Kwiatkowski Downs Eddie Herr Champion, Will Face Wild Card Baughman in Orange Bowl Quarterfinals; Townsend and Scholl Advance in Girls 18s; 16s Semis Include Five Americans

©Colette Lewis 2012--
Plantation, FL--

One of the two US boys left in the ITF Grade A Orange Bowl will be eliminated in Friday's quarterfinals, with No. 9 seed Thai Kwiatkowski facing unseeded Deiton Baughman. But neither could be unhappy about that scenario, with each picking up big wins in third round action Thursday at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center.

Kwiatkowski, who beat Eddie Herr champion and No. 6 seed Christian Garin of Chile 6-3, 6-1, called it one of his best victories.

"For sure this is one of my biggest wins," said Kwiatkowski, 17. "I'm really happy with how I played, and how everything went. I'm happy to be in the quarterfinals tomorrow."

Garin took a medical timeout when he fell behind 3-0 in the second set, and Kwiatkowski had to guard against letting up when it was obvious Garin was playing with pain.

"You could see that it was hurting him at 1-0 and 2-0," said Kwiatkowski, who recently committed to the University of Virginia. "For sure it was tough today, because he was hitting some pretty amazing winners. You know it's hard for him to keep it up, because obviously he's hurting. You've just got to stay with it, focus on getting to the finish line rather than your opponent."

Kwiatkowski weathered the storm, as Garin took to finishing points quickly and often did hit some spectacular winners. But Kwiatkowski came up with his share of the same, and for his part, didn't commit many unforced errors, increasing the pressure on Garin to come up with more.

"I knew going into the match that he was playing well," said Kwiatkowski. "Obviously, because he won Eddie Herr last week. I felt pretty confident with how I've been playing this week. I feel comfortable on the clay, so I knew I certainly had a chance if I did the right things and stayed mentally tough."

Baughman, a 6-foot-5 16-year-old from Southern California, wouldn't be an obvious choice to display clay court acumen, but on Thursday he defeated No. 4 seed Borna Coric of Croatia 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to prove his versatility.

"Borna is such a great player, he's top 20 in the world," said Baughman, who last faced Coric in the final of the Little Mo 10s. "To beat him here, at the Orange Bowl, and play so well against him on clay--he's from Europe, so he plays on clay all the time--to get a win against him and so convincingly in the second and third sets, I'm definitely pleased with my play."

Baughman competed in the USTA Collegiate Clay Court Invitational last month in Orlando on clay and has trained on it at the USTA Training Center in Carson, but feels the clay in the past two tournaments is a different surface.

"I was on clay a lot, but the clay is way different here than it is in California," said Baughman. "But I've been playing well overall, and at Eddie Herr it was good to get a couple of matches in there. I had a thought in my mind I wanted to do really well here, and so far, so good."

Baughman and Kwiatkowski played at a USTA sponsored wild card tournament last year for a spot in the US Open Junior Championships.

"I absolutely got smacked, 1 and 0," Baughman said. "It wasn't even a match. I was missing every shot, he was making every shot. But I think we are both playing better than we were back then, I'm definitely playing a lot better. I'm looking forward to it. It's a little upsetting that we're the last Americans, playing in the quarters, but at least we have a guaranteed American into the semis."

The other boys quarterfinals are No. 1 seed Gianluigi Quinzi of Italy against No. 10 seed and Eddie Herr finalist Laslo Djere of Serbia; No. 8 seed Filippo Baldi of Italy against No. 3 seed Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan; and No. 12 seed Elias Ymer of Sweden against No. 2 seed Frederico Silva of Portugal.

There are also two US girls remaining in the quarterfinals, but they are in opposite halves of the draw.  Top seed Taylor Townsend trailed in each set against No. 13 seed Katy Dunne of Great Britain, but picked up her game when she it mattered to claim a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Townsend will play No. 5 seed Carol Zhao of Canada in the quarterfinals.

Chalena Scholl, the No.  8 seed, has been making it look easy the past two days. On Thursday, the Pompano Beach resident eliminated 2011 Orange Bowl 16s champion Erin Routliffe of Canada, the No. 12 seed, 6-2, 6-1 to earn a shot at No. 2 seed Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.  Siniakova, who still has a chance to finish the year as the ITF World Junior champion, made virtually no errors in the first set against No. 15 seed Ayaka Okuno of Japan, taking a 6-1, 6-3 decision.

The other quarterfinals will feature No. 4 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland against No. 7 seed and Eddie Herr champion Ana Konjuh of Croatia, and No. 6 seed Marcela Zacarias of Mexico against Natalia Vajdova of Slovakia, the last unseeded player in the girls draw.

Bencic advanced when No. 14 seed Anastasia Komardina of Russia retired with a back injury trailing 4-0, and Konjuh prevailed over Allie Kiick of the US 7-6(2), 6-2. Zacarias, the Yucatan Cup champion, who did not play the Eddie Herr, beat No. 9 seed Christina Makarova of the US 6-2, 6-4 in Thursday's third round.

