Boogaard Defeats Kennedy for Orange Bowl Title; Sun Turns Tables on Liutova to Earn Girls Championship

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Fort Lauderdale FL--

Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands and Xinran Sun of China closed out a successful green clay swing in South Florida Sunday, becoming the first players from their countries to win prestigious Orange Bowl 18s titles in the tournament's 79th year.

Spectators were required to choose which of the six 9 a.m. finals to watch at the newly renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center at Holiday Park, with the threat of rain compressing a week's worth of effort into a few hours.

No. 11 seed Boogaard and No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy received the Chris Evert court assignment, and the hundred or so spectators were definitely in the American's corner, but they were unable to help the New Yorker when his serve and forehand began clicking after a ragged first six games of the match.

Boogaard held at love, then allowed Kennedy only one point in his service game to take a 5-3 lead and was able to draw an error from Kennedy at 40-30 to take the first set.

Kennedy went up 2-0 in the second set, but Boogaard got the break back for 2-1 and again accelerated midway through the set, winning the final four games to join countryman Paul Dogger, the 1987 16s champion, on the list of Orange Bowl champions.

For Boogaard, who had struggled with his fitness in the months since a lengthy battle with mononucleosis, his win today was not only his biggest junior title, but an indication that he was physically ready for a sustained run against the top juniors in the world.

"It was a tough match today," said the 17-year-old, who lost in the semifinals last week at the ITF J300 in Bradenton but did not drop a set this week as he grew more comfortable on the green clay. "Jack is an incredible player and he gets behind every ball and he fights for it like it's his last point. So it was very tough today with the conditions, but I think I managed it well. I was very happy with my level today, and to win this tournament is an even better feeling."

Kennedy did not mince words in his assessment of his level in the final.

"He just kind of went for his shots a bit more than I did," said the 17-year-old, whose only junior event since the US Open was October's  ITF World Junior Finals in Chengu. "He played a bit more freely, played more to win. He deserves this title, 100 percent, was the better today, but I'm looking forward to playing a couple of matches against him next year."

This is Boogaard's first Florida December trip since he reached the Junior Orange Bowl 14s quarterfinals in 2021.

"It was a great experience for me," said Boogaard, who trains with his longtime coach Bjorn Graven at the Mouratoglou Academy in France. "It's such a prestigious tournament, so if you're able to play it it's unbelievable. To win it now is a great feeling."

Kennedy echoed Boogaard's regard for the Orange Bowl.

"I think the Orange Bowl is a tournament where you've got to bring your best every point," said Kennedy, who reached the Junior Orange Bowl 14s final in 2022 and the semifinals here last year. "You know you're playing the best juniors in the world, because they want to win this tournament, because it's so prestigious. For Americans it's even more special, with the home court advantage. The Orange Bowl has always had a special place in my heart; this may be my last year to play it, but we'll see what the future holds."

Kennedy has secured the coveted ITF Top 10 year-end junior ranking that earns him 10 main draw Challenger wild cards in 2026, so his schedule will not include the Australian Open Junior Championships, where he reached the quarterfinals last year.

Boogaard is also skipping the Australian Open juniors, which he played in 2024, so he can participate in the ATP 500 in Rotterdam in early February, where he has twice competed in the qualifying.

"I'll play some pro tournaments in January and then Rotterdam," Boogaard said. "It's one of the biggest tournaments in the Netherlands, in one of my favorite cities in the world. I've been going there since I was young, and to be able to play it already is incredible."

Boogaard avenged his second round 2025 Roland Garros loss to Kennedy today, but Xinran Sun had even more motivation when she faced Kristina Liutova in the girls final, played on court 11.

Sun lost to Liutova in the semifinals of the ITF J300 in College Park in August 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 and last week in the quarterfinals of the ITF J300 in Bradenton 6-1, 7-6(10), after holding a 5-1 lead in the second set, so her routine 6-4, 6-1 victory over her fellow 15-year-old was especially satisfying.

In the opening set, Sun won a three-deuce game to break Liutova for a 5-3 lead, but was unable to serve out the set. She took her chance in her next return game, however with Liutova making an unforced backhand error at 15-40. Wary of another Liutova comeback, Sun kept her focus, and with her backhand close to invincible, she quickly built a 5-0 lead. Liutova finally held to force Sun to serve out the match, which she confidently did on her first match point.

"I was so ready," Sun said of her motivation in again facing Liutova. "Before the match we talk tactic and are so ready to play against Kristina."

Sun, who did not lose a set in her six victories this week, said her level improved each day.

"Especially this week, I played my tennis and I feel really good," said Sun. "One day I had two matches, it was really tough, but every time I gave one hundred percent. I'm feeling ok, but just so tired, but of course now I can rest."

Sun, who has been training in Serbia since she was eight years old, has been coached there by Goran Zivotic the past two years. 

"It's been such a good journey so far," said the 23-year-old from Serbia. "Last year she won an ITF J60 and this year she wins Orange Bowl and we are extremely proud of that. I have to say it's well-deserved. She's a really hard worker."

Zivotic said the two previous losses to Liutova provided both motivation and instruction.

"We made slight changes in tactics, but she sticked to the plan, that was most important," Zivotic said. "I think she reached a higher level in semifinal and final than maybe the first two or three matches, but that's how it usually is with her. We came to this tournament prepared, came back from Egypt, where she won two professional titles, which was also a big success for us."

Sun, who joins last year's 16s champion Xiaotong Wang as Orange Bowl winners from China, will return to Belgrade for a few days of rest before starting her preparations for the Australian Open Junior Championships.

The unseeded Liutova, who won the Junior Orange Bowl 12s title in 2022, fought back tears as last week's Bradenton champion sought to gather her thoughts on the end of her 11-match winning streak these past two weeks in Florida.

