Woestendick and Stephenson Save Match Points to Oust Seeds at ITF JB1 Pan American Closed; Michelsen Beats Shang at Tiburon Challenger; ITA All-American Qualifying Complete, Main Draw Begins Wednesday

©Colette Lewis 2022--
Nicholasville Kentucky--

The top two seeds in both the girls and boys draws sailed through their opening matches in today's second round at the ITF JB1 Pan American Closed, but they were the exceptions, as nine girls seeds and seven boys seeds were eliminated in their first matches after receiving first round byes.

Two underdogs saved match points in claiming victories in third set tiebreakers, with Cooper Woestendick defeating No. 3 seed Yannik Rahman 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2) after saving two match points in the third set and wild card Eli Stephenson saving two match in the third set in his 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) win over No. 7 seed Alex Razeghi.

Woestendick had dominated the first set, but Rahman got the rust out and played much steadier tennis in the second and the third, while forcing Woestendick to hit one more ball. Down two match points serving at 4-5, Woestendick came up with two excellent first serves down the T. 

"I don't know how, I just swung," said the 16-year-old from Kansas, who saved two match points exactly the same way in the round of 16 at Kalamazoo this year. "It's all adrenaline at that point. Normally if you're down, there's nothing in your head, you're playing free, so I went out there and served my two biggest serves of the match and good things happened."

After two easy holds for both players, the tiebreaker turned in Woestendick's direction early, when he hit two forehand winners with Rahman serving to take a 3-2 lead. That appeared to rattle Rahman, as he made three consecutive unforced errors to give Woestendick four matches points, which he immediately converted with Rahman hitting a lob wide.

"He got a little frustrated," said Woestendick, who lives in Kansas, but is now training at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona. "My goal in tiebreakers is to make as many balls as I can, make as many first serves as I can, just play solid tennis and hopefully have your opponent break down, as he kind of did."

Woestendick will play No. 14 seed Roy Horovitz, who defeated Rohan Belday 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

Stephenson, who is from Louisville and has committed to Kentucky for next fall, saved his two match points serving at 5-6 in the third set before going on to claim a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). A good first serve got him out of trouble on the first, but he missed his first serve on the second. But he decided to serve and volley at that critical juncture and it paid off, as he picked off Razeghi's passing shots to survive it. In the tiebreaker, Stephenson took control with a laser of a backhand winner to take a 4-1 lead, faltered slightly and dropped the next point on serve, but recovered with another service winner. Razeghi held his two service points to make it 5-4, but an unforced forehand error gave Stephenson two match points and he converted the first with a backhand forcing an error. Stephenson will play No. 11 seed Marko Mesarovic, who defeated Stiles Brockett 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

Another wild card advancing to the third round was Mitchell Lee, who defeated No. 4 seed Luis Alvarez Valdes of Mexico 6-2, 6-3. Nikita Filin took out No. 6 seed Meecah Bigun 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, overcoming a nasty fall leading 4-1 in the third set. 

The only qualifier remaining in the boys draw is Matthew Forbes, who defeated No. 5 seed Kaylan Bigun 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.

"Qualifying actually helped me," said Forbes, a 16-year-old from North Carolina. "I needed more match play inside and I got used to it. And he hadn't even played a match, so it's kind of rough. It was a pretty even match."

Forbes said Bigun was off his game in the first set, but found his form in the second.

"He was missing a lot in the first set, but in the second set I was giving him the same balls and he just made them," Forbes said. "I played a few sloppy games, I'm pretty sure I lost eight points in a row to end the set, but it was him playing good and me not playing my best."

Forbes said he reset in the third, with his first serve percentage improving and his returns more effective, and he was not surprised by the outcome.

"I've been playing pretty well, been practicing well, I just don't play many ITFs," Forbes said. "I've had a few rough tournaments in the past when I've lost in three sets, and I just didn't want to lose this one."

Forbes will play No. 10 seed Felipe Pinzon Moreno, who beat Abhishek Thorat 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. 

Top seed Rodrigo Pacheco of Mexico defeated Paris Pouatcha 6-1, 6-2 and No. 2 seed Leanid Boika earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Kuang Qing Xu of Canada.

While nine of the 16 boys second round matches went to three sets, the girls saw a more reasonable number, five, going the distance. Three of those resulted in the exit of seeded players: Ava Bruno defeated No. 8 seed Natalia Perez of Puerto Rico 6-2, 4-6, 6-2; qualifier Jessica Bernales came back to beat No. 9 seed Ashton Bowers 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 and wild card Brianna Baldi downed No. 14 seed Scarlett Nicholson of Canada 7-6(11), 4-6, 6-3.

