Kenin, Boyd Survive Searing Heat to Reach Third Round of Easter Bowl ITF Grade B1

©Colette Lewis 2014--
Indian Wells, California--

A light cloud cover was not enough to keep temperatures from reaching the mid-90s Wednesday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, with ice coming to the rescue for girls top seed Sofia Kenin and boys No. 8 seed Kalman Boyd.

Boyd, who celebrates his 17th birthday today, was fighting nausea during the tiebreaker in his 7-6(9), 6-1 win over Vincent Lin, although he managed to save four set points despite his difficulties.

"I was just absolutely dying, trying not to throw up the whole first set," said Boyd, who is just returning to competition after a bout with mononucleosis. "I finally called a medical timeout. I won the first game (of the second set), lost the first point, and said okay, I'm going to throw up. And the trainer told me, you're outrageously hot right now. So I got ice on my stomach and on my neck and I felt 100 percent better. I had some liquid salt, whatever that it, and cruised after that. Now I know I always need to have ice on me, and I'm not in shape yet. I've only been playing a week and a half, so I still need to take some precautions."

Boyd, the 2013 16s Easter Bowl finalist, had an additional assist from a large support group gathered around stadium court 5.

"I actually had a huge fan club," Boyd said. "My mom, dad, coach, two little sisters, grandma, grandpa."

Boyd is going to postpone a big celebration to focus on his match on Thursday with Aron Hiltzik, who defeated Christian Garay 6-4, 6-2

"We played last October in Tulsa, and he beat me," said Boyd. "That was right after I played Tommy Paul, who wore me out. And Aron kicked me off the court, easily."

For Floridian Kenin, who defeated International Spring Championships semifinalist Kelly Chen 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 out on practice court 20, ice was essential.

"I like when it's hot, but not when it's too hot," said Kenin, 15. "It feels like 110 degrees right now. I actually used ice on the court, and I never use ice when it's hot."

Kenin knew she was in for a difficult battle, even though she had never played the 14-year-old Chen before.

"I knew today was going to be really tough, and tomorrow's going to be a really tough match too," Kenin said.

Kenin will face unseeded Ena Shibahara, who defeated No. 16 seed Abi Altick 6-1, 6-4.

Altick was one of three girls seeds to lose on the court Wednesday. Gabby Smith downed No. 5 seed Olivia Hauger 6-2, 6-0, Jessie Aney defeated No. 10 seed Madison Bourguignon 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 in a three-hour match in the heat of the afternoon, and Andie Daniell outlasted No. 15 seed Emma Higuchi 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.  No. 14 seed Ellyse Hamlin was unable to take the court against Francesca Di Lorenzo due to illness.

CiCi Bellis(4), Jessica Ho(12), Alexis Nelson, Kayla Day, Kaitlyn McCarthy(8), Raquel Pedraza(6), Katie Swan(11), Caroline Dolehide, Michaela Gordon(7) and Usue Arconada(2) were the other second round winners in the girls draw.

Four boys seeds exited in the second round, with No. 6 seed Dan Kerznerman the highest seed to lose. Kerznerman lost to wild card Eduardo Nava 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, and Nava will play unseeded Nathan Ponwith, who beat No. 12 seed Tommy Paul 6-3, 6-1.  No. 15 seed Christian Cargill of the Bahamas was beaten by Adrian Chamdani 6-4, 7-6(5) and No. 14 seed Walker Duncan fell to William Blumberg 7-6(4), 0-6, 6-3. Blumberg will play unseeded Reilly Opelka, who ended the dream of qualifier Mark Epshteyn-Losev, who beat No. 2 seed Henrik Wiersholm on Tuesday.  Epshteyn-Losev retired trailing 6-2, 5-2 with an injury.

Top seed Francis Tiafoe had no difficulty advancing to the third round, beating Alan Sweet 6-2, 6-1.

For results, see the TennisLink site.