"She had a great level, much higher than mine. I have nothing to complain about," said the Russian-born Washington state resident, who trains at the Gorin Academy in Seattle. "She deserved the win. Second place is always tough."

In her remarks after the match, Liutova was generous in her praise of Sun and thanked the tournament organizers, the ballrunners, her Academy and her mother Elena, taking time to compose herself as the tears flowed.

"I'm proud of our work and I'm very grateful for everything to help me improve," Liutova said. "It's tough to finish the year this way, but I'll come back stronger, I promise."

The doubles championships were also decided in straight sets, with No. 6 seeds Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia beating the unseeded American team of Marcel Latak and Tanishk Konduri 6-3, 6-3.

"We showed a good level throughout the whole tournament and really combined our games well," Sesko said. "We're having fun on court, with good energy, so good things happen."

Alvarez and Sesko partnered for the first time in Bradenton, where they reached the final, with their status as teammates on the ITF Grand Slam Development Touring Team a key to their pairing.

"We were in Mexico with the Team and our coach suggested we could play well together," Sesko said. "So we decided to try at the Eddie Herr and it ended up well.  Finals at Eddie Herr and now this, nine out of 10, that's a pretty solid streak."

Alvarez is now a two-time Orange Bowl doubles champion, having hoisted the winners' crystal bowl of oranges with Ryan Cozad in the 16s division in 2023.

Both Alvarez and Sesko are traveling to Melbourne next month with the ITF Touring Team for the Australian Open, but they are not playing with each other there.

The ITF Touring Team picked up another doubles title in the girls final, with Anastasija Cvetkovic traveling with the group for this North American clay swing. Cvetkovic and partner Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India, the No. 3 seeds, defeated No. 8 seeds Alyssa James of Jamaica and Annika Penickova of the United States 7-5, 6-1.

Cvetkovic had played in both finals at the J300 in Bradenton, reaching the doubles final with another partner, but after those 11 matches and ten more this week, Rajeshwaran Revathi said she would have understood if Cvetkovic had withdrawn after her three set loss to Liutova Saturday.

"Because she went far last week and went far this week as well, I knew she was dead physically," said the 16-year-old, who trains at the Nadal Academy. "I was telling my mom, if she decides to retire, I'd really support the decision, because she deserves it, but I'm really happy that she pushed through."

Playing together for the first time, the pair did not overwhelm their opponents, needing match tiebreakers in three of their victories, but they meshed well. 

"Today was our best match," said the 17-year-old Cvetkovic, who had her right thigh heavily wrapped for the final. "We play so good, so aggressive. We knew what we had to do, and tried to do this and it's all good, I'm proud."

The ITF World Junior Championship Wheelchair singles finals also were played this morning, with Charlie Cooper defeating Tomas Majetic 6-2, 7-5 in the all-USA boys final between unseeded players. 

The girls champion is top seed Luna Gryp of Belgium, who beat Seira Matsuoka of Japan 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) in the final.

Sun and Liutova Meet Again for ITF J500 Orange Bowl Title; Kennedy and Boogaart Reach Boys Final; Sirichantho and Reyniak Claim 16s Titles; Thirty-Point Tiebreaker Decides G16s Doubles Title

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Fort Lauderdale FL--

Kristina Liutova had let one match point slip by, hitting a backhand wide at 5-3, 40-15 in the third set in her Orange Bowl semifinal match Saturday with No. 6 seed Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia. The second match point ended with a long rally and a mark check on the far sideline by the chair umpire with Cvetkovic pleading that Liutova's ball was wide. After staying out of the conversation for a minute, with the umpire not convinced the ball was out, Liutova told him the ball was out, conceding the point to Cvetkovic. Cvetkovic thanked her, the crowd around court 10 applauded Liutova, and the game continued.

At deuce, Cvetkovic missed a drop shot attempt, but saved a third match point with a volley winner. But a blistering backhand gave Liutova a fourth match point, with Cvetkovic sailing a backhand long to give Liutova a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

Asked why she conceded such a crucial point in such a hard-fought battle, Liutova said she saw the ball out and did not want the match to end with that knowledge.

"Tennis is fair play," said the 15-year-old Seattle-area resident, who was born in Russia. "I'd rather lose the game or whatever, but play fair; that shouldn't be a problem. I was stuck in the moment, just watching, but if I knew it was out and I take it, it's not fair."

Liutova had been pushed by Cvetkovic into an unfamiliar position after beating the 17-year-old Serbian 6-3, 6-0 in the ITF J300 Bradenton final six days ago.

"She stepped in in the first set, was very aggressive," said Liutova, who did not drop a set in Bradenton or this week until today. "I was a little nervous, but she played a very great level and I just had to accept it, continue the work, not thinking about what's been already."

Liutova will face No. 12 seed Xinran Sun of China for the third time in the past four months, after Sun defeated top seed Victoria Barros of Brazil 6-2, 6-3.

"She's a great player, and I just want to enjoy the competition in the final," said Liutova, who defeated Sun in the semifinals of the J300 in College Park in August and last week in the Bradenton J300 quarterfinals.  "Of course I will have some patterns and strategy with my team, but the most important thing is to just let myself play, be myself and go for my shots."

Sun, also 15, said she will "of course" make some changes in her third attempt to beat Liutova.

"Last two times she played really good," said Sun, who has not dropped a set this week. "I just hope I can play my tennis. My movement is good and my backhand is too."

Sun said she had practiced with Barros and was familiar with her game, although they had not played until today.

"I know she is so good player, has so good experience," said Sun, who trains in Belgrade Serbia. "Today I gave 100 percent and played my tennis."

The boys semifinals were both completed in straight sets, with No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy beating unseeded Tanishk Konduri 6-4, 6-3 and No. 11 seed Thijs Boogaard defeating top seed Yannick Alexandrescou of France 7-5, 6-1.

