Qualifier Scott Keeps Winning on Grass; Mandlik, Kingsley Save Match Points; Thirteen Americans Through to Wimbledon Junior Championships Round Two; Williams, Riske and Querrey in Quarterfinals
©Colette Lewis 2019--
Wimbledon--
Fifteen-year-old Katrina Scott had never played on grass before the ITF Grade 1 in Nottingham three weeks ago, but she reached the semifinals there, and with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 16 seed Adrienn Nagy of Hungary today in the first round of the Wimbledon Junior Championships, Scott has chalked up nine victories on the surface.
"I'm surprised about how much I love grass," said the Southern Californian. "Before here I've never really played on grass. I like how it's faster; for me it's easier to move on and points are quicker."
Scott fell behind in the first set, and trailed 4-2 in the second, but the confidence she's gained over the past three weeks proved too much for Nagy.
"It didn't faze me, I knew that I just had to keep playing," Scott said. "I broke back every time and I had some confidence in that. I have a lot of self-belief--after you do well in big tournaments, beat really good players, you gain confidence, and that makes it easier."
The only player to beat Scott during this three-week junior grass court season, No. 5 seed Hurricane Tyra Black, will not stop Scott this week, with Black losing to Elsa Jacquemot of France 6-2, 6-0. Black had beaten Jacquemot 6-2, 6-2 last week in the Roehampton quarterfinals, but she was wrapped with tape from her thighs to her ankles today, and after retiring in the semifinals at Roehampton, was obviously not 100 percent.
Scott was not the only Wimbledon debutante to pick up her first junior slam win today, with 14-year-old Robin Montgomery also getting into the win column with a 6-4, 7-6(5) decision over Marta Custic of Spain. Montgomery had lost to Custic 6-1, 6-1 last November, but the powerful left-hander was able to turn the tables and prevail on the key points to advance.
Elli Mandlik took out No. 9 seed Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand by a 6-7(2), 7-5, 11-9 score, saving two match points serving at 8-9, 15-40. Mandlik had squandered a match point of her own serving for the match at 7-6 in the third, and had another chance to serve it out at 8-7, but couldn't manage to shake Sawangkaew, who raised her game when she was behind. Mandlik managed another break, after Sawangkaew went up 40-15 serving at 9-all, but Mandlik broke and, on her third opportunity, served out the two-hour and 50 minute match.
Qualifier Charlotte Owensby earned her first junior slam win, with the 16-year-old beating Savit Kimchi of Israel 6-2, 6-2, and Roehampton finalist Alexa Noel, the No. 10 seed this week, sliced and diced her way to a 6-4, 6-4 win over qualifier Amarissa Toth of Hungary.
Will Grant, the only lucky loser in either singles draw, earned his first junior slam main draw win by beating Nini Dica of Romania 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Andrew Dale had never played a junior slam, qualifying or main draw, prior to this week's Wimbledon, but he was able to overcome that lack of experience and the crowd support for his opponent to beat fellow qualifier Derrick Chen of Great Britain 7-6(7), 6-4.
No. 6 seed Brandon Nakashima rolled through his first set with qualifier Phuong Van Nguyen of Vietnam, but had a battle on his hands in the second set before posting a 6-0, 7-6(5) victory.
"It was a weird match all around," said Kingsley, who has already began classes this summer at Ohio State. "He was obviously a little injured in his elbow, or his wrist, I couldn't tell. Sometimes he would serve really big, sometimes really slow, he started underhanded serving also, and in the second set, once I got a break, he almost gave up. But right off the bat in the third set, it was like he was back in the first set."
Down 4-1 in the third and then 5-3, Kingsley was determined to keep fighting.
"Even though I was down a break, I still felt like every game, on my return, I could break him," Kingsley said. "I was close every game, deuces, 30-alls, break points, but I wasn't converting."
At 5-3, 40-15, Virtanen, the reigning Orange Bowl champion, tried another underhand serve, but Kingsley ended up hitting a forehand volley winner to save the first match point. On the second Virtanen made an unforced error, and Kingsley won the next two points to get out of danger. After a quick hold and another break, Kingsley was ready to serve for the match, but Virtanen called for the trainer for his right wrist, and Kingsley had plenty of time to think about the next game.
