Zootennis


Schedule a training visit to the prestigious Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, MD by clicking on the banner above

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Plaza Cup Wrap; Duval and Vickery Play for Teen Tennis Title; Australian Open Junior Qualifying Underway

In my weekly article for The Tennis Recruiting Network, I wrap up the competition at the Tennis Plaza Cup, which concluded on Monday. If you didn't get a chance to read the daily reports, this article should provide an overview of the three days of action at Salvadore Park.

The USTA 14-and-under groups left for Europe last week, with newly hired national coaches Andres Pedroso (boys) and Kathy Rinaldi (girls) accompanying the teams. The girls, even without Madison Keys, have a very strong team, as evidenced by their results this week in the Aegon Teen Tennis tournament in Bolton, England. On Friday, Bollettieri students Sachia Vickery and Vicky Duval will give us the final we expected in the Junior Orange Bowl, but didn't get when Korean qualifier So Ra Lee beat Vickery in the semifinals. At Teen Tennis, Vickery is the top seed and Duval is seeded No. 8. Brooke Austin of the U.S., seeded 16th, lost to Vickery in the semifinals. Unseeded Luca Corinteli of the U.S. reached the semifinals, where he lost to No. 6 seed Evan Hoyt of Great Britain in two tiebreakers. For complete results, see the LTA website, scrolling down to the tournament results on the left of the page.

The acceptances for Les Petits As, which starts tomorrow with the first round of qualifying, are available at the tournament website. Vickery and Duval are in the main draw, with Austin and Nadia Echeverria Alam in qualifying. Madison Keys did not make the trip, revamping her schedule after her win at The Coffee Bowl. The two U.S. boys in the main draw are Joseph DiGiulio and Nikko Madregallejo. Corinteli and Roy Lederman are listed as competing in the qualifying, but Lederman suffered an injury at Teen Tennis.


In Australia, the ITF Grade 1 at Nottinghill has produced some big surprises, with top seed and Orange Bowl champion Yuki Bhambri of India going out in the second round to unseeded Justin Eleveld of the Netherlands, who has reached the boys final against No. 4 seed Pablo Carreno-Busta of Spain. No. 3 seed Laura Robson, playing her first tournament since injuring her stomach muscle at the Orange Bowl, lost in the quarterfinals to unseeded Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands. No. 8 seed Yana Buchina upset top seed and world No. 1 Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand in the quarterfinals, and will play No. 10 seed Nadiya Kichenok of Ukraine in the final. Kichenok defeated No. 2 seed Elena Bogdan of Romania in the semifinals. It was not a good tournament for the U.S., with only Ester Goldfeld winning a main draw match. Eddie Herr champion and No. 4 seed Lauren Embree lost in the first round, as did Beatrice Capra, the No. 11 seed, and qualifier Elizabeth Begley. Harry Fowler, the only boy from the U.S. playing in Australia, also lost in the first round, as the 16th seed.

The opening round of qualifying for the Australian Open Juniors is complete, with Alexandra Cercone of Florida needing a victory on Friday to reach the main draw. Monica Yajima, Noel Scott and Begley lost in the first round.

For complete results of the Australian junior events, see the Tennis Australia website.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looked at the B18 singles draw for Nottinghill...very odd that only 4 seeds made it through to the rd of 16. Anyone know anything about the conditions? Saw that Fowler/Uriguen got to the quarters in doubles.