Eddie Herr Seeds, Draws Revealed with First Round Action Monday for 12s, 14s, 16s and ITF J1; Brenda Fruhvirtova, Poljicak Win JA Titles in Merida

©Colette Lewis 2021--
Bradenton, FL--

The qualifying for the ITF J1 Eddie Herr International Championships was the only competition going on today at the IMG Academy, with the 12s, 14s and 16s having a day off before their first round play begins on Monday. But with two rounds of qualifying, there was plenty of action all day, with the players below earning their places in the main draw.

Boys:

Ellis Short[1], USA

Preston Stearns[2], USA

Dominique Rolland[14], FRA

Learner Tien[10], USA

Federico Bondioli[13], ITA

Ty Switzer, USA

Lucas Brown[11], USA

Teddy Truwit, USA

Girls:

Akasha Urhobo, USA

Gabriella Broadfoot[2], RSA

Elizabeth Tindera[3], USA

Isabella Chhiv[13], USA

Valeria Ray[5], USA

Bridget Stammel, USA

Sophia Wang, USA

Yujin Kim[8], KOR

Learner Tien defeated No. 4 seed Jack Loutit of New Zealand 6-4, 7-6(2) in the final round of qualifying after dropping only two games in his first and second round qualifying matches. The left-hander from Irvine California, who turns 16 next week, didn't panic when Loutit, also a left-hander, broke him to take a 6-5 lead in the second set.

"I was kind of expecting to go into a match tiebreaker, but at the same time, I was fairly confident I could break him," Tien said. "I had broken him two or three times earlier, in both sets actually, so I was just hoping he would play a looser game."

Loutit berated himself for his shot selection at 30-all in that game, after missing a backhand down the line, and Tien took advantage on the next point to force the tiebreaker. 

"I got a pretty good start, and after 1-all, 2-1, I got a lot of momentum," said Tien, who made no mistakes in the last six points, all of which he won.

Tien, who won the J4 in Corpus Christi this fall, said he decided to skip the 16s division at the Eddie Herr and the Orange Bowl this year.

"I talked with my parents and my coaches about that, and I just don't think I'll get anything out of it really, except purely matches," Tien said. "I feel like I get a lot more out of playing a higher age group. There are no really easy matches now. If you go out there and are not feeling your best, every match is loseable. In a lower age group, I could get away without playing well."

Tien, as a qualifier, will have a day off on Monday, with his first round match Tuesday.

Fourteen-year-old Akasha Urhobo does not have an ITF ranking, with her previous appearances on the ITF Junior Circuit ending in the qualifying or first round. But after three wins this weekend, including a 6-4, 6-2 win over Jasmin Makela in the final round of qualifying, she will compete in the main draw of a J1 for the first time.

Urhobo said her mental game was a key to advancing.

"I would say what led me to the main draw was trying my best to keep my composure," said Urhobo, who has been playing tennis for as long as she can remember, with her father a coach at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center in Fort Lauderdale. "Just letting one point get to me could ruin the whole game, and then that moves on to the set and the whole match."

Growing up in Florida Urhobo is comfortable on the green clay, but is looking to improve some of the physical aspects of her game the surface demands.

"I could improve my endurance,," Urhobo said. "After a few points, especially really long points, I find myself gasping for air sometimes. If I could just fix that, I think I would be ok."

Urhobo said it wasn't a given that she would play tennis, despite her father's occupation.

"He played on tour, and then he became a coach and he didn't really want the drama that goes in between to happen for me," Urhobo said. "But I guess, in the end, he allowed me to start, and I'm happy that he did."

The younger age divisions, which finish on Saturday, will play one round a day beginning Monday. The 12s, 14s and 16s draws, with times, can be found here. Below are the top eight seeds in all eight divisions:

Eddie Herr Top 8 Seeds:

ITF Boys:

1. Bruno Kuzuhara, USA

2. Viacheslav Bielinskyi, UKR

3. Jakub Mensik, CZE

4. Leo Borg, SWE

5. Mili Poljicak, CRO

6. Coleman Wong, HKG

7. Aleksander Orlikowski, POL

8. Edas Butvilas, LTU

B16s

1. Juan David Velasquez Ariza, COL

2. Rei Sakamoto, JPN

3. Chase Fralick, USA

4. Tanner Povey, USA

5. Amir Milushev, UZB

6. Maxim Michaels, USA

7. Thanaphat Boosarawongse, THA

8. Emmett Potter, CAN

B14s

1. Maxwell Exsted, USA

2. Andrea De Marchi, ITA

3. Timofey Derepasko, RUS

4. Calvin Baierl, USA

5. Boxiong Zhang, CHN

6. Yubel Ubri, USA

7. Thijs Boogaard, NED

8. Benjamin Willwerth, USA

B12s

1. Navneet Raghuram, USA

2. Teodor Davidov, USA

3. Vihaan Reddy, USA

4. Jordan Lee, USA

5. Jerrid Gaines, USA

6. Juan Miguel Bolivar, COL

7. Tam Sin Hang, HKG

8. Gadin Arun, USA

ITF Girls

1. Kristina Dmitruk, BLR

2. Diana Shnaider, RUS

3. Linda Fruhvirtova, CZE

4. Petra Macinko, CRO

5. Brenda Fruhvirtova, CZE

6. Solana Sierra, ARG

7. Mirra Andreeva, RUS

8. Clervie Ngounoue, USA

G16s

1. Piper Charney, USA

2. Kinaa Graham, USA

3. Brooklyn Olson, USA

4. Kate Kim, USA

5. Noemi Basiletti, ITA

6. Claire An, USA

7. Mayu Crossley, JPN

8. Krisha Mahendran, USA

G14s

1. Rositsa Dencheva, BUL

2. Eva Oxford, USA

3. Wakana Sonobe, JPN

4. Maya Iyengar, USA

5. Katie Rolls, USA

6. Aurora Nosei, ITA

7. Tahlia Kokkinis, AUS

8. Amelie Justine Hejtmanek, GER

G12s

1. Lia Belibova, MDA

2. Rin Ito, JPN

3. Kristina Penickova, USA

4. Anna Bugaienko, USA

5. Anita Tu, USA

6. Abigail Gordon, USA

7. Bela Martinez, PUR

8. Joyce Geng, CAN

The JA in Merida Mexico finished late Saturday night, with 14-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova, the No. 4 seed, defeating her 16-year-old sister Linda, the No. 3 seed, 7-5, 7-5 to claim the girls singles title. Linda had beaten Brenda in the final of the J1 a week ago in Guadalajara Mexico.

In the boys final, No. 4 seed Mili Poljicak of Croatia defeated No. 6 seed Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 for the title. 

Vallejo is the only one of the four finalists who is not playing this week's Eddie Herr.

With many American juniors taking the week off for Thanksgiving, and playing the National Indoors or Eddie Herr, there was only one title for the US on the ITF Junior Circuit this week, at the J5 in Panama. Top seeds Roy Horovitz and Stefan Regalia won the boys doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Luis Fernandez and Chile's Piero Fernandez Moreno 6-4, 7-6(5) in the final.