Kenin Beats Collins to Reach French Open Semifinals; Coleman and Sieg Advance to Girls Doubles Quarterfinals; Sarmiento and Whittle Top Seeds for ITA Oracle Masters; ITA Fall Circuit Week Three Winners

Sofia Kenin, photo courtesy Fila

Sofia Kenin had lost all three pro matches she had played against Danielle Collins, but in today's French Open quarterfinal, the Australian Open champion showed the resourcefulness that has put her at the top of the sport in the past two years. Kenin, seeded fourth, again needed three sets, but her 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 victory again saw her pulling away in the final set.

Collins was playing for a second consecutive day, while Kenin had only played a doubles match on Tuesday, and Collins was not as vocal and emotional as she had been in her three-set win over Ons Jabeur. Kenin got the only service break in the first set and went up a break in the second, but Collins broke right back and then won a tough game with Kenin serving at 4-5, needing four set points to finally even the match.

Any momentum Collins may have had evaporated quickly, with Kenin going up 4-0 before Collins took a medical timeout for an abdominal issue. That break didn't interrupt Kenin's concentration, and she finished off the 27-minute set with another break and hold.

Kenin will play No. 7 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in Thursday's semifinal, with Kvitova advancing via a 6-3, 6-3 win over unseeded Laura Siegemund of Germany. Kvitova is 2-0 against Kenin, having won in two sets on clay in Madrid last year, and in three sets on hard courts in 2018.

Two Americans have advanced to the semifinals in women's doubles, with former Arizona State Sun Devil Desirae Krawczyk and her partner Alexa Guarachi of Chile, a former Alabama All-American, earning a 6-0, 6-4 win over No. 7 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara(UCLA) of Japan.  The No. 14 seeds will play unseeded Nicole Melichar and singles semifinalist Iga Swiatek of Poland, who defeated Asia Muhammad and Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-4. 

The singles quarterfinals are set in the Junior Championships, with three of the top four seeds in the girls draw still alive, but only two seeds total remaining in the boys draw.

No. 2 seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines will take on unseeded Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic in a battle of 15-year-olds that is a rematch of the 2018 Les Petits As final, won by Eala by a score of 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5).  No. 3 seed Elsa Jacquemot of France will face No. 10 seed Kristina Dmitruk of Belarus, and No. 4 seed Polina Kudermetova of Russia plays unseeded Oceane Babel of France. Unseeded Alina Charaeva of Russia, who beat top seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra yesterday, will take on No. 9 seed Alexandra Vecic of Germany.

The two seeds remaining in the boys draw are both from Switzerland, with No. 7 seed Dominic Stricker playing unseeded Lukas Neumayer of Austria in a top half quarterfinal, while No. 8 seed Leandro Riedi is facing unseeded Alex Barrena of Argentina in a bottom half quarterfinal.  France still has two home hopes, but they are not the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, with Harold Mayot losing in the second round, and second seed Cazaux falling to Guy Den Ouden of the Netherlands, a Pepperdine recruit, 6-4, 6-4. Den Ouden will face 16-year-old wild card Sean Cuenin of France, while unseeded Lilian Marmousez of France will take on a second unseeded Argentine, Juan Bautista Torres.

The American interest in the Junior Championships lies with Ellie Coleman and Madison Sieg, who advanced to the girls doubles quarterfinals today with a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 7 seeds Romana Cisovska of Slovakia and Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic. Coleman and Sieg have been playing together for the past month in Europe on the clay, but they will face their biggest test tomorrow when the face 2019 US Open champions and No. 2 seeds Kamilla Bartone of Latvia and Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia. 

Bruno Kuzuhara, the only US boys to advance in doubles, and partner Max Wiskandt of Germany lost in the second round today, with No. 7 seeds Karlis Ozolins of Latvia and Mikolaj Lorens of Poland claiming a 6-3, 1-6, 10-8 win.

The draws for this weekend's Oracle ITA Masters in San Diego have been released and both the No. 1 seeds are professional players, rather than collegians. Because of the lack of playing opportunities due to the pandemic, the ITA decided to open up the Masters to everyone, and with $20,000 in prize money, they have attracted many of the best Southern California players, as well as others from across the country. The draws can be found here.

The men's seeds:

1.Raymond Sarmiento

2.Brandon Holt

3. Cannon Kingsley

4. Keegan Smith

5. Govind Nanda

6. William Griffith

7. Andrew Fenty

8. Alex Brown

The women's seeds:

1. Sophie Whittle

2. Ashley Lahey

3. Jessica Failla

4. Alexa Ryngler

5. Angela Kulkov

6. Haley Giavara

7. Julia Rosenqvist

8. Carolyn Campana

The Sunday finals are set to air on ESPNU with the women's final at 2:00 PM PT and the men’s final following. Mark Bey and Bryan Fenley will be providing the commentary.

Week Three of the ITA Tour Fall Circuit by UTR is complete, with the winners listed below. Week Four this weekend features 16 tournaments, not including the Oracle Masters. Registration for Week Five ends this Sunday. The ITA recently posted this article on the Week Three results.

Week Three Fall Circuit champions:

Charlottesville: Men, Benjamin Kittay; Women, Alana Smith

Indianapolis: Men, Nikolaj Talimaa; Women, Natalie Boesing

Edmond: Men, Emile Hudd; Women, Laia Conde Monfort

Cincinnati: Men, Tim Seibert; Women, Katie Rolls

Mason: Men, Nick Beaty; Women, Sydney Jackson

Lawrenceville: Men, Valentino Caratini; Women, Rasheeda McAdoo

Laramie: Men, Brendan Lock; Women, Ana Fernandez/Sophie Zehender

Ojai: Men, Jake Vassel; Women, Maxi Duncan

Salt Lake City: Men, Gustavo Kerber; Women, Julia Ronney

Cypress: Men, Garrett Skelly; Women, Jeanette Mireles