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Thursday, August 12, 2021

Svajda and Shelton Continue March to Finals; Blanch and Bernard Move on in Three Sets; Top Three Seeds in 16s and 18s Reach Doubles Semifinals; No. 1 Seed Montgomery Advances to Girls 18s Quarterfinals; Semifinals Set for 12s and 14s Nationals

©Colette Lewis 2021--
Kalamazoo MI--


Another hot and humid--but dry--day was the backdrop at Stowe Stadium as the 18s division returned to the courts after Wednesday's rain washed out play.

Top seed and defending champion Zachary Svajda extended his Kalamazoo winning streak to 11 matches with an efficient 6-3, 6-0 win over No. 15 seed Michael Zheng. Looking to end that streak in the quarterfinals will be Bruno Kuzuhara, who completed his comeback with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 20 seed Bjorn Swenson. Kuzuhara had lost the first set, but led 4-2 in the second when the rain came Wednesday; that was the only 18s round of 16 match that was in progress, with the other seven yet to go on.

No. 5 seed Samir Banerjee got a second straight day off, when Joseph Wayand, the only unseeded player in the round of 16, was unable to play due to illness. Banerjee will play No. 28 seed Colton Smith, who took out No. 19 seed Sebastian Gorzny 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.

Smith, who starts his freshman year at the University of Arizona next week, has seen been visualizing a successful Kalamazoo, so is not entirely surprised by his appearance in the doubles semifinals and the singles quarterfinals.

"I pictured it happening, but it's definitely really cool to actually be here," said the 18-year-old from Washington. "It's definitely different to actually be here."

Smith said that Gorzny, who was in a coma for several days after a 2019 Kalamazoo match with a suspected mosquito-borne illness, but is now fully recovered, made adjustments in the second set, but Smith was able to counter that strategy in the third.

"He's a really tricky player," Smith said. "He's was trying to take some of the pace away, and he was serving really well. Before the third set, I had a really good talk with my coach and I wasn't overplaying as much in the third set; I felt a little more disciplined with my shot choices."

Smith, who lives more than an hour from Seattle, has struggled finding practice partners at his level, so he is looking forward to his first semester in Tucson.

"It's one thing I've really struggled with," Smith said. "We live quite a ways from Seattle, and it's tough to make the commute up there. So in college, I'm definitely looking forward to the practices, and just something different. Plus, drying out a little bit in the desert."

Smith said he couldn't recall playing Banerjee in singles, but he was excited by the prospect of taking on the recent Wimbledon boys champion. 

"I'm definitely looking forward to playing him," Smith said. "It will be a really good challenge."

No. 3 seed Ben Shelton won his second consecutive match by a 6-2, 6-2 score, beating Nicolas Kotzen, a No. 33 seed. The rising sophomore at the University of Florida will play No. 7 seed Dali Blanch, who took a long and entertaining 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 decision over No. 10 seed Aidan Mayo on George Acker Court 1.

Blanch competed in Kalamazoo in 2019, reaching the round of 16, but today was the first time he had experienced a match on one of the three show courts at Stowe Stadium. 

"Two years ago I think I played on Court 4, said the 18-year-old from Florida. "I think in the beginning I felt a bit nervous, but as the match goes on, you kind of get used to it. It's fun playing with such a crowd, because they support you, even when they're not supporting you. I think they were rooting for both of us. He hit some unbelievable shots and they were clapping and I hit some unbelievable shots and they were clapping. It was just a good match and everyone enjoyed it."

In addition to the shotmaking on display, there was other drama as well, with Mayo, the 2019 16s finalist, getting a game penalty for returning late from the ten-minute break between sets. It cost Mayo his serve, but Blanch failed to capitalize as he was broken in the first game in which a point was played. 

"I don't know USTA rules," said Blanch, who plays almost exclusively on the ITF Junior Circuit. "But he was two minutes late. So I was up a break, and I got broken. Everyone's going to be pissed even if you get a point taken away from you, but I got broken because I played a bad game, so we were back even."

2019 16s champion Alexander Bernard had a grueling match Tuesday and another one today, coming from behind in both instances. Against No. 9 seed and Michigan resident Ozan Colak Bernard, who turns 18 on Friday, wore down the crowd favorite to post a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. Bernard's opponent in Friday's quarterfinal is Sebastian Sec, who defeated fellow No. 33 seed Chase Thompson 6-2, 6-4.

The boys 16s did not play singles on Thursday, but the 16s doubles semifinalists are now set, with the top 3 seeds winning match tiebreakers Thursday evening. 

Top seeds Lucas Brown and Nico Godsick defeated No. 14 seeds Alexander Frusina and Owen Megargee 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-6 and will play No. 4 seeds Dylan Tsoi and Emon Van Loben Sels, who defeated Meecah and Kaylan Bigun 6-2, 2-6, 10-4. 

In the bottom half, No. 10 seeds Zane Ford and Alexander Rezaghi downed No. 3 seed Learner Tien and Marko Mesarovic 6-4, 6-2, the only boys 16s quarterfinal match that didn't go to a match tiebreaker. Ford and Rezaghi will face No. 2 seeds Quang Duong and Cooper Woestendick, who beat No. 21 seeds Brando Carpico and AJ Mercer 6-3, 4-6, 10-3.

In the 18s doubles quarterfinals, Smith and his partner Braden Shick, seeded No. 7, came from behind to take out No. 4 seeds Svajda and Benjamin Kittay 5-7, 6-3, 10-8. Smith said he and Shick, who won the Easter Bowl J1 this spring in San Diego, couldn't take much credit, as there was very little to separate the two teams. 

"We just got lucky with a few points," Smith said, although he did say picking up their first serve percentage in the second set was a significant factor in the result. "We only won by two, so it was close. It's really just a coin toss."

Shick and Smith will face Gorzny and Ethan Quinn, the No. 2 seeds, who had their first routine win since the first round, beating No. 16 seeds Brayden Michna and Nathan Cox 6-1, 6-2.

In the top half, No. 1 seeds Shelton and Kuzuhara had their hands full with No. 32 seeds Conrad Brown and Alex Michelsen but they managed to escape with a 7-6(5), 7-5 victory. They will play No. 3 seeds Bernard and Blanch, who beat No. 13 seeds Nicolas Kotzen and Ekansh Kumar 6-2, 4-6, 10-4.

Quarterfinal matches begin at 10:00 am Saturday with singles matches in both divisions.

Live streaming is available at ustaboys.com.

The quarterfinals are set in San Diego for the Girls 18s Nationals, with top seed Robin Montgomery surviving a stern test from No. 10 seed Sarah Hamner before posting a 6-0, 6-7(5), 6-4 win. 

Girls 18s quarterfinals:

Robin Montgomery[1] v Katie Codd[17]
Meera Jesudason[17] v Reese Brantmeier[7]
Ashlyn Krueger[6] v Ellie Coleman[17]
Elvina Kalieva[5] v Valencia Xu[33]

The 12s and 14s, with smaller draws, are through to the semifinals, with those Friday match listed below. See the USTA Play Tennis sites for complete draws.

Isabelle Dellucia[1] v Nancy Lee[5]
Anita Tu[4] v Julieta Pareja[15]

Jack Secord[1] v Michael Antonius[9]
Colin McPeek[3] v Joseph Nau[16]

Alanis Hamilton[6] v Sydney Jara[5]
Addison Bowman[8] v Claire Hill[2]

Braeden Gelletich[1] v Maxwell Exsted[8]
Jacob Olar[17] v Prathinav Chunduru[17]

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