Five Unseeded Boys Make Quarterfinals; McHale Ousts No. 3 Seed Marino in Girls Action at Pan American ITF
©Colette Lewis 2007--
Tulsa, OK--
Sometimes I find myself hesitating to call a result an "upset," when, according to seeding, that's what it is. There were several of those "un"upsets today. Chase Buchanan, the No. 13 seed, eliminated No. 2 seed Devin Britton 7-5, 6-1, but on the basis of Buchanan's nearly flawless performance in the second round, it was difficult to see that result as a major surprise. Unseeded Wil Spencer, who has played very few ITF events this year, defeated No. 6 seed Jose Hernandez 6-4, 6-1, but not many familiar with Spencer's game would call that a shock. Unseeded Jose Velasco of Bolivia hasn't played a junior event since January, but at that time he was ranked No. 7 in the ITF world rankings, so his 6-4, 6-2 defeat of No. 5 seed Ty Trombetta was not exactly an underdog-comes-through storyline.
Perhaps unseeded Walker Kehrer's 6-0, 7-5 win over No. 4 seed Drew Daniel would qualify as a genuine upset, with Daniel having vastly more experience in ITF events. But the future Michigan Wolverine couldn't prolong the match long enough to turn it around, and Kehrer earned a quarterfinal date with Spencer, assuring an unseeded semifinalist.
Buchanan will meet unseeded Tennys Sandgren for the first time in their junior careers. For the third day in a row Sandgren had another long, tough match, going out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, only to see Bob Van Overbeek claw his way back to force a tiebreak, which Sandgren won, eight points to six. Sandgren finished the second set off tidily, 6-3, but it was still over two hours of tennis played for the third consecutive day. Fortunately the weather continued to feature mild temperatures and low humidity, keeping the focus on the game and away from the elements.
Top seed Jarmere Jenkins advanced 6-2, 6-4 over No. 14 seed Denis Kudla to meet unseeded Evan King, a 6-3, 6-0 winner against unseeded Patrick Dacieck. Bradley Klahn, the No. 3 seed, took down No. 16 seed Jordan Cox 6-2, 6-2, and will face Velasco for a place in the semifinals.
The No. 3 seeded girl, Canadian Rebecca Marino, was eliminated by No. 15 seed Lauren McHale 6-2, 6-3. Marino and McHale had split their previous two meetings this summer, and both matches were very close, but in today's encounter McHale played airtight defense, kept her unforced errors to a minimum and consistently kept Marino off balance and out of sync. At 3-1 in the second set, it looked as if Marino might mount a comeback when she broke McHale to get back on serve, but she was broken again in the next game, and with that scare behind her, McHale quickly finished the job. McHale will meet No. 11 seed Nicole Bartnik, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over No. 5 seed Laura Alicia Aguilar of Mexico.
Number 16 seed Mallory Burdette subdued a stubborn Brooke Bolender 6-0, 7-6 (3) to earn a spot in the quarterfinals versus No. 6 seed Pamela Montez of Mexico. Montez edged past unseeded Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-4.
Top seed Melanie Oudin lost only two games for the second consecutive day, overwhelming Jordaan Sanford 6-1, 6-1, and will meet unseeded Alexandra Anghelescu in the quarterfinals. Anghelescu defeated Kelly Irving 6-0, 6-0, the second double bagel match Irving had in the tournament, having defeated No. 10 seed Olivia Bennett by that score in the first round.
Second seed Gabriela Paz of Venezuela and unseeded Katerena Palivets of Canada played a attention-getting match, with Paz coming from behind to earn a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 decision. Palivets was up a break in each of the final two sets but couldn't hold on, much to her visible and vocal dismay. Paz called for a trainer on several occasions, and after the first set, an official was called to the court and monitored the remainder of the contentious and noisy contest.
Paz's quarterfinal opponent on Thursday will be No. 9 seed Joanna Mather, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over unseeded Monica Yajima.
In the doubles, the results followed the seeding most of the day. There are only two unseeded teams in the boys' quarterfinals, Waylon Chin and Milos Raonic and Lawrence Formentera and Kudla.
The girls doubles quarterfinalists include the top four seeds, the No. 6 seeded team and three unseeded tandems, including Grace Min and Lauren Herring, who at 13 and 14 are among the tournament's youngest competitors. That didn't stop them from ousting the No. 5 seeded team of Burdette and Mather however, by a 6-1, 6-4 score.
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