ITF J300 San Diego Recap; No. 1 Seeds Fall in Contrasting Fashion at FILA Easter Bowl; Payne Extends Winning Streak by Eliminating No. 2 Seed Kennedy; Blanch Advances to USTA Pro Circuit Calabasas M25 Semifinals

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Indian Wells CA--

Before the review of Friday's 16s and 18s quarterfinals, don't forget to check out my Tennis Recruiting Network recap of last week's ITF J300 North American Regional Championships in San Diego, with Kristina Penickova and Jack Satterfield claiming the titles.

Two weeks ago, Tyler Lee took on Kalamazoo 18s finalist Jack Kennedy in the second round of the ITF J300 FILA International Championships in Indian Wells, taking the second set in a tiebreaker from the ITF Top 10 junior and No. 2 seed before dropping the final set 6-1. Returning to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden for the FILA Easter Bowl after a week at the J300 in San Diego, where he reached the doubles semifinals, Lee won an even more significant tiebreaker Friday to defeat 18s top seed Shaan Patel 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3) reach his first USTA Level 1 semifinal.

"I'm starting to love tiebreakers," said the 15-year-old from Tustin California. "I've been playing really good tiebreakers recently, so I had a lot of confidence going into it. It's only seven points long, so I just told myself, just focus for seven points."

Lee only got an opportunity to play the tiebreaker when Patel was unable to serve out the match after breaking Lee at 4-all. The 17-year-old left-hander was countering Lee's big forehands without making errors until that game, but he began to feel the pressure, with a double fault giving Lee a second break point, which he converted when Patel's forehand caught the tape. 

"When he broke me, I thought it was going to be over, but I decided to fight hard," said Lee, who is coached by JC Beeson at Veylix Tennis in Tustin.  At 15-all (at 4-5) I thought his serve was a let, so I didn't play the point and I lost it, and I actually told myself it's going to be so embarrassing if I lose this game like that. So I gave myself some extra fuel and actually pulled through. That was my motivation, I didn't want to be embarrassed in front of the crowd."

Up 40-0 serving at 5-all, Lee let those three game points get away, but he held with two more forehand errors from Patel. Lee had a 15-30 advantage with Patel serving at 5-6, but Lee misfired on the next three points to send the match to the deciding tiebreaker.

Once Lee gained the advantage with some good defense to go up 4-2, he took didn't relenquish it, with an ace and forehand winner giving him three match points. He only needed one, with a forehand volley winner completing the day's second upset on Practice Court 2. Lee will face unseeded Cooper Han in the semifinals Saturday morning.

Although Lee wasn't aware of it, No. 9 seed Keshav Muthuvel had already pulled off a similar feat in the preceeding match, defeating Safir Azam, the top seed in the 16s, 6-3, 6-4.

Azam couldn't quite find his game in the opening set, and went down two breaks, with Muthuvel serving at 3-0 in the second. But Muthuvel lost that game, and when Azam held serve for 3-2, he could be heard telling himself "I'm back in this."  He was right, breaking Muthuvel a second time to level the set at 4, but all the momentum he had was lost when he was broken in the next game. 

Muthuvel actually felt the big lead he had in the second set had been detrimental. 

"I think when the match got closer, I stopped feeling as much pressure," said the 15-year-old from Pleasanton California, who lost to Azam in the round of 16 in the 14s division last year. "I knew I had to play my game. I was playing really good, and then then he suddenly started playing a good game and it was tough. I started thinking too much about things, but I think I refocused myself pretty well in the end."

Muthuvel said his down the line backhand has been working well all week, and he came into the tournament expecting to have a good run. 

"I've been training a lot and I knew I could do a lot in this tournament," Muthuvel said. "I knew I just had to play my game." Muthuvel will play fellow No. 9 seed Marcel Latak in Saturday's semifinals.

While the boys 18s semifinals features just one seed, No. 9 Winston Wooin Lee, the girls also have unseeded contenders for the title, although one, 16s Easter Bowl champion Bella Payne is hardly a surprise.

Payne added No. 2 seed JoAnna Kennedy to her list of opponents vanquished at the Easter Bowl, beating the big server from Colorado 6-2, 6-1 for her tenth consecutive singles win at the FILA Easter Bowl.

"It was super windy today, and I think that honestly helped me a little bit," said the 17-year-old left-hander from Florida, who has committed to the University of Georgia for 2026. "Her game is a super aggressive style and I was trying to stay more solid. Her serve was huge, but I was more stepping in on it and that was a big thing, instead of stepping back and giving it more time. Stepping forward was good and I was able to break down her serve pretty early in the match, and honestly, I think that's what won me the match, was my return. And my serve, I was serving pretty well."

Payne can't put her finger on a reason for all her success at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, which includes a doubles title last year and another run to the semifinals in doubles with a win this evening with another future Georgia Bulldog, Emily Deming.

"I love the energy here," said Payne. "I honestly just love Palm Springs, it's really great to play here. I don't know what it is about this place, but I guess it works for me."

Payne will be tested in the semifinals by unseeded Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann, who beat her in the first round of the Las Vegas ITF J100 earlier this month, but she views the change of venues as working in her favor.

"I like my chances," Payne said.

Results of today's singles quarterfinals:

B16s

Keshav Muthuvel[9] d. Safir Azam[1] 6-3, 6-4

Marcel Latak[9] d. Rowan Qalbani[9] 6-2, 6-4

Tristan Stratton[8] d. Ilias Bouzoubaa[9] 6-4, 6-0

Alexander Suhanitski[2] d. Lixing Jiang[5] 6-4, 7-5

B18s 

Tyler Lee d. Shaan Patel[1] 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3)

Cooper Han d. David Wu[9] 7-6(2), 2-0 ret. inj.

Winston Wooin Lee[9] d. Aryan Badlani 6-4, 6-4

Nikolas Stoot d. Yashwin Krishnakumar 6-1, 6-2

G16s

Ciara Harding[WC] d. Alanna Ingalsbe 6-0, 7-5

Carolina Castro[7] d. Aarini Bhattacharya[4] 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5

Carlota Moreno[3] d. Delaney Letzel 7-5, 6-2

Armira Kockinis[9] d. Natalie Kha[5] 7-5, 6-3 

G18s

Nadia Valdez[9] d. Calla McGill[9] 6-1, 6-1

Nicole Weng[9] d, Blair Gill[7] 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(2)

Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann d. Hi'llani Williams 7-6(4), 6-1

Bella Payne d. JoAnna Kennedy[2] 6-2, 6-1

The matches on the main show court, Practice Court 2, will be available on the Easter Bowl YouTube channel, with Ken Thomas of radiotennis.com providing commentary.

Complete draws, including doubles and consolation results, can be found at the USTA tournament page.

2022 Kalamazoo 16s champion Darwin Blanch is through to the semifinals of the USTA M25 Pro Circuit tournament in Calabasas California, with the 17-year-old left-hander defeating Ron Hohmann(LSU, Michigan State) 6-1, 6-3 in today's quarterfinals. Blanch will face Wake Forest grad student Stefan Dostanic, the No. 7 seed, who beat No. 4 seed Govind Nanda(UCLA) 6-2, 7-5. The other semifinal will feature TCU junior Jack Pinnington Jones of Great Britain, the No. 3 seed, and No. 8 seed Andres Martin(Georgia Tech).

Wild cards Noah Johnston and Ian Mayew lost in the doubles semifinals to top seeds Nanda and Benjamin Sigouin(North Carolina) of Canada 6-4, 6-4.