Day One of ITF JA Orange Bowl Washed Out; Horovitz Wins J5 in Costa Rica; Cressy Takes ATP Challenger in Italy

©Colette Lewis 2021--
Plantation FL--

Veltri Tennis Center Courts Monday afternoon

After ten days without rain at the Eddie Herr Championships, Monday's ITF JA Orange Bowl served as a reminder that not all major tournaments in Florida can count on the beautiful weather Bradenton boasts this time of year.

Yesterday's first day of main draw for 16s and the conclusion of 18s qualifying was delayed by several hours due to rain on Sunday, and not a single match was completed on Monday at the Veltri Tennis Center due to rain in the morning and then a heavy downpour early in the afternoon.

Sixteen matches in the 16s division did get underway shortly after noon, but none finished. They will go first at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, and with 23 courts available, seven other 16s first round matches will begin. In all, there are 28 16s matches that need to be played to before their first round is complete.

The 18s first round, which was to begin today, will be played on Tuesday, with all 64 singles matches on the schedule. All the first round 16s doubles matches will be played after singles Tuesday evening. The 18s doubles draw was released today, with Brenda and Linda Fruhvirtova the top girls seeds. Eddie Herr champions Diana Shnaider and Petra Marcinko of Croatia are seeded No. 2.

Bruno Kuzuhara and Croatia's Mili Poljicak are the top seeds in the boys doubles, with Gonzalo Bueno of Peru and Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay the No. 2 seeds. Vallejo was a finalist in doubles last year at the Orange Bowl.

Fortunately the weather forecast for Tuesday does not call for any rain, and the Veltri Tennis Center does have lights, so there is reason to hope Tuesday's schedule will be completed.

Normally I don't have time to follow other tennis while I'm on this Florida junior tennis swing, but today's rainout allows me to provide an update on the results from the other ITF Junior Circuit. 

Roy Horovitz, who is playing the 16s Orange Bowl this week, won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title Saturday at the J5 in Costa Rica. The 15-year-old from Florida, seeded No. 4, defeated 14-year-old Jacob Olar, the fifth seed, 6-4, 6-0 in the final. The unseeded team of Sophia Cedeno and Naomi Widiaman won the girls doubles title, beating the unseeded team of Aida Eissa and Canada's Sophie Stanton 4-1, 2-4, 10-5. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for both Cedeno and Widiaman.

At the ITF J5 in Nepal, No. 4 seeds Meethre Barot and Siddhartha Lama won the boys doubles title, beating No. 3 seeds Kabir Chhabria and Daksh Prasad of India 7-6(5), 7-6(7) in the final. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for both Barot and Lama.

This is the final week on the ITF Junior Circuit schedule, with the final 10 tournaments of 2021 taking place.

Since his tough loss to Diego Schwartzman in the second round at Indian Wells, former UCLA Bruin Max Cressy has played six consecutive weeks on the ATP Challenger Circuit in Europe. He has gone 18-5 in that stretch, reaching three finals, and yesterday at the ATP Challenger 80 in Forli Italy, the 24-year-old finally raised a winner's trophy. Cressy, the No. 2 seed, defeated unseeded Matthias Bachinger of Germany 6-4, 6-2 in the final, winning all five of his matches in straight sets. It's Cressy's third Challenger title, and brings his ATP ranking up to a career-high of 112. Today's rankings are the ones used for Australian Open entry, so it remains to be seen whether he will be in the main draw, or one of the top seeds in qualifying. Not one to rest, Cressy is the top seed at this week's Challenger 80 in Forli.