A day after both No. 1 seeds lost in the USTA Winter Nationals 18s divisions, the No. 2 seeds exited in today's fourth round, with unseeded Arina Oreshchenkova defeating Ariana Pursoo 6-4, 6-4 to reach Saturday's quarterfinals.
In boys 18s fourth round action today, unseeded Dylan Tsoi took out No. 2 seed Bjorn Swenson 6-7(3), 7-5, 7-5.
As you can see, only half of the quarterfinalists are seeded in the girls 18s, a particularly poor showing considering there are 32 seeds in the 128 draw. The boys 16s is the only one of the four draws in Lake Nona that still has a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in contention in the quarterfinals.
What has to be one of the shortest off-seasons for tennis ever is over as of Saturday, with the ATP Cup team event kicking off in Australia.
The USA team, which consists of Taylor Fritz, John Isner(Georgia), Brandon Nakashima(Virginia) and Rajeev Ram(Illinois), plays Canada Sunday in Sydney. For more on the USA's group, see this article from the ATP.
Now that my trip to Florida is over, with the laundry done and the mail opened (not quite there on tallying the expenses), I've filed my last recap of the year for the Tennis Recruiting Network, this one on the Junior Orange Bowl. Although the rain is always a source of anxiety at a tournament where there is no indoor alternative and no margin for error in the 7-day, 128-draw schedule, the tournament is always a great opportunity to watch the younger divisions, exclusively. It's the only event on my in-person schedule that does that, so I do feel I missed a lot when it was canceled last year. In any case, congratulations again to Slovenia's Svit Suljic, Moldova's Lia Belibova, Colombia's Alejandro Arcila and Iva Jovic of the United States for their titles last week in Coral Gables.
The 18s had dodged the upset bug the first couple of days at the USTA Winter Nationals in Lake Nona, but today both No. 1s were beaten. No. 21 seed Nikita Filin, who is 15, defeated Alex Visser, the 2021 USTA 18s National Indoor champion, 6-4, 6-3.
In the girls 18s third round, No. 27 seed Esha Velaga, who is 17, defeated top seed Akari Matsuno 6-4, 6-1.
The most notable result in the 16s was unseeded Claire Hill's 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(15) over No. 6 seed Elena Daskalova. Thirty-two point tiebreakers (five changes of ends!) are not something you see often at any level of tennis.
Below are the seed reports, the last of these that I will post, although I will update the third round results of the 12s and 14s in Tucson first thing tomorrow. I will post the quarterfinal matchups for Saturday in tomorrow's post, at least for the 16s and 18s; the 12s and 14s draws may not be updated until the wee hours.
G16s: 1. Saray Yli-Piipari (out rd 1)
2. Jessica Bernales (out rd 2)
3. Ariel Madatali (out rd 3) 4. Natasha Rajaram 5. Olivia Center 6. Elena Daskalova (out rd 3) 7. Clara Zou (out rd 3) 8. Maren Urata (withdrew) 9. Kate Fakih (out rd 2) 10. withdrew 11. Emily Deming 12. Andrea De Los Rios Martinez (out rd 3) 13. Pearlie Zhang 14. Madeleine Rexroat (out rd 1) 15. Sophia Webster 16. Trinetra Vijayakumar (out rd 2)
Most of the top four singles seeds in the 16s and 18s USTA Winter Nationals made it through their first round matches Tuesday, but that was not the case in today's second round, with three of them bounced to the back draw.
After the loss in the first round of the G16s top seed Saray Yli-Piipari, No. 2 seed Jessica Bernales assumed the role of favorite, but she was beaten today by Sabrina Lin 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. The 14-year-old Lin had a breakthrough tournament at the Junior Orange Bowl this month, finishing in fifth place as a qualifier, with her only loss to top seed and eventual champion Iva Jovic.
In the G18s, No. 3 seed Ahmani Guichard lost to Ava Martin 6-4, 6-4 and B16s No. 3 seed Callum Markowitz is out after retiring in his match with Owen DeMuth at 6-4, 4-6, 2-1.
As I mentioned earlier this week when the draws were posted, unseeded Aidan Kim was going to be a dangerous and today he defeated No. 15 seed Jelani Sarr 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 in what should have been a round of 16 or quarterfinal match.
The top four seeds in the B18s are all through to Thursday's third round, but No. 5 seed Dean Kamenev lost to Douglas Yaffa 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2).
Below is the Top 16 seed report for the 16s and 18s:
B16s: 1. Ari Cotoulas 2. Mitchell Lee 3. Callum Markowitz (out rd 2) 4. Andrew Ena 5. Aaron Sandler 6. Kaveh Taheri (out rd 1) 7. Declan Galligan (out rd 2) 8. Noah McDonald (out rd 2) 9. Rahul Sachdev 10. Ian Bracks 11. William Hsieh 12. Jordan Reznik (out rd 2) 13. Carter Pate (out rd 2) 14. Krish Arora 15. Vincent Yang 16. Kane Kelley (out rd 2)
B18s: 1. Alexander Visser 2. Bjorn Swenson 3. Masato Perera 4. Nicholas Heng 5. Dean Kamenev (out rd 2) 6. Kian Vakili 7. Vignesh Gogineni (out rd 1) 8. Chad Miller 9. Landon Ardila 10. Marko Mesarovic (out rd 2) 11. Rohan Sachdev (out rd 2) 12. Jason Shuler (out rd 1) 13. Grant Lothringer (out rd 2) 14. Emon Van Loben Sels 15. Jelani Sarr (out rd 2) 16. Ryan Torres
G16s:
1. Saray Yli-Piipari (out rd 1)
2. Jessica Bernales (out rd 2)
3. Ariel Madatali
4. Natasha Rajaram
5. Olivia Center
6. Elena Daskalova
7. Clara Zou
8. Maren Urata (withdrew)
9. Kate Fakih (out rd 2)
10. withdrew
11. Emily Deming
12. Andrea De Los Rios Martinez
13. Pearlie Zhang
14. Madeleine Rexroat (out rd 1)
15. Sophia Webster
16. Trinetra Vijayakumar (out rd 2)
G18s:
1. Akari Matsuno
2. Ariana Pursoo
3. Ahmani Guichard (out rd 2)
4. Charlotte Owensby (withdrew)
5. Alice Xu
6. Ann Guerry
7. Katie Codd
8. withdrew
9. Jo-Yee Chan (out rd 1)
10. Gayathri Krishnan
11. Reese Miller
12. Sophia Wang
13. Bayley Sheinin (out rd 1)
14. Emma Charney (out rd 2)
15. Audrey Spencer (out rd 1)
16. Kinaa Graham
While the weather has cooperated so far for the 16s and 18s in Lake Nona Florida, the conditions at the 12s and 14s Winter Nationals in Tucson led to a late start to singles today, with the second round of doubles already canceled for the day. I assume the reason for these changes, which included going to a match tiebreaker for a third set, was rain. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the next two days is dicey as well, with rain likely Thursday evening.
