American Orange Bowl Champions Assured in 16s; French Top Seeds Seek Sweep in 18s

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Key Biscayne FL--

The finalists' Tiffany crystal bowls of oranges won't be traveling far after Sunday's girls 16s championship match at the Dunlop Orange Bowl. Kelsey Laurente and Breaunna Addison will put them in their family cars' backseats and drive home to Miramar and Boca Raton. Yet to be determined is who will have the word winner engraved on the prize.

The boys 16s champion may transport his prize a bit farther, but it won't leave the United States. Californian Marcos Giron and Alexios Halebian, who is currently living in Boca Raton, will play for the coveted title Sunday.

Top seeds Gianni Mina and Kristina Mladenovic give France the opportunity to claim both titles, with Belgian Arthur De Greef and Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski hoping to prevent a French sweep.

A drenching rain overnight left the Crandon Park courts surrounded by puddles, but the sun and a steady breeze kept the delay to the start of the semifinal matches brief. Addison opened her match with No. 7 seed Marcela Zacarias of Mexico as if she was going to stroll to the championship match; in a matter of what seemed liked minutes, she had taken the first set 6-1. Zacarias worked through her nerves however, and the second set was much more competitive.

"I think she was really nervous in the first set," said Addison. "Then I think she calmed down and got herself together."

The diminutive Mexican, who looks more like a 12-year-old than the 15-year-old she is, took Addison to deuce on nearly every service game in the second set. At 3-3, Addison broke Zacarias, giving her a lead that she wouldn't relinquish, but it was not quite that simple. Serving at 5-4, Addison needed six match points to claim the victory, hitting an ace down the T to end it.

"I could have stepped in, tried to make a move to the net, but instead I kind of stayed back and tried to wait for her to give it to me," Addison said. "I need to just be more aggressive when I get into position. I felt so good when I hit the ace--I've really been working on my serve, so it's been paying off."

Laurente, the 10th seed, was down 6-2, 5-2 to unseeded Catherine Harrison, before turning the second set, and the match, around, going on to post a 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 victory. Broken at love serving for the match at 5-3, Harrison lost her next service game too, but Laurente also failed to finish the set when serving for it at 6-5. In the tiebreaker, Laurente took control early, cracked a forehand return winner to take second set, and protected her serve throughout the third set. Breaking Harrison to take a 5-3 lead, the 15-year-old Laurente failed to convert her first match point, but when Harrison couldn't return her serve on the next one, Laurente had her victory, much to the delight of the dozen family members and friends who cheered her on.

Asked how much their presence helped her, Laurente was quick with her answer.

"A lot, oh my gosh, they kept me going for sure."

Laurente struggled to remember the last time she had played Addison, turning to her father for confirmation that it had to be the 12s.

"It was four years, about, it was a really long time ago," said Laurente, who planned to talk strategy for the championship match against Addison with her coach, Kevin Chow. "She won, but it was close match."



In the boys semifinals, Eddie Herr finalist Alexios Halebian ended the winning streak of Brazilian qualifier Karue Sell with a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Sell had not lost a set in his seven previous matches, while Halebian had needed three sets in three of his four victories prior to the semifinal.

"He looked like he was steamrolling a little bit, he hadn't played too many three-setters," Halebian said. "He was liking the way he was going through, and I was playing a lot of three-setters, so I felt like he was playing as much as me."

In the final, Halebian, a wild card, will face another qualifier, Marcos Giron, who defeated Harrison Richmond 7-5, 6-3. Giron struggled a bit to end the first set, failing to serve it out at 5-4, but breaking Richmond at love in the next game and holding when he got a second chance to finish it. In the second set, Giron got an early break, and leading 5-3, broke Richmond with a perfect topspin lob on match point. Against Dan McCall in the quarterfinals, Giron had closed out his fellow Californian with a scorching backhand winner, a pattern he'd love to continue.

"It felt good," Giron said. "The last two matches I came up big on match point and I couldn't ask for a better shot at the time."

Against Halebian, who at 15 is a year younger, Giron is prepared for a battle.

"I've played him a couple of times before, but I haven't played him recently. He's a good player, he's gotten to the finals of both the Eddie Herr and the Orange Bowl. He's got a great serve and good forehand. I just have to try to return well against him."

In the 18s, No. 8 seed Arthur De Greef of Belgium eliminated the last U.S. hope for a title, defeating No. 5 seed Mitchell Frank 6-4, 6-2. Frank, who had looked razor sharp against Jack Sock in the quarterfinals, returned to Court 1 hoping to replicate his performance, but the Belgian looked comfortable throughout, and forced Frank into a more aggressive game than he prefers.

Sock's drop shot was not a weapon against Frank on Friday, but De Greef went to it time after time, and it was usually effective. In the final game, De Greef hit clean drop shot winners several times, and although Frank gamely tried to hold his serve, on the fifth match point, De Greef cranked a forehand winner to reach his first Grade A final.

"After the first round, I never thought I can be in finals," said the 17-year-old, who saved a match point in his second round encounter with Nick Chappell. "Now it feels so good."

While De Greef is hoping to become the first boy from Belgium to claim an Orange Bowl title, his opponent, Gianni Mina, is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Guy Forget, who won the 18s title back in 1982. Mina, who had a struggle in the opening round, has breezed through his subsequent matches, which included a walkover, and on Saturday he reached the final when unseeded Justin Eleveld of the Netherlands retired down 6-4, 3-0.

