Quarterfinalists Set at Junior Orange Bowl

©Colette Lewis 2008--
Coral Gables, FL--

Today I split my time between the Biltmore Tennis Center, site of the girls 14s, and Salvadore Park, seven blocks due north, where the girls 12s play on Har-Tru clay.

The day began with overcast skies and temperatures in the low 70s, and virtually no wind, which made for excellent playing conditions. I started with the girls 14s and saw portions of most of the first sets in the eight matches. Ashley Dai, a No. 17 seed, and qualifier Hannah King, both from the U.S., were blasting balls to the corners in the games I saw, with Dai eventually taking a 6-4, 7-6(3) decision. Dai will play another American, Vicky Duval, a No. 9 seed, who eased past Korea's Su Jeong Jang, the 2007 Junior Orange Bowl 12s finalist, 6-2, 7-5.

The second all-American matchup in the 14s puts unseeded Sachia Vickery against qualifier Jan Abaza, also of Florida. Abaza hasn't dropped a set in her seven wins (she got a walkover in the second round), beating No. 2 seed Maria Paul Deheza of Bolivia 7-5, 6-1 yesterday and No. 17 seed Ilona Kremen of Belarus 6-4, 6-3 today. Vickery earned her place in the quarterfinal with a 6-2, 6-0 win over unseeded Anita Husaric of Bosnia.

The fifth U.S. girl to make the final eight is No. 3 seed Kyle McPhillips, who downed qualifier Lou Brouleau of France 6-3, 7-6(3). When I returned to the Biltmore, I was surprised to see that So Ra Lee had won her contest with Anna Mamalat of the U.S. When I left, Mamalat was in complete control, having taken the first set 6-1, with Lee not striking the ball well and making frequent errors. The Korean qualifier, who has beaten three seeds in succession, won the next two sets 6-3, 6-1 to have her chance at McPhillips.

In the only quarterfinal match that doesn't include an American, No. 4 seed Ganna Poznikhirenko of Ukraine will face Christine Kandler of Austria. The unseeded Kandler, who screams loudly every time she strikes the ball, looked on the verge of emotional collapse when she lost the first set to Riko Shimizu of the U.S., but she turned it around in the next two for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win.

At Salvadore Park, I watched two of the three matches featuring U.S. girls. Unseeded Alexandria Stiteler disposed of her opponent Sarah Boevska of Belarus so quickly (6-0, 6-0) that I missed her entirely, but I did watch U.S. No. 1 Brooke Austin and unseeded Taylor Townsend earn quarterfinal spots.



Austin took care of unseeded Katie Boulter of Great Britain 6-4, 6-2, and seemed just as comfortable on the green clay as on the indoor hard courts of Indianapolis, where she lives. Next up for Austin is Indy de Vroome of the Netherlands, who took a tough battle with Eddie Herr semifinalist Domenica Gonzalez of Ecuador, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. De Vroome is rail-thin and has changed very little from last year's Junior Orange Bowl, when I saw her for the first time, but she knows where and how to hit the ball for maximum results.

Townsend didn't play as well as she did when I saw her earlier in the week, but her opponent Dahye Kim of Korea, had something to do with that. In the end, Townsend had too much power for the unseeded Kim, who fell 6-4, 6-3.

The girls 12s will play both quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Sunday, with a Monday final scheduled.

By the time I arrived at the University of Miami, all the boys 14s main draw matches were finished. Reo Asami, a No. 9 seed, battled back from 5-1 down in the final set before falling to No. 8 seed Julien Cagnina of Belgium 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(3). No. 9 seed Ed Nguyen of Canada came from a set down against an American for the second day in a row, this time defeating No. 6 seed Trey Strobel 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Nguyen will play his third straight U.S. opponent in Sunday's quarterfinal when he meets qualifier Alexander Ritschard, who cruised past No. 2 seed Pedro Guimaraes Dumont of Brazil 6-3, 6-1.

Harrison Richmond earned his quarterfinal berth with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over qualifier Jathan Malik of Great Britain, and will face fellow No. 9 seed Filip Veger of Croatia.

Americans Sean Karl and Roy Lederman bowed out in the round of 16 Saturday. Filip Peliwo of Canada beat Karl 6-2, 6-2 and Liam Broady of Great Britain downed Lederman 6-1, 6-3.

Top seed Moos Sporken of the Netherlands lost his first set of the tournament, but came back to beat Martins Podzus of Latvia 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

In the boys 12s, two unseeded Americans remain in contention, with New Yorkers Noah Rubin and Daniel Kerznerman advancing to the quarterfinals with wins Saturday. Rubin rolled past No. 1 seed Andrev Rublev of Russia 6-3, 6-1 and Kerznerman also earned his win over a No. 1 seed, but with more difficulty, defeating Ryotaro Matsumura of Japan 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Qualifier Tommy Paul's run came to an end at the hands of No. 1 seed Borna Coric of Croatia, 6-1, 6-0, Christian Garay lost to Kukeon Kang of Korea 6-1, 6-1 and U.S. No. 1 seed Toshiki Matsuya lost to No. 1 seed Silas Cerqueira of Brazil 6-0, 6-2.

For complete results, including the consolation draws, visit the TennisLink site.

