Americans Penickova, Secord, Antonius and Shao Claim Eddie Herr Titles; Pacheco and Papamalamis Meet for Boys ITF Championship, Kostovic and Sonobe Reach Girls ITF Final Sunday

©Colette Lewis 2023--
Bradenton Florida--

Heat, humidity and American champions were the order of the day Saturday with four of the six singles titles in the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions at the Eddie Herr International Championships going to junior players from the United States.

Two of the champions crowned Saturday at the IMG Academy know the feeling well, with boys 14s winner Michael Antonius running his Eddie Herr winning streak to 12 after taking the boys 12s title last year, and Kristina Penickova, the girls 16s champion, just two years removed from her 12s title.

Antonius, the top seed, defeated unseeded Matei Victor Chelemen of Romania 6-2, 6-1, with his experience in last year's final providing an advantage.

"I knew what to expect, conditions, going out into another final, being ready for that," said the 13-year-old from Buffalo, who has yet to lose a set at the IMG Academy courts in his two appearances here. "I think the experience from last year helped in getting a good start. I played really good to start, and it was super hot today, so I could tell we were both getting really tired after the long points."

Antonius had the advantage of a shorter semifinal match Friday, although he was relieved to finish the match quickly.

"There were a lot of long games that could have gone either way, but I'm fortunate that those went to me today," Antonius said. "But he played really well, it was a good match."

Antonius began to play on the ITF Junior Circuit this summer and said those six tournaments against older boys provided valuable experience.

"With the older kids, there were bigger serves and more power, but that really helped me coming into this one," said Antonius, who trains both with the USTA in Lake Nona and with his father in Buffalo. "There's a little less power, there are longer rallies, but I was used to the best players here hitting it hard, just like every ITF."

In addition to the title, Antonius also has won a wild card into the main draw of the ITF J300 in 2024, although he is not ruling out playing the 16s instead.

"It's so early to say what I'm going to do," but it's so good to have the option," said Antonius, who is not playing next week's Orange Bowl 16s, but is expecting to play the Junior Orange Bowl in two weeks. 

As for the accomplishment two straight titles, Antonius admits he had doubts about his prospects this year. 

"I'm just super happy to be able to do it back to back," Antonius said. "It's my first year in the 14s, and being the 1 seed again, I was a little nervous. I saw that I had a tough draw, so I wasn't looking to make the final, I was looking just to make the next day, but it paid off in the end."

No. 2 seed Penickova, who had already collected the 16s doubles trophy with twin sister Annika Friday, had her toughest match of the tournament in today's final, beating No. 8 seed Katerina Shabashkevich of Boca Raton Florida, 6-2, 6-4.

"My opponent was really good, but I problem solved really well," said the 14-year-old right-hander from California. "I hadn't played anyone like her before, she had a really interesting game. She was more aggressive and she also chipped and sliced, which I wasn't used to, but I'm happy how I solved that."

With the number of ITF Junior Circuit tournaments she and Annika can play limited to 14 until they turn 15 next September, the 16s competition is where they are setting their sights now.

"We were debating whether to play 16s or 18s, but our parents decided to save it for some other ITFs," said Penickova. "I love this tournament, I love the place, so that also helps, but I feel very comfortable here. Winning it before here really helped and I'm super proud of myself for battling through the matches and winning it again this time."

The boys 16s final was also between two Americans, with No. 2 seed Jack Secord defeating top seed Jack Satterfield 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in a match moved to court 8 after Stadium Court was too damp for play from the overnight dew.

The two-hour battle came down to a couple of games in the third set, and it was Secord's serve that was the difference. Serving up 4-3 in the third set, Secord fell behind 0-30, but three good first serves from the 15-year-old left-hander gave him a game point. He was unable to convert it, and two points later a forehand error gave Satterfield his chance to even the match, but again Secord served his way out of trouble for 5-3. 

After Satterfield held, Secord was again in a precarious position after a tremendous stop volley winner by Satterfield made it 30-all. But once more Secord took the racquet out of Satterfield's hand, hitting an ace to reach match point and a service winner to seal the championship.

"He definitely got a lot more free points on his serve," said Satterfield, a 16-year-old from Tampa, who is the reigning USTA 16s Clay Courts champion. "Especially on the big points. At 30-all 5-4, him serving for it, he just hits two unreturnable serves. It was definitely a tough one, I'll have nightmares about if for a couple of years for sure."