In the 16s, the semifinals are set, with five Americans among the final eight players.

In the boys draw, a US finalist is guaranteed, with unseeded Sameer Kumar meeting No. 12 seed Tommy Paul. Kumar beat unseeded Vitalii Shcherba of Ukraine 6-2, 7-5, winning the last five games of the match, while Paul took out No. 2 seed Sumit Nagal of India 6-4, 7-5.

The top half semifinal will feature No. 4 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia against No. 14 seed Dennis Uspensky of the US.  Rublev eliminated unseeded Jess Jones of the US 6-1, 6-0, while Uspensky beat No. 8 seed William Blumberg 6-3, 6-2.

The girls 16s semifinals are No. 5 seed Usue Arconada of the US against Gloria Liang of Canada and No. 16 seed Chloe Ouellet-Pizer of the US against unseeded Lisa Ponomar of Germany.

Arconada defeated unseeded Camila Wesbrooks 7-5, 7-6(8), while Liang needed more than three and a half hours to beat No. 3 seed Madison Bourguignon of the US 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.  Ouellett-Pizer ousted No. 12 seed Maddie Pothoff of the US 6-2, 6-3, while Ponomar downed Mary Haffey of the US 7-5, 6-1.

The 16s doubles champions will be crowned on Friday afternoon.

Top seeds Nagal and Uspensky will play No. 7 seeds Lamar Remy of the US and Alejandro Tabilo of Canada in the boys championship match.

The Canadian team of Marie-Alexandre Leduc and Liang, the No. 6 seeds, will play No. 2 seeds Ponomar and Johnnise Renaud of the US for the girls 16s doubles title.

For complete draws, see the tournament page at usta.com.

Uspensky, Kumar Take Out 16s Orange Bowl Favorites; Four US Girls into Third Round in 18s

©Colette Lewis 2012--
Plantation, FL--

The major upsets were confined to the boys 16s Wednesday at the Orange Bowl International Championship at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center.

Unseeded Sameer Kumar had never beaten No. 3 seed and 16s National Champion Henrik Wiersholm, but a recent title at the Midland National Open gave him the confidence he needed to earn a 6-4, 6-2 decision over his fellow 15-year-old.

"I got a lot of confidence from that tournament," said Kumar, who made the adjustment from indoor hard courts to Florida Har-Tru in the space of a week. "I knew I was playing well coming into this tournament and I got here quite a bit early and trained a lot on clay. I've always felt my game is better on clay than on hard and outdoors, so I was excited for this tournament."

Kumar stayed with Wiersholm, who had reached the third round in the Eddie Herr ITF last week, stroke for stroke throughout the match, and even threw in a surprise serve-and-volley to keep Weirsholm from finding a rhythm.  Kumar, who had cruised past No. 15 seed Tim Van Rijthoven of the Netherlands 6-0, 6-2 on Tuesday, also used his previous meetings with Wiersholm to formulate an effective strategy.

"Henrik is an incredible player," said the Indianapolis resident. "I knew it was going to be a very tough match coming in, that I'd have to play my best. My coach gave me some tips and I had a little bit of an idea of what to do. I thought I executed my strategy very well."

While Kumar was eliminating the No. 3 seed, Dennis Uspensky of the United States was ending the winning streak of Eddie Herr 16s champion Ku Keon Kang of Korea 6-4, 6-4.

Uspensky, who was born in New York, but now lives in Spain, was able to force some errors from Kang, who is rarely put in a defensive position.

"I was running around my forehand and feeling it very well," said the 16-year-old, who is in the Tennis Europe 16s Top 10. "I knew where to place it. I usually kicked the serve to his backhand, and that made him stumble a bit on the other side, and then I immediately directed it to the right and he didn't have an answer for that."

In both sets, Kang had to win his serve to stay in them, and both times he was unable to put the pressure back on Uspensky. Uspensky won the final eight points of the match, holding serve at love for a 5-4 lead, and finishing the match by breaking Kang at love.

"I came in as a huge underdog and I had nothing to lose," said Uspensky, whose parents are from Russia and whose verbal outbursts on court are in that language. "I basically played one of the best matches of my life."

Even before Uspensky and his family moved from New York to Spain, he trained regularly on the red clay, so he is at home on the surface.

"This is basically an advantage to me to play the Orange Bowl on clay," said Uspensky, who doesn't train at an academy, and is looking for a new coach.  "I have a pretty big swing on the forehand, and I've been training on red clay since I was eight years old."

Kumar and Uspensky are among five American boys in the quarterfinals of the 16s. The others are William Blumberg(8), Jess Jones, and Tommy Paul(12).

