US Girls Breeze to ITF World Jr. Tennis Semis, Boys Lose Tiebreaker to Great Britain, Don't Advance; Tso, Kodali Top Seeds at 14s, 12s Boys Nationals
The good news first. The USA's 14-and-under girls team competing in the Czech Republic this week has advanced to Thursday's semifinals without the loss of a set. Brooke Austin, Gabrielle Andrews and Taylor Townsend, the top seeds in the 16-team tournament, went 3-0 against Korea, Austria and South Africa to advance. They will play No. 3 seed China in the semifinals. The other semifinal pits unseeded Australia against No. 5 Ukraine. The US girls are going for their fourth straight World Junior Tennis Title.
After the boys shock loss to Korea on Monday, they looked to be out of contention, but Korea lost to Great Britain today, after the second-seeded US team had beaten Great Britain Tuesday, leaving all three teams with 2-1 records (all three had beaten Venzuela, the fourth team in the group). I believe the first tiebreaker is head-to-head, but with three teams involved, that doesn't resolve anything, so I guess they go first with sets won, then with percentage of sets won. Great Britain won that final calculation and the seventh seeds advanced to play No. 3 Italy, the highest seed remaining. Top seed France also failed to make the semifinals, losing to No. 8 Russia today. Russia will play No. 5 Chile for a spot in the finals.
For more, see the ITF junior website.
The seedings for the Boys 12s and Boys 14s have been posted. In the 14s, Clay Court finalist Benjamin Tso is the top seed at the 14s in San Antonio, with Clay Court 14s champion Daniel Kerznerman opting to play in Kalamazoo this year. In the 12s, it is Clay Court champion Anudeep Kodali with the top seeding in North Little Rock.
Today in Vancouver, qualifiers Gail Brodsky, Irina Falconi and Megan Falcon all advanced to the second round of the women's $75,000 Pro Circuit challenger. Orange Bowl champion Gabriela Dabrowski, who has struggled this year in junior competition, received a wild card into the main draw of the event and has just beaten former WTA Top 10 player Alicia Molik of Australia 6-3, 6-1. Beatrice Capra, another main draw wild card, lost to top seed Yung-Jan Chan of Taiwan 6-3, 6-4.
There is much more action to be played yet today, so go to the website for the results and order of play.
9 comments:
16s predictions as follows...
Round of 64
1 Vinsant over Vrabel
18 Richmond over Gornet
Kerznerman over 9 Del Nunzio
22 Madregallejo over Meltzer
6 Delcore over Hemminger
26 Naumann over Scheinman
Di Giulio over 14 Farren
29 Kumar over Ho
3 Paige over Hoskins
19 Adams over Pearce
11 Tsodikov over Bellamy
23 Robinson over Einbinder
8 Lipman over Van Meter
27 Weiss over Guzman
16 Gardiner over Herndon
32 Mays over Johnson
17 Karl over Hahn
10 Kwiatkowski over Ansari
24 Rubin over Bauer
5 Watson over Goldberg
25 Pura over Harrell
15 Korinek over Sayre
30 Hu over Monroe
4 Redlicki over Chan
20 Lederman over Gomez
11 Daigle over Montoya
21 Schneider over Revsin
7 McDonald over Sharp
Daniel over Shane
13 A. Van Cott over Wang
31 Styslinger over Wood
2 Krueger over Stolar
Round of 32
1 Vinsant over Richmond
Kerznerman over 22 Madregallejo
6 Delcore over 26 Naumann
Di Giulio over 29 Kumar
3 Paige over 19 Adams
11 Tsodikov over 23 Robinson
8 Lipman over 27 Weiss
16 Gardiner over 32 Mays
10 Kwiatkowski over 17 Karl
5 Watson over 24 Rubin
25 Pura over 15 Korinek
4 Redlicki over 30 Hu
20 Lederman over 11 Daigle
7 McDonald over 21 Schneider
Daniel over 13 A. Van Cott
2 Krueger over 31 Styslinger
Round of 16
1 Vinsant over Kerznerman
Di Giulio over 6 Delcore
3 Paige over 11 Tsodikov
16 Gardiner over 8 Lipman
10 Kwiatkowski over 5 Watson
25 Pura over 4 Redlicki
7 McDonald over 20 Lederman
2 Krueger over Daniel
Quarters
1 Vinsant over Di Giulio
16 Gardiner over 3 Paige
10 Kwiatkowski over 25 Pura
7 McDonald over 2 Krueger
Semis
1 Vinsant over 16 Gardiner
7 McDonald over 10 Kwiatkowski
Finals
1 Vinsant over 7 McDonald
Always a lot of chatter about back draw withdrawals on this site so I thought I would point out Marcos Giron - lost in the 1st round of the Clays this year and then went on to win 11 straight matches to win the back draw. Congratulations! What a great accomplishment. I'm not sure that has ever been done before. What college coach wouldn't die for a kid like this!!
Re previous post - not one of his wins was a w/o! Impressive
@tennisforlife-
I chose him as a July ace for just that reason.
tennisforlife and Colette, thanks for calling our attention to that performance and commitment by Giron! Very impressive from a lot of different perspectives.
Nice effort by the NCAA champs vs the Bryans. 6&4 in DC for Courtney/Shabaz
Collette,
Just a question out of curiosity - what do you know about Tornado Ali Black? I just noticed she won the clay 14s as a wild card after winning a 12s gold ball as a wild card last year - she beat Shishkina, and they are both still in the 12s so that struck me as some good play. However there's been so much media talk/hype etc about Shiskina already and Black seems to be off the radar screen - and apparently following a Williams-esque strategy of playing very few tournaments.
Mic Huber just did a story on Black and her family for the Sarasota Herald Tribune. She is coached now by Rick Macci and Huber leads with the family's financial difficulties.
That's interesting, Colette - here's the link for anyone else:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100804/ARTICLE/8041033/2255/SPORTS?Title=Tornado-watch
Given their very acute financial pressures, I wonder where the USTA is with her, especially given so much discussion here about which juniors the USTA is supporting and why. On the other hand, I would wish Shishkina's $300k deal on any preteen...
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