Thirteen-year-old Kotseva Reaches Quarterfinals, Secord Tops No. 7 Seed Mosejczuk, Farzam Saves Match Point in Three-Tiebreaker Win at ITF J300 Pan American; Mboko Avenges Recent Loss to Jovic at W75 in Edmond

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Spring Texas--

The third round at the ITF J300 Pan American Regional Championships is when seeds begin playing seeds, and that was the case for the majority of the contests, with only six unseeded players, three boys and three girls, making it to the round of 16. When another warm and sunny day at the Giammalva Racquet Club had ended, only two unseeded players had advanced to Thursday's quarterfinals: 13-year-old Raya Kotseva and wild card Gus Grumet.

Kotseva had played the J60 last week in Corpus Christi, losing to her doubles partner Jordyn Hazelitt in the quarterfinals, so her expectations for this week's event, her first J300 tournament, weren't high. But a routine 6-3, 6-1 win over qualifier Sarah Shumate Wednesday, after her 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over No. 7 seed Capucine Jauffret in yesterday's second round, put Kotseva in the quarterfinals with the other seven Top Eight seeds.

"I wasn't really expecting this big of a result, because it's my first J300, and I'm playing basically players Top 100 in the world," said Kotseva, a Las Vegas resident, who turns 14 next month. "But I just came out here to give it my all, and whatever happens happens. I'm just trying to learn from each match, keep being positive, make the best of it and have fun."

Next for Kotseva is No. 2 seed Annika Penickova, who defeated No. 15 seed Kayla Chung 6-3, 6-2.

Only two of the eight girls matches went to a third set, with No. 6 seed Aspen Schuman defeating No. 10 seed Monika Ekstrand 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 and No. 4 seed Shannon Lam getting by unseeded Isabelle DeLuccia 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. 

Lam and DeLuccia, both from New Jersey, battled through long rallies and deuce games, with both playing offense and defense equally effectively. Lam got the final break, with DeLuccia, the 2024 Easter Bowl 16s finalist, serving at 4-5 in the third. They shared a long hug at the net, both appearing physically and emotionally exhausted from their efforts. Lam will face No. 8 seed Claire An in the quarterfinals, after An defeated No. 12 seed Ava Rodriguez 6-3, 7-5; Schuman will take on top seed Thea Frodin, who defeated USTA 16s champion and No. 16 seed Ishika Ashar 6-4, 6-2 in a match that was much longer and closer than the score indicates.

The fourth quarterfinal, in the bottom half, will feature No. 5 seed Maya Iyengar, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over No. 9 seed Leena Friedman, and No. 3 seed Nadia Lagaev of Canada, who beat No. 13 seed Anita Tu 6-4, 6-1. Lagaev is the only non-American in the quarterfinals.

Top seed Jagger Leach took out the last non-American in the boys draw, beating No. 13 seed Rafael Botran Neutze of Guatemala 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Leach will face No. 11 seed Jack Secord, who took out No. 7 seed Dominick Mosejczuk 7-5, 6-4, after trailing 4-1 in the second set.

"He was a little off his game at the start, and I think that helped a bit," said the 16-year-old left-hander from Lake Forest Illinois. "In the first set, I played pretty clutch tennis. In the second set, I lost a long game at 0-1 on my serve, and got down 3-0, but I waited for my chance to get the break back and I got it."

Secord broke Mosejczuk to take a 5-4 lead, but expressed relief that he was able to serve it out. 

"I was pretty nervous, I didn't play the best game," Secord said. "I could have been a little looser, looking back, but I'm glad I got it."

Secord missed converting his first two match points, but a couple of first serves and well-struck backhands got him out of trouble and he converted on this third attempt.

Secord has his mother traveling with him this week, the former Linda Harvey Wild, who was a Top 25 WTA player and a 1996 US Open quarterfinalist. Although Secord is primarily coached by his grandfather Steve Wild, his mother's stepfather, and usually travels to tournaments with his father, he is enjoying having her on the road with him this week.

"She obviously know a lot, and she's kind of feisty, because she used to play," Secord said. "My dad's more laid back. As for my grandpa, he's a better coach, I would say. But mom's a mix of dad and grandpa."