There are six US girls in the 16s quarterfinals: Camila Wesbrooks, Usue Arconada(5), Madison Bourguignon(3), Maddie Pothoff(12), Mary Haffey and Chloe Ouellet-Pizer(16). Ouellet-Pizer eliminated Eddie Herr 16s champion and No. 4 seed Marie Norris, who had beaten Ouellet-Pizer in the semifinals at the Eddie Herr, 6-4, 7-6(4).

Wednesday was another day when the 18s went to form.  The only seed to lose in either the boys or girls draws was No. 14 seed Luke Bambridge of Great Britain, who fell to qualifier Gustav Hansson of Sweden 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4).

The US has only two boys remaining in the round of 16--Thai Kwiatkowski, the No. 9 seed, and wild card Deighton Baughman. Kwiatkowski crushed Young Seok Kim of Korea 6-1, 6-1, while the 16-year-old Baughman came from a break down in the final set to take out Franz Sydow of the Netherlands 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Top seed Giuluigi Quinzi of Italy defeated Dan Kerznerman of the US 6-2, 7-5, while No. 2 seed Frederico Silva of Portugal came through a tough second round test against Alexander Zverev of Germany 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.

The four US girls remaining in the final 16 are all seeded. Top seed Taylor Townsend avenged her 2011 third round loss to Indy de Vroome of the Netherlands 7-6(6), 6-4. Townsend saved a set point in the tiebreaker serving at 5-6, with a good first serve, then earned herself a set point by handling de Vroome's rocket of a return off her first serve and crushing a forehand winner of her own.  At 7-6, the two 16-year-olds engaged in a slice battle, which Townsend won when de Vroome's backhand found the net.

No. 8 seed Chalena Scholl posted a routine 6-2, 6-2 win over Iana Fett of Croatia, while No. 9 seed Christina Makarova posted a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 win over Varvara Flink of Russia.

No. 11 seed Allie Kiick, who did not play the Eddie Herr, led 14-year-old qualifier Olga Fridman of Ukraine 4-1 in the final set, and had two match points serving at 5-4, but Fridman drew even, only to be broken at 5-5, giving Kiick another chance.

Kiick isn't afraid to play long points and her experience and patience paid off in the final game. At 30-15, a Fridman backhand went long and Kiick had match point No. 3. She played good defense, slicing back some deep and penetrating shots by the young left-hander, and when Fridman missed an overhead putaway at the net, Kiick had booked a place against Eddie Herr champion and No. 7 seed Ana Konjuh.

Kiick has never played Konjuh before, and she enjoys those first-time encounters.

"I like it better, because you have no clue what's going to happen," said the 17-year-old daughter of former Miami Dolphin Jim Kiick. "You go out there thinking essentially nothing, and the first couple of points you just try to get a feel for what their weaknesses are."

As for Konjuh, Kiick has seen enough to know their will be a contrast in styles Thursday.

"We have totally opposite games, so it will be interesting," said Kiick, the 2010 Orange Bowl 16s champion. "I've seen her hit, and she hits pretty hard. I'm here, five feet behind the baseline, hitting high top spin balls, so it should be interesting."

For complete draws, see the tournament page at usta.com.

Quiet Day for 18s Seeds as Orange Bowl First Round Concludes; Golovin Ousts Top Seed Renaud in Girls 16s

©Colette Lewis 2012--
Plantation, FL--

The threatening skies that surrounded the Frank Veltri Tennis Center didn't produce the expected rain, but that was one of the few surprises Tuesday at the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships.

Monday's elimination of six seeds--four in the boys 18s and two in the girls 18s--didn't prove to be a trend, with all seeded players advancing to the second round.

Top seed Gianluigi Quinzi of Italy posted the first Orange Bowl 18s victory of his career, defeating Lucas Gomez 6-2, 6-2, while No. 2 seed Frederico Silva of Portugal won a tough first set from US qualifier Henry Craig, then took control of the second set for a 7-6(3), 6-2 win.

Eddie Herr champion Christian Garin and Ana Konjuh continued their winning streaks, with No. 6 seed Garin downing Jared Donaldson of the US 6-3, 6-1 and Ana Konjuh of Croatia, the No. 7 seed, confidently moving past Tornado Black of the US 6-1, 6-3.

No. 4 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and No. 2 seed Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic were tested in their first round matches.

Rebecca Peterson of Sweden served for the match against Bencic at 5-3 in the third set, but the 15-year-old from Switzerland collected herself, eliminated her errors and won the final four games of the match for a 2-6, 6-2. 7-5 victory.

Siniakova, who according to the ITF still has an opportunity to finish the year as the ITF World Junior Champion, had trouble shaking US qualifier Nicole Frenkel before eventually posting a 7-6(4), 6-2 win. Siniakova led the first set 5-2 before the 14-year-old left-handed charged back to force a tiebreaker, but Siniakova's experience told at the end of the tiebreaker, when she maneuvered Frenkel around the court, forcing errors on the final three points.

The second set was more of the same from Siniakova, but Frenkel kept pushing, even when down 4-1, breaking Siniakova in the next game. But the 16-year-old right-hander took advantage of Frenkel's second serve on break point in the next game, blasting a return winner, and she finished it out without any problems in the next game.

