Smith, Rohrbacher Capture New Balance High School Titles; Auger-Aliassime Wins Again in Granby Challenger; Teens Reach Quarterfinals in Sacramento, Granby, Godfrey and Evansville

The New Balance High School Tennis Championships concluded today in Boston, with Keegan Smith and Olivia Rohrbacher winning the titles.
From the tournament:

Keegan Smith of San Diego defeated Jaird Meyer of Los Angeles 6-1, 6-3 to win the boys’ title. Keegan was able to get off to a quick start early in the match. After that he used his big game to dictate play throughout to get the victory.

Olivia Rohrbacher of Sandusky, OH defeated Jenna Moustafa of Los Angeles (a finalist last year as well) 6-4, 6-4 to win the girls’ title. Olivia and Jenna had a very tight match, but Olivia came up big on some important points  throughout. She moved up on her return of serve and was dictating the points early in play to close it out.

In addition to the titles, Smith and Rohrbacher also receive wild cards into the ITF Grade 1 International Hard Court Championships in College Park Maryland next month.  Complete draws are at the tournament's TennisLink site.

Fourteen-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada defeated ATP No. 205 Darian King of Barbados 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Granby Challenger. Auger-Aliassime, who turns 15 in two weeks, is the youngest player to ever reach an ATP Challenger quarterfinal.  He will play No. 4 seed Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, who, at 19, is a seasoned veteran compared to Auger-Aliassime.  

Former Florida State star Jean-Yves Aubone, who lost to Auger-Aliassime in the final round of qualifying, got into the main draw as a lucky loser and has advanced to the first Challenger quarterfinal of his career.  Eric Quigley, the 2012 NCAA finalist from Kentucky, has also reached a Challenger quarterfinal for the first time, beating Peter Polansky of Canada tonight 6-3, 0-6. 7-5.  

Overshadowed by Auger-Aliassime is another Canadian teenager having a breakout tournament in Granby.  Sixteen-year-old Charlotte Robillard-Millette, who received a wild card into the $50,000 ITF Women's event in Granby moved into the quarterfinals with a 0-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) win over No. 8 seed Amandine Hess of France.  Eighteen-year-old Ellie Halbauer has reached her second quarterfinal at the $50,000 level, beating Laura Robson of Great Britain 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Robson had been injured and out of competition for more than a year until last month, but regardless of the circumstances, that's a great win for Halbauer.

Sixteen-year-old CiCi Bellis and 19-year-old Brooke Austin have advanced to the quarterfinals of the $50,000 Women's Pro Circuit event in Sacramento. Bellis, the No. 3 seed, defeated Asia Muhammad 2-6, 6-1, 6-1, while Austin beat No. 2 seed and WTA 165 Eri Hozumi of Japan 7-5, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of a $50K for the first time in her career.  Austin will play fellow wild card Robin Anderson, who just returned from the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, where she received her ITA Player of the Year Award.  Anderson defeated teammate Jennifer Brady, the No. 5 seed, 6-3, 6-2 to pick up her second career win at the $50,000 level, with her opening round victory over Lauren Embree having been her first.  Bellis will play No. 8 seed Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine, the 2014 US Open girls finalist, in the quarterfinals.

At the $50,000 Binghamton Challenger, the teens fared less well. Frances Tiafoe lost to No. 2 seed Bjorn Fratangelo 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, while wild card Tommy Paul was beaten by Mitchell Krueger 7-5, 6-4.  Noah Rubin took the second set from top seed Kyle Edmund in a tiebreaker and they were at 1-1 in the third set when play was suspended due to darkness. 

At the $15,000 Futures in Godfrey, Illinois, Michael Mmoh reached the quarterfinals. No. 6 seed Mmoh, the only quarterfinalist without college ties, will face former Cal star Ben McLachlan of New Zealand on Friday.

The $10,000 women's event in Evansville saw its top two seeds eliminated Thursday, with qualifier Frances Altick (Vanderbilt) taking out No. 1 seed Bianca Botto of Peru 6-2, 6-2 and North Carolina recruit Sara Daavettila defeating No. 2 seed Naomi Totka of Hungary 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.