Boogaard, who reached the semifinals of the J300 in Bradenton, is beginning to feel more comfortable now on green clay.

"It's one of the first times I've played on green clay and it's definitely a bit different to the red clay we're used to in Europe,
 said the 17-year-old from the Netherlands. "Last week before the Eddie Herr Bradenton tournament, I took a bit of time to adjust to it, and I think I managed it well. I'm playing better and better on these clay courts and I'm starting to understand it more. The bounces are less high, which I'm a fan of, and the movement, everything is a bit more slippery."

Boogaard was out for many months with mononucleosis and has found the road back to top physical condition a rough one.

"After Wimbledon, we decided to take some time off to really build on my body," said Boogaard, who lost in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. "I felt I was not able to push myself every time, which was very frustrating for the last, what was it, one and a-half, two years. After Wimbledon I decided, together with my team, that I don't want to do this anymore and we've building ever since. We feel like we're back on the right path again. Just getting some match rhythm again, keep building, because it's still going to take a while until I'm back to 100 percent."

Boogaard has taken confidence from all the matches he's won these two weeks, with his win over Alexandrescou especially encouraging.

"He's an unbelievable player, he has great strokes," Boogaard said. "I knew I had to push myself every point, to go for it and attack. Otherwise he would grind me out. So I tried to push myself, go to the net, play aggressive, which is also my game style, and at the end, it worked perfectly."

Kennedy had to make an adjustment or two after falling behind against Konduri in their first meeting.

"I went down an early break 4-1," said the 17-year-old from New York, who was a semifinalist at this tournament last year. "He was playing really well, serving really well, but I was having chances to break back. I knew if I kept mentally solid and stayed present in the moment, I'd get my chance. I did, at 4-3, and I won the set."

The second set remained on serve until Kennedy broke for 4-3, and Konduri's game began to fade at that stage.

"After the break I think he lost a little bit of belief, and I countered that and took control of the match," Kennedy.

Boogaard and Kennedy played in the second round at Roland Garros this year, with Kennedy posting a 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory.

"It was a tight match," Boogaard recalled. "He's a great player, one of best guys right now on the junior circuit. It's going to be a good test and we'll see what's going to happen tomorrow."

Two of the semifinalists who lost today managed to rebound in the doubles, with Konduri and partner Marcel Latak advancing to the boys final, and Cvetkovic and partner Rajeshwaran Revathi of India reaching the girls doubles final.

The unseeded Konduri and Latak defeated No. 8 seeds Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia and Johan Oscar Lien of Norway 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 and will face No. 6 seeds Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia. Alvarez and Sesko defeated No. 7 seeds Ryan Cozad and Gavin Goode 3-6, 6-4, 10-2.

Cvetkovic and Rajeshwaran, seeded No. 3, beat No. 5 seeds Thea Frodin and Welles Newman 3-6, 6-2, 10-5. They will face No. 8 seeds Alyssa James of Jamaica and Annika Penickova, who defeated the unseeded team of Giselle Guillen of Australia and Alisa Terentyeva 6-4, 6-3.

Due to the possibility of rain Sunday, all six finals, which include both ITF World Junior Wheelchair Championships singles finals, are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

The 16s champions were crowned today in all-USA finals, with No. 2 seed Matias Reyniak defeating No. 7 seed Daniel Malacek 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and Priscilla Sirichantho beating Daniela Del Mastro 6-4, 6-1.

Reyniak appeared tentative at the start of the match, with both players struggling with nerves and a bit more wind than had been the norm during the week. Reyniak briefly took the lead, with a break at 3-all, but two breaks later, Malacek had secured the set.

Reyniak found his form in the middle of the second set and was able to concentrate at the task at hand, rather than begin a premature celebration, when he took a 3-0 lead in the third set.

"That's the number one thing you're fighting," said the 16-year-old from New York, who trains in Spain with coach Gilad Bloom, a four-time participant in the Orange Bowl. "When you're on the court, the number one person that you're playing is yourself. If I can keep my level, I'm confident I can finish this out. Being down 0-3 in the third, they're just going to start going for it, and that's what he did, started ripping shots and started making them. So you just have to keep the pressure on, keep doing what you're doing; never change a winning strategy."

 

Malacek said Reyniak was able to take advantage of his opportunities in the second and third sets.

"He was able to capitalize on easy-ish balls more than Colter (Amey) was yesterday," said the 16-year-old from Seattle. "I had to go for more, take more risk to be gritty and I started missing a little bit, especially when I got a little tired."

Malacek counts the week as a success despite his loss in the final.

"It was a great experience; first Orange Bowl, I made the final, that's good," said Malacek, who will play the USTA 16s Winter Nationals after Christmas. "I'm going to keep trying to learn to play the clay game and play more clay tournaments, because I think I'm actually pretty good on it."

Reyniak has been playing the ITF Junior Circuit all year, primarily in Europe, but thought this trip back to the United States would be beneficial. 

"We came here wanting to win, but no expectations," said Reyniak, who will spend the holidays in New York. "Look, just come here, have fun, a little bit of Florida sun, who doesn't want that?" 

"And now I go back to New York, see my big brother, my dad and my dog Lola, and I'm really excited to see her; that's the real prize."

As for a celebration, Reyniak had a chilly one in mind.

"An ice bath, that's my thing," Reyniak. "A big long ice bath when I get home."

The girls 16s final, played after the boys on the Chris Evert Stadium Court, turned on the final game of the first set, with Priscilla Sirichantho breaking Daniela Del Mastro for a 6-4 lead. 

The 14-year-old left-hander dropped her serve in the opening game of the second set, but then reeled off six straight for a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

"It felt like impossible to break her in the beginning," said Sirichantho, who trains at the Solaris Racquet Club in Stamford and also has a weekly coaching session with Brian Barker, James Blake's former coach, at Tennis Club of Trumbull. "But I just held my ground and kept holding until I got my chance. That kind of switched the trajectory of the match, I think."

