Woestendick Extends Kalamazoo Winning Streak to 12 to Reach 18s Semifinals; Unseeded Krishna Advances to 16s Semifinals; Finals Set for USTA 12s, 14s National Championships; USA Teams Advance to World Junior Tennis 14U Finals

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Kalamazoo MI--

Cooper Woestendick is just 17 years old, but he is already competing in Kalamazoo for the fourth time. It's a place that brings out the best in his tennis, and after winning the 16s title last year, he has now won a dozen straight matches here, reaching the USTA National Boys 18s Championships semifinals with a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 14 seed Mitchell Lee at Stowe Stadium Friday.

"I've had really good success here in the past," said Woestendick, from Olathe Kansas. "I've made the quarters every year, at least, so obviously, I like the courts and I like the conditions."

Last year Woestendick was the No. 2 seed in the 16s, and handled the pressure of being a favorite by claiming all seven of his matches in straight sets; this year he is facing a different kind of pressure, with a US Open men's main draw wild card on the line.

"I think everyone is feeling nerves this year," said the No. 4 seed, currently No. 18 in the ITF world junior rankings. "I can see it more in the 18s than the 16s, because you're playing for a big wild card. We had a couple of big withdrawals; we had Learner(Tien), we had Rudy(Quan), Jagger(Leach) so that opened it up and then we had a ton of upsets. I feel like you can sense the tension. But I've done a good job of not feeling the pressure so far. Tomorrow's going to tough, tough for everyone, because you're playing to get in the US Open. But I've done a good job of mediating my level of play and my opponents level of play. I haven't gone three sets, my closest set has been 6-4, and I did that well last year, so I hope to have the same result."

In today's match against Lee, Woestendick needed five match points and saved three break points to close out the quarterfinal, played in cool and breezy conditions on show court 3.

"It was tough," said Woestendick, who thought he had won on his second match point, but Lee's shot was called good on the far sideline.

"I was up 40-15, and I thought it was wide, but I was probably just nervous and tense and wanted it to be out more than it was," Woestendick said. "There were also some close calls on aces I hit on serves, but that's what happens in this sport. I'm really thankful I got through that game and played through it. That was the most nervous I've been all tournament, so really happy I've gotten through."

Woestendick will face No. 20 seed Matthew Forbes, who defeated No. 18 seed Nikita Filin 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Filin, who had saved seven match points in the fifth round against Adhithya Ganesan Thursday, saved three more serving in the final game, but his inability to get a first serve in eventually cost him. Forbes, who won the 18s feed-in tournament last year, finishing in fifth place, had some local support for the Court 4 match as an incoming freshman at Michigan State.

In the top half, No. 1 seed Trevor Svajda overcame a cramp in his right leg with No. 5 Alex Razeghi serving at 2-3 in the second set. Svajda, who had won the 80-minute first set 7-6(2), stopped play and stood deep behind the court, where a trainer came and gave him advice but did not administer any treatment. Svajda managed to break Razeghi, and after several rallies was moving better, although his serve was not at its usual level. The 2023 18s finalist held for 5-2, then broke Razeghi to close out the two-hour and 17-minute match, giving him time to prepare for his 4:30 doubles semifinal.

Svajda will face No. 8 seed Jack Kennedy, who had the most straightforward quarterfinal win, in the 18s: a 6-3, 6-2 decision over No. 13 seed Cyrus Mahjoob.

In the 16s, the story continues to be unseeded Rishvanth Krishna, who defeated No. 8 seed Andrew Johnson 6-3, 7-5 to reach the semifinals.  The 15-year-old from Irvine California, who has already won six matches, five of them over seeded players, has been waiting for a breakthrough like the one he is having this week.

"All parts of my game are just coming together," said Krishna, whose braces and slender frame leave the impression that he's even younger than 15. "I'm working hard, improving every step of my game and it's finally coming together. It's been a long time and I'm finally relieved that I have my game where I think it should be at."

Krishna, who said he'd never gotten past the second round of a USTA Level 1, had beaten Johnson in the 10s, so wasn't inclined to be intimidated by Johnson's 14s resume, which includes the 14s Junior Orange Bowl, 14s Winter Nationals, 14s Easter Bowl and 16s Clay Courts final, all in the past eight months.

"I was just trying to stay patient, work out the points, wear him down," said Krishna, who has been working with his brother Rithvik, a rising senior who plays at UC-Irvine, crediting him with the success he's had this week. "Part of my game plan was to try to come in and close out more points, and that worked really well today."

Dreaming of a Kalamazoo semifinal was not realistic a week ago, but now a US Open junior wild card, which goes to the winner, is a possibility.

