Hauger and Kozlov Reach Quarterfinals at Australian Open Junior Championships; Seven US Players in Les Petits As Rounds of 16

Olivia Hauger is among five unseeded players still in the hunt for an Australian Open Junior title, with the quarterfinals scheduled for Thursday in Melbourne (tonight in the United States).

Hauger, who defeated top seed Varvara Flink in the second round, advanced to the quarterfinals Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-1 win over unseeded Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia, and faces another unseeded player in Croatia's Jana Fett for a place in the semifinals.  Simon Cambers talked with Hauger about her great run in Melbourne for this article on the ITF junior website.

The third unseeded quarterfinalist in the girls draw is also in the top half, 15-year-old Kimberly Birrell, who defeated No. 15 seed Fiona Ferro of France 6-4, 6-1. Ferro had beaten Birrell last week in the third round of the Grade 1 in Traralgon.  Birrell will play No. 10 seed Anastasiya Komardina of Russia.

The bottom half of the girls draw is more to form, with the 2, 4, 6 and 7 seeds advancing to the quarterfinals.  Eddie Herr champion Jelena Ostapenko, the No. 6 seed, had the most dramatic victory, overcoming six match points held by Australian Naiktha Bains in the second set of Ostapenko's 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory.  Ostapenko meets No. 4 seed Elizaveta Kulichkova of Russia, a 2013 semifinalist in the quarterfinals.  No. 7 seed Ziyue Sun of China, who needed a wild card into qualifying after not entering on time, plays No. 2 seed Ivana Jorovic of Serbia.

No. 2 seed Stefan Kozlov of the United States needed less than an hour to win his third round match, defeating Boris Pokotilov of Russia 6-1, 6-2. After two long matches in which he was only a few points from defeat, Kozlov was undoubtedly glad to have a routine win.  He and Michael Mmoh, the top seeds in doubles, were beaten in the quarterfinals however, losing to No. 7 seeds Omar Jasika of Australia and Kamil Majchrzak of Poland 6-2, 5-7, 10-8.

Kozlov may have cruised into the quarterfinals, but his opponent Andrey Rublev of Russia certainly didn't.  Rublev, the No. 10 seed, needed just short of three hours to get past Australian Henry Bourchier 7-5, 6-7(7), 14-12.  Rublev and Kozlov last played in the quarterfinals of the Eddie Herr, with Rublev winning 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. 

In the other quarterfinal in the bottom half of the draw, No. 7 seed Quentin Halys of France will play unseeded Petros Chrysochos of Cyprus.

The top half of the boys draw is still led by No. 1 Alexander Zverev of Germany.  He meets No. 11 seed Hyeon Chung of Korea, while unseeded Brad Mousley, the sole Australian remaining in the boys draw, plays Eddie Herr champion Majchrzak, the No. 9 seed.

For the draws and schedule for Thursday's matches, see the tournament website.

Today at Les Petits As, seven of the eight Americans advanced to the round of 16.  No. 4 seed Claire Liu and No. 16 seed Abigail Desiatnikov both posted straight set victories, and are two of only seven seeds who made it to the third round.  Unseeded Elysia Bolton and Grace Joyce continued their fine play, with Bolton taking out No. 3 seed Tatiana Makarova of Russia 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 and Joyce beating Great Britain's Ali Collins 6-3, 6-3.  Joyce had beaten No. 2 seed Olesya Pervushina of Russia in the first round.  Liu is now the highest seed remaining in the girls draw.

Andrew Fenty, the No. 14 seed, Roscoe Bellamy, the No. 12 seed, and unseeded Keenan Mayo won their second round matches, with Mayo defeating No. 8 seed Alexander Shevchenko of Russia 6-4, 6-7(0), 6-4.  Fenty gets top seed Alen Avidzba of Russia next, Bellamy faces No. 5 seed Mykhailo Kvantaliani of Ukraine and Mayo meets No. 10 seed Alexander Zgirovsky of Belarus.  Axel Nefve lost to Teen Tennis champion Nicola Kuhn of Germany, the No. 11 seed, 4-6, 7-5 ,6-1.

Both girls doubles teams are into the quarterfinals, but Teen Tennis champions Bellamy and Mayo, who were surprisingly unseeded, lost to the third-seeded German team of Kuhn and Rudolf Molleker. Fenty and Nefve, also unseeded, advanced to the quarterfinals in straight sets.

For complete results, see the tournament website.