Eddie Herr 12s, 14s, 16s Recap; Two All-American 16s Finals at Orange Bowl; Kuzuhara and Colby Reach 18s Semifinals, Marcinko Beats Fruhvirtova

©Colette Lewis 2021-
Plantation FL--

We're about to enter another weekend of finals, this time at the Orange Bowl, on the east side of Florida. Last Saturday at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Americans swept the singles titles in the 12s and 16s divisions, and had finalists in the 14s as well. My recap of those championship matches can be found today at the Tennis Recruiting Network; the tournament summary of the ITF J1 at Eddie Herr was published Thursday and can be found here.

One of those champions, in the girls 16s, will be going for a second consecutive title tomorrow at the Veltri Tennis Center, with unseeded Kate Kim advancing to the final with a 6-1, 6-1 win over unseeded Alessandra Teodosescu of Italy.

The challenge for the 16s is making the transition from hard courts in Bradenton to clay courts in Plantation, but Kim has not missed a beat.

"For me it's an easier transfer from hard to clay," said the 16-year-old from Lake Worth Florida. "I think I do like clay a little bit more, it better suits my ball. I think I hit a really heavy ball, so when it hits the clay it's really lively and I get a lot of short balls I'm able to attack a little bit more. The (hard) courts at IMG were also kind of slow, so I think that helped with the transition."

As with all 16s third round winners, Kim had to play two matches on Thursday, and her 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(3) win over Piper Charney in the quarterfinals was nearly three hours long. 

"It was a great match, and we were both playing really well," said Kim, who trains at Team Anderson in Lake Worth. "I'm glad to off the court a little earlier today than I was yesterday. But I've been doing really well with my recovery, going to PT every day, stretching, icing, doing everything I can. I'm feeling great today and excited for tomorrow."

Yakoff, who is unseeded, will be playing for a second Orange Bowl title after defeating unseeded Olivia Center 6-2, 6-2 in a semifinal encounter that was much longer than the score would suggest.  Yakoff, who won the Junior Orange Bowl 14s in 2019, also made the transition from hard courts to clay, after winning the G18s doubles title at the USTA National Indoor Championships late last month.

"I came here a few days before the tournament and hit twice a day around an hour and a half each," said the 16-year-old from New Jersey, who has yet to lose a set in this week. "I've also been playing doubles; we lost yesterday in a very close match, so that also helped with the clay."

Yakoff said her mindset has helped her advance methodically through the draw.

"Most have matches have been long, a lot of the games have gone to deuce and I feel I've been staying strong mentally, especially in those long games," Yakoff said. "I've tried to dictate points as much as possible and I feel that's been working out."

Kim and Yakoff are friends, but they have not played previously.

The boys 16s finalists are also both Americans, with Californian Quang Duong and Texan Alexander Frusina meeting in the final. No. 4 seed Duong took out Eddie Herr 16s finalist Lorenzo Carboni of Italy 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, while Frusina, the No. 2 seed defeated unseeded Zhengqing Ji of China 6-2, 1-6, 6-0.

Duong, who did not play Eddie Herr, but has been competing on the ITF clay circuit the past month, credits his father with preparing him for the physical rigors of three matches in two days, and with helping him navigate the tight spots that inevitably appear in a match.

"My dad does all my mental training stuff and we have specific routines," said Duong. "I just control my breathing, how my dad taught me and it worked."

Duong started well, using his depth to keep No. 14 seed Carboni from going on offense. But the 15-year-old Italian fought back, with Duong unable to stay with his game plan.

"In the second set, I got too impatient," Duong said. "I panic a lot and I just ran out of gas. The third set, I calmed down a lot more. I didn't play that well, but I fought really hard, ran down every point. He fought every point as well."

Frusina, who was delighted with his play in the first set, also saw a dip in his play in the second.

"The first I came out firing on all cylinders," said Frusina, who trains at the IMG Academy in Bradenton. "I couldn't complain about how I was playing. In the second set, I just got a little outplayed in most of the points. He stepped up his game and served much better. It was kind of tough to just hang in there, but in the third, I was able to bring my serve percentage back up, win a lot of first serve points and creating short balls for my forehand."

Frusina, who turns 16 next week, said he has been targeting this tournament all year. 

"I've been training really hard back at IMG and just building a lot of confidence there," said Frusina, who played the ITF J1 in Bradenton as a wild card and reached the doubles semifinals. "I've been looking forward to this tournament since the year started, I've had it on my list and I'm really trying to bring it home here."

Frusina and Duong met this summer in the second round of a J3 in Cancun, with Frusina posting a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory.

"I won the last time we played, at an ITF in Mexico, but it was a very close match," Frusina said. "I know he's been playing really well, so it should be a good match tomorrow."

The girls 16s final is set to begin at 10 a.m., with the boys final to follow. Live scoring will be available via iOnCourt.

The boys semifinals in the 18s division, will feature two Americans: No. 2 seed Bruno Kuzuhara and unseeded Ryan Colby. 