Jessica Golovin surprised girls 16s top seed Johnnise Renaud in the second round Tuesday morning, taking a 7-6(0), 1-6, 6-3 decision an all-American contest on the grandstand court.

Golovin broke Renaud at 3-3 in the third set, then held for 5-3, using power and several off-pace slices and drop shots to keep Renaud guessing.

"I feel like I should mix it up," said the 15-year-old, who trains at the John McEnroe Academy on Randall's Island in New York. "If the girl's either off balance, or not expecting it. It's always great to have variety in girls tennis, because most girls just hit with a lot of power."

Renaud, who qualified for the Eddie Herr in the 18s, looked tentative throughout the later stages of the match, with Golovin controlling the bulk of the points.  It wasn't easy for Golovin to end it however, as she needed four match points before she finally hit a backhand down the line for a winner to complete the upset.

"To beat the first seed in the Orange Bowl, I guess it's pretty big for me," said Golovin, who was a semifinalist at the Easter Bowl 16s this year. "I tried to give it my all, to go for it, because I knew I had nothing to lose.  For me, it was just a great win."

The 16s Eddie Herr champions, who are changing surfaces this week, kept up their winning ways.  Top boys seed Ku Keong Kang of Korea won his 11th match in the past 12 days, beating Alex Rybakov of the US  6-3, 6-1. Marie Norris, the No. 4 seed, defeated lucky loser Nikki Kallenberg of the US 6-3, 6-4.

Boys 16 No. 2 seed Sumit Nagal of India had the toughest match of the day, needing 3 hours and 42 minutes to get past Petar Conkic of Serbia 6-7(2), 6-2, 7-5.

For complete results from Tuesday's play, as well as the order of play for Wednesday, see the tournament page at usta.com.

Townsend Turns Pro, Survives First Round Test at Orange Bowl; McAdoo Upsets No. 3 Seed Under the Lights

©Colette Lewis 2012--
Plantation, FL--

On Monday morning, Lagardere Unlimited announced it had signed ITF World Junior No. 1 Taylor Townsend to a representation contract. Townsend and her family had been talking with the company, which represents current and former World No. 1s Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki as well as young Americans Sloane Stephens and Melanie Oudin, since the US Open in September.

"I thought it was all about timing, and was really ready and really excited," said the 16-year-old from Georgia. "Lagardere has been showing interest for a while and my mom was talking with them for a while and we got a chance to meet in New York. It was over time, it wasn't just an instant decision. There was a lot of thought put into it, and I was really excited and I thought now was the right time."

Townsend, who made her decision right before Thanksgiving, was back on the court Monday in the first round of the Orange Bowl, after falling in the third round of the Eddie Herr last week. The No. 1 seed had a tough match with 15-year-old Ivana Jorovic of Serbia, needing six match points and over two hours to post a 7-6(1), 7-6(6) victory.

Townsend was down 3-0 and two breaks in the first set before winning four games in a row, as Jorovic used her power from the backhand side to keep Townsend away from the net.  Townsend raised her game in the opening tiebreaker, while Jorovic's level plunged, with unforced errors and a double fault, as well as two Townsend drop shot winners, proving her undoing.

Townsend got a break to take a 3-2 lead in the second set and held it until she served for the match at 5-4. Jorovic saved three match points in the game, one with a vicious forehand winner, then took the game with a backhand winner. Serving at 5-6, Townsend saved a set point at 30-40 with an inside in forehand winner and held to force a second tiebreaker.

With her forehand balky at times early in the match, Townsend finally began to get consistency from it in the tiebreaker. She used two forehand winners to earn a 5-3 lead in the tiebreaker, then got a backhand error from Jorovic a point later to earn two more match points. A good return from Jorovic forced an error for 6-5, then another backhand winner, this one on the line made it 6-6. Townsend earned her sixth match point when Jorovic sent a forehand wide, and this time she converted, hitting a forehand winner after some excellent defense when Jorovic seemed to control the point.

"I don't think I played too well," said Townsend, who went directly from Stadium Court to a practice court to work on her serve with USTA National Coach Kathy Rinaldi. "You're not going to have great days every day, and I'm just glad I was able to get through it. Mentally I was able to stay in there even though I had my chances in both sets. It was really close and she was playing really well."

Townsend will meet Indy de Vroome of the Netherlands in the second round. De Vroome beat Townsend at last year's Orange Bowl in the third round.

"I'm excited to play her again," Townsend said. "She's a good player and I think it's going to be a good match. I'm not going to reminisce about last year--it's one full year later, and a lot has happened in that year--but I'm looking forward to playing that match."

Due to a two-hour rain delay early in the morning, Townsend's match began in the late afternoon sunlight and finished under the lights, as did Rasheeda McAdoo's contest with No. 3 seed Elizaveta Kulichkova of Russia.