Mina's compatriot, Mladenovic, who trains side by side with him at French federation training center in Paris, reached her fourth Grade A final of the year with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 6 seed Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia. A winner at Roland Garros and the Osaka Cup and a finalist at Wimbledon, Mladenovic had already claimed the year-end World Junior Champion's title, so playing the Orange Bowl was certainly optional.

"I am practicing in Paris and preparing for the Australian Open, where I will go to play qualies, and with my coach we decide it's a good idea to come here, playing outside, very hot conditions, almost like Australia," said the 16-year-old, who is 201 on the WTA computers.

"And I'm a girl who likes to play, to win, and you learn a lot with matches, not only with practices. It's easy to hit shots but you have to do it in a match."

As she had been with quarterfinal opponent Madison Keys, Mladenovic was effusive in her praise of Tomljanovic, who traded powerful ground strokes and booming serves with the world's top junior, bringing out the best of both their games.

"Yesterday and today it was incredible," Mladenovic said. "Almost every point was winners and big serves and I can just say thanks to my opponents that we played such a good match. The level of those two matches was so good, and I hope we can continue that way, that all three will see each other in the future, and in a few years why not come back here in this place and play another event?"

Mladenovic will face unseeded Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada, who was in the final of the Yucatan Cup, the semifinals of the Eddie Herr and now has reached the finals of the Orange Bowl, a grueling three weeks that have also been long on drama.

At the Eddie Herr, Dabrowski was awarded a second round win over Yulia Putintseva of Russia when a game penalty was assessed at 6-5 in the third set for racquet abuse. In Dabrowski's 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(5) win over No. 8 seed Nastja Kolar of Slovenia today, Dabrowski again was the beneficiary of an official's ruling of racquet abuse.

Having been given a warning for racquet abuse earlier in the third set tiebreaker, Kolar picked the worse possible time to have another fit of anger. At 5-5 in the tiebreaker, she hit a forehand into the net. She slammed her racquet into the court, and although it was difficult to detect whether it was broken, the chair delivered her verdict: point penalty, game, set and match to Dabrowski.

There was little protest or emotion from Kolar, as she shook both Dabrowski's hand and the chair umpire's and quietly packed up her bags and left the court. Dabrowski took the gift, although she said she would have preferred to win it more conventionally.

Kolar had served for the match at 5-3 in the third, but Dabrowski ripped three consecutive backhand winners to get back on serve.

"That was pretty clutch," said the 17-year-old from Ottawa, who also saved a match point with an tough overhead serving at 4-5, 30-40. "I felt I had to go for it if I wanted to come back. There was no sitting around waiting for her to miss. Of course I got tight at the end, but I'm glad that I went for those shots."

Dabrowski, who has had her thigh and knee taped all week, admitted that she was tired.

"I'm exhausted but I'll give it my all tomorrow, see how much I have left in the tank. I had no expectations today--I already knew it would be a tough match. I was just hoping to last. If I could last, I'd be satisfied."



All four doubles finals were played on Saturday, and three of them were decided in match tiebreakers. The only match decided in straight sets was the girls 18s, where Anna Orlik of Belarus and Valeria Solovieva of Russia, the eighth seeds, defeated unseeded Polina Pekhova of Belarus and Noel Scott of the U.S. 6-2, 6-2.

The boys 18s doubles title went to the unseeded team of Mikhail Biryukov and Alexander Rumyantsev of Russia, who upset top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France and Kevin Krawietz of Germany 6-2, 2-6, 10-8.

In the girls 16s, the Canadian team of Elisabeth Abanda and Emma Onila, the second seeds, downed No. 8 seeds Addison and Caitlyn Williams of the U.S. 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-7.

The boys 16s champions are Hunter Harrington and Mitchell Krueger of the U.S., the No. 6 seeds. They defeated unseeded Diego Hidalgo of Ecuador and Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 4-6, 7-6(2), 10-6. Hidalgo and Monteiro had beaten Krueger and his partner Alexander Petrone in the Eddie Herr finals, saving three match points in the match tiebreaker, so the 15-year-old Texan was looking for revenge.

"It was in my mind," said Krueger. "Definitely at the 8-6 point, when I was going up for a second serve. Because I had double faulted to that same guy on that same side last week on one of our match points. I was definitely thinking, don't miss the serve. Thank god I made it."

Harrington and Krueger had played together only once prior to the Orange Bowl, and that resulted in a first round loss in the Kentucky Grade 1 in September. But they had an idea they might be a good team.

"It helps when you're serving big, and he's been serving big these past two weeks," Krueger said of Harrington. "So it's easier at the net."

"And he doesn't miss returns, which is always good," said Harrington.

The singles finals begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

For complete draws, see the tournament website.

Tags: junior tennis, Dunlop Orange Bowl, Alexios Halebian, Marcos Giron, Kelsey Laurente, Breaunna Addison, Hunter Harrington, Mitchell Krueger, Colette Lewis

Frank Sole American in Dunlop Orange Bowl 18s Semis; US Players Dominating the 16s Division

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Key Biscayne, FL--

Prospects for American Orange Bowl winners were bright when the boys and girls 16s quarterfinals were completed Friday morning, with six of the eight semifinalist from the United States. But like the thickening clouds overhead, the outlook was increasingly gloomy for an 18s champion, with five U.S. players falling in the quarterfinals.

