Americans Johnson and Gaines Advance to Junior Orange Bowl Boys 14s Final; USA's Newman Reaches Girls 14s Championship Match; 12s Finalists From Hong Kong, Korea, Israel and Great Britain

©Colette Lewis 2023--
Coral Gables FL--

After three and half days of play, the finals are set for the 2023 Junior Orange Bowl, with an all-American boys 14s final and a US girl competing for the girls 14s title Thursday morning.

With six US boys in the boys 14s quarterfinals, the odds that one would make it through were good, and by this afternoon's semifinals an American champion was guaranteed.  On a cloudy and cool day at the Biltmore Tennis Center, the Americans battled through tough matches, with No. 2 seed Andrew Johnson and No. 6 seed Jerrid Gaines Jr advancing to the final.

Johnson had the least strenuous day, beating No. 9 seed Emilio Camacho of Ecuador 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals and No. 9 seed Jordan Lee 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals.

Johnson, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament, admitted that both matches were physically demanding, but he found ways to get through the tough spots, including a 3-0 deficit in the second set again Camacho, and a 5-0 lead in the second set against Lee becoming 5-3.

"The first match was a very hard grind," said the 14-year-old from Rancho Palos Verdes California. "I played pretty well, and being down just makes me play harder, because I want to win."

Johnson had beaten Lee 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Eddie Herr last month, and Lee had just come off a three-hour, 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(8) win over Tyler Lee in the quarterfinals, with both results giving Johnson confidence.

"I did feel I had a little advantage, I noticed that," Johnson said of Lee's extended quarterfinal. "I felt I needed to go for a little more than the matches I've had so far, make him run more. He didn't play as well in Eddie Herr, he played better here today, but it was still kind of the same."

Gaines started slowly in his quarterfinal match with unseeded Motoharu Abe of Japan, and was audibly frustrated by his level, but he regrouped for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory. In the semifinals against No. 9 seed Navneet Raghuram, Gaines failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set and trailed 5-2 in the ensuing tiebreaker, but took the final five points of the match to claim a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory.  Raghuram had eliminated No. 1 seed Tanishk Konduri 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the third lengthy three-set boys 14s quarterfinal match of the day.

"The first match today wasn't the best, I was like, oh no, I don't want to lose in the quarterfinals," said Gaines, who lost in a third set tiebreaker in the Eddie Herr quarterfinals last month. "I was not playing very good, but if you're not playing your best, you can always fight, and do what you can control."

Gaines played an outstanding first set aginst Raghuram, but as he had shown in his quarterfinal win over Konduri, Raghuram was not about to concede anything in the second set. As dusk turned to darkness under the heavy cloud cover, he was broken at 4-all, but broke right back and held to put the pressure back on Gaines serving at 5-6. Gaines played one of his best games of the set to send the match to the tiebreaker, but got no first serves in and was down 5-2, with Raghuram serving. Gaines got one of the mini-breaks back with a drop shot winner, and got back on serve when Raghuram made an unforced error on the forehand. Gaines pulled even when Raghuram missed a net cord sitter wide, and won his fourth straight point when Raghuram's backhand clipped the tape and fell back on his side. On match point, a short rally ended with Raghuram's backhand going just long, with Gaines dropping his racquet and letting out a roar in celebration.

"It was tough to keep it at a very high level," said Gaines, who trains at the IMG Academy. "I got it done though."

Gaines said that he is not feeling any effects of playing six matches in three days, with the weather playing a role in that as well.

"I'm feeling great actually," said Gaines, who reached the semifinals of the boys 12s in 2021. "It's maybe not as hot, so that's why."

Both Gaines and Johnson said Thursday's final, which is their first meeting, will be the biggest of their junior careers to date.

"He's obviously a great player," Gaines said. "He's solid. It's going to take a lot tomorrow, I'm going to have come out and play very well."

"If I play hard and stay focused, I think I'll have a pretty good chance of winning," said Johnson, who didn't know then who his opponent would be in the final.

In the girls 14s matches at Salvadore Park, Florida's Welles Newman and Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic, both No. 9 seeds, made short work of their opponents, each losing just five total games in their quarterfinal and semifinal matches.

Newman defeated unseeded Oliwia Sybicka of Poland 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinals and No. 17 seed Raya Kotseva of Bulgaria 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals. In her six victories, five have included a 6-0 set.

