Wiersholm, Wong Oust No. 3 Seeds Yepifanova and Lilov; Shelton and Kalieva Among US Open Qualifying Winners; Cal's Wright Retires

©Colette Lewis 2021--
College Park MD--

Wednesday's third round at the ITF College Park J1 was similar to the first two days, with searing heat and the exit of seeds, with the No. 3 seeds the victims today. Unseeded Katja Wiersholm and No. 16 seed Coleman Wong of Hong Kong were responsible for the elimination of junior slam finalists, with Wiersholm defeating Alexandra Yepifanova 6-1, 6-3 and Wong taking out Victor Lilov 7-5, 6-1.

Wiersholm had lost to Yepifanova in the second round of the Easter Bowl this spring, but had beaten her in the consolation tournament of the USTA 18s National Championships in San Diego earlier this month.

"At Easter Bowl I had a lot of nerves going into the match because she's like the highest-level player that I'd played since Covid," said the 17-year-old left-hander, who has committed to Cal. "But I saw that it was competitive and I had the game. I beat her at San Diego, but that was just back draw, so I knew that this match was bigger for her and for me too, so we were both going to step it up."

Wiersholm said her returning was a key to taking control of the match.

"She's very tall and and she has a great serve," Wiersholm said. "I just had to go for the returns, be fearless and eventually get a rhythm with it, instead of just getting tight."

Wiersholm had gotten through two long three-setters on the first two days, so she was relieved to get the first match on Wednesday morning, when the heat and humidity were still building to the oppressive levels they reached in the afternoon. 

"I made it a little hard on myself the first two rounds," Wiersholm said. "I feel fine. Training in Florida has really helped my fitness, so going into tournaments like this, I feel more confident, knowing I've been practicing in really hot weather and I can handle it."

Wiersholm will play 14-year-old Mirra Andreeva of Russia, the No. 8 seed, who defeated No. 11 seed Victoria Mboko of Canada 6-3, 6-2.

Pimrada Jattavapornvanit of Thailand, who took over the top spot in the draw when Linda Fruhvirtova withdrew just prior to the tournament, will face No. 7 seed Alexis Blokhina in the other quarterfinal in the top half. Blokhina, who is the only other US girl in the quarterfinals, defeated two-time Orange Bowl finalist Jana Kolodynska of Belarus, the No. 9 seed, 6-2, 6-3.

Just two American boys remain as well, both unseeded, with local favorite Ryan Colby playing Michael Zheng for a spot in the semifinals. Colby defeated Braden Shick 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, while Zheng ended the run of qualifier Brayden Michna 6-0, 6-3. The three seeded Americans remaining in the top half all lost today, with top seed Juncheng Shang of China defeating No. 13 seed Ethan Quinn 6-4, 6-3 and No. 7 seed Alexander Bernard retiring with heat-related illness to No. 11 seed Alvaro Guillen Meza of Ecuador in the first game of the third set, after winning the first 7-5 and dropping the second 6-4.

The third, Lilov, had set points at 5-4 in the first against Wong, but a disagreement over Wong's call on a Lilov serve proved a turning point.

"He's serving at 5-4 and he has two or three set points," said Wong, who didn't play from March of 2020 until June of this year due to the travel restrictions imposed for the pandemic in Hong Kong. "He said he served an ace, it was close to the line and I said it was out, and we kind of argued a bit. Then I broke him back and he dropped a bit. I got more returns in, second set and that was the key, and my serve."

Wong, who is traveling with a coach provided by the federation, was told that he hit 12 aces during the match.

"So I was serving good, and my return was solid," said Wong, who had beaten Lilov in the final of the Junior Orange Bowl 14s in 2018 and considers him a good friend. "Two years ago, I was here and made the quarters as well; hopefully I can do better tomorrow."

Wong will face No. 6 seed Mark Lajal of Estonia, who defeating No. 12 seed Ignacio Buse of Peru 6-4, 6-3.

Not all the upsets were in singles, with the top-seed girls doubles team getting knocked off in this afternoon's second round action. Alejandra Cruz of Mexico and Dasha Plekhanova of Canada defeating Dana Guzman of Peru and Solana Sierra of Argentina 3-6, 6-3 11-9.

The No. 2 seeds in the boys doubles, Lajal and Kalin Invanovski of Macedonia lost to Evan Wen and Sebastian Sec 7-6(3), 6-7(1), 10-4. 

Due to the heat continuing on Thursday, all eight quarterfinal singles matches will be played at 9 a.m. with doubles to follow after suitable rest.

The draws and Thursday's order of play can be found at the ITF junior website.

A long day of qualifying at the US Open ended tonight with six American men and seven American women advancing to the second round Thursday, joining the seven who won their first round matches Tuesday. 

Two current collegians, Texas junior Eliot Spizzirri and Florida sophomore Ben Shelton, both picked up impressive wins as wild cards, with Spizzirri defeating ATP 163 Alejandro Tabilo of Chile 5-7, 7-6(0), 6-3 and Shelton beating Michael Mmoh 7-6(3), 7-6(5). Eighteen-year-old wild card Elvina Kalieva also made good use of her wild card, defeating Mayo Hibi of Japan 6-3, 6-4.

Americans winning first round qualifying matches Wednesday:

Christian Harrison[WC]

Mitchell Krueger

Christopher Eubanks

Ben Shelton[WC]

Aleksandar Kovacevic[WC]

Eliot Spizzirri[WC]

Elvina Kalieva[WC]

Robin Anderson

Usue Arconada

Hanna Chang

Victoria Duval[WC]

Caroline Dolehide

Sachia Vickery

The women's draw is here; the men's draw is here; Thursday's order of play, which features 20 Americans, is here.

Peter Wright, who has led the Cal men's tennis program for the past 29 years, announced today that he is retiring. Women's head coach Amanda Augustus is taking over as the interim head coach while a national search is conducted. I spoke with Wright at length just two weeks ago in Kalamazoo about several possible changes in the college tennis calendar, so I hope his retirement from coaching doesn't mean he's stepping away from the sport, but rather shifting his focus to the overall health of collegiate tennis in general. College tennis has benefited from his vision and insight for decades, and needs it now more than ever.