Sirichantho, who had lost to Del Mastro in their only meeting last fall, was pleased with her performance.

"I'm proud of how I played," said Sirichantho, who will move up to the 18s next year. "I've been playing less tournaments, practicing a lot, and I've had a lot of great coaches help me. I just worked on a lot since losing to her a year ago."

Del Mastro credited Sirichantho for playing well, while expressing disappointment with her own level in the final.

"Today was definitely not my day, but Priscilla played an unbelievable match," said the 14-year-old from Minnesota. "It's been a very memorable week, a very positive week. I played very well the whole week and before this, I wasn't as confident on clay. Now I'm a lot more confident."

The match of the tournament was today's girls 16 doubles final, with top seeds Emery Combs and Olivia de Los Reyes saving five match points in their 2-6, 6-3, 16-14 win over No. 6 seeds Sylvana Jalbert and Reiley Rhodes.

Combs and de Los Reyes, both 14, won three straight ITF J100 title this fall, but that winning streak was in jeopardy throughout the match tiebreaker, after they failed to secure their match point at 9-8.

They saved match points at 10-9, 11-10, 12-11, 13-12 and 14-13, all with winners: a forehand putaway, three volley winners, and drop volley winner. 

Combs and de Los Reyes earned their second match point with a great first serve from de Los Reyes, with Combs putting away the weak return and Rhodes missed a backhand to finally put an end to all the drama.

Comfortable at the net and unwilling to play passively, Combs and de Los Reyes stuck to their game plan despite the two-back strategy of Rhodes and Jalbert.

"It's nice to know we have the skills to do it our way," said Combs, from Conway South Carolina. "We both have good hands, so as long as we are intense and stay positive, we're able to do whatever we want on court."

In addition to commitment and intensity, Combs and de Los Reyes are also determined to enjoy their matches.

"Whenever we have fun on court, it's straightforward," said de Los Reyes, a New Yorker. "Laughing helps a lot." 

Combs and de Los Reyes, who won the Orange Bowl 14s doubles title last year after playing together for the first time at the 2024 Easter Bowl, don't do a lot of signaling or talking during a match, no matter how pressure-packed the point is.

"We just know each other," de Los Reyes said. "And I just go fo my shots," Combs said. "I know my strengths and my weaknesses and I just adjust."

"In pressure moments, I just play what I practice," de Los Reyes said. "And I know I can rely on that."

The boys doubles champions also saved match points in winning the title, although their Houdini act came in the quarterfinals, and unlike the girls, they were playing together for the first time.

"In the quarters, we saved four match points," said Filip Jokic of Serbia, who teamed up with Sean Peng of Texas at the suggestion of a mutual friend and player who was aging out of the 16s. 

"I told him after our quarterfinal match (a 4-6, 7-6(12), 10-4 win over James Ross and Mason Vaughan) that if we could get through our quarters we'd have the confidence to get the title," Peng said.

Against the unseeded team of Rafael Pawar and Zesen Wang, the No. 5 seeds saved a set point at 6-5 in the second set tiebreaker, winning the next three points to secure the 6-3, 7-6(6) win and the champions' crystal bowl of oranges.

"I came over just for this tournament," said Jokic, who lives and trains in Serbia. "This is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, and my brother also played it eight years ago, so I wanted to come and see the best level of tennis."

The ITF Junior Wheelchair Championships are being held in conjunction with the Orange Bowl, and after round robin play for three days, the singles finals are Sunday. Those matches, and the results of today's doubles finals are below.

Boys WC doubles final:
Charlie Cooper(USA) and Tomas Majetic(USA) d. Marijn Bruinooge(NED) and Arlo Shawcross(AUS)[4] 6-1, 6-3

Girls WC doubles final:
Luna Gryp(BEL) and Lucy Heald(USA)[1] d. Emma Gjerseth(SWE) and Seira Matsuoka(JPN)[2] 6-0, 7-6(3)

Boys WC singles final:
Charlie Cooper(USA) vs Tomas Majetic(USA)

Girls WC singles final:
Luna Gryp(BEL)[1] vs Seira Matsuoka(JPN)

My ITF J300 Bradenton Recap; Kennedy's Comeback Leads to All-USA Orange Bowl Semifinal; Sirichantho and Del Mastro Reach Girls 16s Final; Malacek and Reyniak Meet Saturday for B16s Title

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Fort Lauderdale FL--

The Orange Bowl is heading into its championship weekend, but if you missed any of last week's daily coverage of the ITF J300 in Bradenton, you can find my recap of the titles for Jordan Lee and Kristina Liutova today at the Tennis Recruiting Network. 

A third straight jam-packed day of tennis was on the menu at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center, but when the final doubles match was completed after 7:30 p.m., the Orange Bowl was back on schedule, with the 16s finals and the ITF J500 semifinals set for Saturday.

The weather was perfect again Friday, with low humidity, temperatures in the 70s, and little breeze. That was fortunate for the 18s tournament; with both the third round singles and the quarterfinals of singles and doubles on the schedule, no one needed more challenges from the elements.

The boys semifinals will feature a European section and an American section, with top seed Yannick Alexandrescou of France facing No. 11 seed Thjis Boogaard of the Netherlands and No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy of New York playing unseeded Tanishk Konduri.

Alexandrescou defeated wild card Safir Azam 6-3, 6-4 in the third round and got past unseeded Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Boogaard had a much less taxing day, getting a third round win when Bradenton finalist Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria retired with an elbow injury at after the 6-1 first set, then beating No. 16 seed Andy Johnson for the second time in two weeks, 6-2, 6-2.

