November Aces; Americans Play for 12s, 14s and 16s Eddie Herr Titles Saturday; Doubles Champions Crowned; Sonobe Ousts ITF Top Seed Samsonova; Jovic Through to Semis in Four Hours; Grant Makes Final Four

©Colette Lewis 2023--
Bradenton FL--

Before I get to all the action today at the IMG Academy, including the singles semifinals and doubles finals for the Eddie Herr 12s, 14s and 16s divisions, it's time to look back at the top performances of last month in my column for Tennis Recruiting Network, published today. The theme of November was two titles, with a couple of those featured winning three, which is a satisfying month by any standard. 

After a chilly week, Friday was warm and summerlike for the semifinals of the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions at the Eddie Herr, with 11 matches on the hard courts beginning at 9 a.m.

One match did not take place with girls 16s top seed Annika Penickova giving a walkover to Katerina Shabashkevich, the No. 8 seed, due to a foot injury. A matchup with her twin sister Kristina was anticipated for Saturday's final, as the two played in the finals of two ITF J100s in Ghana in October, with each winning one, but Annika was not healthy enough for singles.  Kristina, the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 7 seed Ava Rodriguez 6-0, 6-3, and she will go for her second Eddie Herr title Saturday against Shabashkevich. Kristina won the girls 12s title in 2021, beating Anita Tu in the final.

The other player aiming for a second Eddie Herr title is 13-year-old Michael Antonius, who won the boys 12s title last year. Antonius, the top seed, will play unseeded Matei Victor Chelemen of Romania in the final.

No. 1 seed Caroline Shao and No. 5 seed Yui Watanabe will face off in an all-USA girls 12s final, one of three on tap for Saturday. Like the girls 16s, the boys 16s will feature two Americans, and it is the only final between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. Top seed Jack Satterfield will take on No. 2 seed Jack Secord, with the winner the fourth consecutive American to take the title.

The Friday's semifinals results:

G12s

Caroline Shao[1](USA) d. Adriana Khomyakova[6](USA) 6-4, 6-1

Yui Watanabe[5](USA) d. Paweenon Nualsri[2] 6-1, 7-6(2)

B12s

Thamma Kosiri[3](THA) d. Xiaochan Jiang(CHN) 2-6, 6-3, 12-10

Jang Junseo[4](KOR) d Geonha Kim(KOR) 7-6(5), 0-6, 10-8

G14s

Charlie Celebrini[4](USA) d. Yeri Hong(KOR) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1

Joyce Geng[14](CAN) d. Gilia Safina Popa[3](ROU) 6-2, 6-3

B14s

Michael Antonius[1](USA) d. Andrew Johnson[3](USA) 6-3, 6-4

Matei Victor Chelemen(ROU) d. Samim Filiz(ECU) 7-6(6), 6-4

G16s

Katerina Shabashkevich[8](USA) d. Annika Penickova[1](USA) walkover, injury

Kristina Penickova[2](USA) d. Ava Rodriguez[7](USA) 6-0, 6-3

B16s

Jack Satterfield[1](USA) d. Ryan Cozad[3](USA) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1

Jack Secord[2](USA) d. Nischal Spurling[6](USA) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

The doubles champions were determined Friday afternoon, and below are the photos of the champions and finalists, with the result of the match in the caption.

G16s:

 Kristina Penickova & Annika Penickova(USA)[1] d.
Ishika Ashar & Ava Rodriguez[2](left) 6-0, 6-0
with Eddie Herr tournament director Hisashi Sato

B16s:

Mason Taube(USA) & Ryan Cozad(USA)[3] (left) d.
Keaton Hance(USA) & Ford McCollum(USA)[1] 6-1, 6-1 

G14s:

Chukwumelije Clarke(USA) & Londyn McCord(USA)(left) d.
Sabrina Balderrama(VEN) & Oliwia Sybicka(POL) 6-3, 7-5

B14s:

Andrew Johnson(USA) & Teodor Davidov(USA)[3](left) d. 
Samim Filiz(ECU) & Kaan Isik Kosaner(TUR) 7-6(3), 6-2 

G12s:

YunHa Kim(KOR) & Yerin Lee(KOR)(left) d.
Emery Combs(USA) & Sophia Khomoutov(USA)[5] 6-1, 6-3

B12s:

Jang Junseo(KOR) & Siyun Kim(KOR)[2] (left) d.
David Gardality(USA) & Julius Rippl(USA)[4] 6-4, 6-4

The ITF J300 tournament is a day behind the younger age divisions, with their semifinals set for 9 a.m. Saturday morning on the Har-Tru courts, while the 12s, 14s and 16s play their finals on the hard courts at the same time.

