Saito Ousts Andreeva, Faces Krug in Girls Final at College Park J1; Midon and Fonseca Play for Both Boys Titles: US Open Junior Wild Cards; Krueger, Harrison, Holt and Eubanks Qualify for US Open
College Park MD--
When Sara Saito saw her 6-3, 5-0 lead over No. 2 seed and 2021 finalist Mira Andreeva slip away, losing five straight games in the semifinals of the College Park ITF J1 at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, her reaction was not what you might expect.
Yes, she thought "Oh my god, what happened?", but immediately changed her mindset.
"But at 5-all I feel good," said the 15-year-old from Japan, who rebounded for a 6-3, 7-5 victory. "Because I can relax. More pressure at 5-0 than at 5-all, when I can just play."
Andreeva had something to do with that comeback, as the 15-year-old from Russia basically eliminated her unforced errors, while also locking down mentally after her frustration in the first set had spilled over into screams and tears.
The fifth-seeded Saito was two points from the match on several occasions, at 5-0 30-0, at 5-1 deuce, at 2-5 deuce, and at 5-3 30-all. Yet Andreeva never let Saito get to match point, and even had a break point at 5-all, although Saito finally put an end to Andreeva's run to hold for 6-5. Andreeva had a game point to send the set into a tiebreaker, but couldn't convert it, and netted a backhand to give Saito her first match point. Andreeva saved it with an excellent first serve that Saito couldn't handle, but the unforced errors that she had avoided for the previous six games suddenly resurfaced. Andreeva missed a forehand wide to give Saito a second match point and she converted it when Andreeva netted a backhand.
Saito had lost to Andreeva this spring in the second round of the Grade A on clay in Milan 6-3, 7-5, but a hard court and a new strategy helped her today.
"I hit a long rally and if I have a chance, I attack," said Saito, who will be playing in her second Grade 1 final Saturday, having won the Asian B1 Closed in India late last year. "My backhand straight(down the line) is my best shot."
Saito will face unseeded Ava Krug, who also had to fight off a comeback, defeating No. 14 seed Kaitlin Quevedo 6-4, 7-5 after leading 5-2 in the second set.
Krug was unable to close out Quevedo at 5-2 and 5-4, but recovered to break for a 6-5 and take her third opportunity to end the match on serve.
"I knew going into this match that she was a fighter," said the 17-year-old of her fellow Floridian. "That's something we both have that's really special. I started out the first set really good, playing my style, really aggressive tennis. I was really happy, coming into the net, hitting swinging volleys, taking the chances. I got up 5-2 in the second but it was really close games, the score wasn't how tight it was. I let a few games go but I'm really happy how I battled back when I was down game points to make it 6-5 her. I stayed steady, trusted myself and it paid off."
Krug, who reached the quarterfinals of the J1 in San Diego and the JB1 in Indian Wells his spring, said new coach Mauricio Haddad has helped her reach a new level, including a first J1 final this week.
"We've been working really hard together and it's so exciting to see how hard we've been working pay off," said Krug, the granddaughter of ESPN college basketball personality Dick Vitale. "Everything is starting to come together, so I'm really happy with the level I'm playing at, and excited to keep going."
Krug and Saito will be playing for the first time, so Krug will start out concentrating on her own side of the court.
"The biggest thing for me this week is I've been playing my style of game and not let anyone dictate that," said Krug, who defeated No. 3 seed and ITF No. 15 Taylah Preston of Australia in the first round. "That's very important, especially to me. I'm an aggressive baseliner and I think playing someone new is almost good for me, because I can focus on exactly what I have to do and not on the other girl. I think I'll be sticking with how I identify as a player and being super aggressive."
While the girls finalists will be meeting for the first time, the boys in the championship match faced off last month in the first round of the Wimbledon Junior Championships. Joao Fonseca of Brazil, then still 15, defeated Lautaro Midon of Argentina 7-6(6), 6-4, so it is the top seed this week who will be seeking revenge.
No. 5 seed Fonseca, who turned 16 last week, has yet to drop a set in his five victories and was in top form today, beating No. 9 seed Aidan Kim 6-1, 6-2.
Kim's net-rushing game style is not generally to Fonseca's liking, but he had little trouble handling those challenges today.
"For me it's difficult, but I was playing so good today," said Fonseca, who will be playing in his second Grade 1 final Saturday. "Aidan, he started aggressively and it's difficult for me, because I'm aggressive too. But it was just amazing for me, it was a wonderful day and I just enjoyed it."
