Filin Saves Seven Match Points to Reach Kalamazoo 18s Quarterfinals; Upset Bug Bites in 16s; Defending Champions Fall in 18s Doubles Quarterfinals; USA Teams Reach Semifinals at ITF 14U Team Event
©Colette Lewis 2024--
Kalamazoo MI--
A day after ousting No. 2 seed Darwin Blanch, No. 18 seed Nikita Filin earned another dramatic victory, saving seven match points in his 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 win over No. 10 seed Adhithya Ganesan in Thursday's fifth round of the USTA Boys 18s and 16s National Championships.
Ganesan served for the match at 5-4, 40-15 in the second set, but Filin came up big on those two match points in the three-deuce game, then fell behind 6-2 in the tiebreaker, saving all four of those and another with Ganesan serving at 7-6.
"It was kind of lucky," said the 18-year-old from Illinois, who began his freshman year at Ohio State this summer. "The first two I saved, I hit a flush backhand return winner, and then some crazy angle, I don't even know, it didn't seem like I was playing, it was like it was someone else playing, but I'm extremely proud and happy."
After the 10-minute break between the second and third sets, Filin's momentum could have been disrupted, but he came out buoyed by his miraculous survival and earned an early break and was able to hold serve throughout, breaking for a second time to record another upset.
Filin again credited his past two months training with the current and former Ohio State players with his ability to maintain a physical presence throughout the three-hour and 18 minute match.
"Starting the third just felt like going back for 1 p.m. practice after finishing at 11:30," Filin said. "My legs felt fine, it was all execution, and I feel like I could play doubles right now if I needed to. I felt I had the game plan, was there physically and mentally, and he wasn't a little bit; after seven match points, it's tough. I felt he did a good job fighting, not giving it to me, I had to earn it."
In Friday's quarterfinals, Filin will face No. 20 seed Matthew Forbes, who defeated No. 33 seed Sanjeev Chundu 6-3, 6-0.
Top seed Trevor Svajda came through in two sets, beating No. 15 seed Saahith Jayaraman 6-3, 7-6(1) and will play No. 5 seed and 2021 boys 16s champion Alex Razeghi. Razeghi defeated No. 9 seed Alex Frusina 7-6(4), 6-4, avenging his loss to Frusina last September in the final of the ITF J300 in Houston, where both live.
Like Filin, No. 8 seed Jack Kennedy also had to come back from a set down, although he had a less dramatic second set, beating unseeded Andrew Li 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. Kennedy will take on Georgia rising sophomore Cyrus Mahjoob, who advanced when No. 24 seed Noah Johnston retired trailing 7-5, 3-0.
No. 14 seed Mitchell Lee, who ended the run of unseeded John Cross 6-0, 6-4, will play No. 4 seed and last year's 16s champion Cooper Woestendick, who beat No. 33 seed Nicholas Patrick 6-4, 6-4.
After seven of the top eight seeds made the round of 16 in the 16s division, the upsets surfaced Thursday, with the No. 3, 4, and 5 seeds falling.
Top seed Gus Grumet continued to cruise, beating No. 22 seed David Wu 6-2, 6-1, and will face No. 33 seed Adrien Abarca, who defeated No. 19 seed Gregory Bernadsky 7-6(5), 7-6(1).
No. 2 seed Gavin Goode defeated No. 12 seed Justin Anson 6-3, 6-2. Goode will play No. 16 seed Arin Pallegar in Friday's quarterfinals after Pallegar came from 6-2, 4-2 down to defeat No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.
"I told myself to keep staying physical, keep sticking with the strategy," said the 16-year-old, who trains at the JMG Academy in Sacramento. "Ryan's a good player, so it was really hard, but believing in myself was key."
Pallegar, who turns 17 next month, has been competing in UTR Pro Tennis Tour events and in the 18s, but decided to play in the 16s for the US Open junior wild card that goes to the winner, and the chance to play the top players in the age group.
The only unseeded player remaining in either the 16s or 18s quarterfinals is Rishvanth Krishna, who defeated No. 4 seed Yannik Alvarez 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
"I didn't expect to be here at all," said the 15-year-old from Irvine California. "I was just hoping to string a few rounds together and I'm just happy to have gotten these wins."
Krishna said his consistency and positive attitude have been responsible for his success this week, but noted another shot helped him earn his fourth consecutive win over a seed.
"I was really happy to serve it out, but I was serving very well," said Krishna, who talked to his brother on the phone during the 10-minute break. "He was watching on the live stream and he told me to just hit deeper, to play my game and you've got this."
