Only One Quarterfinalist Decided as Rain Comes Early and Late at USTA Boys 16 and 18 Nationals

©Colette Lewis 2013--
Kalamazoo, MI--

Heavy thunderstorms early in the day pushed back start times for the round of 16 to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, and less than two hours later, another series of storms returned, leaving Boys 16s No. 2 seed Francis Tiafoe as the only player to advance to the quarterfinals.

Tiafoe had finished his 6-3, 7-5 win over No. 26 seed Daniel Gealer just minutes before another heavy rain shower delayed play for another two hours, with players returning to court around 5:10 p.m.  This time barely a point was played on the seven courts in progess when another storm arrived and at 5:50 p.m. main draw play was cancelled for the day, with the area receiving more than two inches of precipitation in 12 hours.

Tiafoe was fortunate to finish, but Reilly Opelka, the No. 9 seed in the 16s was not, as he was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set against No. 21 seed Nathan Ponwith when the 3 p.m. storm came and he was not able to finish before play was suspended and ultimately cancelled. 

Boys 16s third seed Tommy Paul won the first set 7-5 in his match with unseeded Jacob Hansen; Ernesto Escobedo, the No. 5 seed in the 18s, led 2012 16s champion Henrik Wiersholm 6-3, 3-1; Boys 18s No. 6 seed Luca Corinteli took the first set from No. 17 seed Henry Craig, and unseeded Logan Staggs won the first set from 18s No. 20 seed William Griffith in a tiebreaker.  Samuel Shropshire and Trevor Johnson, both unseeded in the 18s, were early in the first set, and No. 24 seed Zeke Clark had won the first set from No. 12 seed Chase Colton.

In the Court 1 match, Boys 18s No. 15 seed Ronnie Schneider led No. 2 seed Noah Rubin 6-3, 4-4.  Rubin held serve only once in the opening set, and didn't hold on to an early break in the second, although he had a break point in the second set when play was suspended.  Two hours later, they returned and played only one point, with Rubin sending a forehand long to bring the 4-all game back to deuce when rain ended play for the day.

In years with good weather, the quarterfinals are split between Thursday and Friday, but this year, with three days of long rain delays, all the singles quarterfinals will be played on Friday.  Thursday, which has only a 10% chance of rain, will see the completion of the round of 16 matches (those either interrupted today or not started) and the quarterfinals of doubles in both divisions.

See the tournament website for the draws and schedules.