Basavareddy and Michelsen Meet for ITF JB1 Easter Bowl Boys Championship, Brantmeier and Blokhina Reach Girls Final; Glozman and Bharadwaj Claim 16s Titles in Indian Wells

©Colette Lewis 2022--
Indian Wells CA--

No. 2 seed Nishesh Basavareddy and No. 8 seed Alex Michelsen haven't played since the 10-and-unders, but when they take the court Sunday for the ITF Grade B1 FILA Easter Bowl championship, they might reflect on how far they've come since then.

Basavareddy, who has won 18 consecutive matches on the highest levels of the ITF Junior Circuit in the past two months, continued his outstanding play in the semifinals, defeating unseeded Jelani Sarr 6-1, 6-3. Michelsen, who will be playing in his first Grade 1 final Sunday, avenged his first round loss to unseeded Kyle Kang at last week's Grade 1 in San Diego, earning a 6-1, 6-4 victory. 

Basavareddy, who has lost just 15 games in his first five wins, had control of his semifinal match at 6-1, 2-0, but Sarr continued to contest every point.

"I made a lot of returns, which was part of the game plan, because he has a pretty big serve," said the 16-year-old from Carmel Indiana. "I was moving the ball around, mixing it up and I don't think he really knew where I was going a lot of times. I got to a pretty quick lead and then it got a little bit tough after that; he kept on fighting and I started missing a few more first serves. But in the end I pulled it out, so overall, it was pretty good."

Basavareddy made the Easter Bowl 12s final in 2017, losing to Kyle Kang, so Michelsen's victory over Kang today prevented that rematch.

Michelsen needed just 30 minutes to take the first set, and he said his serving was a key factor in reversing last week's result.

"I made a lot more first serves than last week," said the 17-year-old from Aliso Viejo California. "My first serve percentage has been pretty good all week. After I lost to Kyle I went back to train and work on it and got it up to par."

Kang, who reached the final last week in San Diego, took an off-court medical time out 3-2 on serve in the second set, which took nine minutes. Michelsen held after the nine-minute delay and both held their next serves, but with Kang serving at 4-4 30-40, Michelsen came up with a backhand winner and served well in the final game to close it out.

"I just found one. That backhand line was on and off the whole match," Michelsen said. "He's sitting in the ad corner, so I thought I might as well go for it. I knew the point was over when I made it."

Before Basavareddy moved to Indiana at age 8, he lived in Irvine, where he encountered Michelsen, who remembers the match well.

"We were 8 or 9 and absolutely battled," said the University of Georgia recruit. "I think I lost in a 10-point breaker, actually.  That won't happen again; if I lose it will be in two or three sets. I remember I had to rush to a baseball game after that."

The girls finalists don't have any such history, with No. 3 seed Reese Brantmeier and No. 4 seed Alexis Blokhina meeting for the first time Sunday morning, although they do train at the USTA's Lake Nona campus occasionally. 

Brantmeier defeated No. 2 seed Qavia Lopez 6-2, 6-4, with their history located in a state not known for its tennis.

"I think that was maybe our eleventh or twelfth matchup," said the 17-year-old from Whitewater Wisconsin. "We grew up playing together in Wisconsin, so I knew going in that she could come up with some really good shots, so I just wanted to relax, play my game, and I think I did a good job of that."

Brantmeier did not play San Diego last week, so she has had to work her way into the tournament. 

"I think I've been feeling better and better each match," said Brantmeier, who has signed with North Carolina for this fall. "Getting my feet under me more. Today, I was moving well and I could just really swing. I also served well, which is a big part of my game."

Blokhina, a 17-year-old from Fort Lauderdale, took wild card Iva Jovic's best shot in the second set and survived, defeating the 2021 Easter Bowl 14s champion 6-1, 2-6, 6-0.

"Today it was more mental, because I knew I was playing a younger girl, who didn't really have any pressure and has been playing great tennis lately," said Blokhina, who reached the semifinals last week in San Diego. "I just wanted to come out, be the more mature player, know what I was doing. In the important points, I think I really stepped up my game and played the way I needed to to win. She definitely became more relaxed in the second and was going for more balls and hitting really well, but I managed to get a good jump in the third and she got a little down on herself and I took that advantage and put pressure on her."

Blokhina, who has committed to Stanford for this fall, is looking forward to playing Brantmeier in sanctioned competition.

"We practice a lot at the campus, but we've never played a tournament match before, so it's going to be interesting," said Blokhina, who will be playing her first Grade 1 final Sunday. "We're good friends so it's going to be a good match. I'm excited."

Streaming of the finals will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday, with the girls first and the boys to follow.

The ITF doubles finals followed the singles semifinals, with No. 3 seeds Michelsen and Sebastian Gorzny taking the boys title and top seeds Lopez and Liv Hovde claiming the girls championship.

Michelsen and Gorzny defeated No. 2 seeds Aidan Kim and Michael Zheng 6-1, 1-6, 10-6, recovering from a rough second set for the second consecutive match.

"His coach said we went to the Bahamas for vacation the second set," said Michelsen, who was an Australian Open boys doubles finalist this year. "Lack of focus the last couple of days, semis and finals, but we found a way in the end."

