Scott Saves Four Match Points to Reach All-US Eddie Herr Girls 16s Final; Americans Hohmann, Bernard, Ovrootsky, Driscoll and Shang Advance to Finals; Top Seeds Osuigwe and Skatov Earn ITF Semifinal Berths

©Colette Lewis 2017--
Bradenton FL--

Trailing Kylie Collins 6-0, 4-0 in the semifinals of the Eddie Herr International 16s competition, Katrina Scott somehow managed to force a third set by winning a tiebreaker. The 13-year-old Californian then saved four match points late in the third set, one on an umpire's overrule, and went on to secure a 0-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(3) victory and a place in Saturday's final against unseeded Kailey Evans.

Serving at 4-5, Scott, the No. 13 seed, made two unforced errors and double faulted to give No. 6 seed Collins three match points. Scott saved the first with a forehand winner, then hit another forehand near the far sideline that Collins called out.  The roving umpire, who was standing at the net on the other side of the court, at first made no indication that the ball was good, but Scott, irate, said it was on the line, and the umpire agreed with her, telling Collins to play on.

"When I saw it, I immediately thought, no, this isn't the way I'm going to go out," Scott said. "It's so close, this is not going to happen right now. I was looking at the [umpire] and he didn't say anything until the end. But she still had one more to go."

Scott missed her first serve for the fifth straight point on that third match point, but Collins missed her return wide, and Scott, finally getting some first serves in held for 5-all. Serving at 5-6, Scott had a game point at 40-30, but missed a drop shot and hit a backhand wide to give Collins a fourth match point.  Again Scott failed to get a first serve in but she tagged a forehand winner to save the fourth match point, and when a backhand winner and a Collins error followed, a third set tiebreaker would decide it.

"I just tell myself I'm not going to push," Scott said of her determination to hit out when down match point. "If I'm going to miss, I'm going to want to miss going for a winner, not that she's going for one."

The tiebreaker was 3-3 at the change of ends, but Collins began to make errors, giving Scott three match points.  She took advantage of the first, hitting a backhand winner to end the three-hour and 15-minute contest.

Scott, who was a finalist in the 12s division last year, decided to play the 16s instead of the 14s this year to see some new faces.

"I knew all the girls playing 14s," said Scott, who recently won the USTA's Les Petits As Playoff in Lake Nona. "I think I just wanted to give myself a challenge and see how I can do in the 16s."

Evans also needed a comeback to defeat No. 15 seed Gia Cohen 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, setting up the second straight all-US girls 16s final, after Katie Volynets beat Victoria Hu in last year's final.

The other five finals will all feature Americans against international opponents.  In the boys 16s, No. 13 seed Ronald Hohmann will play No. 3 seed Nicholas-David Ionel of Romania.  In the boys 14s, top seed Alexander Bernard will face No. 2 seed Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan.  The boys 12s will also feature a US vs Japan final, with No. 3 seed Juncheng Shang, the American, against No. 5 seed Lennon Jones.

In the girls 12s and 14s, the finals will be US vs Czech Republic, with the Fruhvirtova sisters the international opponents.  Ten-year-old Brenda, the No. 1 seed in the 12s, will face No. 2 seed Tsehay Driscoll. Twelve-year-old Linda, the No. 4 seed in the 14s, will face No. 2 seed Vivian Ovrootsky.

All finals are scheduled for 9 a.m. on Saturday at the IMG Academy.

Complete results from today's semifinals are below. Doubles results can be found at the TennisLink site.

On the Har-Tru courts of the IMG Academy, where the ITF Grade 1 is played, the two No. 1 seeds remained on track for the titles.  Timofey Skatov of Russia defeated No. 6 seed Alexandre Rotsaert 6-1, 7-5, the third straight match in which the 16-year-old top seed has lost exactly six games.

Skatov will face No. 10 seed Alan Rubio Fierros of Mexico, who needed over two and a half hours to take out No. 15 seed George Loffhagen of Great Britain 6-3, 7-5.  Rubio, playing in his final junior tournament before he heads off to Central Florida in January, said he is more comfortable this week than he was in the previous two tournaments in Mexico.

"In Mexico, there was a lot of pressure for me," said the 18-year-old. "Every time I go there, there's pressure, but here I can play free. This is like my second home, so it's been pretty fun to play here."

Part of Rubio's decision to attend Central Florida was influenced by his time at the IMG Academy.

