Tuck Reaches Junior Orange Bowl Boys 12s Semifinals; Two American Jacks Advance to Boys 14s Quarterfinals; Ayrault Earns Rematch with Eddie Herr Champion Hong in Girls 12s

©Colette Lewis 2022--
Coral Gables FL--

I made my trip out to Crandon Park on Key Biscayne today to watch the round of 16 in the Girls 12s and Boys 14s, but before I headed that way I watched the first sets of the Boys 12s quarterfinals, which were scheduled for 8 a.m. due to the forecast for rain later in the day. 

Because Salvadore Park has 13 courts, all qualifying consolation and main draw matches could be played at the same time, a luxury that the other sites don't have, with fewer courts per division.

Before I left for Crandon Park, No. 2 seed Tabb Tuck had earned his spot in the semifinals, beating Aran Selvaraasan of Great Britain, a No. 17 seed, 6-1, 6-1.  Tuck, who has lost only 13 games in five matches, admitted that he is at the top of his game. 

"I've been playing lots of good players, but I'm playing really well this week," said the Eddie Herr 12s finalist. 

Tuck said he tried multiple sports before settling on tennis.

"I've played every sport my whole life: baseball, basketball, football, swimming, all the sports," said the 12-year-old from Birmingham Alabama. "When I was 9 or 10 and I won my first tournament, I just loved the feeling and I just love tennis, so that's why I play it."

The individual accountability of tennis appealed to Tuck, who said he couldn't get run support when he pitched, or was too dependent on the goalie in soccer. "In tennis it's all up to you and that's what I love about it."

Tuck will play No. 3 seed Tavish Pahwa of India in the semifinals, with Pahwa coming back to defeated Advay Singh, a No. 9 seed, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

In the top half, No. 1 seed Taiki Takizawa of Australia defeated Daniil Berezin of the United States 6-3, 7-5 and will face Dongjae Kim of Korea, who beat No. 4 seed Tomas Laukys of the United States 6-2, 6-4. 

With the late withdrawals of the No. 2 and No. 4 seeds, Jack Kennedy, the No. 6 seed, was the highest seed remaining in the bottom half before the first ball was struck and he has advanced to the quarterfinals, which contains three No. 17 seeds, all in the bottom half.

Kennedy didn't have it easy in today's fourth round however, beating No. 17 seed Xavier Massotte of Canada 7-6(3), 7-6(1) after seeing a big lead in the second set slip away. 

Serving at 4-1 in the second set, Kennedy said it was a combination of events that turned the second set from a routine victory to a mental challenge.

"He got the momentum after the first game he got, got the confidence he wanted and then he started to play more freely," said the 14-year-old from Long Island. "He brought it back and I definitely felt more of the nerves at 4-1 serving, trying to close the match."

Up 5-4, 40-0, Kennedy couldn't close out the win there either, but he didn't let it derail him, and he won the first six points of the tiebreaker to build an unassailable lead.

"I just worked on my breathing basically," said Kennedy, who trains with Greg Lumpkin at the Long Island site of the John McEnroe Academy. "After it got back to deuce and he broke me, I was just like, ok, I have to focus on the next game, I can't focus on the past."

Kennedy, who plays No. 17 seed Jamie Mackenzie of New Zealand in the quarterfinals, did not presume he'd reach the final eight, even with the high profile withdrawals.

"I wasn't expecting to make the quarterfinals," said Kennedy, who is making his Junior Orange Bowl debut this year. "Everyone's good here, so I told myself I have to focus on myself, not anyone else. But I'm happy to be at the quarterfinals at such a big tournament. It's a big accomplishment to get into it, first of all, but just to play in this environment is amazing, all the people from around the world. It's new to play all these guys and see what their game is like."

Top seed Se Hyuk Cho of Korea defeated American Liam Alvarez, a No. 17 seed, 6-2, 6-1, and No. 3 seed Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria eliminated another of the US players, unseeded Sean Grosman, 6-3, 6-0. 

But No. 5 seed Vito Darderi of Italy was upset by American Jack Secord, a No. 9 seed, who looked confident throughout his 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 victory.

