Kozlov Plays For 12s Title; Richmond Saves Seven Match Points in 14s Victory; Five U.S. Boys Reach 18s Quarterfinals

©Colette Lewis 2008--
Bradenton FL--

Beautiful weather returned to Florida on Thursday, and the ideal conditions assisted the Eddie Herr competitors who battled through some grueling round of 16 matches in the 14s, 16s and 18s divisions.

The 14s were particularly taxed, as they were required to play two rounds of singles and a round of doubles on Thursday. The U.S. can claim two quarterfinalists in the girls 14s, with No. 5 seed Victoria Duval winning both her matches, as did unseeded qualifier Nadia Echeverria Alam of Miami. Three U.S. boys have reached the quarterfinals, although top seed Tyler Gardiner was eliminated in his second match of the day. Unseeded Alex Halebian, who has yet to lose a set in the tournament, will meet Robert Livi, who survived a three-hour war of attrition with a cramping Maksim Kan of Uzbekistan 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

I saw little of any of those matches, but I did happen upon fifth seeded John Harrison Richmond's contest with No. 10 seed Peda Krstin of Serbia, when the reigning 14s national champion was down 2-5 in the second set, after losing the opening set in a tiebreaker. The left-hander from South Carolina saved two match points in that game and five more at 4-5, and went on to win 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3.

The 12s finals are set, and 10-year-old Stefan Kozlov of Florida will attempt to become the fourth straight U.S. boy to take the Eddie Herr title, following Emmett Egger, Mitchell Krueger and Joseph DiGiulio. The unseeded Kozlov defeated Geonju Shin of Korea, also unseeded, 6-4, 6-1 and will meet another Korean, Hyeon Chung, a No. 1 seed, in Friday's final. Chung downed Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia, a No. 1 seed, 7-6(2), 6-2. In the doubles final, Chung and Shin will meet Kokkinakis and his partner, Deiton Baughman of the U.S.

The girls 12s semifinals were in stark contrast to the boys', as both went three long, arduous sets. Simone Pratt of the Bahamas, a No. 1 seed, finally subdued unseeded Ksenia Laskutova of Russia 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, and in a battle of unseeded players, Estelle Cascino of France fought back to take a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Domenica Gonzalez of Ecuador.

In the 16s, top seed Raymond Sarmiento cruised into the quarterfinals, where he is joined by No. 9 seed Spencer Newman and unseeded Shane Vinsant. The Americans are outdone by the British, however, who have half of the quarterfinalists. The only quarterfinalist for whom English is a second language is No. 8 seed Arturs Kazijevs of Latvia.

The girls 16s also have a very comfortable top seed in Canada's Eugenie Bouchard, whose quarterfinal opponent is lucky loser Giuliana Olmos of California. No. 2 seed Christina Dinu of Romania is also marching through the draw. Liz Begley and Breaunna Addison are the other U.S. quarterfinalists.

In the 18s, the day's major upset saw unseeded Heather Watson of Great Britain oust No. 2 seed Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2. Watson won the Yucatan Cup in Mexico last week and is playing with great confidence. If an American girl is to keep Melanie Oudin's 2007 Eddie Herr title in the country, it will fall to No. 9 seed Lauren Embree, who defeated No. 8 seed Valeria Solovieva of Russia 7-5, 6-0, or Nicole Bartnik. Bartnik, who shocked top seed Laura Robson on Wednesday, will face Embree for a semifinal spot, after defeating wild card Annie Mulholland of the U.S. 7-5, 6-4.

The U.S. is assured two semifinalists in the boys 18s, with two All-American quarterfinals. No. 14 seed and 2007 Eddie Herr finalist Alex Domijan and 16s national champion Jordan Cox will play for the first time after Domijan defeated Justin Eleveld of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-0 and Cox eased past qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 7-6(6). I saw the end of Cox's victory, and in the final few games, he played very smart, controlled tennis, avoiding the temptation to get in a fast-paced ground stroke war with the hard-hitting Basilashvili. At 5-5 in the tiebreaker, Basilashvili missed a backhand pass wide to give Cox his first match point, but the 16-year-old from Georgia crushed a forehand winner to level it at 6-6. A fortunate Cox mishit that landed on the baseline and handcuffed Basilashvili led to Cox's second match point, and this time a big forehand went long, giving Cox the win.


The other All-American final will pit No. 16 seed Denis Kudla against unseeded Matt Kandath. Both went three sets on Thursday, and for Kudla, that was just business as usual, as all three of his matches have gone the distance. Against unseeded Russian Artem Ilyushin, Kudla came back to take a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 decision. Kandath let a 5-2 third set lead slip away, but played a strong final set tiebreaker to take out No. 12 seed Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) in a three-hour slugfest.

