Asami, Ren, Tomic and Orlik Take Junior Orange Bowl Crowns Saturday

©Colette Lewis 2006--
Coral Gables, FL--

Bernard Tomic of Australia and Hanna Orlik of Belarus each added another silver bowl of oranges to their trophy cases Saturday in the Junior Orange Bowl 14s, while Reo Asami gave the U.S. its second straight boys' 12s winner. Jessica Ren of Great Britain took the girls' 12s title on clay at Salvadore Park.

Tomic, the 12th seed, saved a match point to defeat No. 8 seed David Souto of Venezuela 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, in a rematch of the 2004 Junior Orange Bowl 12s finals.

Serving at 4-5 30-40 in the third set, Tomic played a very aggressive series of shots, and although Souto parried one blistering backhand, he couldn't handle the second and Tomic didn't give him another opportunity.

"I just thought as if it was 3-0 in the first," said Tomic of his precarious position in that game. "I played like that, and I didn't have any pressure. I hit a good shot at deuce, a good serve and he missed, so it went to 5-5."

Even with the vocal encouragement of several dozen Latin supporters throughout the nearly three-hour match, Souto couldn't quite hang on to his own serve in the next game. But he kept battling in the final game, getting Tomic in a 15-30 hole before the 14-year-old Australian took the final three points, the last on a cross-court backhand winner. After bouncing the ball out of the stadium in celebration, Tomic reflected on the two years since he and Souto had met.



"He's much stronger now," said Tomic, of the physically imposing left-hander. "I knew it would be a hard match and I'd have to concentrate.

Souto was also heartened to have closed the gap from 2004, when he lost 6-4, 6-1 to Tomic.

"Before the match, everyone thinks he will win easily," said Souto, "but I think I've done a good job these two years, and I am happy for that."

If Tomic was considered a favorite for the boys' 14s, expectations for Hanna Orlik, who won the 12s last year, were even greater. Impervious to the pressure, the 13-year-old from Belarus won her fourth consecutive international event in Florida, defeating unseeded Christina McHale of New Jersey 6-2, 7-5.

After a brief rain shower that made the warm and humid air even steamier, Orlik and McHale put on an impressive display of power ground strokes. When McHale failed to convert on two break points early in the first set, Orlik took control, but she could not steamroll McHale in the second set, as she had done to her previous opponents.



"She is good player," said the top-seeded Orlik, who won the Eddie Herr the past two years, along with her Junior Orange Bowl titles. "And I had problems because I didn't play volleys. I stay on baseline and try to play."

Serving for the match at 5-4, the No. 1 seed couldn't put McHale away, which was something of a moral victory for the American, even though she couldn't force the second set tiebreak she needed.



"I had a lot of chances, but she would play well, or I just wouldn't convert it," said McHale. "Sometimes I let her control the point a little bit more than I did."


Reo Asami of California did a whole lot of controlling of points during the week, and Saturday was no exception, as he handled the power of Edward Nguyen of Canada to take a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Unseeded, Asami did not lose a set in during the tournament, and after the match, Nguyen summed up the right-hander's strength.



"He just outsmarted me," said Nguyen, a No. 1 seed. "I was playing my perfect game and he was just a wall, getting everything back. And when he needed the big shots, he got the big shots."

"I was trying to hit it as deep as I could, so he would just miss more," said Asami, a placid 12-year-old playing in his first major international junior event. "I was putting it back deep and trying to make him miss."

Another player who doesn't miss is Great Britain's Jessica Ren, who used the clay at Salvadore Park to her advantage. Ren, a semifinalist in 2005 who lost to Orlik, won her bowl of oranges with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Christina Shakovets of Germany.

The consolation winners were also decided on Saturday. In the boys' 12s, Korea's Jaehwan Kim defeated Justin Butsch of the U.S. 6-1, 7-6(2); in the girls' 12s (for those losing in the first and second rounds only) Ilona Kremen of Belarus beat Great Britain's Joanna Henderson 7-5, 6-1. In the 14s, Denis Kudla finished fifth with a 6-4, 7-6(6) decision over fellow American Bob Van Overbeek and Ellen Tsay of the U.S. beat Santa Shumilina of Russia 6-1, 6-1.

TAGS: tennis, Junior Orange Bowl, Bernard Tomic, David Souto, Hanna Orlik, Christina McHale, Reo Asami, Edward Nguyen

McHale, Asami Play for Junior Orange Bowl Titles Saturday

©Colette Lewis 2006--
Coral Gables, FL

Christina McHale of New Jersey and Reo Asami of California earned a chance at Junior Orange Bowl titles with victories Friday at the University of Miami Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

McHale defeated Floridian Sloane Stevens 6-0, 6-3 and now gets her chance to derail the locomotive that is top seed Hanna Orlik of Belarus. Orlik defeated Chloe Babet of France 7-5, 6-0. Asami eliminated John Richmond of South Carolina 7-6 (4), 6-4 and will face Edward Nguyen of Canada in the final.

