Kim Wins Third Set Breaker to Advance to ITF College Park Grade 1 Semifinals; Quevedo and Krug Meet for Place in Final; USTA 18s Champions Draw Seeds for US Open Debuts; Six Americans Reach Final Round of USO Qualifying

©Colette Lewis 2022--

College Park MD--

Aidan Kim had seen six match points elude him in his quarterfinal encounter with Alexander Razeghi Thursday afternoon at the ITF Grade 1 at the Junior Tennis Champions Center. As the skies darkened, Razeghi saved them all, but as the first drops of rain began to fall, Kim told himself it was "now or never," and hit an ace to end the 6-1, 6-7(3), 7-6(7) marathon. Less than a minute later, the skies opened, ending outdoor play for the day.

Razeghi, the No. 16 seed, had saved two match points at serving at 4-5 in the third set, then broke Kim, the No. 9 seed, to serve for the match. The 16-year-old from Texas recovered from 15-40 to get back to deuce, but that was as close as he would get to closing it out, hitting a forehand wide and double faulting to send the match into a deciding tiebreaker.

The quality of many of the rallies was high, with most of the balls in the baseline exchanges landing within a few inches of the lines. Kim took a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker, kept his lead throughout, going up 6-3 on the strength of a perfect serve and backhand volley winner at 5-3. Razeghi held his two serves to make it 6-5 and Kim double faulted on his fifth match point. A great second serve gave him another, but his forehand went wide and it was 7-all. Kim got his seventh opportunity with a backhand forcing an error from Razeghi and then came the ace that put the exclamation point on the match.

Kim, who said he has been working with a sports psychologist at the USTA, was able to maintain his composure throughout all those peaks and valleys, including that discouraging double fault.

"In those moments, I really don't think it would be worth it to lose a match because of that one moment," said the 17-year-old from Michigan. "It affects the next two points and then you've just lost the match because you couldn't move on."

Kim is inclined to close the net whenever he can, yet against Razeghi found himself playing long points from the baseline instead.

"In the past few months that's what I've been most happy with myself about, still being able to compete at the same level playing a different game that might have used to feel uncomfortable before," said Kim, who moved into the main draw of the US Open Junior Championships a few days ago. "Now I know I can still play a different game, when Plan A doesn't go as well."

Kim said Razeghi raised his level dramatically in the second set, and was prepared for a challenging third set.

"I know he's mentally tough, he won't give up," Kim said. "I knew that from the beginning of the match, and I tried not to let my guard down, because he'll fight for every single point. I've always respected him for that."

Kim, playing in his first Grade 1 semifinal, will face No. 5 seed Joao Fonseca of Brazil in Friday, with the 16-year-old earning his fourth consecutive straight-sets victory today with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 3 seed Danil Panarin of Russia.

The other boys semifinal features top seed Lautaro Midon of Argentina and No. 4 seed Hayato Matsuoka of Japan. Midon ended the run of 16-year-old JTCC student Stiles Brockett with a 6-2, 6-4 win, while Matsuoka defeated No. 11 seed Luis Alvarez Valdes of Mexico 7-5, 6-2.

Since losing in the first round at Wimbledon as a qualifier, Kaitlin Quevedo has gone 19-1 on the ITF Junior Circuit's J2s and J3s in Colombia. None of those 19 wins were any more difficult than her 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 win today over 14-year-old Capucine Jauffret, who fought back from 5-2, 40-0 down in the third set, but couldn't get that crucial hold at 5-all.

"I stayed calm, learned from my match yesterday, and at 6-5, 40-30 I was able to close it," said the 16-year-old from Naples Florida. "It was a very intense match; she's a very good player and she played very well."

Quevedo, seeded No. 14, knew that Jauffret's lack of experience on the ITF Junior Circuit could be both an asset and a liability.

"Definitely when they play without pressure, they play much better, in my opinion," said Quevedo, who will be playing her first ITF Grade 1 semifinal Friday. "But she's a great player, she knows how to play. She's very consistent, and we both play similar I think. But even though she's 14, we're both playing a Grade 1. It's the level, not really the age."

Quevedo will face unseeded Ava Krug, who defeated Iva Jovic 6-4, 7-6(4). 

"I played her a few years ago when I was very young and she beat me," Quevedo said. "Tomorrow will be better; we've both improved a lot and I know she's playing well, she's had some good wins this tournament. It'll be a good match tomorrow. I'm excited."

In the other semifinal, No. 2 seed Mira Andreeva of Russia continues to cruise through the draw, defeating unseeded Thea Rabman 6-2, 6-0. The 15-year-old has now lost just 15 games in her four victories and will face No. 5 seed Sara Saito of Japan in an attempt to return to the final, where she lost to Brenda Fruhvirtova.  Andreeva defeated Saito in the second round of the Grade A in Milan this spring.

There is only one American team left in the doubles draw, with unseeded Piper Charney and Tatum Evans set to face No. 3 seeds Anastasiia Gureva of Russia and Carolina Kuhl of Germany in Friday's semifinals. Top seeds Andreeva and Taylah Preston of Australia will play No. 5 seeds Yu-Yun Li of Taiwan and Saito in the other girls doubles semifinal.

In the boys doubles, top seeds Branko Djuric and Midon will face No. 3 seeds Matsuoka and Lennon Jones of Japan and No. 5 seeds Duncan Chan of Canada and Fonseca will play No. 2 seeds Panarin and Max Batyutenko of Kazakhstan.

Play begins with boys singles at 9:30 a.m., followed by the girls singles, with the doubles semifinals to follow the singles.

Draws and the order of play is available at the JTCC website.

The draws for next week's US Open were released today, with USTA Boys 18s champion Learner Tien set to play No. 32 seed Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia Tuesday and USTA Girls 18s champion Eleana Yu drawn against No. 29 seed Alison Riske-Amritraj in a match scheduled to be played on Monday.

NCAA men's champion Ben Shelton will face a qualifier on Monday; NCAA women's champion Peyton Stearns plays Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, the No. 28 seed, Tuesday.

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

The final round of US Open qualifying is set for Friday, with six Americans-- two men and four women--still in contention for a spot in the main draw.

Christopher Eubanks(Georgia Tech) defeated Gregoire Barrere of France 7-6(6), 6-7(2), 7-6(4) to advance to the final round, where he'll play Raul Brancaccio of Italy. Brandon Holt(USC) beat No. 14 seed Emilio Gomez(USC) of Ecuador 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 and will play Dimitar Kuzmanov of Bulgaria for a place in the main draw.

USTA 18s boys finalist Ethan Quinn(Georgia) lost to No. 30 seed Federico Delbonis of Argentina 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 and USTA 18s girls finalist Valerie Glozman lost to No. 31 seed Maddison Inglis of Australia 6-4, 6-3.

2021 USTA Girls 18s champion Ashlyn Krueger defeated No. 25 seed Katie Boulter of Great Britain 6-3, 6-4 to advance to a final round qualifying meeting with Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove of the Netherlands. Sachia Vickery, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over No. 2 seed Lin Zhu of China, will face No. 17 Cristina Bucsa of Spain; Whitney Osuigwe, who beat No. 24 seed Mirjam Bjorklund of Sweden 6-3, 6-4, will play No. 9 seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy and Catherine Harrison(UCLA), who defeated Lizette Cabrera of Australia 6-3, 7-6(2), will meet Eva Lys of Germany.

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