The lone U.S. winner, No. 5 seed Mitchell Frank, beat another American, wild card Jack Sock, 6-4, 7-6(3). It was a contest between two of the hottest U.S. juniors, with Frank coming off a dominating performance in the Yucatan, and Sock a recent winner of a Pro Circuit Futures event.

Frank knew he had his work cut out against the talented right-hander from Lincoln, Neb.

"Going into the match, I knew it was going to be tough," Frank said. "I didn't feel much pressure, because I know he's so good. I just kind of relaxed and went out and played. It was windy here, it was tough conditions to play in, so it's good to come out with a win, no matter how you get it done."

Frank's game is based on minimizing errors and forcing his opponent to take the risks and make the mistakes. He handled the Sock forehand, and had a definite advantage when it came to return of serve.

"I was serving pretty well today," said Frank, who reached the finals of the 16s Orange Bowl last year. "He was a little bit off with his return, and I felt I was serving pretty well and was confident that in that tiebreak, I could hold my serve most of the time."

Sock started the second set tiebreaker with a double fault, and his drop shot down 3-1 didn't work, as Frank got to it and hit a drop shot winner of his own, as Sock stood nearly motionless at the baseline. Sock got only one point on his serve in the tiebreaker, and two stray backhands, one into the net and the final one, long, gave Frank the victory.

Frank will face No. 8 seed Arthur De Greef of Belgium in the semifinals. De Greef defeated No. 15 seed Sekou Bangoura, Jr. 6-3, 7-5. The other semifinal features No. 1 seed Gianni Mina of France against unseeded Justin Eleveld of the Netherlands. Mina downed No. 12 seed Junior Ore 6-2, 6-3, and Eleveld beat Bob van Overbeek 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2. Van Overbeek was not able to hit either his serve or his forehand with their usual velocity due to a right elbow injury, and found himself in long rallies throughout the match.

In the girls 18s singles, unseeded 14-year-old Madison Keys took the first set from top seed and Kristina Mladenovic, but couldn't sustain the effort over three sets, and dropped a 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-1 decision to the world's top-ranked junior.

Mladenovic, who has already secured the 2009 World Junior Champion title, is determined to enjoy what is likely to be her final junior tournament, having met all the goals she set for herself in 2009.

"I did everything I wanted for this year," Mladenovic said. "Now it's just pleasure. I go on court just to play tennis, because I like it so much. I just fight to win again, enjoy my status and finish as good as I can at the end of the year."

Because of the gusty winds, neither the 6-foot Mladenovic nor the 5-foot-10 Keys could utilize their biggest weapons--their serves. But the ground strokes were unaffected, and during rallies that were indistinguishable from a WTA tour match, there was no power advantage to either girl.

The 16-year-old Mladenovic had nothing but praise for her younger opponent.

"She's a good player, very athletic and she has all the shots she needs for future women's tennis. The first set was very difficult, because I had to get used to how she's playing, and I don't see this girl often on the junior tour," said the 2009 Roland Garros girls champion and Wimbledon junior finalist. "It was a good fight. Maybe I was more aggressive, more well prepared physically than her and also, maybe my experience won today."

In the semifinals, Mladenovic will play No. 6 seed Ajla Tomljanovic, who defeated No. 3 seed and US Open girls champion Heather Watson of Great Britain 6-2, 6-3. Although the two have not played in ITF junior competition, they know each other and each other's games well.

"We know each other from a very long time ago, like when we were 11. She's from Croatia and both my parents are from Serbia, so we are speaking the same language. We are both (birth year) 93s, so we know each other a very long time, but it's funny we've never played each other. It will be fun, she's playing quite good I think, so I will just go on court and enjoy it."

Surprise quarterfinalist Robin Anderson gave No. 8 seed Nastja Kolar of Slovenia her toughest match of the tournament, but could not overcome an early break in the third set, and dropped a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 decision to the world's No. 14 junior. Kolar will meet Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada, who is now in her third major semifinal in the past three weeks, having been in the finals at the Yucatan World Cup and semfinals at the Eddie Herr. Dabrowski downed unseeded Adriana Perez of Venezuela 7-5, 6-4.

The last Eddie Herr champion still playing, 16s winner Hunter Harrington, saw his streak end at the hands of Karue Sell of Brazil 6-2, 6-3. Harrington, playing his tenth singles match in 11 days, didn't have the same pop on his serve and forehand that he displayed most of the last two weeks. Sell, who as a qualifier has already won seven matches in the past eight days, will face Eddie Herr finalist Alexios Halebian, who used a shrewd observation to help nail down a 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(4) victory over the lone seed remaining in the boys 16s, No. 14 Julien Cagnina of Belgium.

Down 4-1 in the third set tiebreaker, Halebian began to play more aggressively, and brought it back to 4-4.

"I noticed he didn't take any volley practice in the warmup after the rain delay," Halebian said of the 20 minute period early in the third set when a light mist halted play. "He hadn't hit a volley in about half and hour, so I went to the dropper, and after a couple of tries, he missed."

Cagnina made a error on the forehand side to give Halebian his first match point, and the tennis gods smiled on him. Halebian's forehand hit the net cord, but the ricochet still landed inside the near sideline, and Cagnina had no play on it.

The other boys 16s final is between two unseeded Americans: qualifier Marcos Giron and wild card Harrison Richmond. Giron will be playing his fourth consecutive compatriot on Saturday, after beating Dan McCall 7-6(2), 6-4 in Friday's quarterfinals.


Richmond, the 2008 Junior Orange Bowl 14s winner, got past Dennis Novak of Austria 7-5, 6-1, a less taxing win than his grueling win over No. 2 seed William Kwok of Australia on Thursday.