After the girls tournament went according to form throughout the week, the script flipped Friday, with top seed Laura Samsonova and No. 3 seed Alena Kovackova of the Czech Republic going out, and No. 2 seed Iva Jovic winning a four-hour and 10 minute battle to barely survive.

Samsonova, who won the J500 in Merida Mexico last week, was decisively beaten by fellow 15-year-old Wakana Sonobe of Japan, the No. 6 seed, 6-2, 6-2. Sonobe had lost to Samsonova early last month at the Junior Billie Jean King Cup in Spain, so the win was particularly satisfying for the IMG Academy student.

"My forehand was much better today in this match," said the left-handed Sonobe, who is not comfortable speaking English and used Ryuji Hirooka, a coach of the Japanese Foundation players training at IMG as a translator. "And I was calm the whole time, not rushed. Even on big points I stay calm and still stay aggressive."

Sonobe did admit to some nerves closing out one of the biggest wins of her junior career. 

"I was playing freely at the beginning and kept that mentality but felt a little bit of pressure towards the end," Sonobe said of the final few games. "But I didn't try to think anything, nothing in the head, just play."

Sonobe's opponent in the semifinals will be No. 4 seed Tyra Grant, who has yet to drop a set this week. Grant, also 15, defeated No. 8 seed Iva Ivanova of Bulgari 6-4, 6-3.

Those two girls quarterfinals went quickly, but the other two polar opposites. No. 5 seed Teodora Kostovic of Serbia needed more than three hours to eliminate Kovackova 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-0, yet that match's lengthy paled in comparison to Jovic's 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win over No. 10 seed Alisa Oktiabreva of Russia.

Already three-and-a-half hours into the match, Jovic played one of the longest games of her career, serving at 3-2 in the third set. The game featured 14 deuces and spanned 25 minutes, but once Jovic finally ended it with an ace, she took the next two games in a relatively speedy 15 minutes.

"I don't how it is possible for that to happen," Jovic said of the length of the game. "We both probably hit 10 lines on ad points, she hit four netcords. I literally did not know if I could physically continue after that. Thankfully I won it, I don't know how, well with an ace. I knew at that point I couldn't hit another groundstroke, so I needed to just go big, and I thanked the universe when that serve went in."

Jovic knew that surviving that game likely spelled the end of Oktiabreva's chances of winning the match.

"When you lose a 30-minute game, it's just really big for momentum," Jovic said. "I don't know what would have happened if I didn't win that game."

Jovic, with her wrist wrapped in ice, pulled out of the doubles with Grant, with the No. 1 seeds giving Kostovic and her partner Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria a walkover into Saturday's doubles final. The No. 5 seeds will face No. 2 seeds Ivanova and Oktiabreva, who beat No. 4 seeds Sonobe and Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain 2-6, 6-1, 10-4.

Jovic and Kostovic have played just once on the ITF Junior Circuit, in June of 2022, with Kostovic winning in the third round of the J300 in Germany 6-3, 4-6, 10-3.

The boys semifinals will feature the top two seeds against unseeded players.  No. 1 seed Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico won his 15th straight match over the past three weeks, defeating No. 11 seed Reda Bennani of Morocco 6-1, 6-2 and will face unseeded Luca Preda of Romania. Preda dropped his first set of the week to unseeded Thomas Faurel of France in today's quarterfinal on Stadium Court, but rebounded for a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(1) victory.  

While Pacheco and Preda have never met, the other semifinalists played last week at the J500 in Merida.  No. 2 seed Iliyan Radulov of Bulgaria, also the No. 2 seed in Mexico, was beaten 6-3, 6-3 in the second round by unseeded Theo Papamalamis of France. Radulov got his opportunity for revenge with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 10 seed Sebastian Eriksson of Sweden, while Papamalamis took out his second seed in as many days, beating No. 8 seed Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The boys doubles final Saturday will feature No. 6 seeds Timofei Derepasko and Daniil Sarksian of Russia against the unseeded team of Atakan Karahan of Turkey and Hoyoung Roh of Korea. Derepasko and Sarksian defeated Preda and his partner Calin Stirbu of Romania 6-4, 5-7, 10-5, while Karahan and Roh ended the chances of a boys championship for the United States with a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over unseeded Kaylan Bigun and Jagger Leach.