Fonseca, who has lost only 18 games in his first five victories, knows that Midon will present different challenges.
"His playing style is more defense," Fonseca said. "For me, grass is more aggressive, but hard courts too, so I think it will be good for me."
Midon defeated No. 4 seed Hayato Matsuoka 7-5, 6-4, with many lengthy rallies extended by excellent defense from both. But Midon, 18, got a late break and closed out the two-hour match without much drama.
"It was a tough match and he played very good," said Midon, currently No. 11 in the ITF junior rankings. "But I think in the important moments I play so good, my forehand and my serve and with my good personality inside the court, was so important in the match."
Midon admits he's "a player of clay," but he also likes hard courts, with grass less suited to his game, so he is not troubled by his previous loss to Fonseca on that surface.
"He's a very good player," Midon said. "The first and the last time we play it was a very tough match. For tomorrow I will play good and will try to win the tournament."
Midon, who like Fonseca, is scheduled to compete at the J1 in Canada next week and then the US Open Junior Championships, said he is feeling fine physically.
"We train a lot on the physical in my country so it's good for me," Midon said.
Midon and Fonseca will also play in the boys doubles final. No. 5 seeds Fonseca and his partner Duncan Chan of Canada defeated No. 2 seeds Max Batyutenko of Kazakhstan and Danil Panarin of Russia 6-2, 6-4 in this afternoon's semifinals, while Midon and Branko Djuric of Serbia, the No. 1 seeds, beat No. 3 seeds Lennon Jones and Matsuoka 6-3, 3-6, 10-8.
Saito is also playing for two titles Saturday, reaching the doubles final with Yu-Yun Li of Taiwan. The No. 5 seeds defeated top seeds Andreeva and Preston 6-3, 3-6, 10-3 to set up a meeting with No. 3 seeds Anastasiia Gureva of Russia and Carolina Kuhl of Germany. Gureva and Kuhl beat unseeded Tatum Evans and Piper Charney 7-5, 6-2.
The matches begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the boys singles, followed by the girls singles, the boys doubles and the girls doubles.
For complete draws, see the JTCC website.
The US Open Junior Championships begin a week from Sunday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, with qualifying starting a week from today at the Cary Leeds Tennis Center in the Bronx. The USTA released the wild cards today:
Boys main draw:
Darwin Blanch
Kyle Kang
Kaylan Bigun
Jelani Sarr
Alex Razeghi
Leanid Boika
Jonah Braswell
Bryce Nakashima
Boys qualifying:
Calvin Baierl
Meecah Bigun
Yannik Rahman
Stiles Brockett
Cooper Woestendick
Kousuke Morita (Japan)
Girls main draw:
Alyssa Ahn
Eleana Yu
Valerie Glozman
Capucine Jauffret
Shannon Lam
Iva Jovic
Ariana Pursoo
Sarah Iliev (France)
Girls qualifying:
Katherine Hui
Julieta Pareja
Alanis Hamilton
Christasha McNeil
Akasha Urhobo
Haruka Hasegawa (Japan)
Rain this afternoon meant a late night finish to the final round of US Open qualifying, but four of the six Americans in action today won their spots in the main draw.
Before the rain, Christopher Eubanks(Georgia Tech) qualified, making the main draw for the second straight year by defeating Raul Brancaccio of Italy 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Brandon Holt(USC) was at match point when it rained, but Tracy Austin's son got through that stress test, defeating Dimitar Kuzmanov of Bulgaria 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the main draw of a slam for the first time.
Eighteen-year-old Ashlyn Krueger, who was down 7-5, 4-2 to Renata Zarazua of Mexico in the first round, before taking a 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 decision, defeated Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-3 to return to the main draw after getting a wild card last year as the USTA National 18s champion.
Former UCLA standout Catherine Harrison played her first slam qualifying at Wimbledon this year and reached the second round of the main draw. But she needed a wild card into the qualifying at the US Open this year because Wimbledon could not award points. The 28-year-old from Tennessee has now qualified for two slams in a row, defeating German Eva Lys 6-4, 6-4 tonight; this time she will get both the points and the money.
Other college players to advance to the main draw are Nuno Borges(Mississippi State) of Portugal; Alexander Ritschard (Virginia) of Switzerland; Fernanda Contreras(Vanderbilt) of Mexico; and Leolia Jeanjean(Lynn) of France.
0 comments:
Post a Comment