The final junior major of the year began today at the Veltri Tennis Center with ideal weather for the first round singles matches of the ITF J500 Orange Bowl.
Six seeds lost in their opening matches today, with the remainder of the first round matches scheduled for Tuesday.
Wild card Jack Satterfield of Tampa defeated No. 8 seed Oliver Bonding of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4 with his experience on green clay helping him overcome an early deficit in the first set.
"I knew it was going to be tough in the beginning with the new balls," said Satterfield, a senior who will be joining Vanderbilt next fall, with head coach Scott Brown courtside today for his match. "His serve is massive, he hits massive, so I knew though, that if I could just keep grinding on his serve, trying to get it to deuce the balls would die down and I'd have a lot more break chances, and when the balls died it was much easier in the first."
Although Satterfield grew up in California, when he moved to Florida at age 12, his training surface changed to green clay, and he appeared much more comfortable than Bonding when the rallies lengthened.
"I had a game plan going in, getting that extra ball back every time and keep it deep, pressure him on serve," said Satterfield. "I love the green clay and I love these courts and I doubt he does; he's a big server, looks for that first ball, so I knew I could do it coming in, I just had to stick to my game plan. Everyone in this draw is great, but all these kids are beatable, if they have an off day and I have an on day. So I really wanted to make use of that wild card and I got a win, so I'm happy with it."
Satterfield had a disappointing end to his Orange Bowl last year, suffering a back injury in his semifinal loss to Ronit Karki after leading 3-1 in the third set.
"Last year was really rough with the back injury and the whole tournament I was playing with pain," Satterfield said. "But I won a J100 here in May, so I love these courts, love playing here."
While Satterfield had won a round as a qualifier at both the J500 in Merida two weeks ago and last week in Bradenton, Matisse Farzam had lost in the first round of both events. But his fortunes changed today, with the Ohio State recruit defeating an in-form Miguel Tobon of Colombia, the No. 5 seed, 6-4, 6-3.
Tobon, a finalist at the J500 in Merida, did not play the J300 last week in Bradenton, so he and Farzam prepared together for the Orange Bowl.
"We are good friends and we practiced the last two days," said the 17-year-old left-hander. "We hit here for an hour twice, and yesterday, one of the college coaches was joking around, saying 'you guys are playing each other.' We checked the draw, and we were playing, so it was kind of funny how that worked out. He's a great guy and it's always a great match when we play."
Farzam looked at his first round losses the past two weeks as learning experiences, and was pleased with the adjustments he made for this week.
"I was more confident in more forehand than I've usually been," Farzam said. "I was getting good depth and good shape. I was swinging on my backhand, trusting it, using it as a weapon, not playing defense on it. I think I was moving better today than on the last two weeks on clay, along with the serve. It was a good mix of everything coming together today."
Farzam said he felt the match swing permanently in his favor when he broke Tobon at 2-all then held for 4-2.
"We broke twice each to start the second," said Farzam, who didn't have to serve out the match, getting another break at 3-5. "So it was looking pretty even then, back and forth, but once I got the hold at 3-2 after I broke him I was able to cruise then."
The other boys seed to fall Monday was No. 7 seed Amir Omarkhanov of Kazakhstan, who lost to Niels McDonald of Germany 6-4, 6-2.
Like the three boys upsets, the three seeds eliminated in the girls draw also lost in straight sets, although all were 9-16 seeds with only two Top 8 seeds playing Monday.
Ksenia Efremova of France won the battle of 15-year-olds, beating No. 15 seed Annika Penickova 7-5, 6-3. No. 12 seed Maya Iyengar, who is playing her fifth consecutive week, lost to Yiru Chen of China 6-2, 6-3. American Monika Ekstrand defeated No. 16 seed Laima Vladson of Lithuania 6-4, 6-4.
Top seed Wakana Sonobe of Japan, who lost 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the W50 last week in Tampa to Orange Bowl defending champion and No. 4 seed this week Hannah Klugman of Great Britain, dropped her first set against ITF No. 72 Ada Kumru of Turkey but once she found her range on the forehand, the outcome was not in doubt, and the 16-year-old earned a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 win.
No. 2 seed Charlie Robertson of Great Britain defeated wild card Dylan Long 6-4, 6-1, and No. 6 seed and Merida J500 champion Thomas Faurel of France defeated wild card Ryan Cozad 6-2, 6-3.
