the low 90s and humidity thickening the air, both players went to their towels often and changed shirts regularly. But rarely did the conditions impair them, as spectators were left gasping at what it took to win a point.

As in the first set, Sandgren was broken early in the third, and this time he couldn't get it back, although the 18-year-old from Tennessee did hold a break point at 5-3. But two errors from Sandgren gave Fugate a match point, which he coverted with an ace down the T.

"I got more agressive (in the third)," Fugate said. "I started to wear him down a bit."

On Sunday Fugate will take on another nine seed, Michael Venus, who rode a rollercoast of his own in a 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory over unseeded Jason McNaughton.



Venus held a 4-1 lead in the first set and a point to go up 5-1, only to lose five consecutive games, a series of events that would have infuriated, and perhaps derailed him just a year ago. But after a year at the University of Texas, Venus is much calmer on court, although he admitted he did let his concentration waiver a bit.

"In my mind I was thinking about the score," said Venus, who often trains at Newk's Tennis Ranch in Texas. "Once I cleared my mind out, I started to play better."

The third set was tight throughout and with Venus serving at 4-5, he made a statement with an a love game, barely allowing McNaughton a chance to return. At 5-5, McNaughton couldn't duplicate that clutch serving.

"I got no first serves in at five all," said McNaughton, a San Diego native who starts classes at USC next month. "And when I couldn't do that he was controlling the point from the beginning. Even in the second set, I had tons of break points and game points and didn't convert. That's what he did."

Venus isn't particularly fond of clay, even though he spent many formative tennis years in Florida, and won the Clays 18s doubles championship last year with Andy Orban.

"When I first started playing on it, I was falling all over," said Venus, who is playing in his first National singles championship match Sunday. "Now I'm getting used to it."

With a qualifying Legg Mason wild card already secured now that he's reached the finals, Venus is looking to Sunday's final as a chance for the big prize. But first things first.

"I'm really excited," he said. "But I'm probably going back to bed and sleep for a few hours this afternoon."

The doubles finals are set for Sunday afternoon, and all the finalist in the Boys 18s are either 15 or 16 years old.

The unseeded team of Chase Buchanan and Waylon Chin will meet nine seeds Ryan Lipman and Rhyne Williams. Lipman and Williams upset the top seeded team of Matt Allare and Calvin Bennett 7-6 (4), 6-4, while Buchanan and Chin needed a super tiebreak to squeek past unseeded Steve Johnson and Bradley Klahn 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9).

In the 16s, top seeds Boyajian and Zachary Hunter face nine seeds Marc Powers and Mieskzo Tomczyk. Boyajian and Hunter advanced with a 6-2, 7-5 win over the unseeded team of Sebastein Fauchet and Robert Wong. Powers and Tomczyk upset five seeds Tyler Bowman and Jenson Turner 6-2, 6-4.

The consolation finals will be played Sunday morning. In the 16s, five seed Devin Britton meets Alex Domijan, a 17 seed, for fifth place. In the 18s, in a rematch of a round of 16 contest, no. 4 seed Wil Spencer looks to avenge his upset by Matt Brewer, a nine seed, in the main draw.