Konduri also kept his court time to a minimum, with a 6-0, 6-2 win over unseeded Oliver Sanders of the Czech Republic in the third round and a 6-4, 6-3 win over wild card Marcel Latak in the quarterfinals.

"I felt more fresh today," said the 16-year-old from Cupertino California. "Oliver definitely wasn't at his full ability, but it ended up working out for me. I played a pretty long match yesterday afternoon, and I'm just happy to get through both matches. It's never easy playing two singles matches in a day, everyone is so explosive, so intense that even short matches are physically tiring."

Konduri trailed 4-2 in the first set of his quarterfinal match with his doubles partner, but began to take control of the match then.

"He started really strong," Konduri said. "I got my rhythm a little bit, got a feel for how he plays, what rhythm he plays at and I just tried to make it difficult for him. I felt very confident in my serve today, felt I could hold, maybe not comfortably, but get a solid hold every time, and I started to ease into the match."

Despite picking up just one win in the previous two weeks in Merida Mexico and Bradenton, Konduri did not lose faith in his game.

"The last two weeks I really didn't have the results that I wanted or expected," Konduri said. "But because I finished early last week, I had almost a full week to prepare for this week, and I know my level's there. I'm very confident in my game and I'll let my racquet do the talking."

Kennedy had a much less routine pair of wins to reach his second consecutive Orange Bowl semifinal. Down 3-0 to Carel Ngounoue in the third round, Kennedy won 13 of the next 16 games for a 7-5, 6-1 win.

Next up in the quarterfinals was No. 7 seed Jamie Mackenzie of Germany, who was motivated to beat Kennedy after losing to him 6-3, 6-4 in a J300 in Italy this spring.

Kennedy took a 4-2 lead in the first set, but lost four straight games, and then fell behind 1-4 serving at 15-40. If there was ever a reason to be pessimistic that was it, but Kennedy didn't succumb to that temptation.

"I tried my best just not to think of the score," said Kennedy, who went on a 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 victory. "It was really helpful to stay positive and just play my game. Everyone is going to get nervous when you get close to the finish line; I think he gave me a point or two and I came up clutch with my serving."

Although Kennedy held and got the break back, Mackenzie held for a 5-4 lead and Kennedy had to save two match points in that game. Mackenzie made errors on both, and although he held quickly for a 6-5 lead, Kennedy had new life, and the momentum, dropping only two points in the next two games.

Another comeback was necessary in the third set, with Kennedy down 4-2, but he won the last four games of the two-hour and 45-minute match to get the victory.

"The way Jamie was playing, I felt that I had to bring my best in the big moments," Kennedy said. "He came out playing well, his forehand was great, his serve was obviously great, his kick serve was unbelievable. It was a roller coaster of a match, a lot of ups and downs, a very physical match obviously, but I'm happy to get through it. It was a real test."

Mackenzie left the court, but didn't go far, taking out the frustrations of his missed opportunities on his racquet, with the unmistakable sound of a racquet hitting the concrete echoing throughout the grounds.

Both boys semifinals will be first-time meetings.

One of the girls semifinals will feature rematch of a recent meeting with Kristina Liutova defeating Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia in the ITF J300 Bradenton final on Sunday 6-3, 6-0.

Liutova continued her march through the green clay swing, with two more straight-sets victories today, beating No. 9 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina 6-1, 6-3 and Anita Tu 6-2, 6-2. Tu had beaten No. 3 seed Ruien Zhang of China 6-4, 6-2 in the third round.

The sixth-seeded Cvetkovic posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 11 seed Nadia Lagaev of Canada in the third round, but was extended to almost three hours of tennis by 15-year-old qualifier Sarah Ye. Down 5-1 in the first set, Ye came back to take the first set in a tiebreaker, but cramping derailed her upset bid in the middle of the second set.

"I led 5-1 and I had one set point and she just started to play, hit the ball, hit some lines, and she didn't miss any balls," said the 17-year-old, who is traveling with the ITF's Grand Slam Development team on this trip to North America."

Cvetkovic led 3-0 in the second set, with Ye making another comeback to 3-all, but said she told herself "not again, not again."

Aided by the cramps Ye could not be treated for with a medical timeout, Cvetkovic took control, with the six matches Ye had already won in the past seven days no doubt a factor.

Cvetkovic, who played 11 matches in singles and doubles last week in Bradenton, reaching both finals, is in the semifinals in both this week, and she's not hiding that fatigue.

"Honestly yes I'm so tired," Cvetkovic said. "But this is tennis. I have to play and I have to give my best."

Cvetkovic wasn't ready to assess what she might change in order to revere the outcome of last week's final.

"I have to play doubles today, so I will think about singles later," Cvetkovic said. "But first of all, doubles."

Cvetkovic and partner Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of Inida, the No. 3 seed, defeated unseeded Capucine Jauffret and Ava Rodriguez 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, and will play another US team: No. 5 seeds Thea Frodin and Welles Newman. Frodin and Newman beat unseeded Masa Jankovic of Serbia and Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia 6-3, 6-3.

No. 8 seed Alyssa James of Jamaica and Annika Penickova beat unseeded Neolia Manta and Iva Marinkovic of Switzerland 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals against unseeded Giselle Guillen of Australia and Alisa Terentyeva. Guillen and Terentyeva defeated unseeded Carrie-Anne Hoo and Kaya Moe 7-6(1), 6-3.

In the other girls semifinal, top seed Victoria Barros of Brazil will play No. 12 seed Xinran Sun of China. Barros defeated No. 16 seed Allegra Korpanec Davies of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4 in the third round and unseeded Zhang-Qian Wei of China 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Sun took out wild card Lani Chang 6-3, 6-1 in the third round, and No. 14 seed Iva Marinkovic of Switzerland 6-2, 7-6(1) in the quarterfinals.

