Quinn Among Top B18s Seeds Breezing into Third Round; 16s Championships Underway at Kalamazoo; Both USA Teams Finish Third at ITF World Junior Tennis 14U Competition; Shang Reaches Lexington Challenger Final

©Colette Lewis 2022--
Kalamazoo MI--

The hot and humid conditions for the singles second round at the USTA Boys 18s National Championships didn't pose any problems for the top 16 seeds, all of whom advanced to the third round with routine straight-sets victories.

Eight games was the most any of those 15 seeds lost (No. 6 seed Nishesh Basavareddy withdrew before the tournament) and it was No. 1 seed Martin Damm who had the toughest match. Playing on George Acker Court, the No. 1 court at Stowe, the 2018 Boys 16s champion struggled a bit before defeating Ethan Schiffman 6-4, 6-4. The left-hander from Florida got a break at 4-all in the first set, then broke early in the second and held on to advance to the third round.

In the day's last main draw match at Stowe, No. 2 seed Ethan Quinn also was assigned to Acker Court, where he displayed the form that has resulted in two USTA Pro Circuit men's titles this summer, beating Kyle McNally 6-0, 6-1.

After a mediocre spring on the ITF Junior Circuit that led to a drop in his ranking, Quinn opted not to play qualifying for Roehampton and the Wimbledon Junior Championships, a decision that looks especially good in hindsight.

"I had been in Milan (a junior Grade A), Roland Garros and a 15K in Italy and that entire time I was pretty ill," said the 18-year-old from Fresno, who now lives in Athens after enrolling at the University of Georgia in January. "Being ill, I didn't want to stay in Europe by myself, and I saw there were these $15Ks in California, and I thought that would be a little bit better opportunity for me, for the path I want to go on."

An unabashed fan of hard courts, Quinn had great success on the SoCal Circuit, winning his first pro title in San Diego in singles by defeating NCAA singles finalist August Holmgren in the final, while also reaching the doubles final. He picked up two doubles titles the following two weeks, then made the semifinals as that six-week stretch concluded. The following week, he made his way to the Midwest for the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Champaign and won that, boosting his ATP ranking to 509, second only to Damm in the Kalamazoo field.

He retired in the second round of the $25,000 tournament in Edwardsville last week, unwilling to jeopardize his preparations for Kalamazoo.

"Going into Edwardsville, I felt like I was fine physically," Quinn said. "In Champaign it was really hot, some days were really windy, but I felt like let's just keep riding this high. I was playing very well, I felt like I could beat anyone in that draw again and I won my first round, but I was having just a little big of discomfort in my knee and I was just like, this is not worth it. Right away, I went back to Athens and got my body feeling better. I had played six weeks straight or so, and it was nice getting a lot of massages. Rather than go back to California, I could get that all for free, in the same time zone."

Quinn admits that he often feels a different level of pressure when playing junior tournaments, but does not shy away from talking about the US Open main draw wild card on the line here.

"It's massive," saoid Quinn, who has received entry into the US Open Junior Championships via his ATP ranking. "The entire summer I had this marked on my calendar, making sure my body is ready, that I'm ready to compete at a high level, getting a lot of matches in. I want to win this, and especially, being the college guy, I want to show that it's the right choice. I want to be at the Open for sure."

The first few rounds at Kalamazoo don't compare to the competition he was facing in the Pro Circuit tournaments, but he defeated both No. 4 seed Kyle Kang and No. 7 seed Alex Michelsen during the SoCal Pro Circuit tournaments and knows just how many contenders there are for the title this year.

"I think a lot of it is going to be mental," Quinn said. "Who can handle the pressure. Anyone could win it, so every match you have to play knowing this could decide whether I go to the Open. If you're more locked in, making better decisions, and I mean, this is the best crowd I've had since my first year in 16s here, so not letting the crowd overwhelm you. Anyone can take it, but not if you're letting those things affect you."

Quinn appreciates what Kalamazoo means to the history of the sport and to the community.

