Unseeded Bracks Beats No. 1 Gelletich Again, Ayrault and Bronson Foster Avenge Losses in Ousting Top Seeds in 14s and 12s at FILA Easter Bowl; Jose Higueras Speaks Out on USTA's Failure to Support Player Development

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Indian Wells California--

There are upsets and then there are matches when the No. 1 seed is beaten in the first round and it's not shocking. Ian Bracks' 6-3, 6-2 FILA Easter Bowl win today over 18s top seed Braeden Gelletich falls into the latter category, with the unseeded Bracks repeating his triumph on Practice Court 2, the court where he defeated Gelletich last year in the 16s final.

"It's always fun on that court, lots of people, a good atmosphere," said the 17-year-old from Oklahoma. "I felt probably a little more comfortable, because I played a few matches on it last year, so it was a lot of fun."

Bracks had a mixed reaction when he saw the draw.  

"It was a little surprising, but I was excited, because we always have good matches," said Bracks, who is now 5-0 against Gelletich. "We've played quite a few times and it's always been close. It's a good one to get into the tournament, starting out in full flight."

Bracks got off to good start, breaking Gelletich in the third game and holding serve all four times in the first set, then breaking Gelletich again to take the lead.

The same pattern held in the second set, with Bracks jumping out to leads of 3-0 and 5-1, before Gelletich began to raise his level. He broke Bracks for the only time in the 90-minute match when Bracks served for it at 5-1, but Gelletich couldn't convert either of his game points serving at 2-5 and Bracks broke for the win.

"I feel like I served effectively, hit the spots I wanted to," Bracks said. "I think the percentage was a little lower than I would have liked, but the second serve was working well, so it didn't cost me too much. I feel like I played the serve plus one pretty effectively and controlled the point early on, getting him behind the baseline."

With a 4-0 record against Gelletich coming into the match, Bracks was careful not to get complacent.

"Not against Braeden," Bracks said. "He's always a good fighter always brings something new to the match. It's always been close. That was 3 and 2, but there so many deuce games, so many long rallies, if you do get complacent, that's when he's going to get you."

Bracks, who has signed with Oklahoma State, said he understood why he wasn't seeded and it didn't bother him.

"I haven't done too many USTA tournaments," Bracks said. "But I'm not too worried about the seeding, I just go out and play my game."

Bracks will face George Cutone in the second round Tuesday.

Gelletich was the first of three No. 1 seeds to fall Monday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, with the top seeds in the Girls 14s and Boys 12s going out in the third round today.

No. 9 Hannah Ayrault defeated No. 1 seed Reiley Rhodes 6-2, 6-3 on Practice Court 2 this afternoon, avenging a loss to Rhodes in the first round of a USTA Level 2 last February.

"I played her a year ago and lost, but I had match points," said the 13-year-old from Georgia. "So I knew coming in this was going to be a tough match."

Ayrault said she was not surprised by the result, given that she was able to execute her strategy despite the often tricky winds late in the match. 

"I used my feet, got around the ball and was able to hit the ball pretty nicely, I think," Ayrault said. "I adjusted pretty well to the wind. And I used my first serve well, to be able to attack my serve and plus one. I was very confident in my game going into the match. I didn't play well in my first two rounds, but I was playing well in practice, so I knew if I played my best, I'd have a really good chance at winning."

Ayrault's opponent in the quarterfinals Tuesday is unseeded Julia Seversen, who defeated No. 9 seed Jordyn Hazelitt 6-4, 6-3.

No. 9 seed Beau Bronson Foster had lost to No. 1 seed Smyan Thuta 6-0, 6-2 in the second round of the USTA Clay Courts 12s last summer, but he said his 6-3, 6-1 win today was more the result of a mental adjustment rather than a strategic one.

"My mental was a little up and down, said Bronson Foster, who trains with Clay Pereira in Long Beach California. "If I was winning, I'd be like really happy and then when I was down, I'd get down on myself, instead of bringing myself up like I did today." 

Bronson Foster made his Easter Bowl debut a memorable one, but he is no stranger to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, accompanying his sister Ginger Foster, a freshman at Georgia Tech, when she competed at the Easter Bowl here.

"I played really well, it was one of my best matches, I would say," Bronson Foster said. "I'd been watching him and I was really ready, locked in just to play him, I was really excited. So this feels really good."

Bronson Foster will face unseeded Nathan Lee, who defeated unseeded Michael Chernevkov 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 after Chernevkov served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

The top seeds in the 16s earned straight-sets wins in their first round matches, with Bella Payne beating Riley Lepsi 6-3, 6-2 and Gus Grumet defeating Matthew Shapiro 6-4, 7-6(3). 

Girls 18s top seed Capucine Jauffret was tested by the big hitting Marina Fuduric, but escaped with a 7-6(2), 7-6(4) victory. Defending Boys 18s champion Cassius Chinlund, a No. 9 seed, advanced to the second round with 6-2, 6-1 win over Kaiaitz Mendibe.

Girls 12s top seed Nikol Davletshina advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Skylar Mandell, while Boys 14s top seed posted his second three-set win of the tournament, beating No. 9 seed Keshav Muthuvel 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

18s doubles were scheduled to be played Monday evening, but with matches running long throughout the day, those matches were postponed, although the 16s did play their first round of doubles under the lights.

Live streaming is available for Practice Court 2 matches at the Easter Bowl website.

Scores from all of today's matches, and Tuesday's schedule can be found at the USTA tournament page.

Last week I received an email from Jose Higueras about the issues he has with the USTA's disregard for the Player Development area of the organization. I will publish his email in full when I return home and have an opportunity to seriously consider it, which I currently do not have time to do while I'm covering these major California junior events.  But in the meantime, The Athletic has provided an overview of the Higueras email in this article published yesterday.