McAdoo zipped through the first set, lost the second, then won the final three games of the third set for a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory, her first over an ITF Top 10 player.

McAdoo, daughter of NBA Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo, who is now a coach for the Miami Heat, was down 4-3 in the final set before Kulichkova started to lose aim on her forehand. Two Kulichkova forehand errors helped McAdoo break back for 4-4, and an easy hold put the pressure back on the 16-year-old Russian. Up 40-0 serving at 4-5, Kulichkova couldn't shake McAdoo, who kept the points going, avoided errors and lured Kulichkova into going for too much.

After McAdoo won four straight points, she had a match point, which Kulichkova saved with a forehand volley winner, but her forehand failed her on the next two points, with her attempt at winners from the side going wide.

When the second one missed, McAdoo let out a long c'mon, with only a few stray spectators around to hear it as 8:00 approached.

"I had to play really hard for that one," said McAdoo. "What was that, like three hours? I just kept telling myself, one point at a time.  I'm glad I kept confident and positive those last three games. And thank God I did fitness."

Part of the confidence comes from her performance in the Orange Bowl 16s last year, where the recent Georgia Tech recruit reached the semifinals.

"It's familiar, this place," said McAdoo, who is commuting to the courts from her home in Boca Raton. "Last year getting to the semis, it gave me a positive edge."

Kulichkova was the highest seed, boys or girls, to fall in Monday's first round, there were others eliminated on the opening day.

No. 16 seed Jennifer Brady lost to Aidila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 6-2, 6-2, and on the boys side Americans Spencer Papa and Mackenzie McDonald also went down in straight sets. Papa, the No. 5 seed, lost to Anton Desyatnik of Russia 6-1, 6-3 and McDonald, the No. 7 seed, fell to Cheng-Yu of Taiwan 7-5, 6-1. Canadians Brayden Schnur and  Hugo DiFeo also lost, with DiFeo the No. 11 seed and Schnur No. 16.

Boys top seeds Gianluigi Quinzi of Italy and Frederico Silva of Portugal will play their first round matches on Tuesday.

For complete draws and the order of play for Tuesday, see the tournament website.

Garin, Konjuh Claim Eddie Herr 18s Titles; Americans Norris and Douglas Win Girls 16s and Girls 12s Championships

©Colette Lewis 2012--

Bradenton, FL--

Ana Konjuh began the Eddie Herr championships last Monday by dropping the first set in the first round 6-0 to wild card Jessica Ho.

On a warm and sunny Sunday morning at the IMG Bollettieri Academy that day seemed long ago, with the 14-year-old Croatian breezing past Barbara Haas of Austria 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour.

“I got used to this clay, the new balls, and everything,” said Konjuh, the No. 7 seed. “Every tournament that first round I was down, I won the tournament, so I was used to it.”

Against the No. 16 seed Haas, who had beaten No. 1 seed Taylor Townsend and No. 5 seed Belinda Bencic en route to the final, Konjuh was nearly flawless.  Hitting with great power, especially on the backhand side, Konjuh also displayed touch, with effective drop shots at unexpected times.

Haas admitted to being tired, and Konjuh, who has a bigger frame than Haas, said she noticed her opponent was missing shots due to fatigue.

“I really respect her, she’s a really good player, but today, she was a bit tired,” said Konjuh, who said she wasn’t nervous at all playing in her third Grade 1 final. “Today I was just better than her. I was very aggressive, especially in the start of the match, so I am just happy to be here and to play the best I can.”

“I was a little bit tired already,” Haas confirmed. “She played really solid and really hit strong winners, so I have to congratulate her.”

Konjuh, who turns 15 later this month, will play the Orange Bowl, then return home to Croatia, where she trains with Kristijan Schneider in Zagreb, before heading for the Australian Open Junior Championships.

When Serbia’s Laslo Djere took a 6-0, 4-1 lead over Christian Garin of Chile in the boys championship match that followed, it looked as if both ITF finals would be cut-and-dried affairs.

The match morphed into some quite different, however, as Djere then proceeded to lose nine straight games to trail 4-0 in the third set, before reeling off five consecutive games. When the roller coaster ride ended two hours and ten minutes after it started, it was Garin who enjoyed it most, taking a 0-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory.

Both players alternated between brilliant shotmaking and tired-looking errors in the final set. Djere clawed his way to a 5-4 lead after Garin failed to win a point serving at 4-1 and at 4-3.

Garin finally won a big point serving at 4-5. At 15-30, Garin was in danger of facing match points, when he came up with a scrambling forehand half-volley flick winner for 30-all.  He won the next two points to end the 17-year-old Serbian’s streak, then broke when at 30-30, Djere made two unforced errors on the forehand side.

With Garin serving for the match, two more unforced errors from Djere left Garin with two match points. Djere’s backhand forced an error from Garin to save one, but a good first serve ended the drama.

