Braswell's Junior Swan Song, Irwanto's Comeback Highlight Wednesday's Second Round at Eddie Herr ITF J1; Quarterfinals Set for 12s, 14s and 16s Divisions

©Colette Lewis 2022--
Bradenton FL--

It was a five-shirt afternoon for Jonah Braswell, with the heat and humidity on the HarTru courts at the IMG Academy requiring plenty of clothing changes during the third round of the ITF J1 Eddie Herr.

The University of Florida freshman wasn't even on the court for an extended period, with his 6-3, 6-0 victory over fellow IMG Academy student Atakan Karahan of Turkey one of the shorter boys matches played Wednesday.

"I great played tennis today," said Braswell, who reached the final of the Eddie Herr boys 12s in 2016. "Atakan is a good friend of mine and we've trained together a lot here. I'm really comfortable on the clay, and I knew if I played my game and did it well, I thought I could win."

Braswell, who won the Orange Bowl 16s in 2020, will not be able to play that event next week due to final exams, so he is looking to end his junior career on a high note this week. 

"I'm definitely really motivated for this tournament, because it's my last junior tournament, this is where I'm from, so I have the home crowd around," said the 18-year-old from Sarasota.

Braswell's transition from juniors to college has gone well, with his run through the prequalifying and qualifying at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, and a win in the first round of the main draw, an impressive feat for anyone, not just a freshman.

"It was a super long week, but I got a couple of good wins at the beginning and I just kind of got on a roll," said Braswell, who debuted at 93 in the ITA collegiate rankings earlier this month. "It was great week and it really gave me confidence going forward that I can compete with some of the best guys in college tennis."

Although he has yet to play a dual match, Braswell is looking to continue to improve his game, and feels the team atmosphere will accelerate that process.

"My transition from juniors has gone really well," said Braswell. "I think I really thrive in the college environment, I love being on a team, it motivates me to play really well. I think the team aspect of college tennis has already helped me adapt and grow my game."

Braswell's opponent in the Thursday's third round is unseeded Patrick Schoen of Switzerland.

Another IMG student, Jonathan Irwanto, doesn't have the same history of success at the Eddie Herr as Braswell, but the 18-year-old from Miami has credited his move to Bradenton this semester with helping him reach new heights in juniors.

After defeating No. 6 seed Paul Inchauspe of France from a set down in the first round Monday, Irwanto won another tough one Wednesday, coming from 4-1 down in the third set to defeat David Fix of Germany 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

"I was trying to take as much time as possible, then take away time from my opponent, but I wasn't in the best shape," said Irwanto, who showed signs of cramping and ended up needing IVs later, although he left the court under his own power. "But once I was able to get the rallies going, I was able to win most of the points."

Irwanto said these kinds of comebacks are not ideal, "I've got to start strong next time, and be physically better in the next match."

Irwanto got on the radar of many college coaches when he reached the final of the ITF Grade A in Osaka Japan last month. 

"It really changed the way I looked at tennis as a sport," Irwanto said. "I gained a lot of confidence, not just in my shots, but how I play. A lot of different coaches have approached me and I'm really happy about that."

Irwanto played on the Florida junior circuit, but was never considered himself among the elite.

"I was never that great as a junior," said Irwanto. "I think I had the game, but I wasn't mentally there yet. I would always lose first, or even qualies at the Eddie Herr, Orange Bowl. But recently, I've been playing really well, I think I can match up with a lot of different players and IMG has really helped me grow my mind a little bit."

Irwanto's opponent in the third round will be No. 13 seed Alejandro Melero Kretzer of Spain, who beat Adhithya Ganesan 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.

In addition to Braswell and Irwanto, three other US boys have advanced to the round of 16. Kaylan Bigun defeated the last boys qualifier still alive, Albert Pedrico Kravtsov of Spain, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 and will play wild card Cooper Woestendick, who beat Tomasz Berkieta of Poland 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. No. 8 seed Cooper Williams beat Phoenix Wier of Great Britain 6-2, 6-3 and will face No. 10 seed Arthur Gea, who defeated Quang Duong 6-3, 6-0.

With today's loss of No. 4 seed Paul Barbier Gazeu of France, the highest boys seed remaining is No. 5 Danil Panarin of Russoa.

