Glozman Overcomes Cramps, Reaches FILA International ITF J300 Final Against Kostovic; Quan Fights Back to Beat Bigun in Late Night Finish, Kennedy Upsets Defending Champion to Reach Boys Final; Doubles Champions Crowned

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Indian Wells CA--

A cramping Valerie Glozman had failed in her attempt to serve out the match at 5-2 in the third set of her semifinal with No. 2 seed Iva Jovic at the FILA International Junior Championships ITF J300 Saturday, so when she went up 15-40 with Jovic serving, she tapped all her reserves to close out the match. After running down shot after shot and throwing up one defensive lob after another, the 17-year-old from Washington couldn't keep Jovic from finally putting a shot out of her reach.

As she headed to her towel to catch her breath and reset, Glozman's legs gave out, nearly unable to move, but fortunately still on her feet. When the chair umpire eventually asked if she was all right, Glozman answered honestly that she was cramping. Immediately after Glozman asked how much time she had, the chair gave her a time violation warning, so Glozman slowly walked to her returning position, the tension mounting.

"I was a little nervous, because I knew Iva was going to keep fighting until the end," Glozman said. "I was really excited to get that 40-15 lead, so it was really tricky, 40-30, I really wanted to close it out."

Glozman was able to breathe a sigh of relief when Jovic netted a backhand after a short rally, giving Glozman a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win and a spot in her first J300 final.

"I think she could have probably run me side to side a little more," Glozman said. "But I was going to commit on that point, no matter what, to be offensive, but also to get everything back. Once you lose a couple of those match points it's tough to close it out."

Glozman had watched Coco Gauff force a third set by saving match points in her semifinal against Sakkari Friday night, and knowing Jovic's reputation for comebacks, Glozman didn't want to squander her opportunity.

"I was thinking about that in my match, and thought I've got to close it out while I can, especially knowing how that second set went today," Glozman said.

Down 5-0 in the second set, Jovic refused to concede anything, holding serve, then breaking Glozman and holding again. Glozman finally closed out the set in her second attempt, in another deuce game, while fully aware that the third set would be more of the same.

"I definitely felt super relieved to close it out," Glozman said. "I've had matches in the past where you feel like it's running away from you, but I try really hard to change gears. In the first set, it felt like it was slipping away a little, so I tried to be a little more aggressive and offensive, just like she was doing."

It was 2-2 in the third when Glozman began to cramp, which she attributed to the two hours and 46 minutes on court, not nerves.

"It just progressively got worse after that," Glozman said. "It was definitely the physical element. I know it wasn't hot today, but it was probably warmer than indoor tennis, and I don't usually play that many tournaments or that many three-setters, so I was feeling it. I feel like I don't do enough fitness, I try, but not enough to constantly feel great deep into the matches."

After the match, Glozman spent the next hour with the trainer, but she was feeling fine after that session and looking forward to playing the final on Stadium 2 Sunday.

Her opponent, top seed Teodora Kostovic of Serbia, has already had that experience, beating No. 3 seed Thea Frodin 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 there, after adjusting to the atmosphere that included ballrunners, two line umpires and and a master of ceremony making player introductions.

Up 4-2 in the first set, Kostovic lost the next four games, but was able to immediately identify her problem.

"I started great, then I just stopped moving my feet," said the 16-year-old, who trains at the IMG Academy in Bradenton. "I tried to enjoy the atmosphere and I forgot about the tennis. When I come back [for second set], I tell myself I need to play my best tennis because that's the reason that I am here."

Kostovic maintained impressive depth on her ground strokes and kept her unforced errors to a minimum, applying pressure on Frodin. Despite playing in her first J300 final, Frodin had confidently served out the first set, but she held serve only two more times, both in the second set, as Kostovic found her rhythm.

Kostovic was impressed with the 15-year-old Frodin's game. 

"She's a great player," said Kostovic, who will be playing in her fourth J300 final Sunday morning.  "She comes back from 2-4, it's not easy. She's an aggressive player, she plays smart, and I'm very happy to take this match. I think age doesn't matter."

Kostovic is the only international player to reach the boys or girls semifinal, and although she is happy to be competing during what she referred to as the "fifth slam," she is not happy that the juniors don't have access to much of what makes the tournament so popular with professional players.