Fourth-seeded Chase Buchanan started sloppily against No. 13 seed Dino Marcan of Croatia, but recovered for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win to set up a contest with Julen Uriguen of Guatemala. The unseeded Uriguen defeated Devin Britton 6-2, 6-2. Top seed Yuki Bhambri of India had his second three-setter of the tournament, but prevailed over Julien Obry of France 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. His quarterfinal opponent is qualifier Sebastian Fanselow of Germany, who has yet to lose a set in six matches.

For additional photographs, see eddieherr.com. For all results, see the tennisinformation site.

Tags: junior tennis, Eddie Herr International, John Harrison Richmond, Matt Kandath, Colette Lewis

November Aces, Pedroso and Rinaldi Hired as USTA National Coaches

Before another hectic and no doubt exciting day at the Eddie Herr begins, I'm posting a link to my November Aces column at The Tennis Recruiting Network and one to the USTA's announcement of the hiring of Andres Pedroso and Kathy Rinaldi as National Coaches.

The International University Challenge is underway in France, and Kelcy McKenna is blogging about her experience for usta.com.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Kelcy McKenna, International University Challenge, The Tennis Recruiting Network, Kathy Rinaldi, Andres Pedroso, Colette Lewis

Bartnik Stuns Robson in Second Round Girls 18s Play at Eddie Herr; Rufin Upset in Boys 18s

©Colette Lewis 2008--
Bradenton, FL--

If I were asked to name the Junior Tennis Upset of the Year, Nicole Bartnik's 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 win Wednesday over Laura Robson in the second round of the Eddie Herr would get my vote. Robson, the Wimbledon girls champion, who has reached No. 508 in the WTA rankings in only five tournaments since winning her home country's junior slam, was an overwhelming favorite to take her third straight Eddie Herr title, but the top seed never found any rhythm, even when she leveled the match by taking the second set.

Despite the massive expectations created by her recent success and her poor play, Robson didn't lose her composure, although when she was down 4-0 in the third set and yet another of her shots caught the tape, she did yell out "I can't play any worse."

Robson did break Bartnik when the 17-year-old Bollettieri student was serving at 4-0 in the third, but Bartnik broke right back, and had no difficulty securing the victory with a love game, which included an ace on match point.

"I've had some bad experiences with 4-0 leads in the third set," Bartnik admitted. "Usually I tell myself you've done this before, don't do it again. But this time I just cleared my mind--I had nothing going through it."

Bartnik, who had lost to Robson this spring in the ITF Italian Junior Open Grade A, kept her mind away from the past, except when it meant recalling Robson's vulnerabilities.

"I just remembered that her backhand was making a little bit more errors, so I just tried to get it to there, and it worked," said Bartnik, who showed little emotion after her stunning upset. "Maybe it was because in the last game, she made all the errors and I didn't want to pump in her face. But I've played (ITF) Top Ten players a lot, and sometimes I lose to players that are really good, but I know I'm right there with them, so this just was a result I knew I could have."


Although not of the magnitude of the Bartnik win over Robson, the boys 18s also saw a significant upset in second round action, with unseeded Texas A & M recruit Artem Ilyushin of Russia dominating No. 2 seed and Yucatan Cup champion Guillaume Rufin of France 6-3, 6-2. No. 3 Jose Pereira of Brazil, who edged Christian Harrison in a memorable first round match, had nothing left for his second round encounter, and lost 6-0, 6-4 to Justin Eleveld of the Netherlands.

Evan King and Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia engaged in an entertaining contest that ended with Basilashvili countering two excellent volleys by King with even better passing shots to take two crucial points, including the last one, in his 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(5) victory. Basilashivili will meet Jordan Cox, who is one of 7 U.S. players in the round of 16, including five in the bottom half.

Five U.S. girls remain after two rounds in the 18s singles. In addition to Bartnik, Annie Mulholland, Lauren Embree and Beatrice Capra advanced on Wednesday, along with wild card Alexandra Cercone, who upset No. 10 seed Hanna Orlik of Belarus 6-3, 6-3.

The U.S. hope for a 12s title is left to the unseeded 10-year-old Stefan Kozlov of Florida, who eliminated Deiton Baughman of California 6-1, 6-2 in Wednesday's quarterfinals. Kozlov's semifinal opponent is unseeded Geonji Shin, one of two Koreans to make the final four. The other, Hyeon Chung, a No. 1 seed, will face Australia's No. 1 seeded Thanasi Kokkinakis, who breezed past Timothy Kane of the U.S. 6-1, 6-0.