Kovackova beat unseeded Lujza Beviz of Hungary 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and No. 5 seed Charlie Celebrini of Canada 6-3, 6-1 in the semfinals. The European 14s Masters champion has not dropped a set all week.

In the 12s, both top-seeded Americans lost in the quarterfinals this morning, with Eddie Herr champion Caroline Shao falling to No. 8 seed Sakino Miyazawa 6-4, 6-2 and Tristan Ascenzo losing to No. 7 seed Fu Wang Choi of Hong Kong 6-1, 6-3.

Choi, who is much more physically imposing than his fellow competitors, has breezed through the draw this week, following up his win over Ascenzo with a 6-2, 6-1 semifinal victory over No. 3 seed Rafael Pagonis of Greece.

Choi will face Eddie Herr champion Jang Junseo of Korea, the No. 4 seed, who defeated No. 2 seed Nicholas Du of the United States 6-2, 6-1.

Unlike Choi, Miyazawa was not able to follow up her win over the top seed with another victory. She lost to No. 9 seed Daniel Baranes of Israel 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals. Baranes, making her first trip to the United States for this tournament, had beaten unseeded Capucine Charcosset of France 6-3, 7-6(3) in the quarterfinals. 

"She (Miyazawa) is a very good player, but I try all the time to be aggressive, don't give her a chance" Baranes said. "I'm a little bit tired, but I try all the time to have more energy. I'm very happy to be in the final, because I work all the time to win the competition."

Baranes will face No. 7 seed Megan Knight of Great Britain, who also collected two straight-sets victories on Wednesday. 

Knight defeated No. 17 seed Isabella Yan of Canada 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and No. 3 seed Kathryn Cragg 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals. Knight, who lost to Welles Newman last year in the third round of the 12s, has been inspired by the recent success of Hannah Klugman, who last year played in the 14s final and this year won the J500 Orange Bowl in Plantation.

"I think she's definitely a player to look up to," said Knight. "It's incredible, winning the 18s at her age, and all the achievements she's done, getting to the junior grand slams already. It's amazing."

Knight and Baranes played just recently in the final of the Tennis Europe 12U Super Category at the Nadal Academy in Mallorca, with Baranes taking a 7-5 6-7(2), 12-10 victory.

The schedule for Thursday has the 12s finals and third-place match beginning at 9 a.m. at the Biltmore Tennis Center. The boys 14s final and third place match will follow, not before 11 a.m. The girls 14s final and third place match are scheduled for 10 a.m. at Salvadore Park.

Live streaming is available for the Biltmore finals via the SwingVision website.

Draws are available here.

Junior Orange Bowl Quarterfinal results

G14s

Jana Kovackova(CZE)[9] d. Lujza Beviz(HUN) 6-0, 6-1

Charlie Celebrini[5](CAN) d. Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva[17](BRA) 6-2, 7-6(2) 

Raya Kotseva(BUL)[17] d. Tea Kovacevic(BIH) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Welles Newman(USA)[9] d. Oliwia Sybicka(POL) 6-2, 6-0

B14s

Navneet Raghuram[9](USA) d. Tanishk Konduri[1](USA) 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 

Jerrid Gaines Jr[6](USA) d. Motoharu Abe(JPN) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

Jordan Lee[9](USA) d. Tyler Lee[5](USA) 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(8)

Andrew Johnson[2](USA) d. Emilio Camacho[9](ECU) 6-4, 6-4

G12s

Sakino Miyazawa[8](JPN) d. Caroline Shao[1](USA) 6-4, 6-2 

Daniel Baranes[9](ISR) d. Capucine Charcosset(FRA) 6-3, 7-6(3)

Kathryn Cragg[3](USA) d. Daniela Del Mastro[6](USA) 6-4, 7-5 

Megan Knight[7](GBR) d. Isabella Yan[17](CAN) 6-1, 6-3

B12s

Fu Wang Choi[7](HKG) d. Tristan Ascenzo[1](USA) 6-1, 6-3

Rafael Pagonis[3](GRE) v Yuto Hisano(JPN) 6-1, 6-2

Jang Junseo[4](KOR) d. Simon Lifton(USA) 6-1, 6-1

Nicholas Du[2](USA) d. Andres Quijada[6](VEN) 6-3, 6-4