18s Qualifying Incomplete at Eddie Herr; 12s Top Seed Tyrina Out in Second Round

©Colette Lewis 2011--
Bradenton, FL--

The weather may have been routinely beautiful Sunday, but there were plenty of surprises in the results of both the 12s division second round and in the two qualifying rounds of the 18s singles.

Five boys and six girls have earned their spots in the 18s main draw, with darkness suspending play in three matches in progress, while two others were never started due to the lack of lights on the clay courts.

Around 6 p.m., which appeared to be about 15 minutes after it would have been possible to still see the ball, three American girls came in to report their wins, obviously excited and happy to have completed their matches. Kendal Woodard, Mia King and Breaunna Addison, none of whom were seeded in qualifying, beat seeds on the Academy Park courts, a tram ride away from the nine courts on the main IMG Bollettieri Academy campus. Woodard beat No. 10 seed Rana Sherif Ahmed 6-3, 6-4, while King and Addison both needed comebacks in their victories. King beat No. 6 seed Peggy Porter 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, and Addison downed No. 13 seed Clementina Riobueno de Paola of Venezuela 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. The other US girl, Nadia Echeverria Alam, who is seeded fifth, was trailing Stefania Hristov of Romania 6-7(4), 6-5 when play was suspended.

American Ridley Seguso, who received a wild card into qualifying, won his second round match today over No. 13 seed Andre Napolitano of Brazil 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5). but did not take the court for his final round qualifying match due to the length and lateness of that second match. He will play No. 7 seed Vasco Mensurado of Portugal Monday morning.

One U.S. boy did earn a main draw spot on Sunday afternoon, with Harrison Richmond taking a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over No. 1 seed Krittin Koaykul of Thailand.

The unseeded Richmond had needed over three hours to get past Yuanfeng Li of China earlier in the day, so the 17-year-old from South Carolina was a bit irritated with himself when he failed to close out Koaykul in the second set. Leading 2-0, Richmond lost six of the next seven games.

"I felt I let it slip a little there in the second set," said Richmond. "I had chances to go up 3-0, two breaks, and I didn't do it, so that was a little frustrating, letting it slip away."

Richmond lost the first game of the third set on his serve, but sensed Koaykul was wearing down and didn't worry about that opening break.

"I could tell he was struggling a little bit physically, so I knew I had to just stay focused, keep working," said Richmond, who trains on Har-Tru is comfortable on the surface. "He played really well at the end of the second, so I knew he'd cool down, and I just tried to ride the wave."

Koaykul began to show signs of cramping after being broken at love in the fourth game, and although he began going for broke on his shots and connecting on several winners, he wasn't able to do much with his serve, and was vulnerable when on the run.

Richmond said he was also feeling the effects of so much tennis in one day, but he showed no signs of fatigue and with the assistance of two unforced errors from Koaykul served out the match at love.

Richmond recently committed to the play for the University of Virginia next fall, and is happy to have that decision behind him.

"It's definitely a big relief. I can clear my mind and focus on tennis again," he said. "You're visiting colleges and talking to coaches all the time, so it's pretty stressful. I'm excited about UVA. It's going to be good."


Earlier in the day, on the hard courts, the 12s completed second round play. Not making it to the third round was No. 1 seed Maria Tyrina of Russia, who was beaten by Darya Oryshkevych of Ukraine 6-2, 6-3.

From a distance, Oryshkevych could be mistaken for a club player in her 30s, with her unorthodox strokes and wardrobe, along with a very mature physical appearance. She didn't make many errors however, and Tyrina had no answers for the power coming off Oryshkevych's racquet. Oryshkevych will next face Dominique Schaefer of the US, who has won both of her matches by 6-0, 6-0 scores.

No. 2 seed Kim Soomin of Korea advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 over Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, but the score doesn't convey what a battle it was, lasting nearly two and a half hours. Another even longer match saw American Maria Ross, the No. 11 seed, beat 10-year-old Elizabeth Scotty 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-2, in just under three hours.

Boys 12s top seed Alex del Corral was handed a challenge from fellow Floridian Boris Kozlov, but del Corral's transition game was too solid, and he took a 6-2, 6-2 decision. Americans Patrick Kypson, seeded No. 4, Noah Makarome, seeded No. 12, and Alexandre Rotsaert, seeded No. 13, all advanced in straight sets, as did qualifier Joshua Bode. Vasil Kirkov of the US upset No. 8 seed Patrik Rikl of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1. Rikl is the son of former ATP doubles standout David Rikl, who retired in 2005.

The complete 12s draws, including doubles, can be found at the Tennis Information site. The final round of qualifying in the 14s and 16s division was completed today, and those draws have also been updated, and the main draws posted.

The main draw for the 18s division should be up later this evening. See eddieherr.com for the link to the 18s draw and Monday's order of play.