Alexandria Stiteler, a No. 1 seed and the only U.S. girl to make the 12s quarterfinals, lost to unseeded Estelle Cascino of France 6-3, 7-6(6). Cascino's semifinal opponent is Domenica Gonzalez of Ecuador. In the top half, it will be Simone Pratt of the Bahamas against Ksenia Laskutova of Russia. Pratt is the only seed to reach the semifinals.

In the boys 16s, qualifier Luis Patino of Mexico upset No. 2 seed Yaroslav Shyla of Belarus 6-4, 6-4, but the real story is the dominance of the British boys, who have taken nine of the final 16 spots in the draw.

For complete draws, see the tennisinformation site, and visit eddieherr.com for additional photos.

Tags: junior tennis, Eddie Herr International, Nicole Bartnik, Artem Ilyushin, Colette Lewis

Quarterfinals Set in 12s; Pereira Saves Match Points to Down Harrison in 18s at Eddie Herr

©Colette Lewis 2008--
Bradenton, FL--

It was a chilly day by Florida standards, but there was some exciting competition to keep the sweatshirt-wearing fans gathered around the courts rather than a fireplace. The match that got everyone's attention at the conclusion of the day featured 14-year-old wild card Christian Harrison against No. 3 seed Jose Pereira of Brazil in the boys 18s.

With the boys 18s scheduled as the last singles matches of the day, it was after 2:30 when Harrison and Pereira took court 13. When Harrison won the first set 6-4, the buzz began to circulate, and dozens of spectators began to gather behind the fenced court, which has no seating. Pereira, who was a finalist in the Orange Bowl 16s last year, and won the Grade A Copa Gerdau in March, won most of the important points in the second set, taking it 6-1. In the third set Harrison was down a break, but he pulled even, then ahead, forcing Pereira to deal with the pressure of serving down 4-5. Pereira held for 5-5 and in his next service game to force the third set tiebreaker.

By this time, the sun was setting, a biting north wind was blowing, and still the crowd swelled to several hundred as not only tennis fans, but other academy sports students stopped by to see if Harrison could complete the upset.

He fell behind 4-2 at the first changeover, but Harrison had his first match point at serving at 6-5. He failed to play aggressively however, and Pereira took control of the point to force another changeover. The 17-year-old Brazilian earned his first match point with an overhead winner, but his backhand went long to make it 7-7. A drop shot winner, which had been effective throughout the match, gave Pereira another match point, but Harrison, who still has not had his growth spurt, countered with an ace, which Pereira called out, only to be overruled by the courtside umpire. A backhand volley winner gave Harrison his second match point, but Pereira hit a service winner to make it 9-9.

The crowd, which was generally favoring Harrison due to his size disadvantage, was holding its collective breath when he missed a backhand to give Pereira his third match point. That was enough to end the three hour contest, with Harrison's defensive lob floating just long to give Pereira the 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(9) victory.

The day had started for me at the 12s, and, has been the case most of the first four rounds, there were not many compelling three setters. Unseeded Deiton Baughman and Stefan Kozlov of the U.S. lost a total of three games in their wins, and will now face each other in the quarterfinals, while three other U.S. players, including No. 1 seed David Crisovan, fell in straight sets. The match between Timothy Kane and Carter Lin was much more interesting, however, and I watched the last half of Kane's 0-6, 6-2, 6-0 win.

I wasn't keeping score, but there were some games that lasted fifteen minutes, and some points that saw forty or fifty balls hit. There were the usual 12s moonballs, and as neither player has any strength or size advantage--or speed disadvantage--the occasional outright winner smacked with pace was a jolt for players and spectators alike. The most impressive facet of the match was the way Lin fought throughout the third set despite the score, the composure of both boys (the 12s can feature tears and meltdowns in abundance), and the sportsmanship displayed. Lin, who trains at Bollettieri's, had the support of other players and friends from the academy, but Kane appeared to be on his own, and none the worse for that.

The final game, which must have gone to eight or nine deuces, was indicative of how deceptive a score can be and I left the court pleased that the 12s can be produce true competition without the drama that often mars that division.

Alexandria Stiteler kept alive hopes for a second consecutive U.S. girls 12s winner with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory over fellow No. 1 seed Ah Song of Korea.

I had my first look at Wimbledon girls champion Laura Robson of Great Britain since last December, and the No. 1 seed, who beat Brooke Bolender of the U.S. 6-2, 6-2, has grown considerably in the past 12 months. The parts of the match that I saw were plagued with inconsistency and poor serving, some of which was certainly due to the cool and breezy condiditons, but Robson survived the always difficult return to junior competition after success in the professional ranks. Girls 18s seeds falling in the first round were No. 5 Rachel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands, No. 12 Silvia Njiric of Croatia, No. 13 Karina Pimkina of Russia and No. 15 Bianca Swanepoel of South Africa.

