Antonius Wins Les Petits As Title; Mayew Champion at ITF J300 Costa Rica; Bicknell Upsets Svajda to Claim Title at Indian Wells Challenger; ITA Kickoff Results; Auburn's Lilley Dismissed
Michael Antonius had no difficulty reaching Sunday's Les Petits As final, losing just nine games in his first five victories. But the No. 2 seed was required to find another level in the final against No. 11 seed Izan Banares Lasala of Spain, who challenged the 13-year-old from Buffalo in nearly every game before finally succumbing 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Banares broke to start the championship match, but Antonius got the break back in the next game. Usually Antonius's point construction ends up with his opponent making a forced error, but Banares played outstanding defense and showed a willingness to come to the net when he had the advantage. The Spaniard, considerably shorter than the 6-foot Antonius, broke at 3-all and hung on, hitting a drop shot winner on his third set point to put Antonius in the rare unusual position of needing a comeback. In his title run at the Eddie Herr two months ago, Antonius won all six matches in straight sets.
Antonius, didn't let his positive body language flag much, but he did look taken aback by the level of his opponent and started to rush a bit in third. He saved two break points in the first game of the second set, and then got his first break of Banares since the second game of the first set for a 2-0 lead. He never trailed after that, but could not consolidate, with Banares getting the break back every time until Antonius held for 5-2, finally beginning to get some free points on serve. After breaking Banares for the fourth time to close the out the set, Antonius appeared to have found a way to force more errors, as Banares began to show signs of fatigue.
Antonius began the third set with yet another break and hold for a 2-0 lead, but Banares made one final push, earning two break points for a chance to get back on serve. Antonius saved both, and Banares had nothing more left, although there was a five-minute delay with Baranes serving at 0-5, 15-30 so he could replace his shoelaces. It did not bother Antonius, who came out and won the next two points to take the first Les Petits As singles title for an American since Victor Lilov won it in 2018.
The girls final also a comeback from the winner, as No. 7 seed Mariia Makarova trailed No. 2 seed Kseniia Ruchkina 3-0, two breaks in the early minutes of the match, but was able to find her form in a 6-4, 6-3 victory over her doubles partner.
Draws can be found at the Tennis Europe tournament site.
Americans swept all four titles at the ITF J300 Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica, adding the boys singles and doubles titles after Shannon Lam had won the girls singles and Lam and Thea Frodin claimed the girls doubles title earlier on Saturday.
Ian Mayew, a 17-year-old from North Carolina, won three matches in qualifying, including a match tiebreaker in the final round over Benjamin Willwerth, then won his five main draw matches in straight sets. After taking out top seed Nikita Filin in the second round, Mayew faced three unseeded Americans, including in last night's final, where he defeated Matisse Farzam 7-6(5), 6-4. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit singles title for Mayew, who, with a current ITF junior ranking of 280 is not yet poised to compete in the summer's junior slams, but he will move into the Top 100 for the first time and has the remaining J300s in South America (he has received a special exemption into the main draw of the J300 in Colombia next week) and Southern California to continue to build on his success this week in Costa Rica.
In the boys doubles, Willwerth and Noah Johnston defeated Mikael and Nicolas Arseneault of Canada 7-6(7), 6-4 in the final for their first ITF Junior Circuit title as a pair.
Former University of Florida and University of Tennessee star Blaise Bicknell won his first ATP Challenger title today at the Southern California Open in Indian Wells, taking out top seed Zachary Svajda 6-3, 6-2. The 22-year-old, who represents Jamaica, is up to 319 in the ATP live rankings with the title. For more on today's final, see this article from Steve Pratt.
Bicknell was one of three former collegians winning pro titles in the United States today.
At the USTA Pro Circuit W75+H in Vero Beach Florida, former University of Georgia standout Maria Carle took the biggest title of her career, with the 23-year-old from Argentina defeating qualifier Gabriela Lee(Texas Tech) of Romania 6-4, 7-6(4) in today's final. Carle is closing in on the WTA Top 100, with her live ranking now up to 110.
Former University of Texas Longhorns Allura and Maribella Zamarippa won the doubles title, with the unseeded twin sisters defeating No. 2 seeds Whitney Osuigwe and Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 3-6, 10-4 in the final. It's the seventh Pro Circuit doubles title for the 21-year-olds.
It was a clean sweep for former collegians in the three US events this week, with both the singles and doubles titles at the $25,000 tournament in Wesley Chapel Florida also fitting into that category.
No. 6 seed Roberto Cid, a former All-American at South Florida, won the singles title, beating No. 3 seed Nick Chappell(TCU) 6-3, 6-2 in the final. Top seeds Simon Freund(LSU/UC-Santa Barbara) of Sweden and Johannes Ingildsen(Florida) of Denmark won their second doubles title in as many weeks, after winning indoors last week in Ithaca, the top seeds won outdoors in Wesley Chapel, beating unseeded Victor Lilov and Nicolas Buitrago of Colombia 6-4, 6-7(6), 10-4 in Saturday's final. They now have eight titles as a team, with five coming in the last six months.
The ITA Division I Kickoff Weekend is one match from complete, with Georgia and Texas A&M playing Monday afternoon to decide the fifteenth team to travel to New York for the men's National Team Indoor Championships next month. No. 1 seeded hosts not advancing to the Indoors are North Carolina, Mississippi State and Kentucky, with one No. 1 seed, Georgia, still to play.
Qualifiers for Men's National Indoors in Seattle
(Saturday final):
Alabama[2] d. Kentucky[1] 4-2
(Sunday finals):
Duke[1] d. Middle Tennessee[2] 4-0
Tennessee[1] d. Oklahoma[2] 4-1
Ohio State[1] d. Boise State[3] 4-0
Virginia[1] d. Florida Atlantic[3] 4-0
Harvard[1] d. Northwestern[3] 4-0
South Carolina[1] d. LSU[3] 4-1
Wake Forest[2] d. Illinois[4] 4-1
Michigan[1] d. Stanford[2] 4-3
Texas[1] d. Oklahoma State[3] 4-1
TCU[1] d. Tulsa[2] 4-0
Arizona State[3] d. VCU[4] 4-2
Arizona[[1] d. Baylor[3] 4-2
USC[1] d. San Diego[2] 4-3
(Monday final):
Georgia[1] v Texas A&M[2]
The women's field is set after the five regional finals today, and a fourth No. 1 seed, the same number as last year) fell short of qualifying. No. 1 seeded hosts not advancing to the women's National Team Indoor Championships are Iowa State, Duke, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
Auburn managed to qualify for the women's Indoor Championships yesterday despite the turmoil surrounding the program, with the school announcing today that head coach Caroline Lilley would no longer be leading the program effective immediately. Although associate head coach Megan Falcon was not mentioned in the release, she is also no longer at Auburn, with neither of them making the trip to Durham for the Kickoff Weekend.
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