“In the first set I was waiting for the error,” said Garin, who often used his doubles partner Nicolas Jarry as an interpreter. “He was playing very good. I was going to run and run for every single ball, and after all, it worked.”

Garin said he was guilty of looking ahead when he took a 4-0 lead in the final set.

“I was a little bit nervous for winning,” said the 16-year-old, who is the first Chilean to win the Eddie Herr 18s since his idol Marcelo Rios in 1993. “I thought of what was going to happen, not of my game. This is what gives you more experience.”

Garin remembers competing at the Eddie Herr in the 14s, and being in awe while watching the players in the 18s.

“I saw the finals of the 18s and thought that they were really good, and wanted to be one of them,” said Garin, who also won the doubles title with Jarry on Saturday. “So now I realized that I’m good.”

For Djere, the disappointment of coming all the way back to 4-4 in the final set only to lose it was especially painful.

“It felt good to come back, but maybe I am more disappointed to lose this way,” said the 17-year-old right-hander. “I had my chances in the third set, but I lost.”

Djere hopes he can follow Garin’s lead and learn from the match, but if he does, it won’t be right away.

“Now I can’t think about this match, I need some time to rest,” said Djere. “Then sometime I think about it and hopefully I will also learn something. I don’t have a lot of time, I just have to look forward. It was a pretty nice week for me, but I have to continue to work hard.”

Marie Norris became the fourth straight American champion in the girls 16s division, coming from behind to take a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 decision from Carolyn Xie, also of the United States.

Norris, the No. 4 seed, didn’t lose a set in the tournament until the opener in the final, but she made adjustments.

“I was really tight in the first set,” said the 15-year-old from Kansas. “In the second I got more relaxed, more focused. She was doing a really good job of keeping me back, but in the second and third I decided to be more aggressive, so I could attack and be in control of the point.”

Norris was broken serving for the match at 5-1, but she didn’t panic when the unseeded Xie won the game.

“I just said ‘these four points,’” Norris said of her thoughts on the changeover.

When she returned to the court, four points was all she needed. Xie made it easy for Norris with errors, while Norris kept hitting aggressively to reach match point. With three match points, Norris only needed one as her forehand winner dropped softly onto the baseline, giving her the championship.

Although Norris said it was her biggest title, she was still trying to figure out how she felt about it.

“I don’t really know,” said Norris, who will play on Monday in the main draw of the 16s Orange Bowl. “It hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s been a good week, and hopefully I can do it again next week.”

Ku Keon Kang of Korea took the boys 16s title, defeating No. 2 seed Jordi Arconada of Argentina 6-0, 6-0 in a match that barely lasted over half an hour.

Kang, who had an ITF ranking high enough to get into the 18s but could not play it because he had reached his maximum number of tournaments for a 15-year-old, was required to go through qualifying for the 16s division.

He sailed through those three matches and didn’t drop a set in his six main draw wins. With his doubles title, he played a total of 15 matches in ten days in Bradenton, but the ITF Asian Closed Grade B1 Spring finalist showed no sign of any fatigue.

“No, I’m not tired, maybe next week,” said Kang, who was already looking ahead to Monday’s start to the Orange Bowl 16s, where he will also be the top seed.

“I practice always on clay, when I practice in Korea,” said Kang, who said he didn’t play exceptionally well in his shellacking of Arconada, but didn’t make many errors, while Arconada did.

Kang followed his singles title with one in doubles. He and partner Soon Woo Kwon, the No. 5 seeds, defeated unseeded Carsten Fisher and Alexander Knight of the United States 6-2, 6-1.

The girls 16s doubles title went to unseeded Alexandra Baer and Charlotte Petrick of Canada, who beat No. 3 seeds Ellyse Hamlin and Norris of the US 2-6, 6-4, 10-8.

All doubles were played in the ITF junior no-ad, match tiebreaker format.

Another top seed, this one a wild card, came through in the boys 14s, with Brazil’s Orlando Luz taking the title 6-1, 6-3 over No. 4 seed Evan Zhu of the United States.

Luz has not lost a match in the 14s this year, going 30-0 in major South American tournaments, but thanks to the generosity of Prince, he was able to fly to Florida to participate in the Eddie Herr.

After playing well over three hours in his 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2 semifinal win over No. 3 Chanyeong Oh of Korea, Luz admitted he was tired, but it didn’t show against Zhu.

“I’m very tired,” Luz said through an interpreter. “Yesterday it was very tough, today not so much, but during the whole week, I got very tired. But I’m very happy for the title.”

Luz will not be playing Orange Bowl or Junior Orange Bowl, but will instead be competing in a South American tournament, as well as qualifying in the ITF Grade A Abierto Juvenil in Mexico City.

“It was a very nice week,” Luz said. “I would like to thank Prince for their sponsorship and congratulate the people for a very nice tournament, well-organized and managed, and I would like to be back next year.”