"It was completely different conditions for sure," said the 15-year-old from Pawleys Island, S.C. "I felt ten times better than yesterday, yesterday was pretty brutal."

Richmond, a left-hander who is very capable at the net, served and volleyed frequently against Novak, an Eddie Herr semifinalist.

"He stayed back a lot, stood really far back, and he wasn't able to pass me at all. So if it was working, I had to keep doing it I guess."

With Novak serving at 5-6 in the first set, Richmond came up with two on-the-run winners and had three set points. He didn't convert the first two, shanking a return and hitting a forehand just wide, but a long exchange of slices on the next point ended with Novak's last one finding the net.

As for his Orange Bowl winning streak, Richmond agreed that he's played pretty well in Miami the past two Decembers.

"It feels good, the weather and everything, and I think I'm able to play well when I need to, and in the big tournaments step it up, play a little better and raise my game."



As a qualifier in Girls 16s, Catherine Harrison doesn't have that kind of success to draw on, but she too is in the semifinals after a 6-2, 6-3 win over Giuliana Olmos of Mexico.

"Fourth year's a charm," said the 15-year-old from Germantown, Tenn. "I've never won a main draw match before. But I was pretty confident. I'd just won a National Open in St. Louis over Thanksgiving in the 18s, and I was playing pretty well there."

Harrison hits both forehand and backhand with two hands, and her pace and depth can present problems for opponents if she is consistently finding the lines and the corners. But this week other types of shots have earned her some crucial points.

"I'm trying to work on my variety, but obviously I'm still going to stick to playing basically a power game," she said. "It helps when you can throw in a slice or a lob or a drop shot every now and then."

Harrison will take on No. 10 seed Kelsey Laurente, who defeated No. 14 seed Vicky Duval 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Laurente, who is from Miramar, Fla., recorded a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Harrison in the third place match at the 18s Gator Bowl in May, so Harrison is eager to gain revenge on an even bigger stage.

In the other girls 16 semifinal, unseeded Breaunna Addison will face No. 7 seed Marcela Zacarias of Mexico, who overcame qualifier Estelle Cascino of France 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Addison got off to a very slow start against Molly O'Koniewski, but as her movement improved, so did her results, and she calimed a 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-0 decision.

Addison be playing singles and doubles on Saturday, as she and partner Caitlyn Williams, the No. 8 seeds, have reached the championship match in doubles after a 7-5, 6-3 win Friday over Laurente and Kyle McPhillips, the No. 5 seeds. Addison and Williams' opponents are the second-seeded team of Elisabeth Abanda and Emma Onila of Canada who defeated Mia King and Taylor Townsend 6-1, 6-4.

Mitchell Krueger has a chance for revenge on Saturday, as he and Hunter Harrington, the No. 6 seeds, will play Eddie Herr champions Diego Hidalgo of Ecuador and Thiago Monteiro of Brazil. Hidalgo and Monteiro saved three match points against Krueger and his partner Alex Petrone in a match tiebreaker in the Eddie Herr boys 16s doubles final. Krueger and Harrington defeated Giron and Bjorn Fratangelo 6-3, 0-6, 10-2, while Hidalgo and Monteiro got past Eric Johnson and McCall, the No. 3 seeds, 6-2, 4-6, 10-7.

In the 18s doubles, Noel Scott is the sole American vying for an Orange Bowl title Saturday. She and partner Polina Pekhova of Belarus will face No. 8 seeds Anna Orlik of Belarus and Valeriya Solovieva of Russia. Scott and Pekhova downed Paula Kania of Poland and Anna Markeno of Russia 6-2, 7-5, while Orlik and Solovieva, the Eddie Herr champions, defeated Dabrowski and Nicole Gibbs 6-1, 5-7, 10-7.

The boys 18s doubles final will feature top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France and Kevin Krawietz of Germany, who defeated Guilherme Clezar and Tiago Fernandes of Brazil 6-3, 7-5, against the unseeded Russian team of Mikhail Biryukov and Alexander Rumyantsev. They downed Diego Acosta and Roberto Quiroz of Ecuador, last year's 16s Orange Bowl doubles champions, 6-4, 6-3.

For more, see the tournament website.

Tags: junior tennis, Dunlop Orange Bowl, Catherine Harrison, Harrison Richmond, Mitchell Frank, Colette Lewis

Three Eddie Herr Champs Fall in Thursday's Third Round at Dunlop Orange Bowl

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Key Biscayne, FL--

The two-week grind of Eddie Herr/Orange Bowl is always tough for those going deep in the draws (and many players competed in the Yucatan Cup the week before). This year, the heat and humidity in Miami have created an even bigger challenge. Eddie Herr Boys 16s champion Hunter Harrington has somehow managed to navigate all the perils to reach the Orange Bowl quarterfinals, but both 18s champions and the girls 16s champion fell today on the steamy courts of Crandon Park.

Sachia Vickery, the 16s Eddie Herr girls champion, was the first to be eliminated. The third seed, Vickery was down 4-0 in no time to unseeded Breaunna Addison, the 14-year-old from Boca Raton, and she never recovered her form, falling 6-2, 6-4.

Next to go was girls 18s winner Daria Gavrilova of Russia, who lost to Madison Keys 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in a long, tough battle that drew dozens of interested spectators to Court 1. Keys, up a set and 3-0, appeared to have the match in hand, but No. 5 seed Gavrilova took a medical timeout, then came back to win the next four games.

