Unseeded Colby Reaches College Park J1 Final on Home Courts; Two 14-Year-Olds Vie for Girls Title Saturday; Eubanks, Cressy and Loeb Qualify for US Open; Vaccination Now Required for Fans at US Open

©Colette Lewis 2021--
College Park MD--

Ryan Colby had two tough three-set matches in the shirt-soaking heat in the third round and quarterfinals of the ITF College Park J1, so it's no surprise that he slept for 12 hours last night. That he dominated No. 15 seed Kalin Ivanovski of Macedonia 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals Friday was a bit more unexpected, with the 17-year-old Junior Tennis Champions Center student executing his strategy perfectly against his physically imposing opponent.

"I tried to mix it up," said Colby, who never gave Ivanovski the same ball twice in a rally. "I knew he had a big serve, a big forehand so I couldn't let him get comfortable with that. I knew I could last longer than him in the heat, so I just tried to make balls, make him lose his legs."

Getting a break in the fourth game of the first set allowed Colby to keep the pressure on Ivanovski, who seemed to make an unforced error early in every important point. Colby, who didn't drop serve in the match, neutralized Ivanovski's serve and played with both control and aggression.

The second set was close until the sixth game, when Colby broke at love, and he showed no sign of nerves serving out the match, with his JTCC training partners, friends and family not required to provide the energy he had needed from them in his last two wins.

The tournament, which has been a Grade 1 since 2013, has never had a singles finalist from the Junior Tennis Champions Center.

"It's special," said Colby, the reigning USTA 18s Clay Court champion, who has committed to USC. "It's always feels good to be in a final, especially here, in my home town. I love playing in front of the crowd."

Colby will face No. 6 seed Mark Lajal of Estonia, who had an even easier day on the courts than Colby, beating No. 11 seed Alvaro Guillen Meza of Ecuador 6-1, 6-1 in just over an hour.

"I was expecting a tough match because I knew he was a grinder and he liked to make a lot of balls," said the 18-year-old. "But from the first point I put a lot of pressure, and I played a game he didn't like. At one point he started to give me a lot of free points, so I knew what I was doing was exactly what I needed to do."

Lajal had needed three hours to get by Coleman Wong in Thursday's quarterfinals, so he was happy to get through the semifinals quickly.

"The first match, I didn't feel well on the court," said Lajal, who has been in two previous J1 finals this year in Europe and has won them both. "The jet lag and everything. But every match I've started feeling better and better and now I feel pretty good on the court. I like playing in the heat, but here it's really humid and I've played three long matches this week. It's pretty draining on the body, but I can manage."

With Lajal in Europe and Colby playing very little international circuit due to a raft of injuries, they were unlikely to have met in competiion, but Lajal recalled playing Colby in the consolation draw of the Junior Orange Bowl 12s back in 2015, a match that Colby does not remember.

"It was the third round and it was a long match; we had rain delays, but I don't know why I remember that," Lajal said.

Fourteen-year-olds Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic and Mirra Andreeva of Russia will meet for the girls title Saturday after both took out their older opponents in straight sets.

Andreeva, the No. 8 seed, defeated unseeded 17-year-old Pimrada Jattavapornvanit of Thailand 6-3, 6-2, while Fruhvirtova, the No. 13 seed, defeated No. 14 seed Lucija Ciric Bagaric of Croatia by the same score.

Andreeva has had the more consistent results this week, winning all five of her matches in straight sets, while Fruhvirtova was down a match point in the second round against qualifier Ena Koike of Japan after going three sets in the first round.

"The first two rounds I really didn't feel good on the court," said Fruhvirtova, who won a J2 early last month in the Czech Republic, but will be playing in her first J1 final Saturday. "I'm playing on hard courts not even two weeks, so I'm finding my game in the first two rounds. Luckily I saved the match point there, and the two matches after were better and better."

Fruhvirtova said she struggled a bit today, for a variety of reasons.

"I didn't really feel good on my legs today," Fruhvirtova said. "Because it's a fifth match and it's really hard with the weather here, so I didn't really feel good physically. It wasn't an easy match, because it's not easy to play against my doubles partner, but I'm happy that I figured out how to play, even when I was tired."

Andreeva, who earlier this month went undefeated in Russia's ITF World Junior Tennis 14U competition in the Czech Republic, has made a seamless transition from clay to hard courts, and although she has not played Fruhvirtova, she has a recent win over her 16-year-old sister Linda at last month's Grade A in Milan.

"I'm expecting how she'll play tomorrow," said Andreeva, who reached the semifinals in Milan. "I have the plan for her game and so I think I could win the tournament because I am sure of myself. I watched her match in the second round, crazy match, and tomorrow will be easier. I know how she plays and how she will play me."

Andreeva, who won the Junior Orange Bowl 12s in 2019, was able to keep Jattavapornvanit off balance, and by altering her pace and placement she forced the left-hander into going for too much. 

"That girl was very great player, active and aggressive," Andreeva said. "I play across, lines, because of my game, I win this match."

Fruhvirtova and Ciric Bargaric will play for the girls doubles title Saturday afternoon against Jattavapornvanit and her partner Yichen Zhao of China, who trains at the JTCC. Jattavapornvanit and Zhao defeated No. 7 seeds Tatyana Nikolenko of Kazakhstan and Ya Yi Yang of Taiwan 6-0, 6-3, while No. 6 seeds Fruhvirtova and Ciric Bagaric defeated unseeded Charlotte Owensby and Alexandra Yepifanova 6-2, 6-3.

The only third sets played on Friday were in boys doubles, with both semifinals decided in match tiebreakers.

No. 8 seed Ozan Colak and Canada's Jayden Templeman defeated No. 4 seeds Coleman Wong of Hong Kong and Max Westphal of France 7-5, 2-6, 10-6.  Their opponents in the final will be No. 3 seeds Guillen Meza and Ignacio Buse of Peru after they defeated unseeded Nicholas Godsick and Ethan Quinn 6-4, 1-6, 10-7.

Three Americans, all former collegians, have advanced to the main draw of the US Open after winning their third round qualifying matches today. 

Christopher Eubanks(Georgia Tech) defeated Sebastian Baez of Argentina 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(6), hitting 21 aces in the two-and-a-half-hour match. He will be in the main draw of the US Open for the third time, after receiving a wild card in both 2017 and 2019. 

Maxime Cressy(UCLA) managed 18 aces, but he also had 14 double faults in his 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium. Cressy will be in the US Open main draw for the second consecutive year after receiving a wild card and winning a match in 2020.

Jamie Loeb last competed in the main draw of the US Open in 2015, the year she won the NCAA women's singles title as a UNC Tar Heel and received a wild card. After defeating Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania 6-4, 7-6(2) today, the 26-year-old New Yorker, who had 10 aces in the match, will play in her first slam main draw since that 2015 debut.

The final men's qualifying draw is here; the final women's qualifying draw is here.

This afternoon the USTA announced that all ticket holders would be required to prove vaccination status in order to enter the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. For more information, see this statement at usopen.org.