Guth Topples Yepifanova, Coleman and Kalieva Reach G14s Semifinals at Junior Orange Bowl; Bernard, Basavareddy and Ngounoue Advance to Semis

©Colette Lewis 2017--
Coral Gables FL--

Three of the four top seeds remain in the hunt for Junior Orange Bowl titles, but No. 1 seed Alexandra Yepifanova was eliminated Sunday in the Girls 14s quarterfinals at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center at the University of Miami.

The match with Mara Guth of Germany, a No. 9 seed, started well enough for Yepifanova, but Guth turned the match around in the second set and won going away 1-6, 7-5, 6-0.

"I made a lot of easy mistakes at the beginning," said Guth, a 14-year-old from the Frankfurt area. "Then I played a bit calmer, and I think that was quite important."

Even going up 3-0 with two breaks, Guth didn't feel she had secured the match until she went up 4-0 in the final set.

"I think it was important that I made it 4-0," said Guth, who has played the Orange Bowl the past two years, with a third round appearance in the 2015 12s tournament her previous best result.

Guth will face unseeded Elvina Kalieva in Monday's semifinals, with Kalieva defeating Elise Wagle, a 17 seed, 6-3, 7-6(5) in an all-US quarterfinal.

The other all-American quarterfinal was a serious battle, with Ellie Coleman defeating fellow No. 9 seed Kimberly Hance 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

Coleman's semifinal opponent will be 17th seed Dariya Radulova of Bulgaria, who defeated unseeded Calissa Dellabarca 6-2, 6-1.

Boys 14s top seed Alexander Bernard moved into the semifinals, beating No. 17 seed Samir Banerjee 6-4, 6-1 in the all-American quarterfinal.  Bernard will face No. 7 seed Alvaro Guillen Meza of Ecuador, who defeated Canadian Marko Stakusic of Canada 6-4, 6-1.

Unseeded Pedro Boscardin Dias of Brazil took out his fourth seed of the tournament, beating No. 4 seed Francisco Lamas of Venezuela 7-6(3), 6-3.  Boscardin will face No. 2 seed Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan, who outlasted Leo Borg of Sweden, a No. 17 seed, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

Borg, son of Bjorn Borg, fell behind 3-1 in the third set, but went up a break 4-3, only to see Mochizuki storm back to take the last three games. Eddie Herr champion Mochizuki was ripe for the upset, with his double faults and errors appearing to be the result of fatigue, but he continued to return well. Borg made all but one first serve at 4-3, but Mochizuki returned them all deep, negating any advantage for Borg.  Mochizuki found the energy to hit a return winner to earn a break point at 30-40 and converted it with a confident overhead.  Holding serve was difficult for Mochizuki in the final set, but he held at love for a 5-4 lead and Borg double faulted twice, including on game point, for an anticlimactic end to the match.

The 12s divisions have one American in the semifinals. No. 3 seed Nishesh Basavareddy will face top seed Alexander Blockx of Belgium in the boys 12s semifinal, with No. 7 seed Lennon Jones of Japan and unseeded Nahuel Eli of Argentina in the other semifinal.  Blockx had the toughest quarterfinal, beating No. 5 seed Cooper Williams 7-6(5), 6-4. Basavareddy won the all-American quarterfinal with Nicholas Mangiapane 6-1, 6-0. Jones dispatched No. 4 seed Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico 6-2, 6-0 and Eli defeated unseeded Romeo Hadzimehmedovic of Serbia 6-2, 6-2.

Clervie Ngounoue, the No. 8 seed, will take on top seed Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic after both earned three-set victories in Sunday's quarterfinals.  Ngounoue defeated unseeded Myoung Sein of Korea 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, while Fruhvirtova got past No. 5 seed Melisa Ercan of Turkey 6-3 4-6, 6-1.   The other semifinal will feature No. 3 seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines and No. 2 seed Sofia Costoulas of Belgium.  Eala defeated No. 9 seed Kayla Cross of Canada 7-6(5), 6-1 and Costoulas eliminated No. 7 seed Priya Nelson 6-2, 6-0.  The semifinals and finals of the Girls 12s will be played at the University of Miami.

The feed-in consolation tournament for fifth place is now also winding down with the quarterfinals and semifinals scheduled for Monday. For complete draws, see the TennisLink site.

Sunday's main draw results:

Boys' 12 Main (Quarterfinal Round)
Blockx, Alexander (1) BEL def. Williams, Cooper (5) USA 7-6(5); 6-4
Basavareddy, Nishesh (3) USA def. Mangiapane, Nicholas (9) USA 6-1; 6-0
Jones, Lennon (7) JPN def.  Pacheco Mendez, Rodrigo (4) MEX 6-2; 6-0
Eli, Nahuel Nicolas ARG def. Hadzimehmedovic, Romeo SRB 6-2; 6-2

Boys' 14 Main (Quarterfinal Round)
Bernard, Alexander (1) USA def. Banerjee, Samir (17) USA 6-4; 6-1
Guillen Meza, Alvaro(7) ECU def. Stakusic, Marko (17) CAN 6-4; 6-1
Boscardin Dias, Pedro BRA def. Lamas, Francisco Carlos (4) VEN 7-6(3); 6-3
Mochizuki, Shintaro (2) JPN def. Borg, Leo (17) SWE 6-2; 5-7; 6-4

Girls' 12 Main (Quarterfinal Round)
Fruhvirtova, Linda (1) CZE def. Ercan, Melisa (5) TUR 6-3; 4-6; 6-1
Ngounoue, Clervie (8) USA def. Myoung, SeinKOR 6-2; 3-6; 6-2
Eala, Alexandra (3) PHI def. Cross, Kayla (9) CAN 7-6(5); 6-1
Costoulas, Sofia (2) BEL def. Nelson, Priya (7) USA 6-2; 6-0

Girls' 14 Main (Quarterfinal Round)
Guth, Mara (9) GER  def. Yepifanova, Alexandra (1) USA 1-6; 7-5; 6-0
Kalieva, Elvina USA def. Wagle, Elise (17) USA 6-3; 7-6(5)
Coleman, Ellie (9) USA def. Hance, Kimberly (9) USA 6-2; 3-6; 6-4
Radulova, Dariya (17) BUL  def. Dellabarca, Calissa USA 6-2; 6-1