Below is the top 16 seed report for Tuesday's first round (now updated for Wednesday's results):
B12s:
1. Izyan Ahmad
2. Elliott Awomoyi
3. Andrew Johnson
4. Vihaan Reddy
5. Safir Azam
6. withdrew
7. Tanishk Konduri
8. Aidan Xu (out rd 1)
9. Simon Hernandez (out rd 2)
10. Griffin Goode
11. Ishan Mahapatra (out rd 1)
12. Tyler Lee
13. Ivan Rybak
14. Diego Custodio
15. Dylan Jones (out rd 2)
16. Aditya Pandey
B14s:
1. Roman Sancilio
2. Zachary Cohen
3. Jon Gamble
4. Andre Alcantara
5. Nathaniel Suh
6. Adrien Abarca
7. James Quattro
8. Jagger Leach
9. Noah Johnston
10. Ford McCollum
11. Kaleb Ngwendson
12. Austin Cohen
13. Tej Bhagra
14. Benedict Graft
15. Rafael Ferreira (out rd 2)
16. Tristan Dussault (out rd 2)
G12s:
1. Nancy Lee
2. Carrie-Anne Hoo
3. Sophie Suh
4. Ellery Mendell
5. Reagan Levine
6. Elana Zaretsky (out rd 2)
7. withdrew
8. withdrew
9. withdrew
10. Kalista Papadopoulos
11. Anjani Vickneswaran
12. Sephi Sheng
13. Welles Newman
14. Raya Kotseva
15. Daniela Navarro
16. Lani Chang
G14s:
1. Laima Frosh
2. Leena Friedman (withdrew)
3. Capucine Jauffret
4. Emerey Gross
5. Alexis Nguyen
6. Elizabeth Fauchet
7. Aishi Bisht
8. Thea Frodin
9. Addison Lanton
10. Calla McGill
11. Anna Bennett (out rd 2)
12. withdrew
13. Ligaya Murray
14. Danielle Young
15. Natalie Oliver
16. Lily Zawaneh
As you can see, very few losses for them in the first round, although as I mentioned a few days ago, the top five G12s seeds had byes, so they did not play.
The first round of singles at the USTA 16s and 18s Winter Nationals is complete and already a No. 1 seed has been toppled. Saray Yli-Piipari, a five-star recruit from Georgia, lost to Jane Dunyon, another five-star recruit, who is from Utah. Dunyon has been playing most of her tennis on the UTR circuit this year, while Yli-Piipari, who has also played a few UTR tournaments in Atlanta this fall, has focused more on USTA tournaments.
Yli-Piipari is the only Top 4 seed to lose in today's action at the USTA National Campus, although G18s No. 4 seed Charlotte Owensby withdrew.
Below is the list of seeds in all four divisions, with those who lost today noted.
B16s: 1. Ari Cotoulas
2. Mitchell Lee 3. Callum Markowitz 4. Andrew Ena 5. Aaron Sandler 6. Kaveh Taheri (out rd 1) 7. Declan Galligan 8. Noah McDonald 9. Rahul Sachdev 10. Ian Bracks 11. William Hsieh 12. Jordan Reznik 13. Carter Pate 14. Krish Arora 15. Vincent Yang 16. Kane Kelley
B18s: 1. Alexander Visser 2. Bjorn Swenson 3. Masato Perera 4. Nicholas Heng 5. Dean Kamenev 6. Kian Vakili 7. Vignesh Gogineni (out rd 1) 8. Chad Miller 9. Landon Ardila 10. Marko Mesarovic 11. Rohan Sachdev 12. Jason Shuler (out rd 1) 13. Grant Lothringer 14. Emon Van Loben Sels 15. Jelani Sarr 16. Ryan Torres
G16s:
1. Saray Yli-Piipari (out rd 1)
2. Jessica Bernales
3. Ariel Madatali
4. Natasha Rajaram
5. Olivia Center
6. Elena Daskalova
7. Clara Zou
8. Maren Urata (withdrew)
9. Kate Fakih
10. withdrew
11. Emily Deming
12. Andrea De Los Rios Martinez
13. Pearlie Zhang
14. Madeleine Rexroat (out rd 1)
15. Sophia Webster
16. Trinetra Vijayakumar
G18s:
1. Akari Matsuno
2. Ariana Pursoo
3. Ahmani Guichard
4. Charlotte Owensby (withdrew)
5. Alice Xu
6. Ann Guerry
7. Katie Codd
8. withdrew
9. Jo-Yee Chan (out rd 1)
10. Gayathri Krishnan
11. Reese Miller
12. Sophia Wang
13. Bayley Sheinin (out rd 1)
14. Emma Charney
15. Audrey Spencer (out rd 1)
16. Kinaa Graham
The 12s and 14s Winter Nationals first round of singles is still ongoing. They start with doubles, and with the two-hour time difference and matches starting as late as 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time, it won't be possible to update the seed report tonight.
There have been many Division I signings since I last reported on those that were announced during Signing Week in November, and I'm sure others are forthcoming in the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to highlight a few of the top ITF juniors who have made commitments recently.
Oklahoma has signed Anchisa Chanta of Thailand, who has a ITF junior career high of 107 and is currently 688 in the WTA rankings, with a title at a $15K in Tunisia this fall. Chanta will join the Sooners for the dual match season next month.
Notre Dame hasn't made an official announcement, but Parsa Nemati's tweet notes that ITF junior No. 47 Sebastian Dominko of Slovenia has signed with the Fighting Irish for the fall of 2022.
G14s: 1. Laima Frosh 2. Leena Friedman 3. Capucine Jauffret 4. Emerey Gross 5. Alexis Nguyen 6. Elizabeth Fauchet 7. Aishi Bisht 8. Thea Frodin 9. Addison Lanton 10. Calla McGill 11. Anna Bennett 12. withdrew 13. Ligaya Murray 14. Danielle Young 15. Natalie Oliver 16. Lily Zawaneh
B12s:
1. Izyan Ahmad
2. Elliott Awomoyi
3. Andrew Johnson
4. Vihaan Reddy
5. Safir Azam
6. withdrew
7. Tanishk Konduri
8. Aidan Xu
9. Simon Hernandez
10. Griffin Goode
11. Ishan Mahapatra
12. Tyler Lee
13. Ivan Rybak
14. Diego Custodio
15. Dylan Jones
16. Aditya Pandey
B14s:
1. Roman Sancilio
2. Zachary Cohen
3. Jon Gamble
4. Andre Alcantara
5. Nathaniel Suh
6. Adrien Abarca
7. James Quattro
8. Jagger Leach
9. Noah Johnston
10. Ford McCollum
11. Kaleb Ngwendson
12. Austin Cohen
13. Tej Bhagra
14. Benedict Graft
15. Rafael Ferreira
16. Tristan Dussault
In the girls 12s, Junior Orange Bowl 12s semifinalist Nancy Lee is the top seed. The top five seeds have byes in the girls 12s, which is unusual; alternates are typically available to fill in any spots that open due to late withdrawals. Three girls 12s seeds withdrew after the draw was made.
Below are the Top 16 seeds in each of the four draws for the event at the USTA National Campus.