Boys 18s top seed Yuki Bhambri of India survived a tough three set match with Mikahail Biryukov of Russia. No. 6 Ryan Lipman of the U.S., No. 7 Adrien Puget of France, No. 9 Blaz Rola of Slovenia, No. 10 Karim Maamoun of Egypt and No. 11 Shuichi Sekiguchi of Japan lost their first round matches.

For more photos, see eddieherr.com. Nick's Picks, Bollettieri's blog, has a brief update of the Christian Harrison - Jose Pereira match. For complete results, see the tennisinformation site.

Tags: junior tennis, Eddie Herr International, Timothy Kane, Colette Lewis

ZooTennis Nominated For Best Tennis Blog

I'm pleased to announce that ZooTennis has received a nomination for "Best Tennis Blog" in the annual On The Baseline awards. I'm up against some pretty stiff competition, so your vote would be much appreciated. Go to onthebaseline for all the nominees. To find ZooTennis and the competition, click on the Media Nominees, then go to the Vote Now button to vote for ZooTennis. Thank you for your support!

Tags: Colette Lewis

Sunny Skies Turn to Rain as Monday Draws to Close at Eddie Herr

©Colette Lewis 2008--
Bradenton, FL--

Because I was working on November's Aces for posting Thursday at Tennis Recruiting Network, I was late arriving at the IMG/Bollettieri Academy, but when I walked in I encountered several girls in tears, which is never a good sign. Due to a mixup caused by similar sounding names, Malika Rose and Lauren Herring of the U.S. and Nadezda Guskova and Aminat Kushkkova of Russia played their girls 18s final qualifying matches against the wrong opponents. When Kushkhova came in to report her victory over Rose, when she was actually supposed to have played Herring, the error was discovered, but by that time, Herring had just beaten Guskova.

After consultation with the ITF, the original matches were reinstated for late Monday afternoon, and Guskova, the No. 2 seed, defeated Rose 6-2, 6-2. Kushkhova and Herring were moved to a lighted court midway through their match, and Kushkhova, the No. 3 seed, ended up securing a 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 victory. Fortunately, there were two lucky loser slots available in the main draw and Herring received one of them, although how fresh all three girls will be for Tuesday morning's main draw matches remains to be seen.

I spent most of the afternoon behind the desk of the scoring table, so I saw a lot of players, but not much tennis. The weather had cleared overnight and the predicted high winds did not materialize, so the only snag in the proceedings was trying to catch up in scheduling all the matches postponed due to Sunday's rain.

The 12s have stayed on schedule and are now down the final 16. The U.S. has only one hope remaining, Alexandria Stiteler, a No. 1 seed, in the girls division, while there are seven U.S. boys still vying for the title, six of them unseeded. At least one is sure to be eliminated Tuesday when Carter Lin faces Timothy Kane. Julian Zlobinsky, Stefan Kozlov, Deighton Baughman and Artemie Amari, all unseeded, are joined by David Crisovan, the sole U.S. No. 1 seed to advance.

I did manage to see most of one match when things quieted down in the evening, with TJ Pura of the U.S. taking on Pacheco Cornejo of Peru in the opening round of boys 14 singles. Pura had taken the first set 6-2, when I arrived, but Cornejo fought back to take the second set 6-2. The second game of the third set was a marathon, one of several 15 minute games in the match, and Cornejo finally held his serve for 1-1. Pura then played a very loose game, losing serve at love, but it didn't prove fatal. Cornejo was serving at 4-3, and by this time all the other matches being contested under the lights were completed. Another exceeding long game ensued, but Cornejo lost this one, and at 4-4, it began to rain lightly, just enough to make the footing dangerous.

The match was moved indoors, with both players holding serve for 5-5. Pura took a 6-5 lead and after two unforced errors by Cornejo, Pura played a very aggressive point to give himself three match points. Although there were a dozen or so spectators, the viewing is such that it is difficult to see the lines, so when Pura hit a winner that caught the sideline, there was no immediate reaction until Pura himself gave the fist pump of victory, ending another long day at the Eddie Herr at 9 p.m.

The 18s and 16s main draw begins on Tuesday. Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Junior Ore are the two U.S. boys qualifying; C.C. Sardinha, Maria Belaya and Courtney Dolehide from the U.S. will join Herring in the main draw.

For complete draws and results, see eddieherr.com.

Tags: junior tennis, Eddie Herr International, Colette Lewis