All Four No. 1 Seeds Advance to Easter Bowl 16s and 18s Semifinals; Shannon Saves Three Match Points, Wu Ousts No. 2 Seed; Konduri and Karki Meet in Las Vegas M25 Semifinals

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Indian Wells, CA--

The heat continued to be the story of the 2026 USTA Level 1 Easter Bowl, with temperatures climbing to over 100 degrees Friday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

In the hottest part of the afternoon, No. 3 seed Alyson Shannon was facing three match points after double faulting at 6-8 in the match tiebreaker with 2025 16s champion Armira Kockinis. But five points and one very long rally later, Shannon was through to the semifinals, snatching a 1-6, 6-4, 11-9 victory.

In the first set, Shannon was overwhelmed by the pace Kockinis was throwing at her.

"I'd never played her before, and I came out and like, wow, she hits a big ball," said the 17-year-old from Plano Texas, who will join the Tennessee Volunteers this summer. "It was kind of like it was being shot out. But I think I could have figured it out a little earlier. I went down (4-2) in the second, and thought, this is year last Easter Bowl, you only have one match today, give it everything you can."

Kockinis, who was playing her fourth consecutive week after three ITF Junior events in Las Vegas, Tucson and San Diego, wasn't hitting as aggressively at the end of the match, instead content to trade groundstrokes with Shannon. 

Up 7-6 in the match tiebreaker, a long rally of over 35 shots ended with an error by Shannon, who then double faulted, giving Kockinis three match points. She lost both of her serves with forehands wide, and Shannon had to get a second serve in to continue the match at 9-8. She did, and a rally of over 40 shots ensued, with Kockinis the one missing this time.

"She wasn't going for as big of a shot as she was in the beginning, and she was playing the game that I like, so I had to take advantage of that," said Shannon, who is coached by Mario Toledo, a former Tennessee Volunteer, now living in the Dallas area. "I took what I did wrong in that point, didn't use my legs, just my upper body, so I next time I knew exactly what not to do, what to fix. Literally every forehand that was coming my way, I saw exactly what I needed to do. You have to learn from what you did wrong and use those corrections."

Shannon won her fourth consecutive point with a passing shot winner on the line, and Kockinis netted a backhand on Shannon's first match point.

Shannon said the heat did present difficulties, with her opponent in the third round Thursday forced to retire with a heat-related illness. But she was willing to play a full third set, which is the format that will be used for Saturday's semifinals and Sunday's finals.

"We work a lot on fitness, so I definitely think I could be out there for a full third," Shannon said. "I think they are just taking precautions. But if they had a full third, the more fit, better player wins. I think [a match tiebreaker format] evens out the field a little bit, but if you're a good competitor, you'll figure out a way to win."

Shannon will face unseeded 16-year-old Yilin Chen, who beat No. 2 seed Calla McGill 6-0, 6-3 on Thursday and No. 9 seed Skye Madatali 6-1, 6-1 today.

Top seed Ellery Mendell defeated unseeded Amy Lee 6-3, 6-0 for her fourth straight-sets victory and will face unseeded Isabelle DeLuccia, the 2024 Easter Bowl 16s finalist.

Boys 18s No. 1 seed Alexander Suhanitski overcame the big serving of unseeded Pavel Bushev to post a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory. Suhanitski will play another unseeded opponent in the semifinals, Peter Jorniak. Wild card Rishvanth Krishna will play No. 9 seed David Wu, who defeated No. 2 seed Omar Rhazali 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.

San Diego's Wu is not accustomed to the heat he's encountered this week.

"The first day was the toughest, but honestly it gets better every day," said the 18-year-old left-hander. "Today, I had to use my ice towel; I got a bag of ice, put it on my face and neck to cool off, take extra time between points. There's really no other solution, you've got to use everything"

Wu was happy he did not have to play a full third set against Rhazali. 

"I am very relieved, because I have a singles and a doubles match, so there's a lot on my plate," said Wu, who lost in the doubles quarterfinals Friday evening. 

