Tien Claims First Grade 1 Title at International Open of San Diego, Hovde Earns Girls Championship; Quevedo Wins J2 in Dominican Republic; Easter Bowl 16s and ITF Begin Monday

©Colette Lewis 2022--
San Diego CA--

Top seed Liv Hovde and No. 12 seed Learner Tien captured the singles championships at the ITF Grade 1 International Open of San Diego with hard-fought victories in the finals Sunday under sunny skies at the Barnes Tennis Center. Hovde defeated unseeded Mayu Crossley of Japan 7-6(5), 6-3, while Tien beat fellow Southern Californian Kyle Kang, a wild card, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Hovde, who had not lost more than four games in a set coming into Sunday's final, got off to her usual fast start, taking a 3-1 lead with a break of Crossley. But then came six straight breaks of serve, with Hovde unable to serve out the set at 5-3. Crossley managed to end that streak of service breaks by holding, for 5-5, but not before saving two set points, the first when Hovde netted a forehand passing shot, and the second when Hovde made an unforced backhand error.

Crossley broke Hovde for the fourth time in the set to give herself a chance to serve for the set, but she didn't manage to hold for a third time in the set, sending it to a tiebreaker.

After Hovde lost her 2-0 lead in the tiebreaker, neither player could get more than a point ahead of the other. Serving at 4-5, Crossley crushed a forehand winner, but netted her response to Hovde's excellent return to give Hovde her third set point. This time fortune was on Hovde's side, with her forehand clipping the net and dropping short, giving Crossley little chance to respond, and she netted her forehand in the attempt.

Despite being in danger of losing a set for the first time this week, she managed to avoid the frustration that can accompany multiple breaks of serve.

"I realize that that happens, and I just have to relax," said the 16-year-old Hovde, who trains with Phil Dent in Keller Texas. "The first set was really tough: two set points at 5-4 and I lost them, and I was down 5-6, but I played well in tiebreak, played solid and didn't let it affect me. It's part of tennis, you can't let your emotions take over and affect you in the point."

Hovde broke to start the second set, but Crossley, who was having success attacking Hovde's second serve, got the break back, but lost serve again to make it 3-1. That was the only hold in the nine services games, but it was enough to give Hovde her third ITF Grade 1 title, to go with her titles at the Easter Bowl here last spring and the Pan American Closed last fall.

Hovde said the breeze may have been partially responsible for all the breaks, but she gave credit to Crossley's level of play as well.

"She's a great player, I think she has great strokes and is overall really solid," said Hovde, who also cited Crossley's movement as a strength.

Crossley, who came to the United States last fall, had a breakout tournament this week, but she is still getting accustomed to the facing the highest level of international juniors. 

"I learned so many things in this tournament," said Crossley, who trains at the Evert Academy in Boca Raton. "In the first couple of matches, I just hit, not aggressive. But next days, I grow up during this tournament, so it was good for me."

Crossley admitted that she didn't believe she could win in the second set, having no answers for Hovde's top level. 

"She's so consistent and aggressive," Crossley said. "I don't know how to win in this match."

Crossley now heads for India, where she will compete for Japan in the regional qualifying for the ITF's 16-and-under Junior Billie Jean King Cup team competition.

Hovde will make her way to the Easter Bowl ITF JB1 in Indian Wells as the top seed and defending champion. She said that playing with the pressure and expectations of being a number one seed is a prime reason for competing in these two events. 

While Hovde is piling up the Grade 1 titles, Tien earned his first, achieving a goal of his for 2022.

"Actually it was one of my goals at the beginning of the year," the 16-year-old left-hander said. "I was close in January, (semifinals of Costa Rica J1), fairly close, but it's cool to finally check it off the list."

That accomplishment is all the more impressive, given that the Irvine California resident let two-break leads slip away in both the first and third sets.

Up 4-1 and serving in the first set, Tien lost six of the next seven games, but his always calm demeanor remained, as did his optimism. 

"I lost four games in a row, but I felt like I was giving him points," Tien said. "He started to play better too, but I started giving him a lot more. So I felt that once I pulled back, making him win more points, instead of just giving them to him, I felt like I could take back control of the match more. I got away from what I was trying to do, but I came back to the game plan in the second that got me to 4-1."