Krishna will face another Southern Californian in No. 8 seed Andrew Johnson, who defeated No. 33 seed Gabriel Jessup 6-2, 6-3.
"He's my friend, but I haven't played him since the 10s," Krishna said. "He's a different player, so it'll be tough."
No. 14 seed Shaan Patel wasn't comfortable when he began the tournament, but he's won every match in straight sets, including today's 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 3 seed Jack Secord.
"I was very, very nervous my first match, but coming and playing against such a high seed, I had no nerves," said the 16-year-old from St. Louis, who returned to competition recently after breaking his hand in a non-tennis injury. "I haven't played this good in a while, but usually when I'm playing good, it's dictating with the forehand and backhand, every now and then change and take a risk. When I was injured, I worked on my chip a lot too, and was mixing in the drop shot a little bit. I'm grinding, but looking to be aggressive at the same time."
Patel's opponent in the quarterfinals is No. 6 seed Keaton Hance, who earned his fourth straight-sets victory with a 6-2, 6-1 decision over No. 9 seed James Quattro.
The doubles quarterfinals produced the biggest upsets in the 18s division today, with the top two seeds eliminated.
Defending champions and No. 1 seeds Alex Frusina and Adhithya Ganesan were beaten by No. 14 seeds Meecah Bigun and Mitchell Lee 7-6(1), 7-6(8), with Bigun and Lee saving three set points in the tiebreaker. Lee, who won the 16s doubles title in 2022, and Bigun, who reached the quarterfinals with his brother Kaylan last year, will play Kaylan and Trevor Svajda in the semifinals. The No. 6 seeds defeated No. 3 seeds Benjamin Willwerth and Noah Johnston 6-4, 6-3.
No. 2 seeds and Australian Open doubles champions Max Exsted and Cooper Woestendick were beaten by No. 5 seeds Kase Schinnerer and Ian Mayew 6-3, 6-3. Mayew and Schinnerer will play No. 4 seeds Nikita Filin and Alex Razeghi, who beat unseeded Jake Kennedy and Drew Hedgecoe 6-4, 6-4, coming from 4-1 down in the second set.
The 16s doubles semifinals will feature three of the four top seeds. No. 1 seeds Ryan Cozad and Yannik Alvarez defeated unseeded Shaan Patel and Joaquin Blanco 7-5, 6-1 and will face No. 12 seeds Noah Bayon and William Freshwater, who beat unseeded Jack Dermenjyan and Noble Renfrow 4-6, 6-4, 10-7.
In the bottom half, No. 2 seeds Adrien Abarca and Justin Anson will play No. 3 seeds Sutton Severance and Lucas Smith, with Abarca and Anson defeating unseeded Sean Grosman and Shaan Majeed 7-6(6), 7-5 and Severance and Smith beating No. 7 seeds Gus Grumet and Arin Pallengar 3-6, 6-4, 12-10.
Full third sets will be played in doubles beginning with Friday's semifinals. All singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals will have lines called by officials, not players, as has been the case in the first five rounds of singles and four rounds of doubles.
Main draw matches begin 9 a.m. at Stowe with three 16s quarterfinals, with 18s quarterfinals not before 10:30. The doubles semifinals are scheduled for 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at Stowe.
For links to live scoring and live streaming, see the ustaboys.com website.
The semifinals are set for the other USTA Nationals, with the exception of the Girls 18s in San Diego, which will play their quarterfinals on Friday. Links to the draws can be found by clicking on the headings below.
Girls 12s semifinals:
Nadia Poznick[1] v Anna Kapanadze[6]
Sofija Dimitrievic[17] v Isha Manchala[2]
Boys 12s semifinals:
Daniel Gardality[1] v Ishaan Marla[15]
Rex Kulman[3] v James Borchard[2]
Girls 14s semifinals:
Enya Hamilton[1] v. Vibha Gogineni[17]
Armira Kockinis[17] v Tanvi Pandey[17]
Boys 14s semifinals:
Gadin Arun[5] v Daniil Berezin[33]
Daniel Malacek[33] v Tabb Tuck
G18s quarterfinals:
Clervie Ngounoue[1] v Alexis Nguyen[15]
Iva Jovic[3] v Ariana Pursoo[17]
Valerie Glozman[5] v Tyra Grant[4]
Mia Slama[17] v Akasha Urhobo[2]
Both of the USA 14U teams at the ITF World Junior Tennis will compete in the semifinals Friday, with the top-seeded boys defeating Great Britain[3] 2-0 and the No. 2 seeded girls beating Japan[6] 2-1. The boys play Spain[2] in the semifinals, with the girls taking on Austria[3].
Live streaming and live scoring are available here.
0 comments:
Post a Comment