USTA Winter Nationals
Top 16 seeds:
B16s:
1. Ari Cotoulas
2. Mitchell Lee
3. Callum Markowitz
4. Andrew Ena
5. Aaron Sandler
6. Kaveh Taheri
7. Declan Galligan
8. Noah McDonald
9. Rahul Sachdev
10. Ian Bracks
11. William Hsieh
12. Jordan Reznik
13. Carter Pate
14. Krish Arora
15. Vincent Yang
16. Kane Kelley
B18s:
1. Alexander Visser
2. Bjorn Swenson
3. Masato Perera
4. Nicholas Heng
5. Dean Kamenev
6. Kian Vakili
7. Vignesh Gogineni
8. Chad Miller
9. Landon Ardila
10. Marko Mesarovic
11. Rohan Sachdev
12. Jason Shuler
13. Grant Lothringer
14. Emon Van Loben Sels
15. Jelani Sarr
16. Ryan Torres
G16s:
1. Saray Yli-Piipari
2. Jessica Bernales
3. Ariel Madatali
4. Natasha Rajaram
5. Olivia Center
6. Elena Daskalova
7. Clara Zou
8. Maren Urata
9. Kate Fakih
10. withdrew
11. Emily Deming
12. Andrea De Los Rios Martinez
13. Pearlie Zhang
14. Madeleine Rexroat
15. Sophia Webster
16. Trinetra Vijayakumar
G18s:
1. Akari Matsuno
2. Ariana Pursoo
3. Ahmani Guichard
4. Charlotte Owensby
5. Alice Xu
6. Ann Guerry
7. Katie Codd
8. (withdrew)
9. Jo-Yee Chan
10. Gayathri Krishnan
11. Reese Miller
12. Sophia Wang
13. Bayley Sheinin
14. Emma Charney
15. Audrey Spencer
16. Kinaa Graham
Iva Jovic, the Junior Orange Bowl 14s champion, was planning to play the Winter National 16s, but is not in the draw, so she must have decided another trip to Florida less than a week after she went home to California wasn't necessary after all. Junior Orange Bowl 14s finalist Shannon Lam is entered in the 18s division.
A couple of notable unseeded boys in the 18s: Orange Bowl 16s champion Quang Duong, and Aidan Kim, who is coming off an injury, but is No. 84 in the ITF junior rankings now.
Eudice Chong won her second of four NCAA singles titles at the 2016 Division III NCAA Championships in Kalamazoo
There are only a few ITF World Tennis Tour events this week, and while I haven't been able to follow those results closely for several weeks now, I did want to mention the title won today by four-time NCAA Division III singles champion Eudice Chong at the $15K in Tunisia. Chong, who won her first title as a Wesleyan freshman in 2015 and defended it through her senior year in 2018, is from Hong Kong, where the pandemic was treated very seriously. The resulting inability to travel kept her from competing from March of last year to October of this year, but she has quickly regained her form, going 17-9 this year in $15 and $25Ks. Today's final, Chong, the No. 2 seed, defeated 16-year-old Sofia Costoulas of Belgium, currently No. 20 in the ITF junior rankings, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in a three-hour battle.
It's the third career ITF World Tennis Tour women's singles title for Chong and her first since 2018. She has 15 doubles titles on the WTT circuit, five of which have come this year.
Sixteen-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic advanced to the quarterfinals of the WTA 125 in Korea Thursday, defeated No. 6 seed Su Jeong Jang of Korea. Currently in a third set in her quarterfinal match with Ekaterina Kazionova of Russia, Fruhvirtova could reach a first WTA semifinal with another win. (Fruhvirtova lost to Kazionova 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4)). Linda's 14-year-old sister Brenda, who won her first professional match in the first round Tuesday, lost to No. 8 seed Yuki Naito of Japan 6-4, 6-2 in Thursday's quarterfinals.
The hope that 2022 might mark a return to normal for junior tennis still exists, but yesterday's announcement by Tennis Europe that the Winter Cups, the junior team indoor events, won't happen isn't a good sign. The decision to cancel the events, which are held for the 12s, 14s and 16s, was due to "A significant worsening of the epidemiological situation across the region, plus increased and constantly changing COVID-19 travel restrictions and access issues have made the event unfeasible for a second consecutive year."
UTR has named four collegiate tennis ambassadors, part of its commitment to have a presence in the NCAA's Name, Image and Likeness field. Stanford's Tristan Boyer, Auburn's Carolyn Ansari, UCLA's Taylor Johnson and Texas's Peyton Stearns have agreed to represent UTR, which "will help each athlete market their Paid Hits, provide more opportunities to play in UTR Pro Tennis Tour (PTT) events, and help further their careers and gain exposure in the tennis world."
Two tennis players are among the collegiate athletes selected by NFL quarterback Tom Brady to promote his new apparel brand, which will debut next month. Michigan's Andrew Fenty and UCLA's Patrick Zahraj join athletes competing collegiately in football, basketball, baseball and hockey in representing the Brady brand. For more on this high-profile NIL, see this article.
I wasn't aware I was going to be featured in Tennis magazine's 30-love series until I saw the article last month in the print copy I receive as a USTA member. This month, tennis.com is releasing these pieces on its website, so for those of you who didn't see it last month, here is a link to the article. Several other 30-love articles will be of interest to those following college and junior tennis, so please look through all of them as they are added.
The last major junior tournament of 2021, the Junior Orange Bowl, ended yesterday; today the acceptances for the first ITF J1 of 2022 were published, in case you were under the impression that there is an off-season in junior tennis. (The USTA Winter Nationals begin December 28th in Orlando and Tucson).
That first J1 is in Costa Rica, and it usually draws a very large US contingent, given the location and the reputation of the event. This year however, the draw is just 32, so only six Americans, four boys and two girls, are in the main draw as of now. The cutoff for the girls was 109; for the boys 148.
The US boys are Cooper Williams, Yannik Rahman, Nicholas Godsick and Michael Zheng. The US girls are Liv Hovde and Krystal Blanch, with Mia Slama the next player in. Hovde and Rahman are in the main draw of the Australian Open Juniors, which begins seven days after the J1 in Costa Rica ends. They are also both entered in the J1 in Traralgon, which is basically the same week as Costa Rica, so something has to give there. Godsick and Blanch are in the qualifying for Traralgon and the Australian Open Junior Championships, so all the players who have entered both have until next Tuesday, the withdrawal deadline for Costa Rica, to monitor the movement in the acceptances for the Australian events before making a decision.
After the Orange Bowl, I anticipated an off-season for Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova, the 16-year-old and 14-year-old sisters from the Czech Republic. With neither entered in the Australian Open Junior Championships, I thought the would return to Europe, but instead they are playing this week at the WTA 125 in Seoul South Korea. Linda received entry on her own WTA ranking, currently 305; Brenda was given a wild card. Both won their opening matches, with Linda beating former Vanderbilt star Fernanda Contreras of Mexico 6-3, 6-1 and Brenda defeating Jeong Moon of Korea 6-0, 6-1. It was Brenda's first appearance at a pro event; she did not play any ITF World Tennis Tour women's tournaments, although she was eligible to do so when she turned 14 in April. Both will play seeds on Thursday, with Linda facing No. 6 seed Su Jeong Jang of Korea and Brenda taking on No. 8 seed Yuki Naito of Japan. The earliest the two could meet is in the semifinals.