In boys doubles quarterfinal action under the lights, the top three seeds and three teams that won junior slams this year were eliminated.

No. 7 seeds Ryan Cozad and Gavin Goode defeated top seed Alexandrescou and Ryo Tabata of Japan 6-2, 6-1, repeating their win in the final of the J300 in College Park in August.

Cozad and Goode will play No. 6 seed Alvarez and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, who beat the unseeded team of Kuan-Shou Cheng of Taiwan and Daniel Tazabekov of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-3. Cozad and Alvarez won the Orange Bowl 16s doubles title in 2023.

Roland Garros and Wimbledon champions Oskari Paldanius of Finland and Alan Wazny of Poland, the No. 3 seeds, had a match point on a deciding point at 4-5 in the second set against unseeded Latak and Konduri, but did not convert it and lost 6-7(2), 7-6(2), 10-8. 

US Open champions Keaton Hance and Kennedy, the No. 2 seeds, lost to No. 8 seeds Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia and Johan Oscar Lien of Norway 6-3, 6-2.

The girls 16s final Saturday will feature two unseeded Americans, with Priscilla Sirichantho facing Daniela Del Mastro.

Sirichantho defeated unseeded Sasha Miroshnichenko of Texas 6-2, 6-2 in Friday morning's semifinal, while Del Mastro spent nearly an hour more on court in her 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 14 seed Julia Seversen of California.

Both finalists have little experience on green clay, but they have adjusted quickly this week.

"I train on indoor hard," said the 14-year-old left-hander from Connecticut. "So I came in here just trying to have fun, because that's what my coach told me to do. I just came and tried my best; I had no idea what was going to happen."

After two singles matches and a doubles match Thursday, Sirichantho needed some help to be ready for her semifinal.

"I rolled out of bed, literally, I was so sore,"  Sirichantho said. "I have knees wrapped up, because I fell yesterday, and it was tough. I went to the physio and they gave me a little massage so now I'm all good."

It wasn't just the physical side either that Sirichantho needed to address.

"I came in pretty tight, but I talked to my dad a little bit and he kind of calmed me down," Sirichantho said. "He was in my corner the whole time, sitting in the coaches seat and giving me encouragement. But I got looser as the match went on and I'm happy with how it went."

Del Mastro won the Easter Bowl 14s title in March, so reaching the 16s Orange Bowl final puts an exclamation point on an eventful year.

"It's been a great year, I've had a lot of fun on court," said the 14-year-old from Minnesota. "In today's match she played very well and it was down to the wire. She's a great fighter, stays in the match the whole time and I had to play well to pull that out, and I'm happy that I did."

Del Mastro did play the Bradenton J300 as a wild card, but that one match was most of her experience on the green clay.

"I never play on green clay, ever," Del Mastro said. "The only time I hit on it is before a tournament."

Del Mastro knew she needed to make some changes to her strategy today after dropping the first set.

"She was playing very solid, so I was like, mix it up a little bit, try a couple of things," Del Mastro said. "The drop shot started working very well for me, so it was a good mixup."

Del Mastro and Sirichantho played last fall in the Les Petits As United States qualifying tournament, their only previous meeting.

"We've been friends for a long time, so I think it'll be a great match, it'll be really fun, Del Mastro said. "I ended up winning that match 6-1, 7-6, but it was great match and I'm looking forward to another one."

No. 2 seed Matias Reyniak and No. 7 seed Daniel Malacek will come into the boys 16s championship Saturday, with decidedly different perspectives.

Reyniak, who defeated No. 12 seed Gadin Arun of Arizona 6-4, 6-1, has been training on red clay in Spain for over a year, while Malacek, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over No. 14 seed Colter Amey, doesn't have any access to the surface to train on, but is adjusting his game to adapt.

"We have zero clay there," said the 16-year-old left-hander from Seattle." I'm more of a hard court player, most of the time. But I think I'm beginning to learn how to move on this clay, so I'm playing better and better."

Malacek also changed his mindset.

"I feel, because the ball's a little heavier, you can't really go for your shots as much," Malacek said. "So it's more of a grinding mentality. But I feel like I'm pretty fit, I can last, so I'm ok with it. It's not really how well you play, it's just that I've been more gritty."

Reyniak, originally from New York, found his commute to courts there to be so time consuming that he had to find an alternative.

"Everything in Spain is on red clay, and it's changed my game a lot," said the 16-year-old, who is at BTT Academy. "High bouncing, slow courts, really rich clay, unlike green clay, which is really like a hard court."

Despite playing mostly ITF Junior Circuit events in Europe, Reyniak believed he could contend for the title this week.

"I felt confident," Reyniak said. "I don't really know a lot of kids and I don't look at draws, it's not my thing, so I didn't know I was the No. 2 seed until I showed up. I just come and play, and see what happens, but I go to every tournament expecting to win."

The girls 16s doubles title will feature top seeds Emery Combs and Olivia de Los Reyes and No. 6 seeds Sylvana Jalbert and Reiley Rhodes.  Combs and de Los Reyes will be playing for their fourth consecutive title after winning three straight J100 titles this fall. Combs and de Los Reyes defeated unseeded Audrey Dussault and Evelynn Kwak in the semifinals 6-2, 6-2. Jalbert and Rhodes beat No. 7 seeds Alexandra and Natasha Jerkunica 2-6, 6-3, 10-7.

No. 5 seeds Filip Djokic of Serbia and Sean Peng will face unseeded Rafael Pawar and Zesen Wang in the 16s boys double final. Djokic and Peng defeated No. 2 seeds Griffin Goode and Nicolas Pedraza 7-6(4), 6-4 in the the semifinals, while Pawar and Wang beat No. 8 seeds Mikaeel Ali Baig of Pakistan and Atticus Kim 7-5, 1-6, 10-5.