The unseeded McHale, 14, hasn't played a 14s tournament since April, and has had success at the 16s level, winning the USTA clay courts this summer. In the quarterfinals at the Biltmore Tennis Center Thursday, she upset No. 2 seed and Eddie Herr finalist Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

"She played really well in the first set," McHale said. "In the second set, I started going for my shots more, got more aggressive."

On Friday she changed tactics against Stephens.

"I was mixing it up, hitting heavy and then attacking, but not just power," McHale said. "Sloane is very powerful, but inconsistent. I just kept the ball in play and let her miss."

Orlik, 13, won the 2005 Eddie Herr and Junior Orange Bowl 12s titles and earlier this month captured the Eddie Herr 14s. She had lost only nine games in her five matches prior to Friday, but Babet took a 5-3 lead in the first set.

"My game is to attack," Orlik said. "I just wait for her errors, and I'm down 3-5. But then I play better."

Winning the next ten games with a combination of pace, consistency and competitive zeal, Orlik showed her best tennis when she got behind. Instead of Tomljanovic, whom she defeated in the past two Eddie Herr finals, Orlik now gets a new opponent, one that she has little history against.

"We only played in doubles," said Orlik, "in Europe, and my partner and I win. My coach talks with me later about how to play tomorrow."

Asami, like McHale, is unseeded, but he took hope from the 2005 Junior Orange Bowl results.


"Last year no one in the semifinals was seeded," said Asami, who trains at the Woodbridge Tennis Club in Irvine, California. "It feels great to be in the final."

Asami and Richmond struggled holding serve in the first set of their match, with Asami twice serving for the set, at 5-4 and 6-5. With no free points from the serve from either player it was difficult to read any advantage at any time, so even when down 3-1 in the first set tiebreak, Asami was far from out.

At 4-3 in the tiebreak, Asami stepped up his play, hitting two winners to deflate the left-hander from Pawley's Island and take control of the match.

"The unforced errors were the difference," said Asami, who has yet to lose a set in the tournament. "I made just a few less than he did."

Nguyen, his opponent in the finals, had been equally impressive all week at Tropical Park, using his power to breeze through match after match. But on Friday, he found himself in an unusual position against Norway's Johan Skattum--playing from behind. Skattum took the first set 6-4, Nguyen the second 6-1. After the ten minute break, Skattum came out with the momentum and took a 5-2 lead. Serving for the match at 5-3, Skattum couldn't finish it, and at 5-5 Nguyen broke him at love to give himself the opportunity that Skattum had wasted.

Nguyen never faltered, smashing overheads and drilling ground strokes in the final game.

"I believed in myself," said Nguyen, who trains indoors in Canada, but came to Florida a week before the Eddie Herr to get accustomed to the wind and heat. "Anything can happen as long as you just try. My approach shots, putaway volleys and overall net game was good today."

Nguyen and Skattum have played doubles together and Nguyen admitted that his slow start had something to do with that.

"I was kind of nervous and tight. He's my close friend, and at the beginning I couldn't execute my shots."

Asami did his own scouting of his opponent and acknowledged that he "hits really big." But the Californian then mentioned his own strength. "I'm good at passing shots."

The boys 14s final is between No. 12 seed Bernard Tomic of Australia and No. 8 David Souto of Venezuela. Souto outmuscled unseeded Giacomo Miccini of Italy 6-1, 6-3, while Tomic sliced through Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 7-5, 6-1.

At 1-1 in the first set, Souto won the next five games, and Miccini was unable to find any rhythm for his usually effective first serve and forehand. Souto rarely missed and kept the ball deep, but played more aggressively than that sounds, with Miccini making plenty of errors, but many of them forced.

The second set also started 1-1, but serving at 30-40, Miccini was given a point penalty for audible obscenity (in Italian) and he was behind again, and again unable to recover.

Basilashvili was up a break at 4-3 in his first set with Tomic, but the Australian immediately broke back and held his next two service games to take a 6-5 lead. The Georgian couldn't handle the pressure of serving to reach a tiebreak, double faulting at set point, and when he was broken in the fourth game of the second set, the match was decided.

Tomic seemed content to hit slices and off-pace shots, even when his money shot, the backhand down the line, was available. Basilashvili used his drop shot effectively, but not often enough to truly worry Tomic, who remained composed throughout a very tense first set.

The girls 12s final will be contested Saturday morning on the clay courts at Salvadore Park, with No. 1 seed Jessica Ren of Great Britain meeting No. 1 seed Christina Shakovets of Germany. Ren, a semifinalist last year, defeated Laura Robson of Great Britain 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, while Shakovets overcame Michelle Dandik of Canada 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

For complete results, including consolation draws, see TennisLink.

