Quinn and Michelsen Face Off in San Diego $15K Semifinals, Hui's Impressive Play Continues; All-US Finals at ITF J2 in Cancun; Kuzuhara, Ngounoue Withdraw From Wimbledon Juniors; USTA Florida's Bobby Curtis Closed Results

The past two times that 18-year-old Ethan Quinn and 17-year-old Alex Michelsen played in the same USTA Men's Pro Circuit events this year, their paths didn't cross. But tomorrow at the $15,000 Soc Cal Pro Circuit in San Diego, the two teens, one already a Georgia Bulldog and the other committed to Georgia for 2023, will play for a place in the final.

Neither had a difficult match in today's quarterfinals, with Quinn, a redshirt freshman, defeating unseeded Tadeus Paroulek(TCU, Baylor) of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-0 and Michelsen beating unseeded Karim Al Allaf(Iowa) of Syria 6-3, 6-2.  The quarterfinals in the bottom half were much more dramatic, with qualifier Yuta Kakuchi(Cal) of Japan defeating wild card Siem Woldeab(Texas) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 and a three-hour battle between the last two champions of the Soc Cal Pro Circuit. University of San Diego graduate August Holmgren of Denmark, who won the title at Rancho Santa Fe two weeks ago, defeated University of Florida graduate Duarte Vale of Portugal, who won last week's $15K at USD, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

Quinn and Michelsen played against each other in the doubles semifinals today, with Quinn, and his partner Woldeab, defeating Michelsen and his partner Learner Tien 6-7(6), 6-1, 10-4.  Quinn and Woldeab will face top seeds Zhe Li of China and Tsung-Hua Yang of Taiwan in Saturday's doubles final.

Seventeen-year-old wild card Katherine Hui had another routine win today in the women's $15,000 tournament in San Diego, beating No. 7 seed Kimmi Hance(UCLA) 6-4, 6-3 to move on to the semifinals. Hui, who has committed to Princeton for 2023, has yet to drop a set in her three victories this week. She will face qualifier Megan McCray(Oklahoma State), who beat No. 4 seed Solymar Colling 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Qualifier Makenna Jones(North Carolina) defeated former teammate and doubles partner Sara Daavettila, the No. 6 seed, 6-4, 6-3. Jones will play unseeded Catherine Aulia of Australia, who beat fellow 18-year-old Ya Yi Yang of Taiwan, the No. 2 seed, 7-6(4), 6-3.  Jones and Daavettila, the No. 3 seeds, will play for the doubles title Saturday against No. 4 seeds Yang and Thailand's Bunyawi Thamchaiwat(Oklahoma St, San Diego St).

Cracked Racquets will continue to provide its RedZone coverage of the SoCal Pro Circuit this weekend on their YouTube channel.

At the $25,000 USTA Women's Pro Circuit tournament in Sumter South Carolina, top seeds Hanna Chang and Sophie Chang are through to the semfinals. Hanna, the No. 1 seed, defeated qualifier Nicole Coopersmith(Keiser) 6-2, 6-1 and will play another qualifier in Georgia Tech rising junior Carol Lee of North Mariana Islands. Lee downed No. 6 seed Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.  Sophie Chang, who beat No. 5 seed Ellie Douglas(TCU) 6-3, 6-1, will play unseeded Himeno Sakatsume of Japan, who defeated 2022 NCAA singles champion Peyton Stearns(Texas), the No. 7 seed, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

The finals are set for Saturday at the ITF Grade 2 in Cancun, with American champions assured. No. 2 seed Tatum Evans will face unseeded Valeria Ray in a rematch of the 2020 Orange Bowl 16s final, which Ray won 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Evans defeated No. 13 seed Sage Loudon 6-1, 6-0 in today's semifinal and Ray, who won the Grade 3 last week in Cancun, beat No. 9 seed Katie Rolls 6-4, 6-2.

The boys final will feature No. 9 seed Felipe Pinzon Moreno and No. 6 seed Meecah Bigun. Pinzon defeated No. 10 seed Joseph Phillips 7-6(4), 7-5 and Bigun ended the winning streak of unseeded Atakan Karahan of Turkey, who won the J3 title last week, with a 6-4, 7-5 quarterfinal victory.

The final withdrawal date for the Wimbledon Junior Championships isn't until next Tuesday, but ITF World No. 1 Bruno Kuzuhara is already showing on the list of withdrawals. Kuzuhara played the Roland Garros Junior Championships, losing in the third round. The other notable American withdrawal is Clervie Ngounoue, who hasn't played since March. Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, currently No. 18 in the ITF junior rankings, withdrew today; she has reached the semifinals of an ITF $60K in Spain this week.

The USTA Florida section has always done an outstanding job of covering its major sectional events, and the just concluded Bobby Curtis Championships, the most significant of the Florida sectional events, is featured in this article. Photos of all eight champions and finalists are included, as well as a recap of the top 7 finishers in each division. If you know of other sections that provide this kind of coverage, please send me a link at clewis (at) zootennis.com.