Harvard Recruits Topple No. 1 and No. 5 Seeds in Easter Bowl ITF Opening Round; Top Seeds Advance to Quarterfinals in 12s and 14s Divisions

©Colette Lewis 2019--
Indian Wells, CA--

When Daniel Milavsky stunned top seed Eliot Spizzirri 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first round of the ITF Easter Bowl early Monday afternoon, David Lins was there to see the upset unfold.

Both are headed to Harvard in the fall of 2020, and Lins felt compelled to step up his game later that afternoon against No. 5 seed Dali Blanch. Inspired, the 17-year-old from Boca Raton Florida came away with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win that closed out the first round of boys singles Monday evening.

"I told him sick match as he came off the court," Lins said. "And I told him he also put all the pressure on me. I couldn't get embarrassed after what he just did."

Milvasky was mentally preparing to play the No. 1 seed even before the draw was released.

"Before the tournament, my friend asked me who I wanted to play, and I said Eliot," said Milavsky, a Massachusetts resident who is five days younger than Lins. "When it came up in the draw, I was ready to do everything I can to get that W."

Milavsky cited his forehand and his serve as his go-to shots and said both were "on point" against Spizzirri. He also said he played smart and disciplined, which was evident when he revealed he hadn't looked to the serve speed display on the tournament's center court, even after a particularly big serve.

"I was way too focused for that," said Milavsky, who trains at the Manchester Athletic Club in Boston.

Milavsky called his win over Spizzirri the best of his career.

"Years ago, I never thought I'd even be here," Milavsky said. "I'm just living the dream."

While Milavsky had played a number of ITF Junior Circuit events prior to this week, Lins was playing his first. After winning three qualifying matches on Saturday and Sunday, he was fighting fatigue as well as a Top 100 opponent.

"It was all just building up from the qualies matches, which were not easy," Lins said.

His victory over Blanch also came with its share of challenges. Lins broke to go up 4-3 in the second set, but was unable to consolidate, throwing in two doubles faults and getting broken at love in what he said to himself on the court was "the worst game of my life."

"When you play a top player like that, there's no room for error," Lins said. "You have to stay on your game constantly and I had a mental lapse there at 4-3 and it cost me the set."

In the third set, Lins again got a break to go up 4-3, and this time he was able to consolidate it.

"I definitely thought I was playing a little too tentative in the second set in that game I got broken," Lins said. "So I tried to hit my first serve big, hit my spots and play my game solid."

Blanch held for 5-4, putting the pressure back on Lins, but he got five first serves in the final game, and although Blanch saved one match point with a forehand winner, his return on the second match point went long to end it.

"It was a lot a pressure, but I had to just go for it," said Lins, who trains at the Magallan Tennis Academy. "I had nothing to lose, came out here for qualies, first ITF. I go to school, so I really can't miss weeks at a time. I'm so far behind right now, but I'll have to deal with that when I get back."

Milavsky and Lins were not the only Harvard recruits to post victories, with No. 11 seed Ronan Jachuck, who starts school there this coming fall, getting a 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3 win over 2018 Easter Bowl 16s finalist Max McKennon.

Spizzirri was one of five seeds to lose in the opening round. No. 7 seed Will Grant lost to Frank Barnett 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-1; No. 8 seed Adam Neff lost to Irvine Grade 4 champion Micah Braswell 6-2, 6-0; No. 15 seed Hunter Heck lost to qualifier Ron Hohmann 7-6(0), 6-2 and No. 16 seed Tom Leblanc Claverie of France lost to Spencer Whitaker 7-5, 6-2.

The girls take the courts on Tuesday for their first round of singles matches, with the boys scheduled only for doubles. The girls first round doubles were played this afternoon, with top seeds Hurricane Tyra Black and Lea Ma beating Josie Frazier and Ashley Yeah 3-6, 6-1, 10-3 and No. 2 seeds Chloe Beck and Emma Navarro defeating Nikita Vishwase and Katja Wiersholm 7-6(9), 6-2.

Live streaming on two courts is available at Easterbowl.com. Ken Thomas at radiotennis.com is also providing coverage on Tuesday.

The top seeds in the 16s both played at Indian Wells to open their tournaments and both were taken to three sets. Nadejda Maslova, the reigning Winter Nationals 16s champion, dropped the first set to Makenna Thiel, but came back to earn a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win. Boys No. 1 seed Aryan Chaudhary got by Zachery Foster 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

The 12s and 14s divisions played their third round matches Monday, with the quarterfinals set for Tuesday.  Top seeds Aidan Kim, Maxwell Exsted, Stephanie Yakoff and Thea Latak are still in the running for Easter Bowl titles.  Below are Monday's third round results. Complete draws can be found at the TennisLink site.