The match of the day Tuesday will pit No. 2 seed and ITF J300 Bradenton champion Teodora Kostovic of Serbia against 15-year-old California Julieta Pareja. Pareja, who was on the US team that won the Junior Billie Jean King Cup in Turkey last month, has a better WTA ranking (567) than Kostovic (894), although their junior rankings are 91 and 9.
The first round of doubles begins Tuesday, with Jack Kennedy and Robertson the top boys seeds and Jagger Leach and Bonding the No. 2 seeds. Despite their 18 straight doubles victories at J300 and J500s this fall, Alena and Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic are the No. 2 seeds in girls doubles. The top seeds are Kostovic and Klugman.
The first round is complete in 16s singles and doubles, with all 16 seeds in the boys singles advancing to the second round (
see yesterday's post for the list of seeds). IMG Academy International champion Hanne Estrada of Mexico, the top seed, advanced today with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Ellery Mendell. No. 5 seed Reiley Rhodes, No. 6 seed Nicole Okhtenberg and No. 7 seed Shaya Jovanovic, all of the US, are the Top 8 seeds eliminated in the girls first round.
The NCAA announced today that the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona has been awarded the the NCAA Division I Tennis Championships from 2029-2037. With Lake Nona previously announced as the site of the 2028 championships, that is a ten-year commitment.
Today's release:
USTA NATIONAL CAMPUS AWARDED 10-YEAR BID TO HOST
NCAA DI MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Orlando facility cemented as home of college tennis; USTA commits to major infrastructure enhancements by 2028
ORLANDO, Fla., December 9, 2024 – The NCAA today announced that it has approved a bid to award the USTA National Campus the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships for a 10-year period beginning in 2028. This landmark agreement will cement Orlando and the USTA National Campus as the home of college tennis, and aims to replicate the successful model set forth by the Men’s College World Series and Women’s College World Series, held annually in Omaha, Neb., and Oklahoma City, respectively.
The USTA plans to make a number of infrastructure enhancements that will not only elevate the Championships for both student-athletes and fans, but also create a lasting impact on the Orlando community. Included in these capital projects are the addition of six indoor courts (bringing the total number of available indoor courts to 12) with improved viewing areas for all 12 indoor courts; permanent shade structures at the Collegiate Center, which contains 12 outdoor competition courts; and enhanced student-athlete amenities and scoring infrastructure.
“This is a momentous day for the USTA and for college tennis,” said Lew Sherr, CEO and Executive Director, USTA. “Supporting college tennis is a growing priority for the USTA as it is not only the aspirational dream of youth tennis players across the country, but is also an increasingly vital part of the elite player development pathway. We are proud to bring this event to Orlando for years to come and are excited to work alongside the NCAA and all of our local partners to elevate this event and give college tennis the platform it so richly deserves.”
In addition to the infrastructure investments, the USTA has committed to work with the NCAA and other college tennis stakeholders to raise the profile of the Championships. This includes both increased on-site fan engagement, as well as a commitment to supplement existing NCAA broadcast agreements.
"We are excited about this agreement with the USTA and UCF to serve as long-term hosts for the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Championships," said John Bugner, NCAA director of championships and alliances. "The existing track record of hosting successful NCAA tennis championships, along with the continued improvements to the USTA National Campus were integral to our decision-making process. With this commitment from both the USTA and NCAA, we're looking forward to what can be achieved in growing and enhancing the student-athlete and fan experience over the 10 years of the agreement."
The NCAA previously announced that the USTA National Campus was awarded the 2028 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships. That year’s event will now mark the first of 10 consecutive years, concluding in 2037, that the Orlando facility will host the final three rounds of the season-ending team championships. Should the individual singles and doubles championships, which are currently being held in the fall as part of a two-year pilot program, move back to the spring, the USTA National Campus will also host those events each year.
“We are thrilled to partner with the USTA as co-hosts for the NCAA Division I Tennis Championships,” said UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics, Terry Mohajir. “This is a testament to our community’s passion for sports and our commitment to providing an unforgettable experience for athletes and fans from all over. Being able to host prestigious events such as this over a 10-year period continues to shine the spotlight on Orlando as a premier sports destination while also strengthening our college athletics brand.”
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