November Aces; Braswell Sole American Advancing to Eddie Herr ITF J1 Semifinals; All-US Finals Set for Eddie Herr B12s and B16s, Hance Reaches Boys 14s Final; Qualifying for Orange Bowl JA Begins Saturday

©Colette Lewis 2022--
Bradenton FL--

Before recapping today's semifinal and quarterfinal action at the Eddie Herr International Championships at the IMG Academy, I want to link to my monthly Aces column for the Tennis Recruiting Network. November was full of great performances, with the conclusion of the fall college season in San Diego, the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup in Turkey, the Next Gen and ATP Finals, and a host of biggest and first pro titles for teenagers as they close out their 2022 season. With so much happening during the month, it wasn't possible to feature every current junior or collegian who won titles, but that's just an indication of the strength of the younger generation of tennis players.

Friday's ITF quarterfinals began with four Americans in the hunt for a singles title, but only one remains, with unseeded Jonah Braswell advancing to his first J1 final with a three-hour, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over No. 5 seed Danil Panarin of Russia.

Braswell led 6-4, 3-1 before dropping five straight games, but the 18-year-old from Sarasota, who has trained for the past three years at the IMG Academy, wasn't about to display any disappointment as he faced a third set for the second day in a row.

"I tried not to show it, but I was definitely extremely frustrated," the University of Florida freshman said. "But luckily I was able to bounce back. I really needed to come out and win a couple of games, start to get my momentum back. Danil played good in the second set, played really free and loose."

The match was decided with Panarin serving at 3-4 in the third set. In a five-deuce game, Braswell converted his third break point with a forehand winner, and held for the win, with his forehand and serve getting him through the next game.

"It was just a really high level game," Braswell said of that eighth game. "We were both making good decisions, both playing smart tennis, it was tough for me to get the break, but I got a couple bounces and took advantage of it."

Braswell will face No. 16 seed Tiago Pires of France, who ended the three-set run of unseeded Jonathan Irwanto 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. 

"I've never played him, I just know he's a good player, a French player and they are typically good on clay, so I'm looking forward to another great match."

Pires is one of two French players in the semifinals, with No. 10 seed Arthur Gea advancing by virtue of his 7-5, 6-4 win over unseeded American Kaylan Bigun. Gea will face No. 7 seed Iliyan Radulov of Bulgaria, who beat unseeded Andrin Casanova of Switzerland 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1. Gea and Radulov met in the third round of the European Championships in Klosters this summer, with Radulov posting a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 win.

The French may have half of the boys semifinalists, but Japan can claim three-quarters of the girls in the semifinals, with all three training at academies in Florida.

No. 3 seed Sayaka Ishii of Japan defeated No. 9 seed Tatum Evans, the last US girl in the draw, 6-2, 6-2 to set up a meeting with her doubles partner, top seed Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic. Valentova needed less than an hour to beat No. 8 Sonja Zhiyenbayeva of Germany 6-1, 6-0. Ishii defeated Valentova in the first round at Wimbledon this year 6-1, 6-3, in their only meeting on ITF Junior Circuit.

The 17-year-old Ishii trains at the IMG Academy, as does No. 5 seed Ena Koike of Japan, who defeated No. 2 seed Luciana Moyano of Argentina 7-5, 6-2.

The third Japanese girl in the semifinals is unseeded Maya Crossley, who trains at the Evert Academy in Boca Raton. Crossley defeated 2021 Eddie Herr 14s champion Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria 4-6, 6-0, 6-2. In her third round win over No. 6 seed Lucciana Perez Alarcon of Peru, Crossley also dropped the opening set, but won the second 6-0.

"I feel like if I lose the first set, I know I have to fight the next set, because it could be my last set," said Crossley, who, like Koike, is 16 years old. 

Although they have not played in several years, Crossley grew up playing both Koike and Ishii.

"I know them since like I was 9, 10," said Crossley, who reached the quarterfinals of the 16s tournament here last year. "I've played them in Japanese tournaments, but not in two years, three years. We go to tournaments together some times, so we practice a lot. I will do my best tomorrow, and I don't think about 'that's Ena'."

Crossley was on Japan's Junior Billie Jean King Cup team that finished third early last month in Turkey, and the depth of the Japanese girls is such that Koike was not on the team. 

"It was good experience for me," said Crossley, "because I don't play team tennis, so it was good for me."

Crossley said she is playing without pressure here because she is unseeded and ranked outside the Top 100.

"I have no pressure right now because my ranking is not high," said Crossley, who said she prefers hard courts to clay. "Everyone is higher than me, so I feel more comfortable, more than in like Grade 3, Grade 4 ITFs. I'm playing relaxed and having fun."

The ITF doubles final are Saturday, with the top seeds in both boys and girls draws vying for the championships.

