Australia's Camus Dashes From Davis Cup to Eddie Herr ITF, Pursoo Fights Fatigue After Reaching Merida Final; Top Three Seeds in Eddie Herr 12s, 14s, 16s Still in Hunt for Titles

©Colette Lewis 2022--
Bradenton FL--

Charlie Camus made it to Bradenton in the nick of time, with his flight from Spain landing in Florida at 1:30 a.m. The 16-year-old Australian was in Malaga last week with his country's Davis Cup team, and when they advanced Sunday's final, he knew it might be a challenge to get here for his first round match Tuesday morning.

"I was hemming and hawing about this tournament for a very long time, whether it was worthwhile coming or whether I should just go back to Australia and train for the Australian summer of tennis and prepare for the Australian Open," said Camus, who has never been in the United States before. "But I sort of ended with my coach and there was no one to train with back home. So this week, it was just sort of have a swing and see how it goes."

Camus won his first round match today, beating qualifier Thomas Faurel of France 6-2, 6-4, with Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt checking in occasionally while also watching his son Cruz compete in the 14s division.

"I actually felt pretty good, to be honest," Camus said. "I've got doubles this afternoon, so I think tonight I might hit a bit of a wall, but hopefully I'll be all right again tomorrow."

Camus has been what they call an Orange boy for the Australian Davis Cup team all year, beginning in February.

"I've done the whole journey this year," said the left-hander from Canberra. "I was in the qualifying tie back in February in Australia, then I went to the group stage in Hamburg, and then the finals in Malago, so I did all three. I am very grateful to Lleyton and all the coaches for inviting me there. You do anything to help them, whatever they need."

Although Australia didn't prevail in the final, losing both singles matches to Canada, Camus could hardly have imagined he would be part of such a run.

"It was really great, especially the day we beat Croatia (in the semifinals), that doubles point was insane," Camus said. "The final, we fell short, but it was one of greatest experiences ever and to be a part of it was something special."

Camus will face No. 12 seed Kevin Edengren of Sweden in Wednesday's second round.

After the No. 2, 3, and 6 seeds lost Monday, the boys matches went more to form Tuesday, when the first round was completed. 

One qualifier, Albert Pedrico Kravtsov of Spain, advanced, taking out No. 14 seed Max Batyutenko of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2. Three wild cards are through to the second round: Roy Horovitz, Cooper Woestendick and Thanaphat Boosarawongse of Thailand.

No. 7 seed Cooper Williams won today, beating Yannik Rahman 6-3, 6-0. Americans into the second round are Adhithya Ganesan, Jonathan Irwanto, Jonah Braswell, Aayush Bhat, Horovitz, Quang Duong, Kaylan Bigun and Woestendick. 

Only one seed lost in the girls draw in the entire first round, with No. 14 seed Madeleine Jessup of Taiwan beaten by Rebecca Munk Mortensen of Denmark 6-4, 6-1. No. 4 seed Ella Mcdonald of Great Britain withdrew from singles after winning the doubles title in Merida, but she is playing doubles this week.

Ariana Pursoo reached the singles final Sunday in Merida, so, like Camus, she had limited time to adjust but still managed to advance to the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Sandugash Kenzhibayeva of Kazakhstan.

"I was traveling pretty much all day yesterday, got in at 12:30 last night," said the 16-year-old from New York. "Got a couple of hours of sleep then got up and got ready to play, no warm up, so it was a rough start. I was stiff from sitting the day before, and it's a different type of clay than in Merida, but I think I adjust pretty well and was able to stay focused and not worry about all the things could have messed me up."

Pursoo wasn't happy with her level in today's match, giving herself a 5 or 6 on a 10-point scale.

"That was a pretty rough match out there," Pursoo said. "But I'm just happy I was able to get through it, figure it out in the end. That's what the best players do, they just find a way to win on their worst days."

Pursoo, who one of the subjects of a junior tennis documentary in production now, will face No. 6 seed Lucciana Perez Alarcon of Peru Wednesday and will again be scheduled for Stadium court, as she was today.

Two girls qualifiers advanced to the second round, both Americans, with Piper Charney defeating Wakana Sonobe of Japan 7-6(3), 2-6, 7-5 and Taly Licht beating Dana Baidaulet of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-2. Girls wild cards through to the second round are Victoria Osuigwe, Maelie Monfils of France, Yujin Kim of Korea and Akasha Urhobo. 

The first round of doubles was played today, with boys top seeds Cooper Williams and Yaroslav Demin of Russia advancing in straight sets, but No. 2 seeds Arthur Gea and Tiago Pires of France were beaten by Kaylan and Meecah Bigun 6-3, 2-6, 10-4. No. 3 seeds Adriano Dzhenev and Iliyan Radulov of Bulgaria, who won the Grade A in Merida, lost to Duncan Chan and Keegan Rice of Canada 6-0, 1-6, 10-4.

Top girls seeds Sayaka Ishii of Japan and Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic won in straight sets, but No. 2 seeds Luciana Moyano of Argentina and Lucciana Perez Alarcon of Peru lost to wild cards Alanis Hamilton 7-6(2), 6-2. No. 3 seeds Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz of Australia and Ena Koike of Japan lost to the Ellie Daniels of Canada and Mia Slama 6-1, 7-5.

Major upsets continue to be rare in the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions, with all Top 3 seeds in each of those divisions advancing to Wednesday's round of 16.

Two No. 4 seeds lost today, with Hadley Appling defeating Claire Shao 6-1, 6-3 in the Girls 16s and Clarice Ouverova beating Korea's Sim Siyoen of Korea 6-2, 6-4.

A list of the top 8 seeds in each division can be found here.