Qualifer Hohmann, Unseeded Coleman Advance to Adidas Easter Bowl ITF Semis; Banerjee Tops 16s No. 1 Seed to Make Second Straight Easter Bowl Final

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

Seven wins at a tournament is usually enough to secure a title, but Ron Hohmann still needs two more if he is going to claim the ITF Grade B1 Easter Bowl. Hohmann, who took down his third seed of the week today in the quarterfinals when he defeated No. 11 seed Ronan Jachuck 7-6(5), 6-1, played three qualifying matches on Saturday and Sunday.

"I didn't know I was going to be in qualifying, I thought I was going to be in main draw, but I saw myself in qualifying," said the 17-year-old from New York, who is playing in his first ITF Grade 1 tournament. "I was like, okay, I feel I can do well in the tournament, so I'll come out here and see what I can do. I was feeling great before the tournament started."

Hohmann took out No. 15 seed Hunter Heck in the first round and wild card Zachary Svajda in the second round 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-5.

"I lost the first set, (against Svajda) and went down a break in the second set but just stayed mentally tough," said Hohmann, who has committed to LSU for this fall. "In the third set, I just took it to him, played very well."

Hohmann defeated No. 2 seed Tyler Zink, again in three sets, on Thursday.

"Tyler is a very good player too," Hohmann said. "I just stayed with it, just doing the same things I'm doing match after match, keeping the same routines, keeping mentally tough. A lot of people were cheering for Tyler in that match, 10 people or so. I had one, my coach. So it was a little tough. But I channeled all that out and just focused on one point at a time."

In today's match, Hohmann was able to withstand a barrage of aces from Jachuck in the opening set in Friday's quarterfinal and hold on to take the first set in a tiebreaker, then rolled in the second set.

"I broke the first game of the match, went up serving 30-0 in the second, but he broke me back," said Hohmann. "He was hitting aces left and right. We kept holding until the tiebreak, when I got lucky with a let, and I'll take it."

That let gave Hohmann a 6-2 lead and he needed that margin, losing three straight points before Jachuck double faulted on the fourth.

Hohmann will face No. 13 seed Jacob Bullard, who defeated No. 9 seed Blaise Bicknell 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-1.

The other boys semifinal match will feature the offspring of two former top professional players from the Czech Republic, both of whom are in Indian Wells this week.  No. 3 seed Martin Damm, the son of the former Top 50 player with the same name, defeated No. 10 seed Andrew Dale 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.  No. 14 seed Mark Mandlik, the son of four-time slam champion Hana Mandlikova, defeated unseeded Marcus McDaniel 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.  Damm and Mandlik trained together for many years at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, but have not played on the ITF Junior Circuit.

The girls semifinals will also feature an unseeded player, with 16-year-old Ellie Coleman prevailing in a third set tiebreaker for the second time this week against No. 16 seed Alexandra Yepifanova, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4).

"It helps for sure," Coleman said of her previous experience with that pressure in her 7-6(10), 4-6, 7-6(5) second round win over Nikki Redelijk. "In the tight points, you can think back to a couple of matches ago, when it was tight and I know I pulled it out before. Taking that confidence, being able to not play tight and play through any pressure."

Coleman was up a break twice in the third set, including serving for the match at 6-5, but she couldn't close out Yepifanova, who came up with three forehand winners to force the tiebreaker.

Coleman said she fought off the impulse to get frustrated by losing the last four points of that 12th game.

"I was trying to stay as calm as possible," said the Midland Michigan resident, who has reached a Grade 1 semifinal for the first time this week. "I knew if I got worked up, it wouldn't work in my favor. So I just tried to stay calm and take the next point, no matter if I won the point before that or lost it; focus on what I could do better in the next point."

Coleman will face No. 3 seed Emma Navarro, who cruised past No. 10 seed Charlotte Owensby 6-2, 6-1. Navarro, the 2017 16s champion, reached the ITF Easter Bowl semifinals last year, losing to eventual champion Katie Volynets.

The other girls semifinal will feature No. 5 seed Lea Ma against No. 14 seed Robin Montgomery.

Ma defeated No. 13 seed Emma Jackson 6-3, 6-2, while Montgomery survived a tough test from unseeded Fiona Crawley 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-3.

"I think honestly, maybe she came out stronger than I thought she would, " said the 14-year-old from Washington DC. "I'm going to be honest, I kind of underestimated her a little bit. She came out swinging, I was making lots of errors and the set went by so fast, it was kind of hard for me to process what I needed to do. In my own mind, I wasn't fully locked into the match in the first set."

Montgomery singled out a point, with Crawley serving at 3-4 in the third as pivotal to her win.

"At 4-3, my break point, it was one of the longest points of the match," Montgomery said of rally that featured great offense and defense by both she and Crawley. "I think since I was able to win that point I was able to keep the momentum, but if I had lost that point, I think the match would have been different, but luckily I was able to pull it out."