Cooper Williams and his partner Yaroslav Demin of Russia are through to the final, after defeating No. 6 seeds Atakan Karahan of Turkey and Rei Sakamoto of Japan 4-6, 6-2, 10-8.  They will play No. 4 seeds Andrin Casanova of Switzerland and Kevin Edengren of Sweden, who beat No. 7 seeds Aleksa Pisaric of Serbia and Patrick Schoen of Switzerland 6-3, 6-7(6), 10-7.

Valentova and Ishii, the No. 1 girls seeds, ended the run of wild cards Victoria Osuigwe and Japan's Wakana Sonobe 6-1, 3-6, 10-5. Their opponents in the final are No. 5 seeds Isabelle Lacy and Ella Mcdonald of Great Britain, who beat unseeded Ellie Daniel of Canada and Mia Slama 6-1, 6-3.

With one exception, the singles and doubles finals in the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions will be Saturday. The girls 14s doubles semifinals and final were played today, with the result below.

Five Americans are competing for titles Saturday, with a champion from the US guaranteed in the boys 12s and the boys 16s. Michael Antonius, the reigning Easter Bowl champion, has lost just five games in his five matches. He plays No. 4 seed Tabb Tuck, who came back to defeat unseeded Takashiro Kawaguchi of Japan 2-6, 6-2, 10-8.

Two 15-year-old Americans will meet for the boys 16s title Saturday, with No. 1 seed Max Exsted taking on No. 2 seed Calvin Baierl. Exsted, a finalist last year in the 14s, defeated No. 3 seed Abhishek Thorat 6-4, 6-3, while Baierl, a 16s finalist in Kalamazoo this year, beat No. 6 seed Jagger Leach 6-1, 1-6, 6-2. Baierl defeated Exsted 6-1, 6-2 in their most recent meeting, last year at the Junior Orange Bowl 14s.

Keaton Hance will play for the Boys 14s title, with the No. 5 seed taking on No. 2 seed Se Hyuk Cho of Korea. Cho, who won the inaugural Wimbledon 14s tournament this summer, defeated Hance in the quarterfinals of the ITF World Junior Tennis 14U team competition in August 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4, although the USA went on to take the deciding doubles to advance.

Full results of Friday's singles:

B12s Semifinals:

Michael Antonius[1](USA) d. Jason Eigbedion[9](USA) 6-0, 6-1

Tab Tuck[4](USA) d. Takahiro Kawaguchi(JPN) 2-6, 6-2, 10-8

G12s Semifinals:

Yeri Hong[1](KOR) d. Haniya Minhas[3](PAK) 6-4, 4-6, 10-6

Yui Komada[5](JPN) d. Sun Xinran[8](CHN) 6-2, 2-6, 10-4

B14s Semifinals:

Keaton Hance[5](USA) d. Ford McCollum[7]USA) 6-4, 6-1

Se Hyuk Cho[2](KOR) d. Kuan-Shou Chen(TPE) 6-1, 6-1

G14s Semifinals:

Emerson Jones[1](AUS) d. Adelina Lachinova [9](LAT) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

Yihan Qu(CHN) d. Renee Alame[16](CAN) 6-4, 6-3

B16s Semifinals:

Maxwell Exsted[1](USA) d. Abishek Thorat[3](USA) 6-4, 6-3

Calvin Baierl[2](USA) d. Jagger Leach[6](USA) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2

G16s Semifinals:

Ece Gencer[14](TUR) d. Amy Lee[10](USA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Hyunyee Lee[2](KOR) d. Rachael Smith(USA) 6-3, 6-4

DOUBLES

The teams in Saturday's doubles finals:

B12s Final:

Taiki Takizawa(AUS) & Erikas Maskolaitis(GRE)[1] vs

Tabb Tuck(USA) & Victor Pignation(USA)[4]

G12s Final:

Miyu Nishiwaka(JPN) & Ran Wakana(JPN)[3] vs

Jordyn Hazelitt(USA) & Raya Kotseva(USA)[8]

B14s Dubs Finals:

Mason Taube(USA) & Ford McCollum(USA)[3] vs

Jack Kennedy(USA) & Keaton Hance(USA)[2]

G14s Final Result: 

Nancy Lee(USA) & Thea Frodin(USA)[4] d.

Sena Yoon(USA) & Danielle Young(USA)[7] 6-1, 6-3

B16s Final:

Noah Johnston(USA) & Benjamin Willwerth(USA)[4] vs

Abishek Thorat(USA) & Asror Ismoilov(USA)[3]

G16s Final:

Amelie Justine Hejtmanek(GER) & Kayla Schefke(USA)[4] vs

Vessa Turley(USA) & Georgia Cranford(USA)

Full draws can be found here.

Qualifying for the Orange Bowl ITF JA begins Saturday in Plantation; draws and the order of play are available here.