No. 2 Seeds Eliminated in G14s and B12s as Junior Orange Bowl Adopts Two-a-Day Schedule for Friday and Saturday

©Colette Lewis 2019--
Coral Gables FL--

More rain overnight caused a two-hour delay Friday, as the Junior Orange Bowl tried to get back on schedule after a complete washout of third round main draw matches Thursday with two rounds of matches. Fortunately most of the afternoon was dry, and the consolation tournament was cancelled, so quarterfinals are set for Saturday, and the semifinals will be played as Saturday as well, given a dicey forecast for Sunday. The plan is to play the final Monday, as initially scheduled, with Sunday now a day of rest, providing there is no rain Saturday.

With all the tennis played today, some top seeds were bound to be eliminated, especially with a match tiebreaker used in lieu of a third set.

At the girls 14s at Kerdyk Center at the Biltmore, No. 2 seed Nikola Daubnerova of Slovakia fell in the third round to Tatum Evans, a No. 17 seed, 6-3, 6-1. Evans lost in the next round to fellow American Stephanie Yakoff 6-1, 6-0. Yakoff, a No. 9 seed, will take on another American, Brooklyn Olson, also a No. 9 seed in the quarterfinals. Olson reached the girls 12 final last year.

Top seed Kayla Cross of Canada has yet to lose a set, and she will take on American Sage Loudon, a 17 seed, in the quarterfinals. The fourth American in the quarterfinals of the girls 14s is Thea Rabman, the reigning USTA 14s national champion. The No. 9 seed, Rabman defeated No. 5 seed Daria Zykova of Russia 2-6, 7-5, 10-8 in the round of 16.  Rabman will play No. 3 seed Cadence Brace of Canada.

Six of the top 8 seeds in the boys 14s have advanced to the quarterfinals, with only No. 5 seed Nahuet Nicolas Eli of Argentina needing a match tiebreaker to advance. Eli will face Eddie Herr champion Alexandru Mihai Coman of Romania, the No. 4 seed in the quarterfinals.  No. 2 seed Nishesh Basavareddy of the US will play No. 17 seed Yu Maeda of Japan, who defeated No. 8 seed Cooper Williams of the United States 6-2, 6-3. The other American in the quarterfinals is Joseph Phillips, a No. 9 seed. He will take on Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico, who posted the most impressive results Friday at Crandon Park, losing only one game in each of his two matches. The other boys 14s quarterfinal features Lennon Jones, the 2017 Junior Orange Bowl 12s champion, and No. 3 seed Rashed Naif of Qatar, who beat two Americans today: Eddie Herr finalist Benjamin Kreynes 6-1, 6-3 in the third round and unseeded Nikita Filin 6-1, 6-1 in the round of 16.

The boys 12s draw lost its No. 2 and No. 3 seeds today, with Changmin Ryu of Korea, seeded third, falling to No. 9 seed Samy Khediri of Great Britain 6-3, 5-7, 10-4. No. 2 seed Max Exsted of the United States was beaten by Oliver Bonding, a No. 9 seed, 6-3, 6-7(9), 10-4. Bonding is one of three boys from Great Britain in the quarterfinals, and he will play compatriot Benjamin Gusic-Wan, the No. 6 seed, who defeated No. 9 seed Timofey Derepasko of Russia 4-6, 7-5, 10-4.  The sole American remaining the boys draw is unseeded Calvin Baierl, who defeated Maximus Wong of Singapore 6-2, 6-1 and Boxiong Zhang of China 6-1, 6-1. Baierl's quarterfinal opponent is Khediri.

Top seed Alejandro Arcila had no difficulty in his two matches, and his opponent in the quarterfinals is Nicolas Arseneault of Canada, one of three unseeded players in the final eight. Arseneault defeated Francisco Salmain of the United States 6-2, 5-7, 12-10 in the third round and Oskari Paldanius of Finland 6-4, 6-2 in the fourth round.  Eddie Herr champion Manas Dhamne, the No. 4 seed, was forced to a match tiebreaker by unseeded Mateo Carballo of Argentina, but the 11-year-old from India prevailed 6-3, 0-6, 10-4. Dhamne's quarterfinal opponent is unseeded David Carteputreda, who beat Nicholas Patrick of the US, a No. 9 seed, 6-1, 6-1 in the third round and unseeded Hans Deng of Canada 6-2, 6-4 in the fourth round.

Even with the match tiebreaker, several of the girls 12s matches were lengthy, with two third round matches that began around 1:30 not finishing until well after 4 p.m. The winners of those two matches were were just preparing for their fourth round matches when a light rain suspended play at Crandon Park, and those two matches were sent to the Biltmore to be played.

Lya Fernandez of Mexico, a No. 9 seed, defeated No. 3 seed Hephzibah Oluwadare of Great Britain 6-4, 5-7, 10-8 to reach the quarterfinals, where she will play unseeded Mariia Masiianskaia, one of three Russian girls in the quarterfinals.

No. 8 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia will face Elizabete Brutane of Latvia, a No. 9 seed. No. 5 seed Yelyzaveta Kotliar of Ukraine defeated Alexis Nguyen of the United States 6-1, 6-3 in one of the two moved matches. Kotliar will play Sasha Kilgour of the United States, a No. 9 seed, in the quarterfinals. Eddie Herr champion and No. 2 seed Alina Korneeva of Russia will play the winner of the unfinished match between Sapir Cohen of Israel and No. 7 seed Claire An of the United States. Rain late in the evening at the Biltmore prevented that match from finishing, with Cohen up 7-6(3), 3-4.

All scores from today's matches can be found at the TennisLink site. Play is expected to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, weather permitting.