Secord, the son of former WTA Top 25 player Linda Harvey Wild, didn't put any extra emphasis on the big points that he won.

"I just didn't really think about it," said Secord, who is coached by his grandfather Steve Wild. "I was going to be ok if I got broken, so I just played my game, and it turned out. I felt like I did serve well today, especially under pressure; at 30-all I served an ace and an unreturnable. I just kept persevering and it felt good to win."

Secord will be playing the ITF J500 in Plantation next week, his first ITF Junior Circuit event above J200.

The fourth American to claim an Eddie Herr singles title this year is top seed Caroline Shao, who defeated No. 5 seed Yui Watanabe of California 3-6, 6-0, 10-1.

"It was a really tough match, my opponent was great," said Shao, who trains at the MGT Academy in Doral Florida. "I lost the first set, but in the second set, I motivated myself to play better. I was good at staying solid throughout the match and forcing errors from my opponent."

Shao admitted to feeling nervous before every match she plays, not just a big final, but never lets that affect her on court.

"Usually I get super nervous before a match, but when I start the match, they just go away, and today was the same," said Shao, who is playing the Junior Orange Bowl in two weeks, while training at the USTA in Lake Nona and at her academy in between. "Winning this feels really good, there were a lot of good players and I was happy I could pull through."

The girls 14s final was an all-Canadian affair, with No. 14 seed Joyce Geng defeating No. 4 seed Charlie Celebrini 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

Although Celebrini has trained at times in the United States, she and Geng have already played 11 times, with Geng taking 10 of those decisions.

"We're from the same place, same club, everything, and it's a nice moment to play someone who knows you as well as you know them," said the 13-year-old left-hander. "I know she's a really good player, it's always three sets and I just got lucky a lot of times. But I knew everything about her, I knew her style, what she would do in a match and I used it to my advantage."

Geng said she found out about the wild card to the 14s winner into next year's Eddie Herr ITF J300 yesterday.

"My mum said, fun fact, you get a wild card, and I was like really? I really didn't know and I wasn't paying attention, I wanted to play well and play my game," said Geng, who has yet to play and ITF Junior Circuit tournament. "But it's a nice surprise."

Geng has trained at several academies, including Rafa Nadal's, but is not certain where she will be next year. 

"We have plans, but I'm not sure about them, that's my parents," said Geng, who will be playing the Junior Orange Bowl 14s before beginning ITF Junior Circuit tournaments in 2024.

The boys 12s title went to No. 4 seed Jang Junseo of Korea, who defeated No. 3 seed Thamma Kosiri of Thailand 6-2, 6-0 in a match that was much longer and of higher quality than the score might indicate.

The finals of the ITF J300 are set for Sunday, with top seed Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico playing the final junior match of his career with the ITF World Junior Championship on the line. His opponent in the final will be unseeded Theo Papamalamis of France, who, for the second week in succession, defeated No. 2 seed Iliyan Radulov of Bulgaria 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Pacheco had an equally grueling semifinal, defeating unseeded Luca Preda of Romania 7-6(3), 7-5 in two hours and 45 minutes in front of an appreciative crowd watching above the IMG Stadium Court.

"I think I played really well," said Pacheco, who has now won 16 singles matches in the past three weeks, winning the J300 in Zapopan, the J500 in Merida and reaching the final here. "The other guy was playing so good. Both of us were making a lot of winners, a lot of good shots."

Pacheco, who had an uncomplicated quarterfinal win Friday, said he detected fatigue in Preda, who beat Thomas Faurel 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(1) in his quarterfinal.

"I think he got a couple of cramps or something like that, so that was probably the difference," said Pacheco, who trailed 4-1 in the second set. "I knew the guy was starting to feel tired, yesterday he had a really long match as well, so for him the physical and mental strength was a little bit lower. Tomorrow in the finals, I'm going to enjoy the last junior match in my career, so it will be fun."

Among Pacheco's 16 wins in the past three weeks is a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Papamalamis in the semifinals of the Zapopan J300, but Papamalamis has now defeated three seeded players in succession, so is gaining confidence with every win. 

Papamalamis, who defeated Radulov 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of the J500 in Merida last week, knew he would face a motivated Radulov today.