Live streaming and live scoring can be found at the ustaorangebowl.com information page.

Half of Orange Bowl J500 Seeds Gone After Thursday's Second Round, Ten US Boys Reach Round of 16; All-USA Semifinals Set for Friday in 16s Division; Junior Orange Bowl Begins Friday

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Fort Lauderdale FL--

Wednesday heat and humidity disappeared Thursday morning, with temperature in the 70s and a light breeze providing perfect conditions for a long day of Orange Bowl competition at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center.

When the final match finished under the lights, ten US boys and four US girls had advanced to the round of 16 of the ITF J500, and all the semifinalists in both the boys and girls 16s divisions are Americans.

Exactly half the seeds in the 18s are out after two rounds, although both No. 1 seeds are through. Victoria Barros of Brazil defeated Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine 6-0, 6-3 and Yannick Alexandrescou, who has now officially switched countries from Romania to France, beating wild card Nikolas Stoot 6-3, 6-3.

No. 4 seed Thea Frodin was one of the first upset victims, with Tereza Hermanova of the Czech Republic defeating the 16-year-old American 6-4, 6-4.

Hermanova is now in her fourth week on North American clay, having competed at the J300 and J500 in Mexico and the J300 in Bradenton last week.

"I'm feeling great," said the 16-year-old from Prague, who counts this as her best win of the six she's posted on this trip. "I think it's better to play more matches, it's great."

Hermanova credited her variety with her success against Frodin today.

"I think I changed it up, some slices, some drop shots and I think that was the way that I did it," said Hermanova, who is playing in the Orange Bowl for the first time. "I think we knew before the match how to play the game and that was good. And today I was returning really well."

Frodin was hardly the only seed to fall, with No. 5 seed Luna Cinalli going out to 15-year-old Welles Newman 6-2, 6-0. Newman who picked up three main draw wins at USTA Pro Circuit W35s last month, is playing her first junior event since reaching the third round of the US Open in September.

The other three US girls to advance are wild card Lani Chang, Anita Tu and qualifier Sarah Ye. Chang, who turned 15 Tuesday, defeated Lyla Messler 6-4, 6-0; Tu defeated Noelia Manta of Switzerland 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 and Ye advanced when No. 13 seed Ha Eum Lee of Korea retired at 4-6, 5-2.

Keeping up with all the American boys was impossible, with 17 of the 32 players competing today from the United States. Ten of those advanced, with five winning over their countrymen.

Safir Azam defeated Agassi Rusher 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a battle of wild cards, with Azam set to play top seed Alexandrescou Friday morning.

Wild card Marcel Latak defeated Gavin Goode 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 and No. 10 seed Noah Johnston beat wild card Tyler Lee 7-5, 6-0. The other two all-US second round matches were lengthy battles with No. 12 seed Michael Antonius defeating Vihaan Reddy 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2 and Tanishk Konduri beating qualifier Navneet Raghuram 5-7, 6-0, 6-4.  The final game of the Konduri-Raghuram match was a classic, with Raghuram serving to stay in the match. After nine deuces and errors on his first two match points, Konduri converted his third on a Raghuram error.

Qualifier Benjamin Saltman pulled off the biggest upset of the day, defeating No. 3 seed Ryo Tabata of Japan 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, while Carel Ngounoue beat No. 13 seed Kuan-Shou Chen of Taiwan 7-6(4), 6-4.

Three other seeded Americans advanced, with No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy beating Volodymyr Gurenko of Canada 6-4, 6-1, No. 8 seed Ronit Karki rebounding for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Daniel Jade of France and No. 16 seed Andrew Johnson beating Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga of Colombia 6-0, 5-7, 6-1.

No. 4 seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland lost to qualifier Olive Sanders of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-5; No. 5 seed Keaton Hance couldn't stop the momentum of ITF J300 Bradenton finalist Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria, who posted a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

 

Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico defeated his doubles partner, No. 9 seed Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, closing out the match with four straight games.

"I've been traveling with him for the past couple of weeks, playing doubles with him, so it's tough to play him," said the 17-year-old Georgia resident, who is with the ITF Grand Slam Development Touring Team on this trip. "He hits very fast, the ball comes super fast and I honestly wasn't mentally ready, I was late, lazy footwork. In the second set, I knew I had to start strong, got the early break and just held serve. He wasn't playing his best, I wasn't playing my best and I was down most of the third set, 3-1, 4-2. I played solid, he gave me some mistakes, which was pretty lucky."

Alvarez, a blue chip in the class of 2027, recently committed to the University of Georgia.

"I visited a lot of schools, but once I visited Georgia, I knew that's where I wanted to be," Alvarez said. "I fell in love."

Two rounds of singles will be played Friday, with the singles round of 16 and quarterfinals on the schedule, as well as the doubles quarterfinals.

The girls 16s division is still not quite caught up after the rain on Monday and Tuesday, but they will be playing their singles semifinals Friday, as well as two rounds of doubles. 

All four semifinalists in the boys and girls 16s are from the United States.

In the girls top half semifinal, Priscilla Sirichantho will face Alexandra Miroshnichenko; in the bottom half, Daniela Del Mastro will play No. 14 seed Julia Seversen.  

In the boys top half semifinal, No. 14 seed Colter Amey, who has reached the semifinals for the second straight week, will play No. 7 seed Daniel Malacek; in the bottom half, No. 12 seed Gadin Arun will play No. 2 seed Matias Reyniak.

Play will begin at 9:30 a.m. Friday, due to several late doubles matches, with the 18s third round and the girls 16s semifinals, followed by the 18s quarterfinals and boys 16s semifinals.

Live scoring is available at IonCourt, with live streaming at SaveMyPlay.

The Junior Orange Bowl begins Thursday at four sites in the Miami area. 