"But we are just juniors, I hear that a lot of times," Kostovic said.  "In the first three days we didn't have a locker room and I want to tell you that, to let everybody know, that's a little bit disrespectful. I know we are juniors, but we're future professionals, so I would like for the next year everybody who are playing to have a locker room from the first day, that would be great. We have one now, but still we can't use the gym, we can't go on the grass to warm up. I know the rules, that maybe we're sometimes annoying, we want to ask the pro players some questions, but we are future professionals so they need to expect that also."

In spite of the fact that Glozman had played only 16 matches on the ITF Junior Circuit prior to this week, she does have a 6-2, 6-1 win over Kostovic during the semifinals of the Junior Billie Jean Cup in Turkey in 2022. 

"When I played her last time, I don't know that she expected much from me, because I was pretty unknown at the time," Glozman said. "I was super motivated because I was playing for the team and everything, and I think she just came out with the wrong expectation, and it's a little tough to change it midway. I'm expecting a totally different match this time, and I'm going to have to be on my guard the whole time."

The girls were fortunate to finish their semifinals before a three-and-a-half hour rain delay. The boys semifinals were scheduled to follow the Jovic-Glozman match, one after the other, and the rain did not come at a good time for No. 10 seed Jack Kennedy, who was leading No. 2 seed and defending champion Cooper Woestendick 6-2, 2-1 when the sprinkles turned into a light but steady rain.

"It's definitely kind of annoying when you have the momentum and the rain delay happens, it's kind of a nuisance," said the 15-year-old from New York. "But when you come back out, you have to act like it didn't bother you at all."

Kennedy did detect a difference in Woestendick's level when he returned to the court. 

"His level definitely increased a little bit after the rain delay," said Kennedy, who won two ITF J200s last month and is now on a 14-match winning streak. "He got a long time to recap and rethink everything. But when he steps up his game I have to step up mine."

Kennedy saved break points in both his service games immediately after play resumed, but Woestendick finally got that elusive break after a long deuce game to pull even at 4-all in the second set. Any hope of a comeback dimmed when he was broken in the next game, giving Kennedy the opportunity to serve it out. With a 40-15 lead, Kennedy played his final game with the confidence that two recent titles can produce, hitting a big first serve to sideline the defending champion.

"I was trying to keep the depth on him, I didn't want to give him too many balls to attack," Kennedy said. "He's really good moving forward. When I kept it deep, with good energy on the ball, I was definitely ahead in the rallies."

Kennedy will face unseeded wild card Rudy Quan, who overcame top seed Kaylan Bigun and calf strain to record a thrilling 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-5 victory in a three-hour semifinal that finished after 9:30 p.m.

Quan, who had saved three match points in his quarterfinal win over top seed Bigun last year, suffered a calf strain at the start of the second set, after grinding out the 80-minute first set.

"I was pretty discouraged," said the 18-year-old Californian. "I was thinking of pulling out, what if I reaggravate it, et cetera, but I thought at least give yourself a shot to win. That's all I can ask of myself, show some good body language out there, go for your shots, you've just got to dig and see what happens."

Down two breaks at 3-0 in the third set, Quan prospects didn't look great, but a break at love in the next game helped provide some optimism. After receiving a medical timeout and two changeover visits from the trainer to work on his left calf, Quan couldn't receive further treatment, and that seemed to spur him to hit even bigger and more aggressively.

Aside from that lackluster fourth game, Bigun continued to play well, and a rare easy hold gave him a 5-3 lead in the third. Quan held to force Bigun to serve out the match, and there's no doubt last year's match on the same court was on both their minds. In that match, hundreds of spectators had crowded the court between the women's semifinals; on a cold evening with the men's semifinal underway in Stadium 1, only a dozen people saw the last three games, which were of the highest quality, despite the desolate atmosphere.

Bigun was probably wondering just how bad the calf strain was, with Quan getting to everything in those rallies, hitting lines or playing astounding defense to go up 15-40. Bigun saved one break point with a forehand winner, but Quan continued to play flawlessly, and Bigun eventually sent a forehand long to make it 5-5. Down a break point at 30-40, Quan took the next three points to take his first lead since 1-0 in the second set, forcing Bigun to serve to get into the tiebreaker.