Also competing in Seoul this week is 2018 NCAA singles champion Arianne Hartono (Mississippi) of the Netherlands, who is the No. 5 seed.
Carson Branstine, who grew up in California and played under the US flag for most of her junior career before switching to Canada, will officially join the Texas A&M women's team next month, according to yesterday's announcement from head coach Mark Weaver. Branstine, now 21 years old, originally committed to USC, then transferred to Virginia, but she did not play at either school due to injuries. Branstine, ranked as high at No. 4 in the ITF juniors, won the 2017 Australian and French Open girls doubles titles.
In more Texas college tennis news, Texas Tech has announced it will be building a new six-court indoor facility as part of its partnership with The Falls Tennis and Athletic Club. Construction is expected to begin "in the coming months," according to this article on the new facility.
Iva Jovic of the United States and Alejandro Arcila of Colombia had very different experiences the last time the Junior Orange Bowl championships were held in 2019. Jovic lost in the first round of qualifying in the girls 12s, while Arcila reached the boys 12s final. Two years later, they are 14s champions, with Jovic defeating fellow American Shannon Lam 6-3, 6-0 and Arcila earning the title over Darwin Blanch, who retired with an injury at 3-6, 7-6(5), 3-0.
Jovic, the top seed, continued her streak of keeping her opponents to three games or less in every set. The 14-year-old from Torrance California was up a break at 2-0 and then 4-2, but in both instances, Lam, seeded No. 4, broke right back. Serving at 3-4, Lam wasn't able to hold off Jovic, who cited that game as the difference.
"At 4-3 we had a really long game and I was able to win the long rallies," said Jovic, who went on to win the final eight games of the match. "It was really tough. That game kind of gained confidence for me and helped me keep going smoothly."
Jovic, who won the Easter Bowl 14s title this spring, sensed Lam was getting more tentative.
"I think I was a little more comfortable on the court, so my balls were better, deeper and she couldn't do as much," said Jovic, who had beaten Lam 6-1, 6-1 in their meeting at a USTA Level 2 16s tournament this summer and knew to expect the high looping balls Lam employs regularly. "Before the match, I knew that was something she was going to do. She gets it so high, so I knew I would have to catch it on the rise, because if you go back, you don't know what happens. So that's what I did, and it worked most of the time."
Lam, who had won a tough three-setter over No. 2 seed Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria in the semifinals, couldn't find a way to win key points in the first set's lengthy games.
"The first set, every game was lots of deuces," said Lam, a 13-year-old from New Jersey. "I was even up some times. But she just won more deuces than I did. She's really consistent and even when you hit the ball hard, she doesn't just get it back. She hits it back with even more spin, really deep."
Jovic didn't indulge in a dramatic celebration, but the prestigious international title was very satisfying.
"It feels great," said Jovic, who is coached by Peter Smith and Rylan Rizza at the Jack Kramer Club in Los Angeles. "It's a big tournament and I was looking forward to it. It means a lot to me, it's a great feeling. It's great to know I'm improving, getting bigger and bigger accomplishments, but I want to keep going."
Jovic is returning to Los Angeles tonight, with her silver bowl of oranges, but will fly back to Florida in less than a week for the 16s USTA Winter Nationals, which begin December 28th at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, and are on clay for her age group. Lam is competing in the 18s division, which is played on hard courts.
Arcila's chance to win Colombia's first Junior Orange Bowl title appeared to be slipping away when Blanch took a 5-3 lead in the second set tiebreaker, having dominated the first set. But after the second point of that tiebreaker, Blanch went to retrieve a ball and felt a sharp pain in his knee. Limping noticeably thereafter, the American managed to take a 4-2 lead at the change of ends, but he looked tentative on a forehand volley, sending it well wide. Arcila lost his serve on the next point, with Blanch's forehand return landing on the baseline for a 5-3 lead, but it was the last point the American would win in the set, with errors, forced and unforced giving Arcila new life.
"I just put the ball in as much times as I could," said Arcila, a 14-year-old from Medellin, who trains several months of the year in Florida. "I just tried to stay focused, because I knew if I won the tiebreak and we went to a third set, I was likely to win the match."
Arcila had seen two set points slip away from him in the second set, with Blanch serving at 4-5, 15-40, but he was having no trouble holding serve, so he took confidence from those opportunities.
"When he served I had a lot of break points," Arcila said. "I had two set points at 4-5, but he served and played those points very well, and I got nervous."
Arcila kept his nerves in check in the tiebreaker, while Blanch was trying to ignore the pain he was feeling in his right knee.
"I started feeling something in my knee and I couldn't move," said Blanch, who wasn't allowed treatment in the 10-minute break between the second and third sets. "It was killing me. I was up 5-3 in the tiebreaker, but it just got worse and worse. The supervisor did bring me some spray, that I sprayed on my knee. It helped, but very little, and when it was still hurting I couldn't go on."
Although the ending was not ideal, Arcila reflected on what the title meant for him personally and for his country.
"I wanted to win very badly, because I felt that I had the chance, but I played horrible in the final," Arcila said of his loss two years ago, when he was the top seed. "In Colombia they follow this tournament a lot, maybe in the next few days there will be a lot of interviews and everything. It is special for me, for my team and for all the tennis followers in my country."
Blanch, who trains with former USTA National Coach Eric Nunez in Orlando, is unsure of his schedule for the start of 2022, but was planning to take some time off even before his knee injury, with a family vacation in Argentina scheduled.
Arcila is returning to Colombia for the holidays and is hoping for a wild card into the ITF J1 next month in Barranquilla Colombia.
From the 6-3, 6-1 score in the girls 12s final, Lia Belibova's win over top seed Christina Lyutova of Russia, appeared routine. Yet the first set took 65 minutes to complete, with Belibova, the first player from Moldova to claim a Junior Orange Bowl title, breaking a 3-all logjam to take control of the match.
"It was actually really hard," said the 12-year-old from Chisinau, who remembered a previous match with Lyutova that she won easily three years ago. "She played good. The first set was 2-all, 3-all; it was stress, but then I started to play smarter, and better: with more stability, stronger."
Belibova, now training in Istanbul, takes inspiration from Radu Albot, who reached the ATP Top 40 in 2019.
"When he was practicing in Moldova also, I met him sometimes," Belibova said. "I didn't hit with him, but I have a picture."
As for her ambitions, Belibova is looking to eventually outdo Albot after claiming the title today at the Biltmore Tennis Center.
"It's a big step for me and I need to continue like this, to win and to practice more, said Belibova, who has a goal of the No. 1 ranking in the world. "It was a very good experience."
Although the skies opened around 11 a.m. Tuesday, all matches were completed.
In the boys 14s third place match, Calvin Baierl of the United States defeated Valentin Garay of Argentina 6-1, 6-2. Max Exsted of the United States took fifth place with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Oliver Bonding of Great Britain.