"I just kind of lost my focus for a game and a half or two games," said Keys. "After that, she started getting on a roll."

Gavrilova, a year older than Keys at 15, is an uncanny defender does her best work when avoiding a baseline slugfest. She was at a definite disadvantage on the serve, which is truly a weapon for Keys, but it may have been uncharacteristic errors by Gavrilova that cost her the most.

With Keys serving a 4-3 in the third set, Gavrilova quickly took a 40-0 lead, but three straight unforced errors brought it back to deuce. Gavrilova had three more chances to get the final set back on serve, but Keys came up with three impressive winners- on a second serve, an overhead and a forehand. Two Gavrilova errors on slice backhands gave Keys the game, and a chance to end the match by breaking Gavrilova.

The final game featured three deuces, and Gavrilova had three game points that would have forced Keys to serve it out, but she couldn't convert them, and Keys played aggressively, forcing errors to win the final two points of the match.

Returning for the first time to the court where she lost the 16s final to Chanelle Van Nguyen last year, Keys described her memories of that match as "mixed."
"I was definitely thinking I got to the finals, yes, I was in the finals here, but, I lost. But I knew if I played my game today, everything would be okay."

The last Eddie Herr champion to go out had to be carried to the training room, when cramps left him unable to continue. Boys 18s Eddie Herr champion and No. 7 seed Denis Kudla began cramping late in the second set, and by the time he was down 2-0 in the third set against unseeded Justin Eleveld of the Netherlands, he could no longer stand, let alone play. Eleveld took the match by a score of 3-6, 7-5, 2-0 ret. inj. Kudla, who was partnering Raymond Sarmiento, was unable to play doubles later in the day.

Eleveld will play Bob van Overbeek in Friday's quarterfinals, after van Overbeek outlasted unseeded Jack Carpenter of Great Britain, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. In the other top half quarterfinal, Junior Ore, the No. 12 seed, will face No. 1 seed Gianni Mina of France. Mina cruised past wild card Slim Hamza of Tunisia 6-2, 6-1, while Ore picked up one of his best wins in international junior play, defeating No. 6 seed Guilherme Clezar, 4-6, 6-2, 3-1, ret. inj.

No. 8 seed Arthur De Greef of Belgium will face No. 15 seed Sekou Bangoura, Jr. after they each pulled through two marathon matches. De Greef beat unseeded Jannick Lupescu of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Bangoura saved a match point in his 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(6) win over qualifier George Morgan of Great Britain.

The U.S. made it a sweep of the British boys when No. 5 seed Mitchell Frank posted a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Oliver Golding. Frank will play unseeded wild card Jack Sock, who downed Dennis Novikov 7-5, 6-1 in an all-American contest. Five of the boys 18s quarterfinalists are from the U.S.

Keys, one of only two U.S. girls remaining in the 18s, plays top seed and world No. 1 junior Kristina Mladenovic of France, who defeated No. 14 seed Valeriya Solovieva of Russia 6-4, 6-1. No. 3 seed Heather Watson of Great Britain was able to overcome a hiccup in the second set to put away No. 13 seed Saisai Zheng of China 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Watson will face No. 6 seed Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia, who beat No. 10 seed Yulia Putintseva of Russia 5-7, 6-0, 6-1.

There is only one seed left in the bottom half of the draw, No. 8 Nastja Kolar of Slovenia. Kolar defeated Yucatan champion Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-3 and will face another American, wild card Robin Anderson, in the quarterfinals. Anderson, a 16-year-old from New Jersey, surprised Nicole Gibbs, who had beaten No. 2 seed Timea Babos on Wednesday, 6-2, 6-3.



"I tried to use my slice a lot, keep her moving, keep her in the point," said Anderson, who agreed she was an underdog in the match, even though neither she nor Gibbs was seeded. "I felt like I had no pressure, all I had to do was play my game."

As for being in the Orange Bowl quarterfinals, Anderson was still getting used to the idea after the match.

"It's really exciting, I feel really good about it, now that it's starting to sink in a little bit."

In the other quarterfinal in the bottom half, Adriana Perez of Venezuela will play Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada. Dabrowski rolled past wild card Ellen Tsay 6-1 6-2, and Perez came back to defeat Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand 0-6, 6-4, 6-3.



While the two top seeds in the 18s have survived, not so for the 16s. Melis Sezer of Turkey was put out by No. 14 seed Vicky Duval 6-4, 6-3, and Hernus Pieters of South Africa was beaten by Julien Cagnina of Belgium, also a No. 14 seed 6-3, 6-3.

Duval knew that she needed to keep Sezer moving and on the defensive as much as possible, because with time to unleash her shots, Sezer could blast winners.

"I had no idea who she was," said Duval, who has been playing ITF junior events for less than a year. "I watched her a couple of games yesterday and I thought she hit really hard. She doesn't move that well, but she can move. So I thought I had to be really focused and really determined, and I really wanted the match."

Duval is one of five U.S. girls in the 16s, and she plays one of them, No. 10 seed Kelsey Laurente in the quarterfinals. Laurente defeated unseeded Stephanie Nauta 6-1, 3-0 ret. Catherine Harrison takes on Giuliana Olmos in the other quarterfinal in the top half in a battle of qualifiers. Harrison beat Kyle McPhillips 7-6(4), 6-4 and Olmos defeated Eddie Herr 16s finalist Caitlyn Williams, the No. 8 seed, 7-5, 6-2.

