Orange Bowl 16s Recap; Top Seed Klugman Returns to Junior Orange Bowl for Final 14s Tournament; DeLuccia Thrives Indoors or Outdoors; Boys 12s Round of 16 Set for Friday

©Colette Lewis 2022--
Coral Gables FL--

Before I get into my coverage of today's second round matches at the Junior Orange Bowl Girls 14s, please take a moment to look back at my coverage of the Orange Bowl 16s for Tennis Recruiting Network. The boys champion, Naoya Honda, is the first boy from Japan to win an Orange Bowl singles title, and he also won the doubles title. The US girls have dominated the competition in the 16s, with Alexis Nguyen the fifth consecutive American to take the girls singles title. 

I spent almost all day at the Kerdyk Biltmore Tennis Center, watching the Girls 14s second round main draw matches. The seven top seeds(No. 8 seed Emiliia Kats of Russia withdrew) all advanced to the Friday's third round, including top seed Hannah Klugman of Great Britain.

Klugman, who defeated Californian Kara Garcia 6-1, 6-2 today, has an ITF Junior ranking of 152, with less than a year of competition on that circuit. After turning 13 in February, shortly after reaching the Les Petits As final, Klugman went on to win two J3s in her home country the following month. Yet the chance to play the Junior Orange Bowl again, after reaching the quarterfinals as a 12-year-old last year, proved an enticing way to end her competition in the 14s age division.

"I felt last year I was quite young, so I wanted to come back with a bit more experience, to try to get further in the tournament," Klugman said. "And I also enjoy this tournament; in Miami it's so nice."

With her participation in nine ITF Junior Circuit tournaments (she is allowed 10, so has one more available to her before her birthday February), Klugman has been able to gauge where her game needs to be when she graduates from the 14s.

"I've grown a lot," Klugman said of the difference between this year and last. "I'm getting used to the ball speed increasing; it's a big jump from 14s to 18s, so I'm adapting my game."

Klugman grew up and still lives in Wimbledon, and she made her slam debut last July in the Junior Championships there as a wild card.

"I've always been surrounded by tennis," said Klugman, who attends the tournament every year. "My sisters used to go play and I would go join them on the side of the court. My mom's always enjoyed tennis, she wasn't a tennis player, but my whole family loves tennis, so I've always been in it. I love Wimbledon, it's such a great place."

Klugman plans to play ITF Junior Circuit tournaments next year, and will also look to play lower level ITF Women's World Tennis Tour events when she becomes eligible in February.

The other top four seeds also posted straightforward wins today. Eddie Herr champion Yihan Qu of China defeated Sena Yoon of the United States 6-1, 6-3; No. 3 seed Emerson Jones of Australia beat Lola Bean of Canada 6-1, 6-4 and No. 4 seed Adelina Lachinova of Latvia defeated Anna Bugaienko of the United States 6-0, 6-0.

One of the nine unseeded players who advanced to the last 32 was Isabelle DeLuccia, who defeated No. 17 seed Brooke Kwon of California 6-2, 6-3.

DeLuccia, who turns 14 Friday, reached the USTA National Indoor G14s final late last month in Toledo, so adjusting to the warmth of South Florida was a challenge.

"This is my first Orange Bowl," DeLuccia said. "I live in New Jersey, so it's very different here, playing outside in winter. I came from fast indoor courts, so it's different playing in hot weather, sun and wind."

DeLuccia, who trains with Gill Acosta at Garden State Tennis Center, arrived a few days early to acclimate herself to the conditions.

"Yesterday was a little rocky," said DeLuccia, who beat Addy Rogin of Georgia 7-5, 6-4 in the first round. "But today was definitely better and I've been able to adjust. 

DeLuccia, who reached the final of the G12s Nationals last year, said she has been able to play without expectations this year.

"I'm playing with no pressure," DeLuccia said. "I played today with nothing to lose because I'm not seeded."

Surprises were also few in the second round of the Boys 14s and Girls 12s at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne.  Boys 14s top seed Se Hyuk Cho of Korea defeated Ali Missoum of Morocco 7-5, 6-1 and No. 3 seed Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria beat Mateo Pouso of the United States 6-0, 6-2.  Eddie Herr 12s champion Michael Antonius, playing the 14s this week as a No. 17 seed, defeated Theo Hegarty of the United States 6-2, 6-1 and will take on No. 5 seed Vito Darderi of Italy in the third round. 

Top Girls 12s seed Christina Lyutova, who beat DeLuccia in the USTA National Indoor final last month, defeated Filippa Eckersten 6-2, 6-1 and Eddie Herr champion and No. 2 seed Yeri Hong of Korea defeated Emerson White of the United State 6-0, 6-1.

The Boys 12s are through to the Round of 16, with seven of the top eight seeds advancing. No. 1 seed Taiki Takizawa, one of four Australians to make the final 16, defeated Andy Wang of the United States 6-4, 6-1. No. 2 seed Tabb Tuck, one of six Americans to advance, defeated Denzell Darkey of Great Britain 6-0, 6-1.

Harvey Fialkov spoke with Australian coach Nicole Kriz about the resurgence of Australian juniors in international competition for this juniororangebowl.org article.

Draws with times for Friday are available here.

Live streaming is available on Courts 1-4 at the Biltmore Tennis Center courtesy of Tennis Analytics.