Third place in the girls 14s went to Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria, who beat Emma Dong of Canada 6-0, 6-1. American Sabrina Lin was the fifth place finisher, beating Alexis Nguyen of the United States 6-0, 6-0.
In the girls 12s, Hollie Smart of Great Britain took fifth place, beating Ciara Harding of the United States 7-5, 3-6, 10-4. Zaire Clarke defeated Nancy Lee 6-2, 6-1 in an all-American contest for third place.
Svit Suljic made history at the 60th edition of the Junior Orange Bowl, with the No. 3 seed from Slovenia winning two matches Monday to claim the first boys title for his country.
Due to rain in the forecast for Tuesday, all players involved in the semifinals and consolation draw agreed to finish the boys 12s tournament a day early, and the weather cooperated, with warm and sunny conditions greeting the players this morning at the Har-Tru courts at Salvadore Park.
Suljic's run at the title started inauspiciously, with the 12-year-old losing the opening set of his semifinal to No. 5 seed Jordan Lee, but he bounced back to record a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory. His opponent in the final, Juan Miguel Bolivar of Colombia, a No. 9 seed, had less of a struggle, beating No. 8 seed Jerrid Gaines 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals, but Suljic showed no signs of fatigue in the afternoon final, taking big leads early in each set and cruising to a 6-3, 6-0 victory.
"I had a good recovery after the [semifinal], so I was ready to play my final," said the 12-year-old, who trains at Mouratoglou Academy. "Finals are always super to play, so adrenaline does everything."
Bolivar, usually vocal and energetic, was less animated than usual and fell behind 4-1. Suljic serving up 4-1, 40-15 but Bolivar came alive, getting his only break of the match, then holding with a big forehand winner to get within a game. But Suljic held and broke Bolivar again, and the hopes of Bolivar's fans, including B14s finalist Alejandro Arcila, began to fade.
Suljic took control, winning the first eight points of the second set, then went on another streak of 12 straight points, building a 5-0. Moving well and keeping his own errors to a minimum, Suljic kept the pressure on. Bolivar had a game point serving at 0-5, but the unforced errors that had dogged him throughout the match reappeared and he was unable to counter the big forehand Suljic hit on his first match point.
Bolivar admitted to fatigue, but gave credit to Suljic.
"Yes, I am so tired, but I think he played so good," said Bolivar, who was impressed by Suljic's pace and depth. "The whole match so solid, I think, and the power."
Suljic said he looked at the list of Junior Orange Bowl champions before he began playing here and was impressed with the names he read, including Andy Murray, who won the 12s in 1999. He also noticed no Slovenians on the boys side, with Katarina Srebotnik, the 1995 girls 14s champion, the sole winner from his country.
"It seems special, it's a great feeling, I don't know what to say," Suljic said. "It's something special to win this tournament, I'm very proud of myself, happy. It's one big step and it's very good."
Gaines finished in third place, defeating Lee 6-4, 6-0 to avenge his singles quarterfinal loss to his doubles partner at this year's Eddie Herr.
Mark Ceban of Great Britain finished in fifth place, defeating Teodor Davidov 7-5, 6-2 in the consolation final.
An American, and a reigning Easter Bowl champion, will win the girls 14s title after top seed Iva Jovic and No. 4 seed Shannon Lam defeated their international opponents in Monday morning's semifinals.
Lam, who won the Easter Bowl 12s title this spring, eliminated the last Eddie Herr champion remaining, defeating No. 2 seed Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Lam used every strategy she could summon--lobs, moonballs, forehand slices, drop shots--to stay away from Dencheva's backhand.
"I hit most of my shots to her forehand," said Lam, now 13. "I noticed her grip was a bit weird on it. But her backhand was amazing. She could hit a winner off of any shot with her backhand."
Lam, who played the 18s at the USTA National Indoor Championships last month, knew that Dencheva might also be a bit fatigued from three straight weeks of competition.
"I heard she played Eddie Herr, played another tournament in between (a Casely money tournament) Junior Orange Bowl, so I thought she must be tired," said Lam, who used the drop shot to her advantage.
Lam was up 5-2 in the third set, but when she failed to serve it out at 5-3, a bit of doubt crept in.
"My mind was everywhere," said Lam, who was up 30-0 in the game. "Thinking I have to win this game or she might take the momentum."
Lam didn't win the game, but was able to break to set up a meeting with Jovic, this year's Easter Bowl champion in the 14s.
Jovic, who has yet to lose more than three games in a set in her six wins, defeated Canadian Emma Dong, a No. 9 seed, 6-3, 6-3.
"My depth was pretty good and I was controlling my shots well to her backhand," Jovic said. "Her forehand is really aggressive and she was moving me with it. So I did a good job of keeping it away from her better side and so then when she got a forehand, she'd try to go for too much."
Jovic and Lam played this summer in the final of a USTA 16s Level 2, with Jovic winning easily.
"I played a really good match and I won like 1 and 1, I think," Jovic said.
Lam said wasn't playing her best that day.
"I was missing a lot of shots, it wasn't really just her making winners," Lam said. "I was shanking a lot, it was pretty weird. I'm a bit more sure now that I can get a better score," Lam joked.
The boys 14s final Tuesday will feature No. 3 seed Darwin Blanch against No. 5 seed Alejandro Arcila of Colombia and a contrast in previous Junior Orange Bowl results.
Arcila reached the 12s final in 2019, losing to Benjamin Gusic-Wan of Great Britain, while Blanch doesn't have any good memories of his two years in the 12s, or since.
"To be honest I've had really bad streaks in Orange Bowl," Blanch said, including his recent forays in the 16s as well the 12s in 2018 and 2019. "I've had second round, first round, first round, first round (losses). I was like, there's no way I'm going to lose first round again. So it feels really good to be in the final."
Blanch got there with a 6-2, 6-4 win over unseeded Valentin Garay of Argentina, the only unseeded semifinalist in any of the four divisions.
Blanch served for the match at 5-3, but admitted that nerves got the better of him in that game.
"When I was 5-2 up I got a little tight to close the match," said Blanch, the youngest of his four tennis-playing siblings: Ulises, Dali and Krystal. "He started playing a little better, I lowered my level a little bit and he got a little confident. At 4-5, he was 40-0 in that last game, and I guess he choked a little bit, and I came back and won."
Blanch said he had not played Garay before in a tournament, but knew him from competing in the same tournaments in South America.
"I've played him a couple of times in practice," said Blanch, a 6-foot left-hander. "I was surprised he made the semis; I would have expected him to lose a little earlier. But when I saw him, he was playing well, so I knew I had to play well to win today."
Arcila could not have been happier with his start in his 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win over No. 6 seed Calvin Baierl, a semifinalist in the 12s two years ago.
"I played very, very well and I didn't let him do his game, which is being very aggressive," said Arcila, who is from Medellin, but trains several months each year with Gabe Jaramillo in Port St. Lucie. "I tried not to let him be forward on the court, pull him back every time. And I was pretty focused."
All that changed in the second set, with Baierl rededicating himself to his big forehand and keeping Arcila on defense.
"I started very well, I was 3-2 and had chances to go to 4-2, but the nerves, and the anxiety of not closing those moments got in my mind, and he started playing better too," Arcila said.