TAGS: tennis, Junior Orange Bowl, Christina McHale, Reo Asami

Players Double Up Thursday at Junior Orange Bowl

©Colette Lewis 2006--
Coral Gables, FL--

The weather cooperated long enough on Thursday to allow the Junior Orange Bowl to get back on schedule, and the semifinalists are set for Friday's action at the University of Miami (for boys 12s & 14s and girls 14s) and Salvadore Park (girls 12s).

The U.S. is assured a finalist in both the boys 12s and the girls 14s, but there are no Americans remaining in either the girls 12s or the boys 14s.

John Richmond of South Carolina and Reo Asami of California will meet in one of the boys 12s semifinals, while the second semifinal will feature Eddie Herr semifinalists Johan Skattum of Norway and Edward Nguyen of Canada. Richmond put an end to Florida qualifier Justin Butsch's seven-match winning streak 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 and Asami, who has yet to lose a set in his first five matches, again had no difficulty, taking out No. 1 seed Ivan Levar of Croatia 6-4, 6-1. Of the four remaining players, only Nguyen is seeded.

The girls 14s will find Floridian Sloane Stephens facing New Jersey's Christina McHale for a spot in the final. Stephens outlasted No. 3 seed Nicole Gibbs of Ohio 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, while McHale, like Stephens unseeded, upset No. 2 seed and Eddie Herr finalist Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia 1-6; 6-2; 6-3. Eddie Herr champion Hanna Orlik continues to roll through the draw and will meet Chloe Babet of France in the other semifinal.

One of the semis in the girls 12s is a rematch of the Eddie Herr final, with Laura Robson hoping to repeat her victory over her fellow Brit Jessica Ren. Canada's Michelle Dandik and Germany's Christina Shakovets vie for the other place in the finals.

I spent the day as usual at the University of Miami, watching the boys 14s draw get whittled down from 16 to four. Bob Van Overbeek of Florida was the only U.S. boy to reach the quarterfinals, where he fell 6-3, 6-1 to No. 12 seed Bernard Tomic of Australia. Tomic, the 2004 Junior Orange Bowl 12s champion, will meet Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia. Basilashvili upset No. 3 seed Joao Vitor Fernandes of Brazil in the round of 16, then easily dispatched unseeded Miguel Almeida of Portugal 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.


The highest seed remaining in the draw is No. 8 David Souto of Venezuela, who had two straight-set victories over seeded players on Thursday. Next up for Souto is unseeded Giacomo Miccini of Italy, who had two equally routine victories, a 6-2, 6-2 win over Alessandro Colella and a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Bowen Ouyang of Hong Kong.

Ouyang had battled No. 16 seed Junior Ore for nearly three hours before emerging with a 7-6 (10), 4-6, 6-4 victory over his fellow left-hander, and had no energy to fight a much fresher Miccini.

The rains returned a couple of hours after the last match was completed Thursday, and with three consolation rounds to be played on Friday, if the courts are dry, action will begin at 8 a.m.

For full draws see Tennis Link.

TAGS: tennis, Junior Orange Bowl, Bernard Tomic, David Souto

SMASH Column, Damp Miami Edition

Rain is in the forecast for the next three days, so it's fitting that this week's online column features lots of wet weather too.

TAGS: tennis, Smash magazine

Miccini's Win Over King Highlights Wednesday's Boys 14s Action

©Colette Lewis 2006--
Coral Gables, FL--

To a casual observer looking at the draws, Giacomo Miccini's 7-6 (0), 5-7, 6-4 victory over No. 6 seed Evan King in the Junior Orange Bowl boys' 14s would be an upset. But Italy's Miccini had to be considered one of the favorites in the 14s, despite being unseeded, when he won the 18s Eddie Herr wild card tournament for those training at IMG/Bollettieri's and then gave finalist Philip Bester all he could handle in a first round match there.

King has been going to high school in the Chicago area, training indoors, and did not play the Eddie Herr. But although he may lack Miccini's international experience, in their third round match Wednesday there was no hint that King was at a disadvantage.


The 14-year-old left-hander had an early break over Miccini in the first set, but wasn't able to hold it, and the Italian played excellent tennis in the tiebreak. King fought back to earn a third set, playing aggressive all-court tennis and not shying away from the net on big points.

With King serving at 4-4 in the third, however, it was Miccini who feathered a drop volley winner so perfect that it brought a racquet clap and "good shot" from King, who a few points later lost his serve, and when Miccini held, the match.

Miccini will face another unseeded Italian in the round of 16, Alessandro Colella, who also took out a King on Wednesday--Sebastien King of Canada.

