IMG Academy International 12s, 14s, 16s Recap; Kisimov Avenges ITF J300 Bradenton Finals Loss in Orange Bowl Opener; Liutova's Winning Streak Continues; Amey Ousts Top Seed Vaughan in 16s

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Fort Lauderdale, FL--

Before I get into the action today at the Orange Bowl, which finally dried out after a day and a half of rain, take a minute to look at my Tennis Recruiting Network article on the 12s, 14s and 16s tournaments at the IMG Academy International Championships last week in Bradenton. These weeks in Florida and Mexico that close out the junior calendar are not independent; many of the storylines at this week's Orange Bowl have developed over the past three weeks, and will continue into next week, when the Junior Orange Bowl concludes.

One of those storylines emerged the moment the Orange Bowl draw was published, with a rematch of the ITF J300 Bradenton boys final between Jordan Lee and Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria set for the first round in Fort Lauderdale.

Due to the rain Tuesday, that match was postponed to today, with Kisimov avenging his loss to Lee on Sunday with a 6-4, 7-5 win in sunny, calm and warm conditions.

Lee fell behind 5-1 in the first set, but closed the gap to 5-4 before Kisimov served it out on his second attempt.

Kisimov got a key break at 3-all in the second set, and held for 5-3 in a service game that featured five deuces and two break points. Lee held to force Kisimov to serve it out at 5-4, which he could not do, despite a 30-0 lead in the game. Unforced errors were the major cause, although Kisimov could hardly blame himself for Lee's inside-in forehand winner at 30-40.

Kisimov said he was frustrated with himself for failing to serve out the match, although with his placid demeanor on court, no one would detect it.

"I don't show emotion, but inside, I am a bit angry with those kind of games," said the 17-year-old from Sofia. "But the good part was that I managed to get myself calm, and that's maybe why I got those next two games."

Lee couldn't hold at 5-all however, with Kisimov breaking on a perfect drop shot at 30-40. 

Serving for the match a second time, Kisimov had just one goal.

"I just focused on not making unforced errors, basically keep attacking," said Kisimov, who went up 30-0 just as he had at 5-4, but this time crushed a forehand winner to earn three match points. He made an unforced error on a slice to make it 40-15, but converted the second with a lob winner over a charging Lee.

Kisimov was surprised when he saw his Orange Bowl draw, but thought it probably benefitted him.

"I was like oh, again. But I kind of wanted to play again because I wanted revenge," Kisimov said. "It was tough in the final at Eddie Herr. I was really motivated today and now I am really happy, because I won. But it was a great match, a great match."

Next up for Kisimov is another American, No. 5 seed Keaton Hance.

Although Lee saw two winning streaks broken today, with the 2024 Orange Bowl 16s champion suffering his first Orange Bowl loss and his chance for a second set of back-to-back championships at IMG and Orange Bowl, Kristina Liutova extended hers with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Annika Penickova.

Like Lee, the ITF J300 Bradenton champion had a tough draw, facing the seventh-seeded Penickova, but the 15-year-old Seattle-area resident didn't concern herself with that, considering it just another match against a quality opponent.

"It was nothing different from the other players," said Liutova, who beat three seeds, in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final in Bradenton. "The tactics might be different, but mentally I would go out there and play my game and do what I need to do to win the match. I need to go out there and just play, enjoy the competition."

Although the scoreline looks routine, the match took two hours and 15 minutes to complete, with nearly half of the 19 games going to deuce.

"I had to find a way to return well, so I don't get killed on the next shot," Liutova said of her efforts to counteract Pennickova's big lefty serve. "She's a great server and I had to adjust on return."

In the opening set, Liutova was unable to serve it out at 5-3, but she didn't panic and broke Penickova in a five-deuce game to claim the set.

"Mistakes are past and I have to accept the past, because nothing is going to change, whether I get frustrated or not," Liutova said. "If I get back from the last point faster, it will just help."

Liutova will face fellow 15-year-old Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia, who defeated Iona Boian of Romania 6-1, 6-1 on Monday.

The only other seed to lose today in the completion of the first round was No. 8 seed Sonja Zhenikhova of Germany, who lost the qualifier Lyla Messler 6-0, 6-0. Messler, who recently signed with Illinois, has an ITF ranking of 2604, with Zhenikhova ranked 21.

Two boys seeds lost today, with qualifier Navneet Raghuram advancing when No. 14 seed Stefan Haita of Romania retired at 3-6, 6-3, 2-0. Wild card Marcel Latak took out No. 6 seed Alan Wazny of Poland 6-1, 7-6(5).

Latak, the reigning Kalamazoo 16s champion, got off to a quick start, but had to make some adjustments in the second set, down two breaks at 4-1.

"First set, I went on court just going for it and everything kind of clicked," said the 16-year-old from Illinois. "Second set I had a super slow start, didn't serve my best, the shot selection wasn't there at all. My dad was in the coaching box and he told me just to put a bunch of balls in the court first and then try to look for something. After a couple of points of that, the rhythm came back and I was able to go up 6-5."

Latak doesn't really enjoy the surface, but his success on this swing has made him rethink that.

"I'm happy with how I'm playing on clay," Latak said. "The expectations weren't high at all before I came (to Florida). I know I'm not going to be a clay court player, to be honest, but I think I'll have to forgive clay now."

As with most other players, Latak has assessed the courts at the renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center as excellent and slow.

"They are super slow," Latak said. "When I came here for my first practice, I was hitting everything so early and these courts are genuinely so slow. I like it though, I genuinely like the conditions."

Latak will play Gavin Goode, who advanced Monday when Wiliam Rejchtman Vinciguerra of Sweden retired trailing 6-3, 1-0.

No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy struggled in the first half of his match with Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia, but the momentum of passing shot winner, followed by a forehand winner at 5-all in the second set tiebreaker propelled him to 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 victory. He will play Volodymyr Gurenko of Canada in Thursday's second round.

In the 16s divisions, top boys seed Mason Vaughan was beaten by fellow IMG Academy International semifinalist Colter Amey 7-6(3), 6-3.  Catalina Delmas Schaerer, the No. 2 seed in the girls draw, lost to Amy Gray of Australia 6-2, 6-3.

The boys 16s quarterfinals will be played Thursday, and the girls 16s will play both their third round and their quarterfinal matches on Friday.

The ITF Wheelchair Junior Masters tournament begins Thursday, with two round robin matches. The participants in the girls and boys events can be found here.

The draws and Thursday's order of play can be found here.

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