Arcila regrouped in the final set, with Baierl, who had beaten top seed Maxwell Exsted in the quarterfinals, looking particularly tired after dropping serve at 2-3.
"I think he was a little bit tired in the third set, because he had struggled in the past two sets," Arcila said. "But I was also tired. I think what made the difference was that I played more organized in the third set, he started complaining a little bit, about me making more shots, me not missing, and I took advantage of that."
Arcila and Blanch have never played, and unlike two years ago, when he lost to the diminutive Gusic Wan, Arcila will be the smaller of the finalists.
"I'm the little kid now," Arcila joked. "He lived in Argentina and we played the same tournaments, but we never got to face each other. We've known each other from three or four years ago, so it's great to play him now."
The girls 12s semifinals were a study in contrasts, with No. 3 seed Lia Belibova of Moldova quickly moving past Nancy Lee, a No. 9 seed, 6-3, 6-0. Top seed Christina Lyutova needed three hours to get past No. 8 seed Zaire Clarke 7-5, 7-5, coming from a break down in the second set to advance.
The 11-year-old Lyutova, who trains at the Gorin Academy in Redmond Washington and plays USTA events, is from Moscow Russia. She doesn't speak English, but her mother said she is looking forward to playing Belibova for the first time.
"She told me before that every opponent is different, so she has to find her game during the match."
Due to a forecast that calls for showers in the late morning, all three finals, the third and fourth place matches and the consolation finals are scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. at the Biltmore Tennis Center. Streaming on Courts 1 and 2 should be available via the link at Tennis Analytics.
Rain this morning delayed the quarterfinal matches at the Junior Orange Bowl for three or four hours, and when all were decided late this afternoon, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in both the boys 12s and the boys 14s had been sidelined.
At the boys 14s at Crandon Park, No. 6 seed Calvin Baierl defeated top seed and Eddie Herr finalist Maxwell Exsted 6-1, 6-2, while unseeded Valentin Garay of Argentina took out Eddie Herr champion Timofey Derapasko of Russia 6-2, 7-6(4). No. 3 seed Darwin Blanch beat Maximus Dussault[8] 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the other all-USA boys 14s quarterfinal.
B14s Quarterfinal results:
Calvin Baierl[6](USA) d. Maxwell Exsted[1](USA) 6-1, 6-2
Alejandro Arcila[5](COL)d. Thijs Boogaard[9](NED) 6-4, 2- ret. ill Darwin Blanch[3](USA) d. Maximus Dussault[8](USA) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Valentin Garay(ARG) d. Timofey Derepasko[2](RUS) 6-2, 7-6(4)
The boys 12s at Salvadore Park lost Eddie Herr champion and top seed Teodor Davidov, who fell to Juan Miguel Bolivar of Colombia, a No. 9 seed, 6-3, 6-4. No. 2 seed Navneet Raghuram lost to Jordan Lee, the No. 5 seed, for the second time in three weeks. The Americans met in the semifinals of the Eddie Herr, with Lee winning that 6-4, 4-6, 10-2. Today, playing a full third set, Lee posted a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory. No. 8 seed Jerrid Gaines, who lives in the Miami area, cruised into the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Felipe Mamede, a 17 seed from Brazil.
B12s Quarterfinal results:
Juan Miguel Bolivar[9](COL) d. Teodor Davidov[1](USA) 6-3, 6-4
Jerrid Gaines[8](USA) d. Felipe Mamede[17](BRA) 6-1, 6-1
Svit Suljic[3](SLO) d. Mark Ceban[9](GBR) 6-2, 6-2
Jordan Lee[5](USA) d. Navneet Raghuram[2](USA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Iva Jovic, the No. 1 seed in the girls 14s, had some unfinished business in her final year at the Junior Orange Bowl, having traveled all the way from her Southern California home to accomplish what she couldn't do in her first attempt: win a match.
"I played it two years ago and lost in qualifying," said the 14-year-old from Torrance, who won the Easter Bowl this spring. "So I kind of wanted to redeem myself."
After that first round qualifying loss, she did get to visit the Everglades, but this year, she might not have any time to be a tourist, as she has reached the semifinals, defeating rival Claire An 6-2, 6-3 Sunday afternoon.
Jovic and An were tied at 3-all in the second set when Nina Costalas, who was playing Emma Dong of Canada on the adjacent court, went well wide of her own court chasing a ball and collapsed behind the Jovic-An baseline, the racquet flying out of her hand. She received treatment for her hamstring, and after an evaluation, eventually left the court under her own power, but Jovic and An could not resume their match until approximately ten minutes had elapsed.
"She was starting to play a little better, and that kind of maybe cooled her down a little bit and gave me more of an advantage," said Jovic, who won the final three games after the disruption. "It was tough to stay concentrated because we had a good rhythm going with the points, and I was winning, but I just made sure I wasn't sitting too long on the bench, kept moving my feet so I wouldn't get cold."
The other American in the semifinals is No. 4 seed Shannon Lam, who took 4-1 leads in both sets against No. 7 seed Katie Rolls, but needed to bear down serving out both sets at 5-4. Lam saved a break point in the first set at 5-4, while she needed two match points to get the job done in the second set, with Rolls, determined to stay aggressive regardless of the score, sending a swing volley long on match point No. 2.
"She can run," the 13-year-old Lam said of Rolls, who had beaten her at the ITF J4 in Atlanta in October. "We had so many rallies. I made some drop shots that I thought were really good, but she just manages to hit winners off them. But I was glad to play her, to try to get this one."
Like Jovic, Lam didn't have any results to brag about in the 12s two years ago. She did qualify, but lost in the first round, and for all the lost tournament opportunities due to the pandemic, it did have a silver lining for her.
"My school shut down so I actually had more time to practice," said Lam, who will be representing the United States at Les Petits As next month. "So that's been a big part of my improvement. And a lot of my coach's students weren't there because of Covid, so he had more time to hit with me. I'm definitely more aggressive now; when I was younger I was just a baseline player."
Lam will face the only Eddie Herr champion still in the running for the Florida double, No. 2 seed Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria, who defeated No. 6 seed Hannah Klugman of Great Britain 6-3, 6-4.
G14s Quarterfinals:
Eva Jovic[1](USA) d. Claire An[5](USA) 6-2, 6-3
Emma Dong[9](CAN) d. Nina Costalas[17](USA) 4-4, ret. inj.
Shannon Lam[4](USA) d. Katie Rolls[7](USA) 6-4, 6-4
Rositsa Dencheva[2](BUL) d. Hannah Klugman[6](GBR) 6-3, 6-4
The girls 12s semifinals will feature three Americans, with No. 3 Lia Belibova of Moldova the only international player remaining.
G12s Quarterfinal:
Christina Lyutova[1](USA) d. Ye Sung Choo(KOR) 6-1, 7-5
Zaire Clarke[8](USA) d. Anita Tu[4](USA) 6-2, 7-6(3)
Lia Belibova[3](MDA) d. Julieta Pareja[6](USA) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
Nancy Lee[9](USA) d. Yui Komada[17](JPN) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
The girls 12s and the boys 14s move to the Biltmore Tennis Center for Monday's semifinals, joining the girls 14s. The boys 12s, which is played on Har-Tru, remain at Salvadore Park throughout the tournament.