"I like Florida, and I think it's a very nice place to play tournaments and keep growing as a tennis player, so I like the idea of staying in Florida." Rubio said. "The coaches at UCF are really good, John Roddick and Matt Walters, I think they're going to help me a lot with my game. And they are on the USTA facilities, which is a good thing for me. Also I can train with other players and it's a very good environment. It's going to be fun. We're going to have a young team, but a good team, so let's see what happens next year."

The other two boys ITF semifinalists needed three sets to advance.  Adrian Andreev of Bulgaria beat Nick Hardt of the Dominican Republic 6-1, 1-6, 6-0 and will face No. 14 seed Stefan Palosi of Romania.  Palosi won the battle of the one-handed backhands, ending the six-match run of qualifier Ivan Yatsuk 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

ITF junior No. 1 Whitney Osuigwe faced her first real test in today's quarterfinals, but prevailed over unseeded 14-year-old Clara Tauson 7-5, 6-4 in front of a large crowd gathered on the porch and bleachers of the tournament's featured court.  Osuigwe will face unseeded Yasmine Mansouri of France, who defeated qualifier Ziva Falkner of Slovenia 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.

The other girls semifinal features two unseeded players, France's Clara Burel and Ukraine's Viktoria Dema.  Burel downed unseeded Oona Orpana of Finland 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 and Dema defeated unseeded Andreea Prisacariu of Romania 7-5, 6-1. That semifinal match will follow the Osuigwe - Mansouri contest at 9 a.m.  Both boys semifinals are also at 9 a.m.

The doubles finals are set for Saturday, with Osuigwe, Andreev and Rubio aiming for the first of two titles this weekend.

Osuigwe and Caty McNally, the No. 1 seeds, defeated unseeded Sabina Dadaciu and Margaryta Bilokin 6-0, 6-1 and will face No. 7 seeds Thasaporn Naklo of Thailand and Naho Sato of Japan for the title. Naklo and Sato beat the unseeded team of Dema and Avelina Sayfetdinova of Russia 6-4, 6-2.

Rubio and Dostanbek Tashbulatov of Kazakhstan, seeded No. 8, advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 3 seeds Tomas Machac and Ondrej Styler of the Czech Republic.  They will face the unseeded team of Andreev and Keenan Mayo, who beat unseeded Ronan Jachuck and Sumit Sarkar 6-3, 5-7, 12-10.

The doubles finals are scheduled not before 11:30 a.m.

Friday's results:

Girls ITF:
Whitney Osuigwe[1] (USA) d. Clara Tauson(DEN) 7-5, 6-4
Yasmine Mansouri (FRA) dl Ziva Falkner[Q] (SLO) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
Viktoriia Dema (UKR) d. Andreea Prisacariu (ROU) 7-5, 6-1
Clara Burel (FRA) d. Oona Orpana (FIN) 7-5, 1-6, 6-4

Boys ITF:

Timofey Skatov[1] (RUS) d. Alexandre Rotsaert[6] (USA) 6-1, 7-5
Alan Rubio Fierros[10] (MEX) d. George Loffhagen[15] (GBR)  6-3, 7-5
Adrian Andreev (BUL) d. Nick Hardt (DOM) 6-1, 1-6, 6-0
Stefan Palosi[14] (ROU) d. Ivan Yatsuk[Q] (USA) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3

Boys 12s:
Juncheng Shang[3](USA)d. Nishesh Basavareddy[1](USA) 6-4, 6-3
Lennon Jones[5](JPN) d. Learner Tien[7](USA) 7-5, 6-4

Girls 12s:

Brenda Fruhvirtova[1](CZE) d. Alexandra Eala[3](PHI) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
Tsehay Driscoll[2](USA) d. Ria Bhakta[5](USA) 7-5, 6-1

Boys 14s:

Alex Bernard[1](USA) d. Aidan Mayo[3](USA) 6-3, 6-1
Shintaro Mochizuki[2](JPN) d. Francisco Lamas[4](VEN) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Girls 14s:

Linda Fruhvirtova[4](CZE) d. Hina Inoue[1](USA) 6-2, 6-0
Vivian Ovrootsky[2](USA) d. Clarine Lerby[3](NED) 6-4, 6-0

Boys 16s:

Ronald Hohmann[13](USA) d. Leighton Allen[4](USA) 7-5, 6-3
Nicholas-David Ionel[3](ROU) d. Thiago Pernas[Q](ARG) 6-2, 6-2

Girls 16s:

Katrina Scott[13](USA) d. Kylie Collins[6](USA) 0-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(3)
Kailey Evans(USA) d. Gia Cohen[15](USA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1