Luz and his partner Alexei Popyrin of Australia, the No. 3 seeds, claimed the tournament's final championship, downing No. 4 seeds Chanyeong Oh of Korea and Jakub Patyk of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-0.

The girls 14s championship went to No. 7 seed Fanni Stoller of Hungary, who defeated No. 3 seed Sofia Kenin of the United States 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. Kenin served for the match at 5-3 in the second set, but Stoller found her form just in time.

Top seeds Dalma Gálfi of Hungary and Tereza Mihalikova of the Slovak Republic  defeated unseeded Hanna Chang and Abigail Chui of the United States 7-5, 6-2 for the girls 14s doubles championship.

Ellie Douglas of the United States won the girls 12s, defeating Anastasia Potapova of Russia 6-7(4), 6-0, 6-2.

Douglas, the No. 8 seed, had come back from a set down in two of her previous three matches prior to the final, a situation she said she doesn’t mind.

“I just know what to do in the next set,” said the Texas resident. “After the first set I played a lot more aggressive and I moved her a lot.”

Douglas said Potapova was very aggressive and moved well, and she was also prone to loud displays of energy, occasionally directed at her opponent.

All that competitive fire came to head on match point, when Potapova threw her racquet with such fury that it landed on the other side of the net, uncomfortably close to Douglas.

“I didn’t know what happened,” said Douglas, who had her back turned to go collect her towel. “I heard something and then I heard the crowd. It was pretty close.”

The crowd booed loudly, but Potapova was not defaulted, and she and her partner Alina Mazepova, also of Russia, played and won the doubles final later in the afternoon. The No. 6 seeds, they defeated Douglas and her partner Sarah Bahsoun, the No. 5 seeds, 7-6(4), 6-3.

The boys 12s title went to unseeded Alen Avidzba of Russia, who beat No. 3 seeded countryman Nikolay Vylegzhanin 6-1, 6-2.

The boys 12s doubles champions are Roscoe Bellamy and Sangeet Sridhar, the No. 2 seeds, who defeated No. 1 seeds Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic and Yshai Oliel of Israel 4-6, 6-4, 10-4.

For complete draws, see eddieherr.com.

Haas and Konjuh Reach Eddie Herr ITF Girls Final; Garin and Djere Meet for Boys 18s Championships

©Colette Lewis 2012--
Bradenton, FL--

Sixteenth seed Barbara Haas has already beaten the world's top junior, taking out Taylor Townsend in the third round of the Eddie Herr International on Thursday. In Saturday's semifinal, the 16-year-old Austrian avenged two recent losses to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland to reach her first Grade 1 final, capping a dream week on the green clay of the IMG Bollettieri Academy.

Haas trailed Bencic 4-1 in the second set, but exactly as she had done against Townsend two days ago, she fought back, taking the final five games of the second set in a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Bencic had beaten Haas in straight sets in the semifinals and the finals of two $10,000 ITF Women's Circuit hard court events this fall, so Haas had a good idea what she could do to enhance her chances of winning on clay.

"At the beginning of the second set I just let her play her game, and when she plays her game, she plays really well," said Haas, who trains in Vienna with Jaroslav Bulant of the Czech Republic. "She likes to play flat, and like this," said Haas, gesturing to her waist. "Just play power. She's near to the baseline and takes the ball early, so I just tried to play some more spin. On clay, it's good to play this way."

Haas said the key to what she called her "unbelievable" run this week was her mental approach.

"I played without pressure. I just played," Haas said. "I didn't think about some things, so I just played. I'm not thinking about, oh I could win this. I'm just playing."

Awaiting her in the final is 14-year-old Ana Konjuh of Croatia, who defeated No. 2 seed Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the semifinals 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Konjuh, who turns 15 later this month, was able to collect herself after taking a bathroom break following the first set, and displayed maturity and composure during the stressful final games of the match.

"In the first I was frustrated," admitted Konjuh. "But I calmed down because I know I can't be a professional player with that much frustration on every point. I'm trying to be calm, so everything's going to be like it's going to be."

Siniakova, ranked No. 3 in the ITF junior rankings, was more emotional, with her disappointment at being broken at 4-3 in the third set visible on her face and in her body language.  She broke back immediately, but Konjuh didn't waiver from her vow of serenity and it paid off when she hit a deft backhand volley winner to take a 5-4 lead.

Serving for the match, Konjuh earned her first match point with a screaming backhand winner, and went to her towel before stepping back to serve. She missed a backhand, giving Siniakova hope, but the 16-year-old Czech made an unforced error to give Konjuh match point number two. Siniakova hit a backhand winner to get it back to deuce again, but a good first serve by Konjuh led to a missed return and match point number three.  This time Konjuh made no mistake, cracking a forehand winner to finish the match.

Although she is only 14, Konjuh is competing in her fifth Eddie Herr.

"It's like home here to me," said Konjuh, who defeated Haas in the first round of a Grade 1 on clay last year. "I'm happy to make finals. I know her for a long time and we will see. I am hoping to play good like today, and be the best I can."