Harvey Fialkov has been writing feature articles for the Junior Orange Bowl throughout the tournament. His work can be found here.
Live streaming of the semifinal matches that are on courts 1 and 2 will be available Monday courtesy of Tennis Analytics. I'll try to tweet which matches will be streamed; all six semifinals are scheduled for 9:30 a.m., with rain again in the forecast for the afternoon.
I haven't been able to keep tabs on the ITF World Tennis Tour as much as usual these past three weeks, but I wanted to note that University of Kentucky junior Liam Draxl won his second consecutive $15,000 tournament in Cancun today. The 20-year-old Canadian, seeded No. 6, defeated unseeded Isiah Strode 6-1, 6-0 in just over an hour in the final. In the ten matches Draxl has won these past two weeks, he has played eight tiebreakers and won seven of them.
I made my way out to Key Biscayne's Crandon Park today, to get my first look at the boys 14s and girls 12s, as they played their fourth round matches. Both divisions will also play their quarterfinal matches there on Sunday, before moving to the Biltmore Tennis Center for the semifinals on Monday and the finals on Tuesday.
Just two of the boys 14s matches went to three sets, with a full third set resuming today after two days of match tiebreakers due to the rain delays from the first day of the tournament. Top seed Max Exsted defeated Carel Ngounoue, a No. 9 seed, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the only match of the eight featuring two Americans. Exsted went from 2-3 down to 2-0 up in the second set, but then Ngounoue had his surge, winning six of the next eight games to force a third set before Exsted took control of the match and closed it out.
Exsted will face No. 6 seed Calvin Baierl in an all-USA quarterfinal Sunday, after Baierl avenged his first round Eddie Herr loss to Roben Gavani of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-3.
The other two Americans remaining in the boys 14s also face off Sunday after both won tight two-setters today. No. 8 seed Maximus Dussault defeated No. 9 seed Alaa Trifi of Tunisia 6-2, 7-6(1) and No. 3 seed Darwin Blanch beat unseeded Alvaro Jimenez Roman of Spain 6-4, 7-6(3).
Seven of the eight main draw matches in the boys 14s finished before a rain shower halted play around 2 p.m., with only No. 2 seed Timofey Derepasko of Russia and unseeded Nicolas Arseneault of Canada still on court, midway through the third set. Derepasko, the Eddie Herr champion, came through after play resumed, taking a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 decision.
B14s Quarterfinals:
Maxwell Exsted[1](USA) v Calvin Baierl[6](USA)
Thijs Boogaard[9](NED) v Alejandro Arcila[5](COL)
Maximus Dussault[8](USA) v Darwin Blanch[3](USA)
Valentin Garay(ARG) v Timofey Derepasko[2](RUS)
The match of the day in the girls 12s was between top seed Christina Lyutova and No. 9 seed Sydney Barnhart battling for three hours before Lyutova came up with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.
The all-US quarterfinal in the girls 12s will pit No. 4 seed Anita Tu against No. 8 seed Zaire Clarke. Tu defeated Anna Bugaienko, a No. 9 seed, in a contentious contest 7-6(7), 6-1, while Clarke had no trouble with Sumomo Yoshino of Japan, a No. 9 seed, beating her 6-2, 6-1.
G12s Quarterfinals:
Christina Lyutova[1](USA) v Ye Sung Choo(KOR)
Anita Tu[4](USA) v Zaire Clarke[8](USA)
Julieta Pareja[6](USA) v Lia Belebova[3](MDA)
Nancy Lee[9](USA) v Yui Komada[17](JPN)
The girls 14s quarterfinals at Biltmore Tennis Center Sunday morning will feature two all-USA encounters. Top seed Iva Jovic rolled past the last qualifier in any of the four divisions, Sabrina Lin, 6-1, 6-0 to set up a meeting with No. 5 seed Claire An. An defeated unseeded Eden Mayorkes of Israel 6-4, 7-6(3).
No. 4 seed Shannon Lam, who had lost only five games in her first three matches, lost more than that in the first set against Sydney Jara, the No. 9 seed, but Lam came through 7-6(4), 6-4. She will face No. 7 seed Katie Rolls, who beat yet another American, No. 9 seed Claire Zhang 7-5, 6-1.
The upset of the day was Canadian Emma Dong's 6-1, 6-3 win over No. 3 seed Eva Oxford, who was a finalist at the Eddie Herr, while No. 17 seed Nina Costalas defeated No. 8 seed Neus Torner Sensano of Spain 7-5, 6-3.
G14s Quarterfinals:
Eva Jovic[1](USA) v Claire An[5](USA)
Emma Dong[9](CAN) v Nina Costalas[17](USA)
Katie Rolls[7](USA) v Shannon Lam[4](USA)
Hannah Klugman[6](GBR) v Rositsa Dencheva[2](BUL)
The boys 12s had the most competitive day overall, with three of their eight matches going to three sets, including No. 5 seed Jordan Lee's 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) win over Tanishk Konduri, a No. 9 seed, in one of the three all-USA round of 16 matches.
Navneet Raghuram had breezed through his first three matches, but the No. 2 seed had all he could handle from Mark Mrcela, a No. 17 seed, setting up a match with Lee when he battled past Mrcela 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4.
Top seed Teodor Davidov defeated Tam Sin Hang of Hong Kong, a No. 9 seed, 6-4, 6-4 and will play another No. 9 seed, Juan Miguel Bolivar of Colombia. Bolivar beat No. 7 seed Vihaan Reddy 6-2, 0-6, 6-4. Davidov was the subject of a feature today in the Miami Herald, written by Harvey Fialkov.
No. 17 seed Felipe Mamede of Brazil defeated No. 4 seed Colin McPeek 6-2, 6-4 and will play No. 8 seed Jerrid Gaines, a 6-3, 7-5 winner over Daniel Patsula, a No. 9 seed.
B12s Quarterfinals:
Teodor Davidov[1](USA) v Juan Miguel Bolivar[9](COL)
Felipe Mamede[17](BRA) v Jerrid Gaines[8](USA)
Mark Ceban[9](GBR) v Svit Suljic[3](SLO)
Jordan Lee[5](USA) v Navneet Raghuram[2](USA)
Complete draws can be found at the USTA's PlayTennis site. The forecast for Sunday includes a 50% chance of rain, so the 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. for the quarterfinals could change.
Last week's Orange Bowl featured several surprises during the week, and although not shocking, the titles won by Petra Marcinko of Croatia and Danny Vallejo of Paraguay were another reminder that sports aren't scripted. My coverage of those titles, as well the doubles championships, can be found at the Tennis Recruiting Network. A separate recap of the 16s tournament can be found here.
Another day without rain helped the Junior Orange Bowl get back on schedule, although the girls 12s and 14s and the boys 14s all played a match tiebreaker in lieu of a third set for the third round today, as they had done in all four age divisions on Thursday. The boys 12s, played on clay at Salvadore Park, was on schedule with the consolation draw, so they returned to the regular format today.
