A Dozen Titles for Americans on ITF Junior Circuit; Just Two US Juniors Reach Round of 16 at Roehampton ITF J300; Rain Mars Wimbledon's Opening Day
The weekly update on Americans competing on the ITF Junior Circuit has no shortage of champions, with 12 titles, including a US sweep at the J30 Junkanoo Bowl in the Bahamas.
Fifteen-year-olds Benjamin Willwerth and Natalie Oliver took the singles and doubles titles in Nassau, with the top-seeded Willwerth defeating 14-year-old Australian Cruz Hewitt[2], the son of Lleyton Hewitt, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 in the final. It's the third singles title, all coming this year, for the blue chip from Florida. In doubles, Willwerth and Tommy Rainyn, also 15, defeated American Jerald Carroll and Jackson Mactaggart of the Bahamas 6-4, 6-0 in a final between two unseeded teams. It's Rainyn's first ITF Junior Circuit title.
Oliver, who was unseeded, won her first singles title with 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 win over No. 2 seed Dain Lee of Korea in the championship match, she had won her first ITF Junior Circuit title the day before with Alexandra Wolf. The unseeded pair defeated top seeds Gianna Graci and Kaya Baker 6-4, 6-3 in the all-US girls doubles final. It is the 15-year-old Wolf's first ITF Junior Circuit title.
Americans won three of the four titles at the J100 in Veracruz Mexico, with 16-year-olds Calvin Baierl and Kate Fakih taking the singles championships. Baierl, seeded No. 13, defeated unseeded Harry Pugh of New Zealand 6-4, 6-1 for his fourth ITF Junior Circuit title, and his first on a hard court.
Top seed Fakih, who has verbally committed to UCLA for 2024, defeated unseeded Trinetra Vijaykumar 6-1, 6-0 in the all-US final for her third singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit. Fakih didn't drop a set in her five victories.
No. 2 seeds Riley Crowder and India's Krisha Mahendran won the girls doubles title, beating Nadia Lagaev of Canada and Natalia Perez of Puerto Rico 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 in the final. It's the third ITF Junior Circuit doubles title for the 16-year-old Crowder.
The fifth singles title for an American this week came at the J30 in Sofia Bulgaria, with 15-year-old Alessandra Sikharulidze, seeded No. 8, defeating unseeded Valeria Garnevska(BUL) 6-2, 6-1 for her first ITF Junior Circuit title. She did not lose a set in her five victories.
At the J100 in Ecuador, 17-year-olds Stiles Brockett and Cole Henceroth took the doubles title, beating Alfredo Gallegos and Felipe Rivadeneira Gallegos of Ecuador 7-6(4), 4-6, 10-4 in the final. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for Brockett, who also reached the singles final as the top seed. It's the second ITF Junior Circuit doubles title for Henceroth.
Thirteen-year-old twins Annika and Kristina Penickova won their second consecutive J60 doubles title in Tunisia. Seeded No. 2, the Penickovas defeated top seeds Kenza El Akili of Morocco and Marilouise Van Zyl of South Africa 6-2, 6-0 for their third ITF Junior Circuit doubles title, all this year. They lost only 13 games in their four matches this week; they are expected to compete in the Wimbledon 14U tournament(which does not offer doubles) during the second week of Wimbledon.
Two other girls doubles titles were claimed at J30s in Ireland and Argentina. Thirteen-year-old Ciara Harding and her Irish partner Chloe Collins, who were unseeded, defeated top seeds Sophia Kovacheva and Isabella Walker of Great Britain 5-7, 7-6(3), 10-6 in Belfast. It is the first ITF Junior Circuit title for Harding.
In Argentina, 17-year-old Athena Rosas-Pacifico and her partner Lara Quaglia of Argentina, the top seeds, beat No. 3 seeds Isabella Luzio Bavcar and April Soria Pastor of Bolivia 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 in the final. It was the second ITF Junior Circuit doubles title for Rosas-Pacifico.