Addison will play Molly O'Koniewski, another qualifier, who earned her spot in the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Hyojung Yea of Korea. The bottom quarter features No. 7 seed Marcels Zacarias of Mexico against qualifer Estelle Cascino of France. Zacarias beat No. 11 seed Denise Staff 6-1, 6-1, and Cascino beat Viktoriya Lavrentyeva of Russia 6-4, 6-3.

In addition to Harrington, who defeated lucky loser Andrew Adams 6-4, 6-4 in today's third round, there are four other U.S. players who have reached the quarterfinals. Eddie Herr finalist Alexios Halebian came back for a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Gregoire Barrere of France and will play Cagnina Friday. Harrington will play qualifier Karue Sell of Brazil who beat No. 3 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-4, 6-3.

The only all-American contest will pit unseeded Dan McCall against unseeded Marcos Giron. Giron rolled past Terrell Celestine 6-1, 6-4 and McCall also beat an American, taking out Jeremy Efferding 6-3, 7-5.

Unseeded Dennis Novak of Austria defeated Chase Curry 7-6(3), 6-1 to book a place in the quarterfinals against Harrison Richmond, who defeated No. 2 seed William Kwok of Australia 5-7, 7-6(6), 4-1 ret.

This was an exceedingly close and hard-fought match with a highly unusual ending. The emotional Kwok, who is frequently heard celebrating winners several courts away, had not converted either of his two match points serving at 5-4, 40-15 in the second set, and then came back from being down 6-0 in the subsequent tiebreaker, winning six straight points, only to lose that.

Kwok had been given a warning and a point penalty for a time violation, and when the chair umpire gave him another point penalty for a third time violation on game point when he was down 3-1 in the third set, Kwok, who had been treated for cramps, lost his temper. He maintained that he was looking for a ball that had disappeared and could not be cited for a time violation under those circumstances, but when the assistant referee was called to the court, he upheld the chair's call and announced the score as 4-1 and a changeover.

Kwok's father, who was courtside throughout the match, became incensed and loudly argued with three of the officials on the court, with most of his wrath directed at the chair umpire. While the father was ranting, his son began packing up his racquets and his bag, and told the assistant referee he wasn't playing anymore. "Are you retiring?" he was asked, and he replied, "Yes, I'm retiring." and the chair called the match in Richmond's favor. The two players shook hands, and Kwok was whisked away in a golf cart by two trainers, presumably to receive treatment for his cramping.

Due to the rain during the qualifying, the 16s singles finals will be played on Sunday instead of Saturday, with the doubles finals scheduled for Saturday. For complete draws, including results for the doubles quarterfinals this afternoon, see the tournament website.


Discussion with Brad Taylor, Tournament Referee, regarding the altercation Tuesday night

I did speak with Brad Taylor today, and he clarified that as tournament referee, his authority regarding the incident is confined to preventing players from continuing play in the tournament, and his judgment is that regard is not subject to appeal. Since Rodney Carey and Shaun Bernstein were not still in singles, they could not be defaulted, and Taylor made it clear that a doubles team is defaulted if one of the two players is defaulted. He cited privacy issues, since it is a junior tournament, for the lack of a statement, and said that it was now up to the ITF and/or the players' federations to investigate and take action if they deem it warranted.

Tags: junior tennis, Dunlop Orange Bowl, Madison Keys, Vicky Duval, Robin Anderson, Colette Lewis

Eddie Herr Recap

Before the third round gets underway at the Orange Bowl, here's a look back at last week's Eddie Herr in my weekly post for Tennis Recruiting Network. It may be a while before I get my slideshow up, so for a look at some of the competitors at Eddie, see TR Net's photo gallery posted on Tuesday.

Tags: junior tennis, Eddie Herr International, Tennis Recruiting Network, Colette Lewis

Gibbs and Tsay Oust No. 2 & No. 4 Seeds at Dunlop Orange Bowl; Five* Players Defaulted for Altercation Tuesday Night

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Key Biscayne, FL--

The heat index hovered around 90 degrees all day during the second round of the Orange Bowl, and the emotional heat index was even higher. Arguments with the chair umpires, racquet smashing, and wails of anguish could be heard all over the spacious Crandon Park grounds, and given the stress levels, it was composure that often won out over seeding.

Three British boys, no doubt inspired by a visit to the grounds by world No. 4 Andy Murray, scored three big upsets in the 18s, with qualifier George Morgan defeating No. 3 seed Kevin Krawietz of Germany 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, Jack Carpenter putting out No. 4 seed and Eddie Herr finalist Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 7-6, 1-6, 6-1 and Oliver Golding coming back to beat No. 9 seed Tiago Fernandes of Brazil 6-7, 6-1, 6-4.

In the girls 18s, it was the Americans who scored comback upsets, with wild card Ellen Tsay beating No. 4 seed Silvia Njiric of Croatia 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5 and Nicole Gibbs eliminating No. 2 seed Timea Babos of Hungary 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in late afternoon matches.

Babos couldn't shake Gibbs, who began to get a better read on Babos's serve, and alos solved the problems she was experiencing off the ground.

"The first set my forehand wasn't there, actually both my ground strokes," Gibbs said. "I felt a little lackadaisical sitting around all day waiting. I tried to warm up before I got on the court, but I just wasn't match ready quite. But as the second set came around I got into a better groove and started to work the points better."