"Last week I played a very aggressive match and hit every ball very strong, and I didn't let him play his game," said the 17-year-old, who lost his first set this week to qualifier Naoya Honda of Japan 6-0. "This week I knew he would know how I play, so this week I tried to change a few things, my serve, or going more to the net, small things like that, and I tried to forget the score last week."

Up a 6-3, 4-2 Papamalamis hit a rough patch, but he credited Radulov with some of that decline.

"He started playing better and I started to miss a little more, put less on my shots," said Papamalamis, who will be taking a visit to Texas A&M after the Orange Bowl. "So at the start of the third set, I tried to put more power on the ball and to be more aggressive and that was good."

Papamalamis won a long deuce game to go up 5-1, and Radulov held for 5-2. Serving for his first ITF J300 final, Papamalamis quickly went up 40-0, but two unforced errors from his forehand wasted those match points. On the third, he hit a good first serve, closing out the match in two hours and 55 minutes.

The girls final will feature two IMG Academy players, with No. 6 seed Wakana Sonobe of Japan facing No. 3 seed Teodora Kostovic of Serbia after both took out their higher-seeded American opponents.

Kostovic defeated No. 2 seed Iva Jovic 6-4, 6-3 to reach her third J300 final, having won two titles this spring on European clay. Sonobe defeated No. 4 seed Tyra Grant 6-2, 0-6, 6-2.

"I played smart, I played good tennis, actually both of us played good tennis," said the 16-year-old Kostovic, who had beaten Jovic in the summer of 2022. "She's an amazing player."

Kostovic thinks her previous success at this level could help her, although Sonobe also won a J300 title this spring on clay. 

"I have a lot of experience, and tomorrow I play with a girl who is also a great player," Kostovic said. "We're both from IMG and it's never happened, two girls from IMG playing in the final, so that's amazing, first time in history. We practice together and know each other very well. She's one of the best tennis players in the world in juniors, so we will see tomorrow."

The girls final is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Sunday, followed by the boys final, not before 11 a.m.

The ITF J300 boys doubles champions are No. 6 seeds Timofei Derepasko and Daniil Sarksian of Russia, who defeated the unseeded team of Atakan Karahan of Turkey and Hoyoung Roh of Korea 6-2, 7-6(8).

Derepasko and Sarksian had not won a title together before, but had enough success as a team to believe they could take a big title, and when they defeated top seeds Pacheco and Radulov in the quarterfinals, they were on their way.

"It was our best match of the tournament, they are so good," said Derepasko, who won the boys 14s single title in 2021. "It was a great win, obviously, because [Pacheco] won Roland Garros and the other guy was a top 10 player who made great wins in doubles," said Sarksian, 17. "That was the best quality match that we had through all the tournament, but today was not that easy I would say."

Serving at 5-6 in the second set with Derepasko serving, they faced a set point on a deciding point. Derepasko missed his first serve, but hit a second serve ace out wide to save the set point.

"He showed me that I should serve to the T," Derepasko said. "But something happened in my head and I closed my eyes and I went for it wide."

In the tiebreaker, Derepasko and Sarksian had match point at 6-5 and saved set points at 7-6 and 8-7, with Sarksian the most active and aggressive of the four players during rallies.

"In doubles, you have to do something more," said Sarksian, who trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy. "If we have opportunities, we like to end the point as soon as possible, that's what we are looking for."

Sarksian and Derepasko are hoping to continue their success together at the Orange Bowl next week.

The girls doubles champions are No. 2 seeds Alisa Oktiabreva of Russia and Iva Ivanova of Bulgaria, who defeated No. 5 seeds Kostovic and Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-0 in the day's last final.

Oktiabreva and Ivanova had never played together prior to this week, and had no expectations of winning a title.

"I had no idea about that," said Oktiabreva, 15, who had played against Ivanova in doubles, so was familiar with her game when the 17-year-old reached out to her for this tournament. "I just wanted to play and enjoy it."

Although two of their matches went to match tiebreakers, their lack of experience as a team wasn't evident.

"We have positive energy, we talk to each other a lot, we have dinner together," said Ivanova. "That's why we are a good team."

In the final, little separated the two teams, but Oktiabreva and Ivanova sustained their level, while Kostovic and Konstantinova could not.

"First set was so close, and we played very good on important moments and important points," said Ivanova. "I think we were both kind of nervous, but we made it through," said Oktiabreva.

The Eddie Herr champions will be looking for a second title in as many tournaments at the Orange Bowl.