2021 Easter Bowl 12s Champion Lam Moves Up to ITF, Advances to Round 2; Hovde Withdraws; Semifinals Wednesday for 12s and 14s Divisions at Indian Wells Tennis Garden

©Colette Lewis 2022--
Indian Wells, CA--

After the rain and the wind Monday, both the FILA Easter Bowl and the desert weather returned to normal Tuesday, with the completion of the first round of the ITF tournament, and the quarterfinals of the 12s and 14s divisions.

Last year, Shannon Lam decided to play the 12s at the Easter Bowl, which moved to San Diego due to covid restrictions in the Coachella Valley. Although she would turn 13 just a few months later, her lack of tennis competition due to the pandemic led to the decision to play in the 12s. After taking that title without dropping a set and securing her first USTA gold ball, the New Jersey resident set her sights on the 16s and 18s divisions, where she found enough success to qualifying for the USTA 16s Nationals in San Diego. 

After reaching the final of the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl 14s in December, Lam played two lower level ITF events this year, winning five matches, but not accumulating enough points to earn entry into the Easter Bowl Grade B1. Although she contemplated playing the 14s for the Road to Wimbledon wild card introduced this year, she was given a wild card into the ITF, so she decided to take it, and today she won her first ITF Grade 1 match, upsetting No. 5 seed Sonya Macavei 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Lam and Macavei were one of eight girls matches that were held over after a rare desert rain shower kept the first day schedule from being completed on Monday. Down 5-7, but up 4-1 in the second set, Lam got the split, giving credit to her coach for pointing her in the right direction.

"He told me to mix up my pace, but generally play aggressive," Lam said of Edgar Arzamasov, who coaches at Little Silver Tennis Club. 

That advice worked with Lam taking a 5-1 lead in the third set, but Macavei was not done. Lam had a match point with Macavei serving at 5-2, but made an unforced error, and she was broken in a lengthy game serving for the match at 5-3, although she didn't reach match point. The momentum was definitely with Macavei, but she fell behind 15-40, and although she saved that second match point with a big forehand winner, her forehand sailed long on the third to give Lam the win.

"She started playing really well and I got tight because I was afraid that I was going to lose," Lam said. "That's really not helpful and I started hitting softer and she just took those opportunities. I got nervous at the end, but generally through the whole match I didn't have any expectations. One of my friends told me that since everyone is older than me, they should be the ones feeling the pressure."

Lam will face another wild card, 16-year-old Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl champion Kate Kim, in Wednesday's second round.

In addition to Macavei, the only other seed to lose today was No. 14 seed Ria Bhakta, who lost to Ann Guerry 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in another of the matches held over from Monday. But top seed Liv Hovde withdrew, with a minor back injury, from singles, although she is still playing doubles. Hovde and Qavia Lopez, the top seeds, won their first round doubles match this afternoon. Zehra Suko, the lucky loser taking Hovde's place, won her match with Kaitlyn Rolls 7-6(3), 0-6, 6-4.

Just one of the eight girls qualifiers won today, with Salma Farhat defeating Reese Miller 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Two qualifiers advanced on the boys side, with Evan Wen defeating Sam Scherer 7-5, 6-0 and Holland Snell defeated Joseph Phillips 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-0. 

All second round ITF singles and doubles matches are scheduled for Wednesday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The 14s played moved to the main site today for their quarterfinals and two of the those eight matches were especially tense and exciting affairs.

Nathaniel Suh, a No.  5 seed, and Ford McCollum, a No. 9 seed, battled for three hours before Suh came through with a 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 win. Suh will play No. 3 seed Evan Sharygin, who defeated Lachlan Gaskell 6-4, 6-2. 

Top seed Ronit Karki downed Keaton Hance, a No. 9 seed, 6-4, 6-3 and will play Noah Johnston, a No. 9 seed. Johnston beat No. 9 seed Gus Grumet 6-1, 6-0.

Girls 14s top seed Capucine Jauffret just got past No. 5 seed Kenna Erickson 2-6, 6-0, 7-6(3). Erickson's big ground strokes kept Jauffret on defense throughout, but she countered well. The tiebreaker swung Jauffret's way on a few too many errors by Erickson and a couple of close calls, which the chair umpire confirmed, going Jauffret's way.

Jauffret will play unseeded Nicole Okhtenberg, who defeated No. 9 seed Alyssa James 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.  The other girls 14s semifinal will feature two No. 9 seeds, with Avery Nguyen facing Amy Lee. Lee defeated Lauren Kettlewell, a No. 9 seed, 6-2, 7-5, while Nguyen beat Addison Lanton, a No. 9 seed, 6-2, 6-4.

In the boys 12s, No. 3 seed Teodor Davidov will play No. 2 seed Vihaan Reddy in one of the 9 a.m. semifinals. Unseeded Shaan Majeed, who upset top seed Jordan Lee 7-6(5), 6-2 in today's quarterfinals, will face Michael Antonius, a No. 5 seed.

The girls 12s semifinals will feature two unseeded players. Baotong Xu, who beat No. 2 seed Filipa Delgado 4-6, 7-5, 10-8 in the quarterfinals, will play No. 3 seed Anjani Vickneswaran, and Yilin Chen will face Lyla Middleton, a No. 5 seed.

In the 16s, two of the top four seeds in the girls draw went out in today's second round, with Alana Boyce defeating No. 3 seed Jessica Bernales 6-2, 7-5 and Sydney Jara beating No. 4 seed Ariel Madatali 6-0, 6-4.

In the boys 16s, No. 4 seed Chase Fralick lost to Shaurya Bharadwaj 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(5).

Live streaming will be available on courts 1 and 2 for selected 12s and 14s semifinals. Check the Easter Bowl site for which matches will be streamed on Wednesday morning.