"It's just the way the community supports the tennis here," Quinn said. "It really reminds me of Athens, big stadium, three front courts. Yesterday I was walking out of dinner and people stopped me and asked about the tournament, if I was playing. They were from Chicago and everyone around here knows about the tournament. I appreciate how much they support it. When you're out there, and even if you're playing someone you're kind of killing, they're still clapping, still super supportive. The boy I played today, he won a game and the crowd erupted. I loved it and it gets me ready for college that feeling. And then, of course, the blueberries and cream. I'm probably going to get one before I go back."

No. 3 seed and reigning Australian Open boys champion Bruno Kuzuhara defeated AJ Mercer 6-2, 6-0 and No. 4 seed Kyle Kang beat Ninad Raut 6-2, 6-1.

While there was no drama for the top 16 seeds, No. 17 seed Alexander Frusina wasn't as fortunate, losing to Abishek Thorat 6-2, 6-4. The last game was full of tension, after the 15-year-old from Florida had broken to serve for the match. Thorat saved a break point, then saw Frusina save five match points before he finally converted the sixth.

Two other top 32 seeds fell today, including last year's 16s champion Alexander Razeghi[32], who retired with an injury trailing Alejandro Jacome 1-6, 7-5, 1-0.  No. 30 seed Marko Mesarovic lost to Nicholas Steiglehner 6-3, 6-3.

The first round of 16s singles began today, with none of the top 32 seeds in action until Sunday. Five No. 33 seeds lost, all in tough battles: Jacob Golden lost to Kai Villagomez 7-6(5), 6-3 and Dylan Jaen was beaten by Sibby Rodi 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.  Nathan Gold defeated No. 33 seed Karan Rabhavendra 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Mateusz Gradski beat No. 33 seed Ian Mayew 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and 14-year-old Ford McColllum defeated Cole Henceroth[33] 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

There is no singles play for 18s on Sunday, with the third round of doubles late iin the afternoon. The main focus early in the day will be the second round of 16s singles, with the top 32 seeds in action.

Live streaming is available for Courts 1-5 at Stowe Stadium, with Hap Haasch providing audio updates on who is playing on which court, plus frequent review of scores on those five courts.

Match times for Sunday are available at ustaboys.com or at the PlayTennis site.

Top seeds Czech Republic won the girls ITF World Junior Tennis 14U team championships today in their home country, defeating No. 4 seed Germany 3-0.  The unseeded Swiss team took the boys title, beating No. 2 seed Germany 2-1 by taking the deciding doubles point.

The USA teams both took third place. The No. 2 seeded girls beat No. 3 Slovakia 2-0, with Capucine Jauffret and Shannon Lam winning both singles matches.  The No. 3 seeded boys defeated No. 8 Kazakhstan 2-1, with Jack Kennedy winning in singles and Keaton Hance, who had lost in singles, teaming with Kennedy to take the deciding doubles point.

For more on today's finals, see the articles from the ITF Junior website.

At the ATP Challenger 80 in Lexington, 17-year-old Jerry Shang of China continued his impressive run, reaching his first Challenger final with a 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 win over No. 7 seed Aleks Kovacevic(Illinois). Shang will face former USC All-American Emilio Gomez of Ecuador, the No. 2 seed. Gomez defeated No. 8 seed Enzo Couacaud of France 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).

At the $60,000 USTA women's Pro Circuit tournament in Lexington, qualifier Peyton Stearns(Texas) lost to No. 2 seed Jodi Burrage of Great Britain 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Burrage will play No. 8 seed Katie Swan of Great Britain, who beat Marcela Zacarias of Mexico 6-2, 7-6(2).

Top seeds Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine and Adila Sutjiadi(Kentucky) of Indonesia won the doubles title, beating unseeded Jada Hart(UCLA) and Dalayna Hewitt 7-5, 6-3 in today's final. 

Top seed Zeke Clark(Illinois) and No. 6 seed Johannes Monday(Tennessee) of Great Britain will play for the title Sunday at the $25,000 USTA men's Pro Circuit tournament in Decatur Illinois. Clark beat No. 8 seed Tyler Zink(Oklahoma State) 6-0, 6-2 and and Monday defeated No. 4 seed Makoto Ochi of Japan 6-3, 6-4 in today's semifinals.