Unseeded Glozman Beats Top Seed Kostovic, Wild Card Quan Comes Back to Defeat Kennedy for ITF J300 Indian Wells Titles; San Diego J300 Begins Monday

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Indian Wells California--

Next spring Valerie Glozman and Rudy Quan will be in the midst of their first collegiate dual match season, but they will need to carve out a few days to compete in the women's and men's BNP Paribas Open qualifying after winning those wild cards with titles at the ITF J300 FILA International Junior Championships.

The unseeded Glozman, who has signed with Stanford, made quick work of top seed Teodora Kostovic of Serbia 6-2, 6-2, while wild card Quan, who will be competing for UCLA this fall, took a more circuitous route to the title, beating No. 10 seed Jack Kennedy 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

The girls final on a sunny Sunday morning was Glozman's first look at Stadium 2, but the 17-year-old from Seattle Washington looked comfortable from the beginning, running out to a 4-0 lead with a major assist from an error-prone Kostovic.

"It was my first time in a stadium this big for sure," Glozman said. "I was warming up here this morning and I was already feeling it. I'm super grateful to have pulled that out because it was kind of scary for the first time."

Of the two finalists, it was Glozman who would have been projected to have trouble in the first few games, as she had cramped late in her nearly three-hour win over No. 2 seed Iva Jovic.

"I super sore this morning, but I got treatment and I took a few ibuprofren, so I was managing it throughout the match," Glozman said. "I did get pretty exhausted physically, just not to the point of cramping."

After the first four games, Kostovic began to stay in rallies a bit longer, holding and breaking to get one of the breaks back, but she dropped serve again and Glozman closed out the set.

"She started calibrating around 4-0 and a lot of her shots started going in," said Glozman, who had beaten Kostovic 16 months ago at the Junior Billie Jean King Cup in Turkey. "I don't know if she was feeling nervous or not, but whatever it was she started making great shots. I wasn't totally relaxed yet, but having that 4-0 lead was super helpful for me."

Glozman's energy stores were low after yesterday's semifinal, so she decided to change her tactics, looping balls consistently near the baseline, especially when defending.

"I just wasn't feeling my big shots today," said Glozman, who had blasted the ball consistently against Jovic, with her two-handed forehand and backhand. "I tried to go for it a few times, but I was a little scattered. I think it's partially because I couldn't accelerate due to nerves, so I was trying to find a gear that was a little more reliable when I'm not totally on. I noticed the high balls were working for me; not only did they help me get some rhythm, I think they took away some of her rhythm as well. She will attack any short ball and plays positive tennis, and I try not to get run around too much, and throwing up the high balls kept me a little more in control of the point."

Kostovic hung tough in the early stages of the second set, but asked for a medical timeout at the 3-2 changeover, and received treatment for a left thigh injury, which she said had gotten worse over the course of the week.

"I tried not to think about it, but it was a lot of matches, lot of effort" said the 16-year-old from Serbia, who had defeated No. 3 seed Thea Frodin 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Stadium 2 in Saturday's lone singles match played there. "At one moment, I just couldn't walk, but I didn't want to retire the match, I wanted to finish the match to the end."

Kostovic didn't have any opinion on the level of her opponent, saying she was just focusing on her own pain.

"I hope next time I know how to deal with this, it's a new experience, but I heal up and go for the next match," said Kostovic, who is planning to defend her J300 title in Bulgaria next month.

Glozman now has three titles in the past three springs at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, winning the 16s Easter Bowl in 2022, the 18s Easter Bowl last year, and now this title, her first on the ITF Junior Circuit. 

"It's incredible, it feels great," Glozman said. "I honestly wasn't expecting it, but I'm super grateful for this."

Glozman was aware that a women's qualifying wild card was on the line, but promptly forgot it in order to focus on the match.

"They mentioned it right before the match, but I just wasn't thinking about it, just like I wasn't thinking about the US Open wild card," said Glozman, who was the runner-up to future Stanford teammate Eleana Yu in San Diego in 2022. "I'm just super excited to play all these great players at the tournaments."

Glozman is not playing San Diego next week, but is still deciding whether she'll defend her Easter Bowl title two weeks from now.

While Glozman was forced find a less physically taxing strategy in the final after her issues Saturday, Quan was in even worse shape coming into his first ITF J300 final. His three-set semifinal battle with top seed and future UCLA teammate Kaylan Bigun had gone three hours and produced a calf strain, finishing after 9:30 p.m. 

Starting sluggishly against the energetic Kennedy, Quan managed to locate his dynamic game in the second set, despite his physical distress.

"I did not sleep well, was throwing up a lot, felt really nauseous going into warmups," said the 18-year-old from Thousand Oaks California. "It was due to fatigue, I think, I put a lot of effort into that match and it took a toll on me. But I was so adrenalized out there, I didn't feel anything. The legs obviously get really tired in the third set, but I just kept believing in myself."

Quan also took advantage of the energy provided by several hundred specatators who had gravitated to the boys final after the women's final ended and before the men's final began.

"I love the crowd here," said Quan. "I'm a Cali kid, so I get a little bias. They were very supportive of me last year, I met a lot of people, sat and had lunch with them, and they are all very kind people. And it helped me. It helped me keep going, keep fighting out there. All the people saying you can do it, keep fighting, you got this, it really boosts your adrenaline and your will to keep going."

After gaining all the momentum with his play in the second set, Quan couldn't sustain it early in the third, but he was able to set the agenda on most points in the late stages of the match. Kennedy has an outstanding drop shot, but Quan's speed took that weapon out of his arsenal.

"He always puts pressure on you," said Kennedy, who lost to Quan 6-3, 6-1 in the third round here last year. "No matter what the score is or if it's offense he's on or defense. He likes to stay on top of the baseline and he's a great mover, so it's tough to get balls past him. Drop shots weren't that successful today."

Quan was impressed with how much the 15-year-old from New York has improved from their meeting last year. 

"I have a lot of respect for how he carries himself on the court, the way he keeps fighting, his speed, hustle and grit," said Quan, who snapped Kennedy's 14-match winning streak on the ITF Junior Circuit. "His backhand's gotten much better and he's gotten taller, I could definitely see his fitness was better. And a 14-match winning streak, that boosts any player's confidence."

Quan said he kept the BNP Paribas Open qualifying wild card out of his mind until the final point was played, dropping to his knees on the baseline, then sending his hat flying in celebration.

"I was just so tired, just focusing on where I needed to serve," Quan said of the final game. "But then I just collapsed and thought, oh my god, I'm going to qualifying. I'm going to have to miss a couple of college matches."

Quan is grateful for the opportunity and will be setting his goals on being competitive at that level of the sport. 

"The work is just starting. I've got a lot of things I need to work on, especially on the pro level," said Quan, who is not playing San Diego. "I don't want to just go there and just enjoy it. I want to go there and win."

The draws have been released for Monday's first round at the San Diego J300, which is a North American Closed event. Like the ITF J300 Indian Wells, it is a 48-draw, so no seeds will play until Tuesday.

I'll have coverage from the first round at the Barnes Tennis Center tomorrow.