Down 15-30, Bigun hit a big forehand to force a rare error from Quan, but then decided to serve and volley on the next point. Bigun made his first serve, but Quan made a perfect return at his feet to earn a match point at 30-40. Bigun saved that with a deft backhand volley winner after Quan had tested him several times, but a down the line winner from Quan gave him a second match point, and he closed it out with a improbable running forehand pass, that brought Quan's small family cheering section to its feet.

"Honestly I was so focused on myself I didn't know what was happening," Quan said of those final few games. "I just kind of zoned out, I guess, and everything kind of flowed. I think it's important to mentally stay in flow, I guess, I was able to figure that out in the third set. I was able to relax, played more carefree because I was hurt. I don't know what was happening, but I guess I figured it out."

Quan and Kennedy played last year here in the third round, with Quan winning 6-1, 6-3.

Quan will not have much recovery time, with the boys singles final scheduled not before noon on Sunday, after the girls final at 10 a.m.

While the singles semifinals were being played on Stadium 3, Stadium 2 hosted the doubles finals, with two teams who had never played together before claiming the titles.

Alyssa Ahn and Bianca Molnar were a last minute pairing, as they came through qualifying in singles, and decided to play together only after they had both advanced to main draw.

That paid off in a title, with Ahn and Molnar defeating No. 5 seeds Alanis Hamilton and Claire An 5-7, 6-3, 10-4, after the long rain delay with Ahn and Molnar up a break 4-3 in the second set. When play resumed, they closed out the set, and dominated the match tiebreaker, going up 5-1 and 8-4 before closing out their first match point.

Once they had saved two match points in their 2-6, 6-3, 12-10 second round win over No. 4 seeds Monika Ekstrand and Aspen Schuman, Molnar and Ahn began to see their strengths as a team.

"My game style is pretty aggressive, I like my forehand and my serve," said Molnar, a 17-year-old left-hander from California. "Alyssa's very good at the net and consistent from the back, can rip it line as well."

"Once we figured out our game styles and how well they balanced each other out, it was definitely a high level," said Ahn, a 17-year-old from San Diego. "I think we were really confident throughout the week, and once we fought through that (second round match) we knew anything was possible."

Up 5-2 in the first set, Molnar and Ahn lost five straight games, but they preferred to look at that as a positive.

"Up 5-2 you definitely know you have the capability to play well," Ahn said. "We just knew we could come back and win, and during the rain delay, we discussed some things and although we were losing, we were very confident and I think that's what helped us in the end."

Molnar had nothing but praise for their experience at the FILA Internatonal Junior Championships this week. 

"No other junior tournament is like this," said Molnar, who has signed with Notre Dame for this fall. "This experience is unreal, being able to play during the BNP, random people come to watch and cheer. It's just like being a pro player and I really enjoyed it."

The boys doubles champions had been trying to work their schedules to pair up and it finally happened this week, with No. 4 seeds Ian Mayew and Kase Schinnerer defeating No. 3 seeds Nikita Filin and Jagger Leach 6-3, 6-4 to close out Saturday's action on Stadium 2.

Down 3-0 in the second set, Mayew and Schinnerer stayed positive, winning six of the next seven games for the title.

"We've asked each other to play multiple times at many of the US ITFs, but it's never worked out," said Mayew, a 17-year-old from North Carolina. "But we've known each other for a while, always practice together, and on the doubles court we really have good chemistry out there."

Although they dropped only one set in their four victories, Mayew and Schinnerer both expressed how small the margins are in doubles. 

"It's no-ad, it can swing in literally five minutes," Mayew said. "We were down 3-0 and then up 3-4 in like five minutes. You've just got to lock in and you can't get down, you just have to keep going with what you're doing. We both played phenomenal, it was a great level by both of us."

"You can't beat Tennis Paradise," said Schinnerer, a 17-year-old from Pennsylvania. "It's awesome they get to host an event here, and the opportunity to play on Stadium 2, in the evening with the atmosphere, we wanted the moment and we took it. It's a great experience playing here."