Gorzny and Michelsen led throughout the tiebreaker, but Kim and Zheng cut their lead to 7-6, with Kim serving. But an unforced error and a double fault gave Gorzny and Michelsen a little breathing room and Gorzny closed it out immediately with a service winner.

Gorzny and Michelsen have played together four times, winning a J4 in Florida last fall, but lost in the second round last week in San Diego.

"Everything kind of clicked this week to be honest," Michelsen said. "It's a good feeling when everything's on. You feel almost untouchable at times."

"Last week we didn't play our best, but today we got it all together," said Gorzny, an 18-year-old who now trains in Florida, after growing up in Southern California. "We found our games--serves, volleys, we played a good tournament."

Michelsen and Gorzny are hoping to play the junior slams this summer, if they both qualify, and are aiming to partner in Kalamazoo as well.

Hovde and Lopez are also committed to teaming up in the future after defeating unseeded Blokhina and Sophie Williams 6-1, 6-1 in the final.

After playing together for the first time last week in San Diego, where they lost in the semifinals, Hovde and Lopez could feel themselves improving with each win.

"Throughout the week it definitely got better," said Lopez, a 16-year-old now living in Delray Beach Florida. "Much better than last week. We came out on the court today super high energy, high intensity, and we play well together. So keeping the energy up, that was the biggest thing."

"Our energy was really high and we played really well together today," said the 16-year-old Hovde, who pulled out of singles before the start of singles play with a nagging back injury. "We did a good job of just figuring out what to do at different moments," Lopez added.

With both assured of playing the French Open Junior Championships in June, they have already agreed to play together in Paris.

The Easter Bowl 16s champions were crowned today, with Valerie Glozman, a No. 5 seed, defeating unseeded Sydney Jara 6-1, 6-0 for the girls title and Parashar Bharadwaj beating William Manning 6-2, 6-4 in a final between two unseeded competitors.

Glozman, a 15-year-old from Bellevue Washington, was able to dictate play throughout the match with her two-handed forehand.

"I think I played smart," said Glozman, who beat Jara in the first round of the USTA National Indoor Championships last November. "I just tried to stay in it. I was a little nervous beforehand but I really tried to give it my all. I did feel a little pressure; this is a final and I've never gotten this far before in a Level 1."

Glozman, playing in just her second Level 1 tournament, said she developed her two-handed forehand when she took up the game.

"I started playing tennis really young, so it was just kind of hard to hold a racquet without using two hands," said Glozman, who trains primarily with her father Igor. "Since then, nobody's really told me to change it. It's been working for me, so I think it's good. It's definitely unique."

Jara, the 2021 USTA National 14s champion, said she had never played against a two-hander before.

"She's the first one I've played," said Jara, who trains at the Manchester Athletic Club in Massachusetts. "It doesn't really throw me off that much, but it's obviously different. She had a lot of angles, and people with a one-handed forehand don't hit as many angles as that. It was challenging, but it was fun to play against."

Jara said she wanted to play the 16s to see the next level.

"It's always fun to play different people that I hadn't played against," Jara said. "I wanted to play up to see what would happen. But I did not expect to make the final."

Boys champion Bharadwaj said he was not surprised to find himself in the final, despite being unseeded. 

"I was playing well, and usually the seeding is by USTA, so it's just however many tournaments you play," said the Irvine California resident. "I knew I was at a higher level than what USTA or UTR says, and I didn't really feel threatened by anyone in the draw."

After a relatively simple first set, Bharadwaj found himself in a much tighter second set, with Manning able to use his transition game effectively to stay in every game. With Bharadwaj serving at 4-2 in the second set, a marathon 12-deuce game went to Manning, and he held to make it 4-all, but Bharadwaj did not panic.

"I've lost a decent amount of really long deuce games this week," said Bharadwaj, who defeated No. 3 seed Cyrus Mahjoob in a 3-hour and 45-minute semifinal Friday. "Yesterday I lost a couple, Thursday I lost a ton, so I'm kind of used to it by now."

Manning gave credit to Bharadwaj for coming up with the shots at 4-all 30-all to stop any momentum he might have accumulated in the previous two games.

"He hit like two winners, pretty good shots for him," said Manning, a 16-year-old from North Carolina, who trains at the Raleigh Racquet Club. "And then in my last service game, I got a little unlucky on a few volleys and that was sort of the match. It's always a learning experience, and see if I can build from it, use this tournament as confidence for my next ones."

After his first Level 1 final and first USTA ball, Manning could turn his attention to the Final Four basketball game between Duke and North Carolina. Asked which team he was a fan of, there was no hesitation from the 6-foot-3 right-hander. "North Carolina, all the way."

Bharadwaj has another rooting interest, not basketball related, in Sunday's ITF final. He trains at Tier One Tennis in Irvine, with Michelsen.

"I hit with Alex every day," Bharadwaj said. "I lose every breaker we play."

"I hit with him five days a week," Michelsen said. "Great practice partner, very gritty. He competes very well and he makes a lot of balls for me in practice; he's definitely helped me improve a bit."

Complete results from the 16s divisions can be found at the USTA Playtennis site.

16 Doubles:

Girls: Conley Raidt/Saray Yli-Piipari (left) d. Susanna Maltby/Stephanie Yakoff 6-1, 6-1 

Boys: AJ Mercer/Matthew Forbes d. Declan Galligan/Cyrus Mahjoob 6-3, 4-6, 6-3