"That was a long medical timeout," said Kingsley, who spent most of the time shadow serving near his chair. "It was a solid 10 minutes. Then I hit the serve, weird bounce, kind of missed it, then double faulted for 0-30, and I'm like, focus. But I just played a couple of good points and I was back in it. I'm just glad I didn't throw that game away."
After three of the top 8 boys seeds went out on Saturday, upsets were rare today. In addition to Virtanen, the only other seed to lose was No. 15 seed and Roehampton Grade 1 champion Gauthier Onclin of Belgium, who lost to 2018 Wimbledon boys quarterfinalist Anton Matusevich of Great Britain 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Top seed and French Open champion Holger Rune of Denmark extended his junior slam winning streak, beating Kevin Chahoud of Sweden 6-2, 6-4.
Eight of the 16 girls seeds are out, but the top four have all advanced to Tuesday's second round, with No. 4 seed Diane Parry of France beating Darja Semenistaja of Latvia 6-3, 6-3 today. Top 3 seeds Emma Navarro, Maria Osorio Serrano of Colombia and Qinwen Zheng of China advanced with wins on Saturday.
Coco Gauff's Wimbledon run came to an end today, with No. 7 seed Simon Halep beating the 15-year-old qualifier 6-3, 6-3. Serena Williams[11] beat Carla Suarez Navarro[30] of Spain 6-2, 6-2 and Alison Riske earned the biggest win of her career, beating WTA No. 1 and French Open champion Ashleigh Barty of Australia 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Williams and Riske will play tomorrow for a place in the semifinals.
Sam Querrey won the all-US battle with Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 7-6(5) and will play No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal in Wednesday's quarterfinals.
Monday’s Junior singles first round results featuring Americans:
Andrew Dale[Q] d. Derrick Chen(GBR)[Q] 7-6(7), 6-4
Cannon Kingsley d. Otto Virtanen(FIN)[11] 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
Carlos Alcarez Garfia(ESP)[10] d. Tyler Zink 6-3, 6-2
Dominic Stricker(SUI) d. Andres Martin[Q] 7-5, 6-0
Illya Beloborodko(UKR) d. Eliot Spizzirri 1-6, 7-5, 6-4
Will Grant[LL] d Nini Dica(ROU) 6-1 4-6, 7-5
Brandon Nakashima[6] v Phuong Van Nguyen(VIE)[Q] 6-0, 7-6(5)
Elli Mandlik d. Mananchaya Sawangkaew(THA)[9] 6-7(2), 7-5, 11-9
Katrina Scott[Q] d. Adrienn Nagy(HUN([16] 6-3, 6-4
Alexa Noel[10] d. Amarissa Toth(HUN)[Q] 6-4, 6-4
Priska Nugroho(INA) d. Chloe Beck 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-4
Carole Monnet(FRA) d. Savannah Broadus 2-6, 7-5, 6-2
Robin Montgomery d. Marta Custic(ESP) 6-4, 7-6(5)
Helene Pellicano(MLT)[15] d. Alexandra Yepifanova[Q] 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
Elsa Jacquemot(FRA) d. Hurricane Tyra Black[5] 6-2, 6-0
Charlotte Owensby[Q] v Shavit Kimchi(ISR) 6-2, 6-2
Tuesday's second round junior singles matches featuring Americans:
Cannon Kingsley v Arthur Fery(GBR)[WC]
Govind Nanda v Anton Matusevich(GBR)
Katrina Scott[Q] v Sonay Kartal(GBR)[WC]
Elli Mandlik v Elina Avanesyan(RUS)
Brandon Nakashima[6] v Nicholas David Ionel(ROU)
Martin Damm[4] v Ryoma Matsushita(JPN)
Robin Montgomery v Funa Kozaki(JPN)
Andrew Dale[Q] v Carlos Gimeno Valero(ESP)
Emma Navarro[1] v Selena Janicijevic(FRA)
Will Grant v Jiri Lehecka(CZE)[5]
Charlotte Owensby[Q] v Alexa Noel[10]
Abigail Forbes v Diane Parry(FRA)[4]
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