When Gibbs went up 3-0 in the third set, and the trainer, who Babos had requested after the first game, arrived on the court. Gibbs tried to stay warm, and stay focused, something she has not always done previously.

"That's always really tricky for me, because when I ice over I have a really hard time getting a groove back. I've gotten in a couple of really bad situations when someone calls a trainer for whatever reason and I can't hit a ball for the next two games, so I just tried to stay warm the whole time. I think I'm learning."

Gibbs succeeded in keeping her concentration and Babos became increasingly frustrated with everything, but especially the chair umpire. "So many mistakes," she screamed at the chair, and a few points later, after she'd lost another game "That was my bloody game."

With Gibbs leading 5-2 in the third, Babos hitting a ball into the water cooler as she got up from her chair to serve, and the umpire assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct point penalty. Down 0-15 to start the game, Babos couldn't summon any composure, and rarely got a serve near the service box in the next two points, and hit a backhand way long on match point.

"I think the calls were bad in waves, but you have to deal with it," Gibbs said. "I had a couple at the end of the first set, and you've got to try to bounce back, and play the next point."



Tsay and Njiric had a more subdued battle, but that didn't make it any less dramatic. Down 3-0 in the final set, Tsay changed her strategy, and it paid off.

"I started getting tired, because I was running around the whole time," said Tsay. "She's a pretty good, aggressive player, so I decided to just let loose and be really aggressive."

Tsay closed the net to volley often, and once she fought back from 0-40 down to hold for 4-3, she never trailed. Njiric handled the pressure of serving from behind until serving at 5-6. She had a game point to take it to a tiebreaker, but a netted forehand made it deuce and two more unforced errors put Tsay into the third round.

Tsay's quiet personality is evident on court, and she was asked how she maintained that calm demeanor in the difficult conditions, when tempers were flaring all around her.

"If it's really hot, why would you waste your energy yelling?"

There was a lot of energy expended in a nearby boys match between wild card Nick Chappell and No. 8 seed Arthur De Greef, which De Greef won 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(4). Down 5-2 in the third set, a cramping Chappell, who also frequently expressed his displeasure with the chair umpire's calls, served for the match at 6-5 and had a match point. Coming to the net, Chappell put the pressure on the Belgian, but the passing shot found its target, and Chappell fell to the court trying to get a racquet on it. De Greef played a better tiebreaker, and won the match, but he was obviously not pleased with his performance.

When he lost his serve at 5-5, he smashed a racquet, getting a warning from the chair. But that wasn't enough to ease his frustrations, as after the match he went behind the court and destroyed a couple more, unusual behavior for a winner.

The American boys reaching the round of 16 are Junior Ore, Bob van Overbeek, Denis Kudla, Sekou Bangoura Jr., Mitchell Frank, Dennis Novikov and Jack Sock. Sock, who is blogging for usta.com, plays Novikov, who won a dramatic match of his own over No. 13 seed Micke Kontinen of Finland 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).

The U.S. girls in the round of 16 are Madison Keys, Tsay, Lauren Davis, Robin Anderson and Gibbs. Only Keys is in the top half, and Anderson and Gibbs play on Thursday.

In the 16s, the U.S. girls dominated play on Wednesday. Unseeded Kyle McPhillips dismantled No. 4 seed Elisabeth Abanda of Canada 6-2, 6-0, and her opponent in the third round will be Catherine Harrison, a qualifier who defeated No. 13 seed Victoriya Tomova of of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-3. Kelsey Laurente and Stephanie Nauta play each other, as do Breaunna Addison and Sachia Vickery. Vicky Duval, Caitlyn Williams, Molly O'Koniewski and Denise Starr give the U.S. ten of the final 16 players remaining.

In the boys 16s, nine of the final 16 are Americans. Alexios Halebian defeated No. 5 seed Hong Chung in two tiebreakers to earn his third round berth, and Eddie Herr 16s champion Hunter Harrington, who was the last direct entry into the field, beat No. 6 seed Hugo Dellien of Bolivia 6-4, 6-1. Dan McCall eliminated No. 4 seed Mathias Bourgue of France by the unusual score of 5-7, 6-0, 6-0 and lucky loser Andrew Adams took out No. 9 seed Edward Nguyen of Canada 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. Terrell Celestine defeated No. 11 seed Yuki Muramatsu and Jeremy Efferding won over No. 15 Filip Peliwo of Canada by retirement. Harrison Richmond and Chase Curry beat unseeded opponents, and Marcos Giron eased past No. 8 seed Mitchell Krueger, also of the U.S., 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, in a long and grueling contest.

For complete results, see the tournament website.

And now the details on the Tuesday night incident that led to the defaults of five players*. I was not on site at the time, but back at the hotel working on my Eddie Herr recap, so this is information that I've gathered from conversations with those who were there, or who had accounts from the U.S. players themselves. If there are any eyewitnesses who wish to correct what I've heard, or dispute it, please leave a comment below.

Campbell Johnson and Shaun Bernstein of the U.S. were playing doubles together in Tuesday night's first round of matches, as were Victor Baluda and Richard Muzaev of Russia, against other opponents. When darkness necessitated that each of their matches be moved to a lighted court, both teams arrived at the same court, and apparently words were exchanged about who belonged there. The Russians said they would see the Americans after their match to settle things, and when Johnson and Bernstein finished (both teams won), the Russians were waiting for them. More words were exchanged, but Johnson said he was not going to get involved, telling the Russians they were lucky he was still in the tournament, or else he would take up the fight. As Johnson walked away, he heard footsteps behind him, and as he turned, he was kicked in the chest and hit in the face. Rodney Carey of the Bahamas entered the fray to help Johnson, who did not fight back, but did use profanity and was heard threatening to kill the Russians.