Kuzuhara broke open a close match with No. 10 seed Coleman Wong of Hong Kong late in the first set to claim a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

There were no breaks of serve until Wong lost his at 4-5 in the first.

"I just kept telling myself throughout the set to stay solid, and hopefully my chance will come," said the 17-year-old from nearby Coconut Creek. "At 4-5, especially with the new balls, the ball started flying a bit more, flew on him a bit. I got my chance and I took it."

Kuzuhara lost his serve to open the second set, but quickly recovered. 

"Even with the break, I felt good," Kuzuhara said. "I knew I was playing well, playing within myself, and I got the break right back. After I held, it was just smooth sailing from there."

Kuzuhara has been well known in the Fort Lauderdale-Plantation area for years, since he reached the Junior Orange Bowl 12s final  in 2016, and he had plenty of supporters during today's quarterfinal.

"I'm always happy to make a semifinal, especially at Orange Bowl here, especially being at Plantation," Kuzuhara said. "My fans and friends from around town, because I live close by, they come to watch, so it's always a pleasure, always great to have them come and cheer me on."

Kuzuhara will face unseeded Kalin Ivanovski of Macedonia, who defeated unseeded Gerard Campana Lee of Korea 7-6(5), 6-3.

Colby made short work of another fan favorite at the Veltri Tennis Center, beating No. 6 seed Leo Borg of Sweden, the son of tennis legend Bjorn Borg 6-1, 6-2.

Borg struggled with his serve in the first set, and, as in his third round match, took a medical timeout as well.

"I feel like he got off to a little bit of a slow start and I jumped on him pretty quickly," said Colby. "He came out better in the second, but I got one break and it was kind of over."

With Borg struggling to find any consistency, Colby was free to play the game he wanted to play.

"It's was fun being out there," Colby said. 

Colby will face No. 7 seed Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay, who defeated unseeded Eddie Herr finalist Kilian Feldbausch of Switzerland 6-1, 1-6, 6-1. Vallejo and Colby played two weeks ago in the third round of the JA in Merida, with Vallejo posting a 6-3, 6-0 win.

"I didn't make too many balls that day," Colby said. "The opposite of today. Hopefully it will go better tomorrow; I'm prepared. I'll be ready for him, ready to get him back."

No. 6 seed Petra Marcinko of Croatia got a second chance to end the run of finals of No. 3 seed Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic, and she made the most of it in a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 quarterfinal victory. Marcinko, who had lost to Fruhvirtova in the semifinals of the JA in Mexico two weeks ago, served for the second set at 5-4, only to see Fruhvirtova roar back to send it to a third. But Marcinko got an early break and held on to it, ending her fellow 16-year-old's streak of ITF junior circuit finals at three.

Marcinko will face unseeded Kristyna Tomajkova of the Czech Republic, who advanced to the semifinals when No. 10 seed Celine Naef of Switzerland retired trailing 6-4, 3-0.

No. 12 seed Laura Hietaranta of Finland returns to the semifinals for the second straight year, defeating unseeded Mia Kupres of Canada 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-2. Hietaranta will face No. 5 seed Diana Shnaider of Russia, who defeated unseeded Kayla Cross of Canada 6-1, 6-2.

The 16s doubles champions will be decided on Saturday, with another all-American final on the boys side.

No. 7 seeds Andrew Delgado and Tanner Povey, who defeated Carboni and Cole Henceroth 6-1, 6-1 in today's semifinals, will play unseeded Nikita Filin and Chase Fralick. Filin and Fralick advanced to the final with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Samuel Heredia and Miguel Tobon of Colombia.

Eddie Herr champions Noemi Basiletti and Vittoria Paganetti of Italy reached their second consecutive final the hard way, coming from 6-1 and 8-4 in the match tiebreaker to defeat unseeded Jessica MacCallum and Sophia Webster 6-4, 2-6, 10-8. The No. 5 seeds will face No. 8 seeds Piper Charney and Anya Murthy, who beat the unseeded team of Maya Joint and Susanna Maltby 6-3 6-3.

The semifinals in the 18s doubles will feature five Americans, but just one team with both players from the United States.  In the top half boys semifinal, Nicholas Godsick and Ethan Quinn will play Juan Carlos Prado Angelo of Bolivia and Cooper Williams; Eddie Herr champions Aleksander Orlikowski and Olaf Pieczkowski of Poland, the No. 6 seeds, face No. 7 seeds Edas Butvilas of Lithuania and Abedallah Shelbayh of Jordan in the bottom half.

Qavia Lopez, who is playing with Switzerland's Chelsea Fontenel, will play the top seeded Fruhvirtova sisters in the semifinals Saturday. Clervie Ngounoue and her partner, Lucija Ciric Bagaric of Croatia, the No. 5 seeds, will play Eddie Herr champions Marcinko and Shnaider, the No. 2 seeds, in the other semifinal.

See the tournament website for draws and the order of play for Saturday.