Jovic Defeats Lam for G14s Junior Orange Bowl Title; Arcila, Belibova Make History with B14s, G12s Championships in Coral Gables

©Colette Lewis 2021--
Coral Gables FL--

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. 

My coverage of Monday's boys 12s final is here.

Complete draws can be found at the USTA's PlayTennis site.

Replays of the 14s finals can be found at Tennis Analytics.