Junior Orange Bowl Quarterfinals Set, With Six US Boys Advancing in B14s; Newman Sole US Girl in G14s Quarterfinals; Top Seeds in 12s Tested, but Move On

©Colette Lewis 2023--
Coral Gables, FL--

Tuesday was cool and sunny as the Junior Orange Bowl International Championships continued to catch up from the rain delays last week, with both the round of 32 and round of 16 played today.

The fortunes of Americans took two diverging paths in the 14s division, with six US boys reaching the quarterfinals, while only one US girl is through to the final eight.

In the morning round of 32, all six American boys advanced in two sets, and in the afternoon, only one needed three sets to reach the quarterfinals.

That was No. 5 seed Tyler Lee, who defeated Antoine Genereux of Canada 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 to set up a meeting with fellow American Jordan Lee, a No. 9 seed, who lost only seven games in his two matches.

Seven games was also the number top seed Tanishk Konduri dropped today; he will also face another American in No. 9 seed Navneet Raghuram.

No. 6 seed Jerrid Gaines Jr will face unseeded Motoharu Abe of Japan, with Gaines, also a quarterfinalist at last month's Eddie Herr, posting a 6-0, 6-1 win over unseeded Jeffrey Strydom of Australia in the round of 16.

No. 2 seed Andrew Johnson, a semifinalist at the Eddie Herr, will face Emilio Camacho of Ecuador, a number nine seed, who defeated Eddie Herr finalist and No. 8 seed Matei Cheleman of Romania 7-6(6), 6-3.

The five games that Johnson lost to No. 17 seed Jan Urbanski of Poland were the most he's lost in any of his four matches over the past two days.

"I had some expectations coming in, but I don't know most of these people because they're coming from around the world," said the Southern Californian, who trains with the USTA in Carson and with Peter Smith at the Jack Kramer Club. "But I'm just trying my best here."

Johnson says his variety and his ability to concentrate in each match have been crucial to his success the past two days.

"Staying focused is the number one thing," said Johnson, who fell behind 2-0 against Urbanski but won the final six games of the match. "If I stay focused, I keep playing well. I can change the ball speed, and I think that really helps me, because a lot of other players, it's really hard for them to do it. I think that's one of my few things I'm really good at."

Johnson's quick matches have helped him stay fresh and he was also able to escape the rain and find a place to hit during the three-and-a-half-day delay in the start of the tournament.

"I drove a few hours away to practice on some of the courts, so that helped," said Johnson, who  "I still kept my game, kept my rhythm."

While the boys 14s had little drama Tuesday, the girls 14s was the opposite, with the top two seeds exiting and three unseeded players advancing to the quarterfinals.

Top seed Anna Bugaienko trailed No. 17 seed Hannah Ayrault 6-0, 4-1 before taking the next 11 games for a 0-6, 6-4, 6-0 third round victory, but she then lost to Jana Kovackova, a No. 9 seed, 6-0, 6-0. Kovackova, the European 14s Masters champion and younger sister of Alena Kovackova, has yet to drop a set in her four wins.

Kovackova will face unseeded Lujza Beviz of Hungary, who took out Eddie Herr champion Joyce Geng[8] of Canada 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the third round.

No. 17 seed Reya Kotseva, the 2023 Easter Bowl 12s champion, was on the court for seven hours today, winning a four-hour battle with No. 7 seed Maggie Sohns 7-5, 6-7(7) 6-3 in the third round, then a three-hour contest with No. 17 seed Anastasia Malysheva of Canada 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Kotseva, who lives in Las Vegas, represents Bulgaria on the international junior circuit.

The only girl representing the United States is Welles Newman, who took out two Americans to advance to the quarterfinals. In the third round, Newman, a No. 9 seed, defeated Abigail Gordon, a No. 17 seed, 6-2, 6-0, but she was on the other end of a bagel set to open her round of 16 match with No. 6 seed Lyla Middleton, only to rebound for a 0-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory.

"It took me a while to get into the match and she started out very strong," said the 13-year-old from Boca Raton, who won the recent Les Petits As United States playoff and will compete in that event next month. "It was tough, but I'm so happy I got back into the match. I calmed myself down, just reset and I think my level went up. I started hitting more aggressively and moving the ball around. I went for bigger margins too, because I was missing a lot in the first set."

Newman was up 3-1 and 4-2 in the third set before Middleton broke and held for 4-all. But Newman got an easy hold and was able to play freely with Middleton serving to stay in the match, breaking at love for the win.

"That was a really important game," Newman said of her quick hold. "I'm very happy I held my serve, because I was not holding serve before that game."

Newman couldn't have been happier with her play in that final game. 

"I just played flawless points I think," Newman said. "I went for the right shots, my returns were very good, and I just played a very clean game there."

Newman will face unseeded Oliwia Sybicka of Poland, who beat No. 2 seed Sarah Ye 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in the third round and No. 9 seed Alina Vysochenko of Ukraine 6-4, 6-4 in the round of 16.

The boys and girls 12s, which will move to the Biltmore Tennis Center for Wednesday's quarterfinals and semifinals, still have their No. 1 seeds. Caroline Shao and Tristan Ascenzo hadn't lost a game in their first two matches, but both were tested today. Shao defeated unseeded Ayul Kim of Korea 6-4, 6-4 in the third round before taking out Yerin Lim of Korea, a No. 17 seed, 6-2, 6-0 in the round of 16.

Ascenzo, who also had two 6-0, 6-0 wins to start the tournament, beat unseeded Kazuki Nakajima of Japan 6-1, 6-2 in the third round, before Siyun Kim of Korea, a No. 9 seed, pushed him to a third set before Ascenzo claimed a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory in the round of 16.

The 12s will move to the Biltmore Tennis Center for Thursday's quarterfinals and semifinals, joining the boys 14s. The girls 14s remain on the Har-Tru courts at Salvadore Park through Thursday's final. 

Junior Orange Bowl Quarterfinals

G14s

Jana Kovackova(CZE)[9] v Lujza Beviz(HUN)

Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva[17](BRA) v Charlie Celebrini[5](CAN)

Raya Kotseva(BUL)[17] v Tea Kovacevic(BIH)

Welles Newman(USA)[9] v Oliwia Sybicka(POL)

B14s

Tanishk Konduri[1](USA) v Navneet Raghuram[9](USA)

Motoharu Abe(JPN) v Jerrid Gaines Jr[6](USA)

Tyler Lee[5](USA) v Jordan Lee[9](USA)

Emilio Camacho[9](ECU) v Andrew Johnson[2](USA)

G12s

Caroline Shao[1](USA) v Sakino Miyazawa[8](JPN)

Daniel Baranes[9](ISR) v Capucine Charcosset(FRA)

Daniela Del Mastro[6](USA) v Kathryn Cragg[3](USA)

Megan Knight[7](GBR) v Isabella Yan[17](CAN)

B12s

Tristan Ascenzo[1](USA) v Fu Wang Choi[7](HKG)

Rafael Pagonis[3](GRE) v Yuto Hisano(JPN)

Simon Lifton(USA) v Jang Junseo[4](KOR)

Andres Quijada[6](VEN) v Nicholas Du[2](USA)

The semifinals should have live scoring and streaming available. Please check the Junior Orange Bowl tournament site Wednesday for links.

Draws and times for Wednesday can be found here.