Four of the six Americans who reached the second round of the ITF J300 in Roehampton lost today, with just top seed Clervie Ngounoue and unseeded Alex Razeghi reaching Tuesday's final 16. As is often the case, British wild cards are having good results on the Roehampton grass, with Wake Forest rising freshman Luca Pow winning again today after taking out top seed Juan Carlos Prado Angelo of Bolivia in the first round yesterday, and Viktor Frydrych, Razeghi's opponent Tuesday, defeating No. 15 seed Alejandro Melero Kretzer of Spain 6-3, 6-3 today.
Two more British wild cards have advanced to the round of 16 in the girls draw: Isabelle Lacy, the recently crowned British 18s champion, and Given Roach, a Georgia Tech recruit, who plays Ngounoue Tuesday. Two qualifiers will meet for a spot in the quarterfinals, with former ITF Top 10 player Taylah Preston of Australia, who received entry into qualifying based on her WTA ranking of 420, beating No. 2 seed Sarah Saito of Japan today 7-5, 6-2 to set up a meeting with Gaia Maduzzi of Italy.
Doubles play began today, but again, there are few Americans remaining after today's first round. Cooper Williams, the reigning Australian Open doubles champion, and reigning Roland Garros doubles champion Yaroslav Demin of Russia, who won the Eddie Herr J300 as a team last December, have reunited this week and are the No. 1 seeds, and they advanced to the second round today. Razeghi and Kaylan Bigun, playing with international partners, also are into the second round.
The three US girls into the second round of doubles, all with non-US partners are Ariana Pursoo, Thea Rabman and Anya Murthy. Murthy got into doubles, as did Alanis Hamilton, despite having lost in the first round of singles qualifying.
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| The outer courts at Wimbledon photo credit: Ben Solomon/AELTC |
Opening day at Wimbledon was only a few hours old when the first rain shower suspended play and that left 14 matches initially on Monday's schedule incomplete. Eight matches were suspended due to darkness, and five were cancelled before having a chance to begin.
It wasn't a great day for Americans, with only five of the 16 who completed their matches today reaching the second round and two of those victories came at the expense of their American opponents. Qualifier Sofia Kenin eliminated No. 7 seed Coco Gauff, and Jessica Pegula got by Lauren Davis, both in three sets. Lucky loser Michael Mmoh, the 2016 Kalamazoo 18s champion, earned his first main draw win at Wimbledon with a four-hour victory over No. 11 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada.
The weather forecast for Tuesday also includes rain, but below are the matches featuring Americans that are on the schedule.
Monday's first round results of Americans:
Elina Svitolina(UKR) d. Venus Williams[WC] 6-4, 6-3Sofia Kenin[Q] d. Coco Gauff[7] 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
Jessica Pegula[4] d. Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-7(8), 6-3
Caroline Garcia[5](FRA) d. Katie Volynets 6-4, 6-3
Jodie Burrage[WC](GBR) d. Caty McNally 6-1, 6-3
Daria Kasatkina[11](RUS) d. Caroline Dolehide 6-1, 6-4
Marketa Vondrousova(CZE) d. Peyton Stearns 6-2, 7-5
Alycia Parks d. Anna-Lena Friedsa(GER) 6-4, 6-3
Lesia Tsurenko(UKR) d. Claire Liu 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Danielle Collins leads Julia Grabher(AUT) 6-4, suspended
Sloane Stephens v Rebecca Peterson(SWE) postponed to Tuesday
2 comments:
Colette,
Please explain how a player with a lower ATP ranking can be placed at the # 1 seed in a M15 ITF Tournament by winning the previous week M15? This player has a 884 ATP ranking and the #2 seed in this weeks ITF M15 tournament has a 384 ranking.
Tien is not the number 1 seed. Colin Sinclair was going to be the top seed in Lakewood, but he opted to play the qualifying of the Bloomfield Hills Challenger instead. Tien was the highest ranked player not seeded, so he was placed in the vacated No. 1 spot. The ITF/USTA Pro Circuit does not allow "making up seeds as we go along."
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