Crossley Defeats Top Seed Valentova for First J1 Title at Eddie Herr ITF, Gea Claims Boys Crown over Braswell; Orange Bowl ITF JA Begins Monday with Campana Lee and McDonald Top Seeds
©Colette Lewis 2022--
Bradenton FL--
The first set of the boys match took an astounding 95 minutes to complete, with Gea taking it on his fifth set point. Braswell had saved three set points serving at 4-5 in the first, and was up 4-1 with two serves coming in the tiebreaker, but the 18-year-old from Sarasota lost both points to give the momentum back to Gea. Braswell did have a set point of his own with Gea serving at 5-6 in the tiebreaker, but couldn't convert it, and although Gea missed his fourth chance at 6-7, he earned a fifth on his own serve and finished the job.
After coming through in such a long and physical set, Gea felt more relaxed, and it showed, as he raised his level each game.
"The first set was so much pressure for me," said Gea, who had been ill prior to and during his semifinal win over No. 7 seed Iliyan Radulova of Bulgaria Saturday. "I didn't feel good with the ball, but I just handled the pressure, the hard moments, just go aggressive. After the first, I feel comfortable on the court, and it was more easy for me."
Although Gea admitted he was tight to start, and still recovering his strength after his illness, he picked up his serving in the second set, and Braswell was not able to find any way to counter it after going down an early break.
"I made a few mistakes on some points I shouldn't have," said Braswell, a freshman at the University of Florida playing his last junior tournament at the IMB Academy, where he has trained for several years. "He started playing a little more aggressive in the second, with a little less pressure, I think, and yeah, he played well."
Braswell appreciated the encouragement he received from the crowd, cheering him on from the stands on the shady side of the new IMG Stadium Court.
"I could for sure feel that support," said Braswell, who was playing in his first J1 final. "I had a lot of friends and family here to support me, and it felt great playing in front of a home crowd on my home courts. It was a great experience."
While Braswell had the support of the American crowd, Gea's fans numbered just three: fellow juniors Paul Barbier Gazeu and Tiago Pires, whom Braswell beat in the semifinals, and coach Tarik Benhabiles. That trio was well aware how significant the title was to Gea, who retired from his third round US Open match with a tear in his ab and was out of competition until this week.
"I needed to stop two and a half months playing tennis," said Gea, who is the first French boy to win the Eddie Herr title since Jeremy Chardy in 2004. "One month without tennis, one month just playing back, no serve, two and a half months without playing points or serving normally. This is my first tournament since then, and that's why it's a beautiful title for me and a beautiful present to come back on the circuit."
Gea closed out the match serving and volleying on the final point, a choice he made to counter the nerves he was feeling.
"I was under pressure, that's why," Gea said. "I can serve, and make just one volley and it's finished, so I say, ok, I do that."
While Braswell, the 2020 Orange Bowl 16s champion, will be taking final exams next week instead of competing in the Orange Bowl, Gea will make the trip to Plantation, where he will begin his quest for his first Grade A title, again as the No. 10 seed.
Crossley wasn't sure she could do it, but the 16-year-old from Japan held her nerve to defeat Valentova, who was still suffering the effects of her four-hour and 23 minute semifinal win over No. 3 seed Sayaka Ishii of Japan.
Valentova, who was 92 spots ahead of Crossley in the ITF junior rankings when the tournament began, could not outsteady Crossley, who often just needed to hit a series of deep balls to eventually draw an error.
Valentova said she did not have the legs to get back in the match, and nerves also contributed to her slow start.
"For sure I was nervous," said the 15-year-old, who is No. 11 in the ITF rankings. "But I played yesterday four and a half hours, so I think today, I wasn't ready."
Crossley knew that Valentova had been on the court more than three hours longer than she had been on Saturday and had been unable to play in the doubles final. Yet she didn't detect any problems initially.
"She played well in the first few games and then she got tired, and I realized that," said the 16-year-old, who trains at the Evert Academy in Boca Raton. "I tried to rally more than."
Although Valentova did begin to show some signs of life after falling behind 5-1 in the final set, staying in the rallies longer, breaking Crossley serving for the match at 5-2 and holding to make Crossley serve for it a second time, it wasn't enough, as Crossley navigated a tense final game to earn the victory.
It was Valentova's status as one of the top players in the game that helped Crossley keep her nerves at bay.
"I played pretty good today," said Crossley, who admitted she wasn't confident she would win, even when up 5-1 in the final set. "In the first set and the beginning of the second, I could play like having fun. I knew she's so good a player, I could just relax. But then, I thought, oh, it's going to be tiebreak, or 5-all. I'm so bad at that."
Crossley, the first girl from Japan to win the Eddie Herr ITF girls title, said her lack of confidence stemmed from her record in finals.
"I always lose in finals," said Crossley, who was 1-4 in finals this year, including a loss in the championships match of the J1 in San Diego this spring. "So now I am so happy."
Crossley, unseeded in the Orange Bowl, takes on No. 11 seed Tatum Evans in the first round on Tuesday. Valentova is the No. 2 seed in Plantation, and will face Sage Loudon in her opening match Tuesday.
The Orange Bowl Grade A begins Monday at the Veltri Tennis Center, with the first round played over two days. The field is mostly the same as the Eddie Herr; Gerard Campana Lee of Korea, who pulled out of the Eddie Herr after reaching the Grade A Merida final, is a new addition, as are Merida girls doubles champion Ella McDonald of Great Britain(who played only doubles at Eddie Herr), Merida singles champion Clervie Ngounoue, and Guadalajara J1 champion Kaitlin Quevedo.
Live scoring should be available here.
ITF JA Orange Bowl Seeds:
Boys:
1. Gerard Campana Lee(KOR)
2. Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez(ESP)
3. Yaroslav Demin(RUS)
4. Juan Carlos Pardo Angelo(BOL)
5. Paul Inchauspe(FRA)
6. Cooper Williams(USA)
7. Iliyan Radulov(BUL)
8. Rei Sakamoto(JPN)
9. Danil Panarin(RUS)
10. Arthur Gea(FRA)
11. Hayden Jones(AUS)
12. Alejandro Melero Kretzer(ESP)
13. Kevin Edengren(SWE)
14. Adriano Dzhenev(BUL)
15. Alexander Frusina(USA)
16. Tomasz Berkieta(POL)
Girls:
1. Ella McDonald(GBR)
2. Tereza Valentova(CZE)
3. Luciana Moyano(ARG)
4. Sayaka Ishii(JPN)
5. Clervie Ngounoue(USA)
6. Ena Koike(JPN)
7. Lucciana Perez Alarcon(PER)
8. Kaitlin Quevedo(USA)
9. Ranah Stoiber(GBR)
10. Mingge Xu(GBR)
11. Tatum Evans(USA)
12. Sonja Zhiyenbayeva(GER)
13. Ariana Pursoo(USA)
14. Mia Slama(USA)
15. Madeleine Jessup(TPE)
16. Theadora Rabman(USA)
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