The top nine seeds in the girls draw have advanced to the round of 16, but No. 10 seed Mingge Xu of Great Britain lost to qualifier Piper Charney 6-4, 6-4. Charney, who has signed with Michigan for 2024, saved break points in the final game, but managed to convert her seventh match point to earn the win. She will face No. 8 seed Sonja Zhiyenbayeva of Germany, who defeated wild card Victoria Osuigwe 6-4, 6-0.

The other US girl to reach the third round is No. 9 seed Tatum Evans, who eliminated qualifier Taly Licht 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. Evans will face No. 7 seed Ranah Stoiber of Great Britain next.

2021 Eddie Herr 14s champion Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria has reached the third round, beating Anya Murthy 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Dencheva will face NC State recruit Gabriella Broadfoot of South Africa, who beat No. 13 seed Mia Slama 6-4, 6-2.

In second round doubles action, top boys seeds Cooper Williams and Russia's Yaroslav Demin again advanced in straight sets beating David Fix of Germany and Jan Hrazdil of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3. The unseeded American team of Cooper Woestendick and Matthew Forbes, who received a wild card into the tournament, advanced to Thursday's quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Duncan Chan and Keegan Rice of Canada.

Jessica Bernales and Alanis Hamilton, who defeated the No. 2 seeds in the first round Tuesday, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 7-6(3) win over Rositsa Dencheva and Anya Murthy. Ava Krug and Theadora Rabman, the No. 8 seeds, are through to the quarterfinals, as are Americans Ahmani Guichard(with Gabriella Broadfoot), Mia Slama(with Canadian Ellie Daniels), and Victoria Osuigwe(with Wakana Sonobe of Japan). Osuigwe and Sonobe defeated No. 4 seed Ranah Stoiber and Mingge Xu of Great Britain 6-3, 5-7, 10-8. Top seeds Sayaka Ishii of Japan and Tereza Valentova defeated wild cards Kayla Chung and Shannon Lam 6-4, 6-1.

The first No. 1 seed fell in the Eddie Herr's younger divisions in today's round of 16, with Ece Gencer defeating Girls 16s No. 1 Claire Zhang 7-5, 6-4. In the Girls 14s, No. 13 seed Anita Tu defeated No. 2 seed Ksenia Efremova of France 6-4, 6-0. In the Boys 12s, No. 2 seed Taiki Takizawa of Australia lost to unseeded Takashiro Kawaguchi of Japan 3-6, 7-5, 10-8. The quarterfinal matchups for Thursday are below:

B12s Quarterfinals:

Michael Antonius[1](USA) vs Tavish Pahwa[7](IND)

Jason Eigbedion[9](USA) vs Lucas Han[8](AUS)

Tomas Laukys[6](USA) vs Tabb Tuck[4](USA)

Simon Velez(COL) vs Takashiro Kawaguchi(JPN)

G12s Quarterfinals:

Yeri Hong[1](KOR) vs Hannay Ayrault[7](USA)

Haniya Minhas[3](PAK) vs Sakino Miyazawa(JPN)

Sun Xiran[8](USA) vs Clarice Ouvarova(USA)

Yui Komada[5](JPN) vs Andreea Olariu[2](ROU)

B14s Quarterfinals:

Ivan Ivanov[1](BUL) vs Keaton Hance[5](USA)

Jake Dembo[13](USA) vs Ford McCollum[7](USA)

Hyu Kawanishi(JPN) vs Kuan-Shou Chen(TPE)

Weiyi Kong[6](USA) vs Se Hyuk Cho[2](KOR)

G14s Quarterfinals:

Emerson Jones[1](AUS) vs Nicole Okhtenberg[7](USA)

Kimiko Cooper(CAN) vs Adelina Lachinova[9](LAT)

Polina Kuharenko[5](BLR) vs Renee Alame(CAN)

Yihan Qu(CHN) vs Anita Tu[13]

B16s Quarterfinals:

Maxwell Exsted[1](USA) vs Noah Johnston[8](USA)

Abhishek Thorat[3](USA) vs Joseph Oyebog[16](USA)

Jagger Leach[6](USA) vs Naoya Honda[4](JPN)

Boxiong Zhang[7](CHN) vs Calvin Baierl[2](USA)

G16s Quarterfinals:

Ece Gencer[14](TUR) vs Amelie Hejtmanek[6](GER)

Monika Ekstrand[3](USA) vs Amy Lee[10](USA)

Rachael Smith(USA) vs Tess Bucher(USA)

Allie Bittner[8](USA) vs Hyunyee Lee[2](KOR)