The police were called, and the tournament referee Brad Taylor defaulted the five players from the tournament. There was no official statement or announcement by Taylor or the USTA staff; the only information given was that the players were thrown out of the tournament for an off-court altercation. Johnson, Baluda and Muzaev were all still in singles; their opponents were notified of the defaults this morning, and their doubles opponents were also given wins due to defaults.

Tennis isn't immune from trash talking, but an incident like this is incredibly rare, and as I thought about it, I began to formulate a theory as to why. By this stage in a junior's career, they have seen and been through a lot, on the court, and off. They've all been cheated out of matches by opponents, been the victim of bad line calls by chair umpires, been frustrated by weather, by expectations, by opponents' gamesmanship, by incompetent tournament directors, by their own inadequacies. But they've either learned enough self-control by this time to deal with all this, or they've left the sport to others who have.

To see such small slight escalate into physical violence just doesn't fit the profile. Impulse control is just too much a part of a tennis player's life to break down so dramatically.

Additional action on the incident is expected by the ITF. I hope resolution of this doesn't take as long as it did in the Serena Williams case.

*This has been amended to three players defaulted. See statement from tournament referee Brad Taylor at the bottom of this post.

Tags: junior tennis, Ellen Tsay, Nicole Gibbs, Dunlop Orange Bowl, Colette Lewis

Sock Dismisses No. 2 Seed Herbert as First Round Action Concludes at Dunlop Orange Bowl

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Key Biscayne, FL--

Second seed Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France probably wasn't too familiar with Jack Sock, who has played very little on the ITF junior circuit, prior to their first round match Tuesday at the Dunlop Orange Bowl. Herbert may know a bit more now, after Sock cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over the ITF's 10th ranked junior on a tropically hot and humid day at Crandon Park.

Sock accepted a wild card into the tournament, fresh from a Pro Circuit Futures title on the clay of Amelia Island late last month, and his confidence was obvious from the start of the match. Having never played, Sock and Herbert both started a bit tentatively, without much of a rhythm established. Herbert blinked first, missing a volley on break point serving at 2-3, and Sock held his serve the next two times, although he survived a very long game with multiple deuces serving for the set at 5-3.

In the second set, Sock broke Herbert in the third game, and Herbert called for a trainer, who had him lying on the court face down for treatment. Herbert did hold to keep it close at 3-2, but when Sock broke him in the seventh game, the result was just a formality.

Sock admitted that his experience in Futures tournaments this fall has given him a different perspective on a junior event, even one with the reputation of the Orange Bowl.

"It's different, but I've got to play the same," he said after the match. "I can't drop my level or something because I'm playing a junior tournament. I have to keep up my level and hopefully that will dictate most of the matches."

Sock earned his first paycheck this fall, playing on the Pro Circuit, although as an amateur, he was accepting reimbursement for expenses, not prize money for winning.

"It's cool, but you get it and hand it right to your dad," he said. "He does the expenses with it. It's cool for about five seconds, and then he uses it for hotels and flights and stuff. I knew you win money, but I didn't know you actually accept a check right there."

As for whether he's considering turning pro, Sock said it would probably be "a last minute decision."

"I'm going to see how 2010 goes, and probably this time next year, I'll have a more clear view on what I'm going to do."

While Herbert was dropping out of the tournament, his countryman Gianni Mina, the top seed, came close to following him, but survived against lucky loser Nikolai Haessig of Canada 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Eddie Herr champion Denis Kudla, seeded No. 7, advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Romain Arneodo of France, and Yucatan champion Mitchell Frank, seeded No. 5, also reached the second round with a 6-1, 6-4 decision over Dovydas Sakinis of Lithuania.

Other American boys advancing to the second round are wild card Campbell Johnson and No. 16 seed Harry Fowler.

The most intriguing girls match of the day, between No. 2 seed Timea Babos and Eddie Herr finalist Di Zhao of China, a special exempt entry into the draw, went to Babos 6-2, 6-4. Both girls struggled at times with both the heat and their consistency, but Babos recovered late in the second set to avoid any complications.

Up a break at 4-3, Babos was broken, but a sloppy game by Zhao gave the Hungarian another lead. Serving for the match, Babos hit two aces and a service winner, and two points later she had her win, earning a Wednesday meeting with American Nicole Gibbs.

No. 15 seed Beatrice Capra, who is blogging this week for usta.com, retired with left knee injury against Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada, trailing 6-3, 4-6, 2-0.

Ester Goldfeld had to wait nearly six hours to play her match against qualifier Lou Brouleau of France, but came through the delay with a 7-5, 6-3 victory. She is joined in the second round by wild cards Ellen Tsay, who defeated qualifier Katerina Popova of Russia 6-0, 6-0 and Robin Anderson, who came back to claim a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 decision from qualifier Haochen Tang of China. Lucky loser Mary Clayton saved two match points in her 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 win over friend and doubles partner Alexandra Cercone.

The 16s first round matches were played at the Biltmore, but all play is scheduled for Crandon Park on Wednesday.

Although I am unable to download the Order of Play or the girls 18s draw this evening at the Dunlop Orange Bowl site, you may have better luck.

Tags: junior tennis, Dunlop Orange Bowl, Jack Sock, Colette Lewis