Two of the top seeds found themselves in those tense match tiebreakers today, with boys 14s No. 3 seed Darwin Blanch beating Evan Sharygin, a No. 17 seed, 7-5, 4-6, 10-7 and girls 12s top seed Christina Lyutova getting by Aoi Watanabe of Japan, a No. 17 seed, 6-4, 3-6, 10-4, in matches at Key Biscayne's Crandon Park.
Three of the four Eddie Herr champions still have an opportunity to add a Junior Orange Bowl title to their resumes, but not girls 12s winner Kristina Penickova, who is the No. 2 seed here. Penickova was convincingly defeated by Yui Komada of Japan 6-0, 6-2. Two unseeded players remain in the girls 12s: Ye Sung Choo of Korea and Briley Rhoden.
Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria, the No. 2 seed here after her title in Bradenton, won two matches today, beating Nicole Okhtenberg 6-4, 7-5 this morning in a match held over from Thursday and Meritxell Teixido of Spain 6-1, 6-4, this afternoon. Top seed Iva Jovic defeated Marcella Roversi 6-3, 6-0. There are three unseeded players in the fourth round in the girls 14s: qualifier Sabrina Lin, Eden Mayokes of Israel and Sara Conde of Argentina.
Timofey Derepasko of Russia, also a No. 2 seed this tournament after winning the Eddie Herr two weeks ago, advanced to the round of 16 this evening with a 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 17 seed Zachary Cohen. Top seed Max Exsted, who lost to Derepasko in the Eddie Herr final, defeated Nicholas Rizzo 6-1, 6-3. There are three unseeded players in the round of 16: Alvaro Jimenez Roman of Spain, Valentin Garay of Argentina and Nicolas Arseneault of Canada.
After spending all day Thursday at the girls 14s, I watched all Friday's round of 16s matches for the boys 12s today at Salvadore Park, and Eddie Herr champion Teodor Davidov again found himself in a tough contest, as he had in the first round. Against No. 17 seed Oluwajomiloju Aminu of Great Britain, Davidov found himself down 5-1 in the second set, after taking the first set 6-3. Aminu, nearly twice Davidov's size, served for the set at 5-1, and 5-3, but couldn't close either time. A marathon game with Davidov saving set points serving at 4-5 appeared to be the turning point, and the 11-year-old from Bradenton closed out the tiebreaker for a 6-3, 7-6(1) victory.
Davidov didn't need a third set, but No. 3 seed Svit Suljic of Slovenia did, coming back to claim a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Emilio Comacho, a No. 17 seed from Ecuador, who had not lost a game in his first two matches. Comacho trailed 4-1 in the opening set before winning six of the next seven games. Suljic kept his leads in the second and third sets, but the match was in doubt until the final game.
All 16 boys remaining in the main draw are seeded, with the top eight intact. No. 2 seed Navneet Raghuram extended his streak of matches with a 6-0 set to three, beating Damian Tabuteau 6-0, 6-1.
I am planning to spend Saturday at Crandon Park to watch the girls 12s and boys 14s round of 16 matches, if the weather cooperate.
Complete draws can be found at the USTA's PlayTennis site. The consolation matches in the girls 12s and 14s and the boys 14s began with the score 2-2 to allow two rounds to be completed Friday.
The 16s Orange Bowl tournament in Plantation was an unqualified success for Americans, with players from the United States winning all four titles. My recap of the singles championships by Quang Duong and Kate Kim, and the doubles championships won by Tanner Povey and Andrew Delgado and Piper Charney and Anya Murthy is available today at the Tennis Recruiting Network.
I also had an opportunity to join Alex Gruskin of Cracked Racquets on his Mini-Break podcast, where we discussed the Eddie Herr, the Orange Bowl, the college recruiting scene at both, and several other topics of interest in college and junior tennis.
The good news for the Junior Orange Bowl Thursday was the lack of any rain disruptions. The bad news was that, even with match tiebreakers in lieu of a third set for round two, eight girls 14s matches and one girls 12s match could not be completed, with those pushed to Friday morning.
Being in the top half of the draw is an definite advantage in this scenario, and all four No. 1 seeds are safely through to the third round. Iva Jovic, the top seed in the girls 14s, defeated Juliana Singeorzan 6-3, 6-2 and will play unseeded Marcella Roversi at noon at the Biltmore Tennis Center. Boys 14s top seeed Max Exsted advanced to a meeting with unseeded Nicholas Rizzo, after beating Mikael Arsenault of Canada 6-1, 7-5. That match, also scheduled for noon, is at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne.
In the 12s, top seed Christina Lyutova downed Natalie Augustyn 6-0, 6-2 and will face No. 17 seed Aoi Watanabe of Japan at noon at Crandon Park. At the boys 12s at Salvadore Park today, Teodor Davidov had a less fraught second round match than his 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 first round win over Charlie Riley of Ireland, beating Chase Peirce 6-1, 6-3. Davidov will play a No. 17 seed, Oluwajomilojo Aminu of Great Britain, at noon on Friday.
I stayed at the girls 14s all day today, determined to see the match between No. 6 seed Hannah Klugman of Great Britain and Akasha Urhobo. For some reason Urhobo, who qualified at the J1 Eddie Herr two weeks ago, was not given entry into the main draw despite a UTR similar to Klugman's, and she had to qualify. It was an unfortunate first round draw for both players, but it was great for tennis fans to have such an exciting matchup so early in the tournament, and the grounds were buzzing with anticipation in the hours before they took the court. When Klugman emerged with a 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-2 victory two and a half hours after the match began, most of the industry reps, agents, coaches, players and fans agreed that it had lived up to expectations.
The 12-year-old Klugman, who made the semifinals of the Les Petits As in September as an unseeded wild card, took a 4-1 and 5-2 lead in the first set, and had the easier service games, but Urhobo's aggressive game began to fall into place. When Klugman failed to serve out the set at 5-4, Urhobo seized the momentum, holding and breaking at love for a 6-5 lead. Then, when the 14-year-old from Ft. Lauderdale seemed to have figured out the most effective patterns against Klugman, the errors of the first half of the set resurfaced and she was broken. Klugman got a mini-break early in the tiebreaker and made it stand up, hitting an ace for 6-3 and closing out the set when Urhobo sent a backhand long.
The second set started well for Klugman, who went up 2-0, but a five-deuce service game that she lost was the turning point, and Urhobo reeled off six straight games to send the match to a third set.
Once again Klugman took the lead to open the final set, going up 4-1 and then 5-1, as Urhobo's first serve percentage dropped and her overhead, problematic all day, continued to let her down. Klugman was unable to serve out the match at 5-1, but she broke Urhobo for the third time in the set to end it.
Klugman was one of 16 players in the girls 14s draw who had their second round matches postponed until Friday morning. She will face Kiko Inoue of Japan in that match, scheduled for 8 a.m.
There was one top eight seed eliminated today, with boys 14s No. 4 seed Nicholas Patrick falling to Alexandru Hebhang Balan of Canada 6-1, 2-6, 10-4.