Fifteen-year-old Alanis Hamilton needed only two sets to earn her upset of No. 3 seed Valeria Ray, but they couldn't have been much closer, with Hamilton earning a 7-6(3), 7-6(3) victory. 

Maddy Zampardo also eliminated a seed, who just happens to be her future teammate at North Carolina State, Gabriella Broadfoot of South Africa. Zampardo wasn't quite sure how to react to her 6-4, 6-3 victory.

"It's kind of funny, it's the first time we've met, this tournament," said the 17-year-old from Michigan. "It was just so random that we ended up playing second round. We'd never played each other, I'd never seen her really at a tournament, but we paired up for doubles. We're driving her, staying at the same hotel, hanging out, and then we see the draw."

Zampardo thought her serving was the key to her win, but with a counterpunch like Broadfoot, she knew that was necessary.

"She did a really good job of moving me around, she got to a lot of balls, a lot of good gets," said Zampardo, a six-footer who towered over Broadfoot. "But I thought I served well and was able to take balls on the rise, just play my game pretty much. I thought it was a very solid match from both of us."

Zampardo will face No. 11 seed Maya Iyengar, who behind most of the first two sets, came back to beat Alessia Cau of Canada 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

Top seed Mia Slama came from a break down in the first set to record a 6-4, 6-2 win over Addison Comiskey of Canada and No. 2 seed Tatum Evans also posted a win over a Canadian, beating Emma Dong 6-2, 6-2.

Third round singles and second round doubles action is on Wednesday's schedule, with singles beginning at 9 a.m.

At the ATP 80 Challenger in Tiburon, qualifier Alex Michelsen picked up his first main draw Challenger win in his first attempt, beating fellow teenager Jerry Shang of China, the No. 6 seed, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(5). Michelsen, 18, was down 4-2 in the first set and down a break in the third set, but continued to hit out in his role as underdog. The 17-year-old Shang, 203 in the ATP rankings, was up 3-1 and 5-4 in the tiebreaker, but lost both his serves to give Michelsen a match point. Michelsen didn't make his first serve, but he didn't miss any of the huge backhands and forehands he hit in the rally, and eventually forced an Shang error. Michelsen will face 2019 NCAA champion Paul Jubb of Great Britain in the second round Thursday.

The last two NCAA champions will face off Wednesday, with former University of Florida teammates Ben Shelton and Sam Riffice set to face each other for the first time as professionals. Shelton, the No. 4 seed, saved two match points to beat Roberto Quiroz(USC) of Ecuador 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) last night; wild card Riffice defeated qualifier Evan King(Michigan) 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-1 today.

Qualifying is complete for the ITA All-American Championships, with play scheduled to begin Wednesday for the women, in Cary North Carolina, and the men, in Tulsa Oklahoma.

The eight women's qualifiers:

Abbey Forbes, North Carolina

Amelia Rajecki, NC State

Snow Han, Southern California

Anika Yarlagadda, North Carolina
Celia-Belle Mohr, Vanderbilt

Ayana Akli, South Carolina

Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M
Jayci Goldsmith, Texas A&M

Mohr is a pre-qualifier, so she has now won six matches, with five more to go in the main draw.

The 16 men's qualifiers:

Ryan Seggerman, North Carolina

Alex Bernard, Ohio State*

Pedro Rodenas, Duke*

Shunsuke Mitsui, Tennessee

Hunter Heck, Illinois

Trey Hilderbrand, Texas A&M

Lodewijk Westrate, Southern California

Jonah Braswell, Florida*

Youcef Rihane, Florida State

Nishesh Basavareddy, Stanford*

Ozan Baris, Michigan State*

Fin Bass, Baylor

Justin Schlageter, Oklahoma

Alex Martinez, Oklahoma

Siem Woldeab, Texas

Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc, Florida State

*freshman

Braswell and Schlageter are pre-qualifiers, so they have won seven matches so far, with six more necessary to claim the title.

The women's main draw is here, with South Carolina's Sarah Hamner, the defending champion, the top seed. 

The men's main draw is here, with Stefan Dostanic of Southern California the top seed. 

Cracked Racquets will be providing their CrossCourt Cast for both the men's and women's tournaments via their YouTube Channel.