Darderi is being followed by an Italian documentary crew for an upcoming feature, but that didn't translate into a stellar performance, as he looked out of sorts from the start. Numerous disputes about the game score and line calls had a roving umpire on the court throughout the match, which Secord called "reassuring."

After getting broken to lose the second set, Secord was confident the new balls for the third set would help him, and when he broke Darderi to start, he could see his path to victory.

"The first game of set really decided it," said the 14-year-old left-hander from Illinois, who won the USTA National Indoor Championships last month in Chicago. "I broke him pretty easily, maybe 40-15, and that helped a lot with my confidence and switching the momentum. I think he stepped up his level a bit in the second set, but I think we were both a little tired in the third. Mentally, that's how I won it, I think."

Secord also gave credit to his supporters on the sidelines, led by friend Zen Uehling.

"I like it. It definitely helps your energy and your adrenaline, it keeps going up because people are cheering for you," Secord said. 

Secord said he came in to the tournament hoping to hold his seed, but has now exceeded that and will now face Ivanov.

"I think my level is getting a little bit better every match," Secord said. "It feels good to be one of the last two Americans still playing."

The Girls 12s quarterfinals will feature three Americans, with top seed Christina Lyutova, a finalist last year in the 12s, defeating Anastasiia Nikolaieva of Ukraine, a No. 9 seed, 6-2, 6-3. Lyutova will play Floridian Caroline Shao, a No. 17 seed, who advanced when No. 7 seed Maggie Sohns, the USTA National 12s champion, retired trailing 6-3, 3-3.

The other all-US round of 16 match featured No. 8 seed Hannah Ayrault and Welles Newman, a No. 9 seed. They had met twice earlier this year: in the USTA 12s Clay Courts final, and the USTA 12s Nationals first round, with Ayrault winning both times in straight sets.

This time it wasn't as straightforward, with Ayrault earning 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory.

"I knew that Welles is an amazing player," said Ayrault, from Atlanta Georgia. "So I knew it was going to be a very tough match. When I was aggressive I was able to win more points and when I played defense, I was losing more points. So I knew I had to take her on and be aggressive."

Ayrault, who turned 12 two days ago, has enjoyed her first Junior Orange Bowl, although she had already gotten a taste of the international game at last year's Eddie Herr.

"It's so cool competing with the best players around the world," Ayrault said. "It means a lot to me to make the quarterfinals, because it shows how much I've worked in practice recently so that I can play amazing against amazing players."

Ayrault will get another crack at Yeri Hong of Korea, the No. 2 seed this week, who beat Ayrault 6-3, 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the Eddie Herr en route to the title.

Hong advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-6(10), 6-0 win over Sim Siyoen of Korea, a No. 9 seed.

The girls 14s quarterfinals will feature just one American, Maria Aytoyan, a No. 9 seed, who defeated Kimiko Cooper of Australia, a No. 17 seed, 6-2, 6-1. Aytoyan will face No. 3 seed Emerson Jones of Australian, who beat American Julieta Pareja, a No. 9 seed, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. 

Top seed Hannah Klugman of Great Britain and No. 2 seed Yihan Qu of China reached the quarterfinals in contrasting fashion, with Klugman beating Nicole Okhtenberg of the United State, a No. 9 seed, 6-0, 6-0 and Qu getting past Polina Kuharenko of Belarus, a No. 9 seed 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

No. 4 seed Adelina Lachinova of Latvia also advanced to the quarterfinals, defeated Ada Kumru of Turkey, a No. 17 seed, 7-5, 6-4.

For more on today's action, see Harvey Fialkov's article for juniororangebowl.org.

The rain predicted for today held off until this evening, but the forecast calls for rain early tomorrow, which may delay the start of play Sunday. Currently matches are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with consolation matches, with main draw matching starting at 10 a.m.

Draws can be found here.

Live streaming of courts 1-4 at the Biltmore, the site of the Girls 14s Sunday, can be found here. The Boys 14s and Girls 12s will move to the Biltmore for their semifinals on Monday.