Wu had beaten Rhazali in the third round of the Orange Bowl 16s in 2024, and he noted upgrades Rhazali had made to his game since then.

"His serve wasn't as good, and he has better hands," Wu said. "His shot quality has gone up so much and he's gotten much stronger. It was a completely different match today."

Wu is joining the Harvard team this fall, and he was able to spend time with his future coaches and teammates this month in San Diego, when the team played at San Diego and San Diego State.

"I met with the team a week ago in San Diego and they were all so welcoming," Wu said. "They are so much more tight-knit than other schools I visited, and the coaches, they were great players before, so they have so much experience."

This is Wu's first trip to a level 1 semifinal, after reaching the quarterfinals here last year, but having to retire with an injury.

"I think my best [L1] finish was Winter Nationals, where I won back draw."

The top seeds in the 16s advanced with Sylvana Jalbert unable to post a 6-0 set for the first time, beating No. 9 seed Kasia Chen 6-4, 6-2.

"I think what made it so tough was that she made one more ball," said the 15-year-old Jalbert, who was down a break in the opening set. "She was pretty consistent, made me work for points, she made me rip, come to the net, she made me earn the point. In the second set, she started being less consistent, and I tried to take advantage of it."

Jalvert will face unseeded Caroline Coan, who beat No. 8 seed Molly Widlansky 5-7, 6-4, 10-7 in a three-hour 10-minute marathon.

Boys 16s top seed Eli Kaminski just managed to avoid a match tiebreaker, beating No. 9 seed Simon Hayal 6-4, 7-6(5).

The 16s singles semifinals are scheduled for 8 a.m., with the 18s semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday.  The doubles semifinals will be played in the afternoon.

Easter Bowl Quarterfinal Singles Results 16s and 18s

B18s:

Alexander Suhanitski[1] d. Pavel Bushuev 6-4, 7-6(5)

Peter Jorniak d. Liam Alvarez 6-0, 6-2

Rishvanth Krishna[WC] d. Justin Riley Anson 4-6, 6-3, 10-8

David Wu[9] d. Omar Rhazali[1] 6-4, 3-6, 10-7

G18s:

Ellery Mendell[1] d. Amy Lee 6-3, 6-0

Isabelle DeLuccia d. Yui Watanabe[9] 6-3, 6-0

Alyson Shannon[3] d. Armira Kockinis[9] 1-6, 6-4, 11-9

Yilin Chen d. Skye Madatali[9] 6-1, 6-1

B16s: 

Eli Kaminski[1] d. Simon Hayal[9] 6-4, 7-6(5)

Piotr Gradzki[3] d. Daniil Berezin 6-4, 3-0 ret.

Ivan Rybak[6] d. Cayden Laughton[9] 7-6(4), 6-2

Anay Kulkarni[WC] d. Alexander Totoian 6-4, 6-4

G16s:

Sylvana Jalbert[1] d. Kasia Chen[9] 6-4, 6-2

Caroline Coan d. Molly Widlansky[8] 5-7, 6-4, 10-7

Shristi Selvan[4] d. Enya Hamilton[9] 6-3, 6-2

Tanvi Pandey[WC] d. Mingyue Deng 7-6(3), 6-0

At the USTA Pro Circuit M25 in Las Vegas, 17-year-old wild card Tanishk Konduri is through to the semifinals after beating Kaylan Bigun 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Konduri will play 18-year-old qualifier Ronit Karki, who avenged his US Open junior championships third round loss to Andy Johnson 6-4, 0-6, 6-4.  Karki beat Konduri 6-2, 7-5 in the third round of the San Diego J300 last year.

In the bottom half semifinal, Arizona State junior Bor Artnak of Slovenia, the No. 5 seed, will play No. 3 seed Blaise Bicknell(Florida, Tennessee).  Artnak beat No. 2 seed Danile Milavsky 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and Bicknell defeated No. 7 seed Aidan Mayo 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.