Girls' 14 Singles (Round of 16)
Stephanie Yakoff (1) (Fort Lee, NJ) def. Natalia Perez (9) (Guaynabo, PR) 6-2; 6-4
Alexia Harmon (8) (Las Vegas, NV) def. Ava Krug (16) (Lakewood Ranch, FL) 6-1; 6-2
Tsehay Driscoll (3) (La Canada Flintridge, CA) def. Grace Levelston (Vero Beach, FL) 6-4; 6-4
Liv Hovde (12) (McKinney, TX) def. Maddy Zampardo (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI) 2-6; 6-4; 6-1
Qavia Lopez (15) (Grand Rapids, MI) def. Lara Smejkal (Boca Raton, FL) 6-1; 7-5
Natalie Block (4) (Plantation, FL) def. Isabella Chhiv (Irvine, CA) 7-6(5); 6-1
Madison Weekley (10) (Alamo, CA) def. Lamija Avdic (7) (Kirkland, WA) 6-3; 6-1
Ria Bhakta (2) (Saratoga, CA) def. Valeria Ray (Doral, FL) 6-1; 2-6; 6-4

Boys' 14 Singles (Round of 16)
Aidan Kim (1) (Milford, MI) def. Waleed Qadir (10) (Greenville, NC) 6-1; 4-2 Ret (inj)
Garen Spicka (14) (Las Vegas, NV) def. Chase Thompson (Mission Viejo, CA) 6-4; 6-3
Juncheng Shang (12) (Naples, FL) def. Will Mayew (4) (Cary, NC) 7-5; 6-3
Brayden Michna (6) (Taylor, TX) def. John Lasanajak (16) (Lawrenceville, GA) 6-4; 6-4
Kurt Miller (7) (Los Gatos, CA) def. David Saye (Charlotte, NC) 6-4; 6-1
Lucas Brown (3) (Plano, TX) def. Cooper Williams (9) (New York, NY) 6-2; 6-1
Nicholas Godsick (11) (Chagrin Falls, OH) def. Joseph Phillips (Alpharetta, GA) 6-2; 7-5
Learner Tien (15) (Irvine, CA) def. Yannik Rahman (2) (Miami, FL) 6-1; 6-2

Girls' 12 Singles (Round of 16)

Thea Latak (1) (Darien, IL) def. Tianmei Wang (13) (San Marino, CA) 6-0; 6-1

Olivia Manson (Chicago, IL) def. Jessica Bernales (Las Vegas, NV) 6-0; 7-6(4)

Emily Deming (4) (Fallbrook, CA) def. Atra Biria (Leawood, KS) 6-0; 6-1

Natasha Rajaram (7) (Cupertino, CA) def. Alexis Nguyen (El Dorado Hills, CA) 5-7; 6-1; 1-0(6)

Annika Renganathan (14) (Sammamish, WA) def. Polina Krumkachev (8) (Scottsdale, AZ) 3-0 Ret (inj) 

Bianca Molnar (10) (Ladera Ranch, CA) def. Valerie Gomez (Las Vegas, NV) 6-4; 6-0

Adriana Sciara (Mountain Brk, AL) def. Mariana Shulman (6) (Newton, MA) 6-0; 6-2 

Daniela Borruel (Buena Park, CA) def. Kavitha Gowda (Rochester Hills, MI) 6-0; 6-2

Boys' 12 Singles (Round of 16)

Maxwell Exsted (1) (Savage, MN) def. Roman Sancilio (15) (Henrico, VA) 6-3; 6-4

Vincent Yang (9) (Kirkland, WA) def. A Filer (5) (South Bend, IN) 6-1; 6-4

Abhinav Chunduru (4) (Plano, TX) def. Hughes Peus (Palos Verdes Estates, CA) 6-3; 6-1 

Abhishek Thorat (13) (Lithia, FL) def. Heath Waters (8) (Alpharetta, GA) 6-2; 7-6(3) 

Ritwik Hota (Leesburg, VA) def. Kase Schinnerer (11) (Lewisburg, PA) 6-4; 1-6; 1-0(10) 

Darren Huang (3) (Whitestone, NY) def. Cassius Chinlund (14) (Los Angeles, CA) 6-4; 6-3 

Joseph Hobbs (6) (Virginia Beach, VA) def. Francisco Salmain (Houston, TX) 6-1; 6-4 

Cooper Woestendick (2) (Olathe, KS) def. Braeden Gelletich (Goshen, NY) 6-3; 6-1