There is no history between the boys finalists, with No. 8 seed Christian Garin of Chile meeting No. 6 seed Laslo Djere of Serbia for the first time.

Garin dropped his first set of the tournament to unseeded Mazen Osama of Egypt, but the 16-year-old came back to post a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

"You don't play your game against him," Garin said of Osama, a left-hander who hits two-handed on both forehand and backhand and uses drop shots and angles to add another facet to an unconventional game. "So it's very difficult, it's weird.  He's a good player, he run every ball down."

At 4-4 in the third set, Osama earned a game point, but netted a forehand, and another forehand error gave Garin a break point. Another error, with Osama missing a routine pass long gave Garin the break, and the 16-year-old from Chile, who had reached the semifinals of a Futures earlier this month, was into his second Grade 1 final.

Djere, who has not played in the United States since last year's Eddie Herr, defeated No. 9 seed Elias Ymer of Sweden 6-3, 6-3. Djere has also had success on the Futures circuit this fall, reaching the finals of a $10,000 clay event in Serbia.

Against Ymer, Djere was the much steadier player, using his depth and pace to force errors, or simply wait for Ymer's unprompted mistakes. Ymer showed several flashes of the form that he had displayed in beating top seed Noah Rubin in Friday's quarterfinals, but Djere was able to weather those brief storms.

Asked about reaching the Eddie Herr final, his first in a Grade 1, Djere was candid.

"I didn't expect such good play from myself, it's fantastic," said the 17-year-old. "I wasn't thinking at all that I would play final. I just went out to court and tried to play my best tennis and it's so good a feeling.  From the first match, I am very confident and feeling good on the court, and I hope that tomorrow I will play like this five matches."

Haas and Garin already have claimed championships, as they won the doubles titles Saturday afternoon.

Haas and Siniakova, the No. 3 seeds, defeated No. 6 seeds Gabby Andrews and Taylor Townsend of the US 6-3, 6-1.

Andrews and Townsend, who are the reigning Australian and US Open girls doubles champions, could never get on track, while Siniakova looked determined to finish her day with a victory after her loss in the singles semifinals.

"It was a tough match in singles, but doubles I want to win," said Siniakova. "I didn't think it would be like, I don't want to say easy, but I am so happy we won. We played good today."

Garin teamed with Nicolas Jarry of the US to take the boys doubles title over another unseeded team, Osama and Skander Mansouri of Tunisia 4-6, 6-2, 10-5.  Garin and Jarry won last week's Yucatan Cup, and in their first time playing together, they made the semifinals of a Futures in Chile.

Jarry, who is the grandson of the great Chilean player Jaime Fillol, attributes their immediate success as a doubles team to their friendship.

"Because we're friends, and we like to hang around, say bad things to each other, we laugh," said Jarry, whose mother was born in California. "Our games are different, so I think it's complementary."

In the younger age divisions, four US girls are vying for titles in the 12s, 14s and 16s.

Ellie Douglas will play for the 12s title, after the No. 8 seed defeated top seed Abigail Desniatnikov, also of the US 6-1, 6-3 in Saturday's semifinal.  Douglas' opponent is No. 10 seed Anastasia Potapova of Russia, who beat No. 12 seed Jiaqi Ren China, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Sofia Kenin of the US will look to add the Eddie Herr 14s title to her USTA National title when she meets Fanni Stollar of Hungary Sunday.  Kenin, the third seed, beat Zhanian Wei of China, 6-3, 6-2, while Stollar ended 2011 12s champion Dominique Schaefer's quest for a second straight title 6-4, 6-1.

In the 16s, No. 4 seed Marie Norris will play unseeded Carolyn Xie in an all-American final. Norris beat No. 14 seed Chloe Ouellet-Pizer 6-0, 6-1, while Xie advanced when Terri Fleming retired down 6-3, 2-0.

In the boys 14s, American Evan Zhu, the No. 4 seed, will play top seed Orlando Luz of Brazil in the final.  Zhu had the much easier semifinal win, taking out Gianni Ross, also of the US, 6-2, 6-1, while Luz had to play over three hours before finally subduing No. 3 seed Chanyeong Oh of Korea, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2.

The boys 16s final will pit No. 2 seed Jordi Arconada, who, like Zhu, trains at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in Maryland,  against top seed Ku Keon Kang of Korea.  Kang defeated unseeded Walker Duncan of the US 6-4, 6-2, while Arconada prevented an all-Korean final with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Soon Woo Kwon.

The boys 12s champion will again be Russian, with Alen Avidzba playing Nikolay Vylegzhanin, the No. 3 seed. Avidzba def. No. 16 seed Rudolf Molleker of Germany, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, while Vylegzhanin reached the final with a 7-6(4), 7-6(2) win over top seed Yshai Oliel of Israel.

For complete draws, including the doubles, the champions of which will also be decided on Sunday in the younger age divisions, see eddieherr.com