Below are seeds in each division:

B12s
1. Rui He

2. Oliver Baker

3. Evan Fan

4. James Borchard

5. William McGugin

6. Ethan Wang

7. Jobe Dikkenberg

8. Pranav Madamanchi

B14s

1. Mohamed Genidy

2. Tristan Ascenzo

3. Kazuki Nakajima

4. Siyun Kim

5. Evan Giurescu

6. Ishaan Marla

7. Alexander Anderson

8. Neve Upston

G12s

1. Fangqiao Zou

2. Lucy Dupere

3. Ann Sandru

4. Mila Mikoczi Spivey

5. Seungyeon Seo

6. Inie Toli

7. Summer Yang

8. Cataleya Brown

G14s

1. Nikol Davletshina

2. Isha Manchala

3. Tanvi Pandey

4. Isabella Yan

5. Olivia Lin

6. Yerin Lim

7. Ayaka Iwasa

8. Audrey Dussault

Due to the overlap with the Orange Bowl, I will not be covering the event in person, but will monitor the results when the tournament reaches the quarterfinal stage Monday.

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.

IonCourt is providing live scoring. The free live streaming is provided by SaveMyPlay.

All-Day Rain on Day Two Throws Orange Bowl Schedule into Disarray; Australian Open Men's and Women's Singles Entry Lists Released

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Fort Lauderdale FL--

Sunshine has been in short supply at the Orange Bowl, with play canceled on Monday at 3:30 p.m. due to rain and lightning and Tuesday's matches starting in light drizzle with barely three hours of action on court before heavy rains ended all hope of competition at 1:30 p.m. at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center at Holiday Park.

This is my 20th Orange Bowl, and although rain isn't unusual at this event, the usual disruption is a heavy rain and clearing skies within a few hours. An all-day rain, unrelenting but not drenching, is something I have never experienced at this event (Junior Orange Bowl is another story) and when it comes at the beginning of the tournament with so many matches, the schedule is thrown into chaos.

With only 22 of the 103 matches on Tuesday's schedule completed, Wednesday's matches will be a wide variety of rounds and age groups. The good news from today is that the boys 16s second round was completed, and their singles tournament remains on schedule, with their eight third round matches slated for Wednesday. 

The second round of the girls 16s, and the first round of both girls and boys 18s, normally completed by Tuesday, are now awaiting completion on Wednesday, with doubles also behind due to the two days of rain.

One of the players fortunate to finish his match before the first rain delay was boys 16s top seed Mason Vaughan, who had to hustle to get under the clubhouse roof as the rain intensified following his 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over Sulaiman Syed.

Vaughan, who was also the top seed at last week's IMG Academy International Championships, lost a three-and-a-half-hour semifinal there on the hard courts, with just one day to prepare for the change to green clay.

"That's one of the main things I've been working on over the past year is having these two-week blocks of tournaments and being able to reset, for the second one especially," said the 16-year-old from Austin Texas. "If I go deep in the first one, which I did--I had like seven hours on court one day--I have to recover. So I've been resetting my mind the last couple of days, and it was about just forgetting about last week. I'm glad to be here and really glad to be in the third round."

Switching surfaces from last week to this was not as difficult as it could have been, with Vaughan having access to green clay as well as hard courts at the Brookhaven Tennis Academy.

"I'm training like once a day on clay, and on hard court the other half," said Vaughan. "So for me it was a really easy adjustment. I have a really good balance there, but I know for others it's definitely difficult. Orange Bowl has been one of my main goals, so I've really put an emphasis on clay this year."

Vaughan, who played the 16s at the Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation last year, is impressed by the newly renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center.

"That was a great site, but this site is unreal," Vaughan said. "For sure, way better. I haven't had a single bad bounce, even when it hits the line. So I'm really appreciative that they moved it here."

Vaughan will play another 2025 IMG Academy International 16s semifinalist on Wednesday: No. 14 seed Colter Amey. Amey defeated Aidan Conley 6-4, 6-1 this morning. Kahven Singh, who beat IMG Academy International champion Jang Junseo of Korea in the first round, continued his great form, beating 2025 14s Clay Courts champion Joshua Dolinsky 6-1, 6-1 this morning.

As positive as most of the comments have been regarding the tournament's new location, a major complaint has centered on the practice court situation. There are no on-site courts for practice, as there were at Veltri, with players needing to book warmups at two other clubs, which are between 15 and 30 minutes away. 

Those logistics nearly led to the default of Daniel Brand of Israel, who was scheduled at not before 9:30 a.m. on the Chris Evert Stadium against No. 8 seed Ronit Karki. After girls 16s No. 5 seed Olivia de Los Reyes quickly beat Alexandra Korneeva of Armenia 6-1, 6-1, the court was groomed and ready to go and Brand had not yet arrived at the JETC. Karki, who had warmed up at 6:30 a.m. at the JETC after arriving in Fort Lauderdale Monday from his participation in the A Racquet at the Rock exhibition in Newark New Jersey, was ready to go, so Brand was put on the clock. The ITF has a 15-minute grace period once the match is called before a default is issued, and Brand arrived with just five minutes to spare.

When the first rain delay came at 10:30, Karki led 5-1, and although some courts had matches resume between 1:00 and 1:30, the Evert Stadium court was not playable, with that score carrying over until tomorrow.

The draws and order of play for Wednesday are available at the ustaorangebowl.com website. Live scoring and streaming is available via iOnCourt.

Stephanie Myles of OpenCourt recently posted a deep dive on the Orange Bowl fields from five, ten and 15 years ago. The latter would have been played on the hard courts of Crandon Park; the 2020 and 2015 tournaments were both at the Veltri Tennis Center.

The Australian Open men's and women's acceptances were released today, with 16 US men and 16 US women currently in the fields, including wild cards Patrick Kypson and Elli Mandlik.

The women's list is here; the men's list is here.