Top seed Ashot Khacharyan of Russia retired with back problems trailing 4-6 to Argentina's Andrea Collarini. Collarini was down 4-0, but Khacharyan, who is usually very quick around the court, was noticeably hampered by his injury, and lost six games in succession. The unseeded Collarini's next opponent will be Florida's Bob Van Overbeek, who continued his impressive play with a 6-0, 6-3 win over No. 14 seed Kyohhei Kamono of Japan. Van Overbeek's serve and forehand have put pressure on all three of his opponents this week, and none have found an answer for them.


With Dante Terenzio losing 6-1, 6-0 to Bernard Tomic and Campbell Johnson and Ridley Seguso eliminated, only three U.S. boys remain. Joining Van Overbeek in the round of 16 are No. 16 seed Junior Ore, who defeated Samuel Barry of Ireland 6-3, 6-3 and Emmett Egger, who scored a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sebastian Lavie of New Zealand. The 13-year-old from Washington has yet to drop a set in the tournament and managed to thoroughly frustrate Lavie, who held a 2-0 first set lead but couldn't play consistently enough to regain his early momentum. Egger's next opponent is No. 9 seed Kevin Krawietz of Germany.

The boys' 12s quarterfinalists were determined on Wednesday at Tropical Park, and half of them are from the U.S.

Qualifier Justin Butsch of Florida ousted No. 1 seed and Eddie Herr finalist Liam Broady of Great Britain 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, while John Richmond of South Carolina took out No. 1 seed Luke Saville of Australia 7-6 (5), 7-5. Reo Asami of California got past fellow American Robert Livi 6-3, 6-3 and Sam Bloom of Illinois dropped Trey Strobel of Florida 6-4, 6-1. Three of the eight remaining are No. 1 seeds, Jaehwan Kim of Korea, Edward Nguyen of Canada and Ivan Levar of Croatia.

Early on Wednesday morning I stopped by the Biltmore and watched a few of the second round matches held over from Tuesday in the girls 14s, and then paid a visit to the eight clay courts at Salvadore Park, where the girls 12s are headquartered. I don't have any up-to-date information on those results however, so I'll be waiting for the scores to be posted on the TennisLink site.

TAGS: tennis, Junior Orange Bowl, Evan King, Giacomo Miccini, Junior Ore

Rain-free Tuesday at Junior Orange Bowl

©Colette Lewis 2006--
Coral Gables, FL--
Although wet courts caused delays at the boys' 12s at Tropical Park, matches were on schedule on Tuesday, where I spent the day watching as many second round matches as I could.

I missed the big upset at Tropical Park, where Robert Livi ousted No. 1 seed and Eddie Herr winner Mitchell Krueger in the third round 6-2, 6-4 (boys 12s are a round ahead), and somehow I also missed New Zealand's Sebastian Lavie's win over No. 2 seed Frederico Gaio in the 14s. As I mentioned in Monday's post, Lavie and Gaio were in a first set tiebreak when the rains came, and Lavie, surprisingly unseeded even though he was a finalist at Les Petit As this year, finished that and the second set 6-4 early this morning. Lavie then had a much easier second round, defeating Tyler Leung of Hong Kong 6-2, 6-0, to set up a third round contest with Emmett Egger, who also was midway through his first round match when rain interrupted it Monday evening. Egger finished off Federico Coria of Argentina 6-4, 7-6 (5), and then defeated Nicholas Jones of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4, to join six other U.S. players in the round of 32.

Evan King, seeded sixth, and Junior Ore, seeded 16th, had straight set wins, as did Bob Van Overbeek. In the 32 main draw matches played Tuesday, only four went three sets, and U.S. players won three of them. Campbell Johnson of California beat Agustin Portis of Argentina 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, and Connecticut's Dante Terenzio also reversed his early fortunes, defeating Gabriel Flores of Puerto Rico by the same score. But the match of the day was lucky loser Ridley Seguso's 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4 victory over Alexander Robles of Spain, a match that began at 1 p.m. and didn't end until nearly 4:30 p.m. Seguso isn't the only lucky loser still around however. Murilo Oliverira of Brazil has also won two matches, including a 7-6 (4) 6-2 win over Rodrigo Ferraez of Mexico Tuesday.

In the boys' 12s, there are six U.S. boys still left, none of course seeded, since there is only one per country and Krueger received the U.S. seed. In Wednesday's round of 16, Livi meets Reo Asami of California, and Trey Strobel of Florida faces Sam Bloom of Illinois. Qualifier Justin Butsch of Florida will play Great Britain's No. 1 Liam Broady, while South Carolina's John Richmond takes on Luke Saville, Australia's No. 1.

I haven't been following the girls closely, have just been checking the draws, but for those results, see Tennis Link.

TAGS: tennis, Junior Orange Bowl, Emmett Egger