Secord and Leach, who is also being accompanied this week by his mother former WTA No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, played last year at the Orange Bowl, with Secord winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

"I pulled it out," Secord said. "It will be a tough match; I think he's a little better on hard courts, but I'll go out and play my best."

The only unseeded boy remaining is 2024 Kalamazoo 16s champion Grumet, who came back to defeat No. 14 seed and 2023 Kalamazoo 16s finalist Lachlan Gaskell 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Grumet, playing in his first ITF J300, will take on No. 8 seed Benjamin Willwerth, who defeated No. 12 seed Ronit Karki 6-3, 6-3. The other quarterfinal in the bottom half will feature No. 3 seed Jack Kennedy, the 2024 Kalamazoo 18s finalist, against No. 10 seed Max Dussault. Kennedy defeated unseeded Ryan Cozad 6-4, 6-4 and Dussault beat unseeded Joseph Oyebog Junior by the same score.

The most dramatic and contentious match of the day was also the longest, with No. 9 seed Matisse Farzam defeating No. 6 seed Kase Schinnerer 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 7-6(5) in over three and a half hours.  Up 6-4 in the second set tiebreaker, Farzam lost the next three points, but saved the match point he faced at 6-7 with an ace. 

The many arguments over line calls, which had been surfacing regularly in the first two sets, went to another a level in the third set, with a roving umpire stationed on the court from early in the third set, when a lengthy argument about who called what ball out when brought the match to a halt.  

Whether it was emotional or physical fatigue or the presence of the umpire, the remainder of the third set was more subdued. In the seemingly inevitable third tiebreaker, Farzam led 5-0 and 6-2, but Schinnerer saved the first match point with a backhand passing shot winner. Farzam called Schinnerer's second serve out at 3-6, but was overruled by the umpire, and Schinnerer saved his third match point with a volley winner to make it 6-5. But as he had done in the second set tiebreaker, Farzam came up with an ace at the most important point of the match to secure the victory.

Farzam will face No. 4 seed Ian Mayew in the quarterfinals, after Mayew defeated No. 15 seed Calvin Baierl 7-5, 6-1.

Both Farzam and Schinnerer were short on energy for their doubles matches 90 minutes later. Schinnerer and Mayew, the top seeds, lost to No. 8 seeds Oyebog and Baierl 6-1, 6-4. Defending champions Farzam and Leach, the No. 2 seeds, defeated No. 7 seeds Cozad and Simon Caldwell 6-3, 2-6, 10-4.  

Oyebog and Bairel will play Secord and Jacob Olar, the No. 6 seeds, in the semifinals Thursday. Secord and Olar defeated No. 4 seeds Mosejczuk and Dussault 6-4, 7-6(9). Farzam and Leach will face unseeded Jon Gamble and James Weber, who took out No. 3 seeds and 2023 finalists Noah Johnston and Willwerth 6-4, 4-6, 10-7.

The girls doubles draw also lost its top seeds today, with No. 6 seeds Alanis Hamilton and Chung defeating Iyengar and Schuman 6-3, 6-4. Hamilton and Chung will play Kaia Giribalan and Thara Gowda, who defeated Bella Payne and Shumate 7-5, 6-4.

Kotseva and Hazelitt, the 12s and 14s Easter Bowl doubles champions, are playing their first ITF tournament as a team and they advanced to the semifinals with a  6-3, 2-6, 10-7 win over Frodin and Lyla Middleton. No. 2 seeds An and Lam defeated No. 7 seeds Kayla Moore and Kenzie Nguyen 6-2, 6-4 and will play Kotseva and Hazelitt.

All eight singles quarterfinals are scheduled for 9 a.m. Central on Thursday, with the doubles semifinals to follow.

Iva Jovic's USTA Pro Circuit winning streak came to an end today in the first round of the W75 in Edmond Oklahoma. Jovic lost to Victoria Mboko of Canada, whom she had beaten in three sets in the Berkeley final two weeks ago, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(3) in two hours and 55 minutes. Georgia teammates Anastasiya Lopata and Dasha Vidmanova both picked up first round victories today, with ITF Accelerator entrant Lopata beating Madison Sieg(USC) 6-2, 6-1 and qualifier Vidmanova taking out top seed Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy 6-1, 6-3.