"I do think about it, but then I tell myself, take it one match at a time," said Krishna, who faces No. 16 seed Arin Pallegar in the semifinals. "I played him two years ago and won a really tight match."

Pallegar earned his semifinal spot with a 7-6(5), 3-0 retired win over No. 2 seed Gavin Goode. The first set took an astounding one-hour and 40-minutes to complete, with Goode having two serves up 5-4 in the tiebreaker, but Pallegar crushed a backhand winner for 5-all, then Goode missed a swing volley into the net and sent his return long. When Pallegar went up two breaks in the second set, Goode retired.

It wasn't the only retirement of the day in the 16s, with top seed Gus Grumet advancing when No. 33 seed Adrien Abarca retired trailing 5-0 in the first set. Grumet, who has lost only 16 games in his five victories, will play No. 6 seed Keaton Hance, who defeated No. 14 seed Shaan Patel 7-5, 6-2.

The 16s doubles final will be between the top two seeds: No. 1 Ryan Cozad and Yannik Alvarez and No. 2 seeds Justin Anson and Adrien Abarca. Both advanced in straight sets Friday evening, with Anson and Abarca defeating No. 3 seeds Sutton Severance and Lucas Smith 7-5, 6-2 and Cozad and Alvarez beating No. 12 seeds Noah Bayon and William Freshwater 6-3, 6-3.

Saturday's 18s doubles championship, with a US Open men's doubles wild card on the line, will feature No. 4 seeds Nikita Filin and Alex Razeghi against No. 6 seeds Kaylan Bigun and Trevor Svajda.

Filin and Razeghi defeated No. 5 seeds Ian Mayew and Kase Schinnerer 6-3, 6-3 to close out the evening's play, after Bigun and Svajda had defeated No. 14 seeds Meecah Bigun and Mitchell Lee 7-6(3), 6-3.

Saturday's schedule begins at Stowe Stadium at 9:30 a.m. with the 16s semifinals, followed by the 18s semifinals not before 11 a.m. The 16s doubles final is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., with the 18s doubles final to follow.

Links to live streaming and live scoring can be found at ustaboys.com.

Results from today's USTA Nationals in San Diego, Mobile and Georgia are below, with complete draws available by clicking on the headings:

G14s semifinals:

Vibha Gogineni[17] d. Enya Hamilton[1] 6-1, 7-5

Armira Kockinis[17] d. Tanvi Pandey[17] 6-0, 6-2

G12s semifinals:

Nadia Poznick[1] d. Anna Kapanadze[6] 6-1, 6-2

Isha Manchala[2] d. Sofija Dimitrievic[17] 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 

B14s semifinals:

Daniil Berezin[33] d. Gadin Arun[5] 6-2, 6-4

Tabb Tuck[7] d. Daniel Malacek[33] 2-6, 6-3, 6-1

B12s semifinals:

Ishaan Marla[15] d. Daniel Gardality[1] 6-0, 6-2

Rex Kulman[3] d. James Borchard[2] 6-2, 6-2

G16s semifinals:

Nicole Weng[9] d. Nancy Lee[16] 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3

Ishika Ashar[17] d. Lyla Middleton[14] 6-3, 7-5

G18s quarterfinals:

Clervie Ngounoue[1] d. Alexis Nguyen[15] 6-1, 6-1

Iva Jovic[3] d. Ariana Pursoo[17] 6-0, 6-2

Valerie Glozman[5] d. Tyra Grant[4] 6-3, 5-7, 6-4

Akasha Urhobo[2] d. Mia Slama[17] 6-2, 6-2 

The United States 14U teams at the ITF World Junior Tennis competition in Prostejov Czech Republic both reached Saturday's finals with wins today.

The top-seeded US boys defeated No. 2 seed Spain 2-0, with Jordan Lee beating Toni Escarda Pineiro 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and Michael Antonius repeating his Les Petits As finals victory over Izan Banares Lasala 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. They will play No. 4 seed Brazil, who beat Argentina 2-1 in the other semifinal.

The second-seeded US girls defeated No. 3 seed Austria 2-1, with Welles Newman and Maggie Sohns winning the deciding doubles point 6-2, 6-3 over Kara Fronek and Ann Pircher.  Sohns had lost No. 2 singles to Lea Haider-Maurer 6-4, 7-5, but Newman defeated Pircher 7-5, 7-5 at No. 1 singles to send the match to the deciding doubles match.  They will face the top seeds from the Czech Republic, who beat Great Britain 3-0.  The No. 1 singles match in the final will be a rematch of last December's Junior Orange Bowl 14s final, with Jana Kovackova defeating Newman 6-3, 7-6(5).

Links to live scoring and live streaming can be found here.