Montgomery, who reached the quarterfinals of the Grade 1 in Carson as a 13-year-old last year, said she has learned to shed the expectations that she placed on herself. "I just started playing more freely. When I was younger, I used to put lots of pressure on myself for no reason. I can tend to be the person to put lots of pressure on myself, so I've learned not to overthink it. At the end of the day, it's all just a game. I mean yes, I would like to make it my life, but it's just a game."

Montgomery and Ma have not played on the ITF Junior Circuit, but she and Ma did play practice matches at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park Maryland before Ma left for the IMG Academy.

"Last time I played a practice match against her, I got a clean wax, 1 and 1," said Montgomery. "So I'm hoping I can do better tomorrow. I know that she's a solid player, strong at the baseline, lots of experience. At the same time, I feel I have nothing to lose; 14 years old and in the semifinals. I have lots more tennis ahead of me."

The doubles finals are set for Saturday, with the top two seeds meeting for the girls ITF championship. No. 1 seeds Ma and Hurricane Tyra Black will face No. 2 seeds Navarro and Chloe Beck.

In the boys finals, top seeds Damm and Toby Kodat will play No. 3 seeds Tyler Zink and Will Grant.

The 16s finals are set for Saturday morning, with Samir Banerjee, last year's 14s finalist, earning a second consecutive shot at an Easter Bowl title. Banerjee, the No. 3 seed, beat top seed Aryan Chaudhary 7-6(9), 2-6, 6-4 in just under three hours Friday morning at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.  Banerjee will face No. 9 seed JJ Tracy, who needed less than half that time to down No. 4 seed Thomas Paulsell 6-2, 6-1.

No. 9 seed Vivian Ovrootsky also found herself in a three-hour semifinal battle, but the 14-year-old prevailed over unseeded Gracie Epps 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-4. Ovrootsky's opponent in the final is No. 10 seed DJ Bennett, who defeated No. 12 seed Daniella Benabraham 6-2, 6-4.

See the TennisLink site for complete 16s results from today, including consolation matches.

Saturday's matches should all be streamed, beginning with the 16s finals, at easterbowl.com

Boys’ 18s Singles Quarterfinal Results:
Martin DAMM [3] def. Andrew DALE [10] 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Ronald HOHMANN def. Ronan JACHUCK [11] 7-6(5), 6-1
Jacob BULLARD [13] def. Blaise BICKNELL [9] 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-1
Mark MANDLIK [14] def. Marcus MCDANIEL 7-5, 4-6, 6-1

Girls’ 18s Singles Quarterfinal Results:
Emma NAVARRO [3] def. Charlotte OWENSBY [10] 6-2, 6-1
Lea MA [5] def. Emma JACKSON [13] 6-3, 6-2
Robin MONTGOMERY [14] def. Fiona CRAWLEY 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-3
Elizabeth COLEMAN def. Alexandra YEPIFANOVA [16] 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4)

Boys’ 18s Doubles Semifinal Results:
William GRANT/Tyler ZINK [3] def. Adam NEFF/Eliot SPIZZIRRI [2] 6-3, 6-2
Martin DAMM/Toby Alex KODAT [1] def. Ronan JACHUCK/Mark MANDLIK [5] 7-6 (9), 6-4

Girls’ 18s Doubles Semifinal Results:
Hurricane Tyra BLACK/Lea MA [1] def. Savannah BROADUS /Kylie COLLINS [3] 6-1, 6-4
Chloe BECK/Emma NAVARRO [2] def. Jaedan BROWN/ Fiona CRAWLEY 6-1, 6-3

Boys' 16 Singles (Semifinal Round)
Samir Banerjee (3) (Basking Ridge, NJ) def. Aryan Chaudhary (1) (Santa Clara, CA) 7-6(9); 2-6; 6-4 

JJ Tracy (9) (Hilton Head Island, SC) def. Thomas Paulsell (4) (Seattle, WA) 6-2; 6-1

Girls' 16 Singles (Semifinal Round)
Vivian Ovrootsky (9) (San Jose, CA) def. Gracie Epps (Norman, OK) 6-2; 6-7(6); 6-4
DJ Bennett (10) (Belleview, FL) def. Daniella Benabraham (12) (New York, NY) 6-2; 6-4

Boys' 16 Doubles (Semifinal Round)

Thomas Paulsell (Seattle, WA)/Frank Thompson (3) (Blacksburg, VA) def. Aryan Chaudhary (Santa Clara, CA)/Timothy Li (5) (Valley Village, CA) 6-0; 6-4

Alex Finkelstein (Raynham, MA)/Nathan Mao (1) (Topsham, ME) def. Jake Sweeney (Fayetteville, AR)/Gavin Young (4) (Apple Valley, MN) 2-6; 6-3; 6-4

Girls' 16 Doubles (Semifinal Round)

Whitley Pate (Daniel Island, SC)/Sophia Strugnell (Summerfield, NC) def. Carrie Beckman (Louisville, KY)/Emma Charney (3) (Prospect, KY) 6-2; 3-6; 6-3

Ava Catanzarite (Pittsburgh, PA)/Sydni Ratliff (1) (Gahanna, OH) def. Katherine Hui (San Diego, CA)/Eleana Yu (Mason, OH) 4-6; 6-2; 6-0