Tien went up 4-1 in the second set with that game plan, but this time he held easily for a 5-1 lead and closed it out without drama.

"I was a little more focused at the double break in the second," Tien admitted. "Obviously still thinking about what happened in the first, not wanting it to happen again. But I was able to close out the second pretty easily and start out the third pretty strong too."

Up two breaks again at 3-0, Tien gave back both, losing his serve at 4-3 on a double fault. He recognized the danger he was in and immediately broke back.

"I was trying really hard not to think 'it's happening again.'" Tien said. "After he broke back for 4-all, I thought I have to lock down, I have to win this return game, or I'm going to be in a really bad spot serving to stay in the match. I played a good return game there and I think he relaxed a little bit after getting the double break back and I was able to take advantage of that, I think I won that game at love."

Serving for the match, the drama wasn't quite over, with Tien starting off the game with a double fault and going down 15-40. But Kang missed a forehand pass long to make it 30-40 and on the next point Tien's deep backhand approach forced an error. Kang missed a forehand long to set up a match point, and then went all out on a second serve return forehand that found the net.

Kang, who grew up playing with Tien in Southern California sectional competition, was impressed with his performance all week.

"Learner played unbelievable throughout the week, and I think his level stayed pretty much the same throughout the match," said Kang, who hadn't competed against Tien in tournament competition in several years. "I've always known that he has great shots on both sides, but his serve definitely did improve, so it was harder to break on my end. That's something he's really improved on."

Kang, who was also playing in his first Grade 1 final, hopes to build on this week's success at next week's Easter Bowl.

"I think I'll take the positives from this week," Kang said. "Learn from this experience and hopefully next week do even better."

Kang will not be seeded at Easter Bowl; Tien will be a 9-16 seed again.

While the majority of American juniors were competing this week in San Diego, others earned titles elsewhere. 

Sixteen-year-old Kaitlin Quevedo won her third ITF Junior Circuit title, and her biggest one, at the J2 in the Dominican Republic. Seeded No. 7 seed Quevedo defeated No. 3 seed Chelsea Fontenel of Switzerland 6-3, 6-3 in the final. Quevedo will be competing this week at the Easter Bowl.

Sixteen-year-old Saina Deshpande swept the titles, her first two on the ITF Junior Circuit, at the J5 in India. Deshpande, seeded No. 4 claimed the title when unseeded Sohini Sanjay Mohanty retired in the final trailing 6-0, 3-0. Deshpande and Sonal Patil of India, the top seeds, defeated unseeded Aanya Choubey of the US and Aishwarya Jadhay of India 6-3, 6-1 in the doubles final.

At the J4 in Panama, unseeded Patricia Grigoras and Alba Martinez won the girls doubles, defeating No. 3 seeds Mariana Higuita Barraza and Maria Vargas Triana of Colombia 6-0, 6-3 in the final. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for both.

At the J5 in Puerto Rico, No. 8 seeds Elle Warren and Mansi Vadyala defeated No. 6 seed Amara Brahmbhatt and Puerto Rico's Daniella O'Neill Garcia 7-5, 6-3 for their first ITF Junior Circuit titles.

The Easter Bowl Grade B1 and the USTA Level 1 16s begin play on Monday. I'll be providing onsite coverage of the ITF from Indian Wells Tennis Garden beginning Monday. Below are the top 8 seeds:

Boys 16s

1. Andrew Ena

2. Lucas Coriaty

3. Cyrus Mahjoob

4. Chase Fralick

5. Vincent Yang

5. Stephen Gershfeld

5. Noah McDonald

5. Asror Ismoilov

Girls 16s

1. Stephanie Yakoff

2. Eva Oxford

3. Jessica Bernales

4. Ariel Madatali

5. Brooke Lynn Schafer

5. Valerie Glozman

5. Pearlie Zhang

5. Saray Yli-Piipari

Boys ITF

1. Ethan Quinn

2. Nishesh Basavareddy

3. Nicholas Godsick

4. Michael Zheng

5. Alexander Frusina

6. Aidan Kim

7. Sebastian Gorzny

8. Alex Michelsen

Girls ITF

1. Liv Hovde

2. Qavia Lopez

3. Reese Brantmeier

4. Alexis Blokhina

5. Sonya Macavei

6. Madeleine Jessup

7. Ahmani Guichard

8. Ava Krug