Tags: junior tennis, Indy de Vroome, Jan Abaza, Junior Orange Bowl, Colette Lewis

Richmond Beats Halebian and Nguyen Overcomes Krueger in Jr. Orange Bowl 14s Action Friday

©Colette Lewis 2008--
Coral Gables, FL--

In trying to cover four age divisions at four sites, it's easy to miss the best tennis matches. I don't doubt that Sachia Vickery's 7-6, 7-6 win over Tristen Dewar in the 14s was a classic, and I'm sure that Nikki Kallenberg's comeback win over Alina Kuzmenkova of Russia had an exciting ending, given the 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 scoreline. But today I stuck to the boys and was rewarded with two excellent matches in the 14s, first with Harrison Richmond's 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Alex Halebian in a rematch of their Eddie Herr semifinal, followed by Canada's Ed Nguyen taking a 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4 decision over Mitchell Krueger of the U.S.

When I arrived at the University of Miami, after watching some of the boys 12s third round at Tropical Park, Halebian, a No. 17 seed, had just taken the second set. Richmond couldn't be blamed for having flashbacks to the Eddie Herr, where he had won the first set against Halebian, then dropped the next two. Today, however, Richmond, a No. 9 seed, didn't make the crucial error during the big points and took a 4-1, two-break lead in the third set. One point in that final set was a spectacular one, with the boys running down lobs and scraping volleys over the net, hitting one miraculous shot after another, showing both speed and athleticism, as well as a tremendous sense of the court's boundaries.

At the Eddie Herr, Richmond was broken serving to send the match to a third set tiebreaker, today, it was Halebian who lost his serve to end the match.

Richmond wasn't surprised that it was another tough three-setter between the two.

"We both knew how each other played, so it just came down to who was making their shots and making less errors," said the left-hander from Pawley's Island, South Carolina. "I thought in the third set, when I needed to, I came up with some good shots and ended up pulling through."

Richmond's backhand overhead was especially effective, and Halebian's usually devastating drop shot wasn't much in evidence, perhaps because the element of surprise was missing.

"I guess you could call it a rivalry," Richmond said. "When we play each other it's always going to be close; it can go either way."


Spectators were fortunate to be able to be within inches of the Richmond - Halebian match, but the Krueger - Nguyen match was on Court 7, which offers no seating and is visible only with a court in between.

Even from that distance, it was obvious that Kreuger, a No. 17 seed, and Nguyen, a No. 9 seed, were playing at a consistently higher level than is customary in the 14s. Neither boy was holding back, both were attacking, moving forward, returning well and taking their chances when presented. I didn't see most of the first two sets, but I watched all of the third, when the match turned with Nguyen serving at 2-3. In a very long game, Kreuger had multiple chances to break Nguyen and played solid, aggressive points, but each time Nguyen, the reigning Les Petits As champion, came up with huge shots, often from defensive positions, and he held for 3-3. Krueger was broken in the next game, and Nguyen had a hard-earned lead.

Nguyen, who was a finalist in the Junior Orange Bowl 12s two years ago, again saved a break point with a difficult overhead winner at 4-3, and after Krueger held for 5-4, Nguyen went down 0-30 when Krueger made an astounding stab volley on a blistering passing shot from the Canadian. At 30-30, Krueger earned another chance to pull even with a forehand winner, but he netted a forehand on the next point, and hit one long to give Nguyen his first match point. Krueger's return error on a Nguyen first serve was a rather anticlimatic end to a very high quality and entertaining third round match.

In Friday's round of 16, there are six U.S. boys remaining. In addition to Richmond, Sean Karl, Reo Asami (9), Roy Lederman, Trey Strobel (6) and qualifier Alexander Ritschard will have a chance to advance to the quarterfinals.

There are five U.S. boys remaining in the boys 12s, including the No. 1 seed from the U.S., Toshiki Matsuya: Noah Rubin, Christian Garay, Dan Kerznerman and qualifier Tommy Paul, who has won six matches in the past six days.

In the girls 12s, four U.S. girls are still competing in the main draw: Kallenberg, Alexandria Stiteler, Brooke Austin (1) and Taylor Townsend.

Continuing a trend set at the Orange Bowl this year, girls from the U.S. make up half the 16 players still vying for a 14s title. They are Vicky Duval (9), Ashley Dai (17) qualifiers Jan Abaza and Hannah King, Riko Shimizu (17), Anna Mamalat (9), Kyle McPhillips (3) and Sachia Vickery. One will definitely be eliminated on Saturday, with King and Dai playing each other.

For complete draws, visit the TennisLink site.

Tags: junior tennis, Harrison Richmond, Edward Nguyen, Junior Orange Bowl, Colette Lewis

Recent Comment Problems; Australian Wild Card Scores

Thanks to those of you who have pointed out that the recent comments aren't recent. Apparently there is some problem with the comment feed on Blogger's end, as there have been several other users reporting the same malfunction. I know it's not as convenient, but you can click on the comments in the individual posts--they are there.

One such comment asked for the scores for the USTA women's Australian Open wild card, and they are, by day, as follows:
Monday:
King def. Vandeweghe 7-6(3), 6-1
Brodsky def. Albanese 6-3, 6-3
Brengle def. Muhammad 6-0, 6-3
McHale def. Cecil 6-0, 6-1

Tuesday:
Brodsky def. Brengle 6-3, 6-4
Albanese def. Muhammad 7-5, 6-7 (10), 6-3
King def. Cecil 6-1, 6-0
McHale def. Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-2

Wednesday:
Albanese def. Bregle 6-4, 6-0
McHale def. King 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
Muhammad def. Brodsky 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
Vandeweghe def. Cecil 6-3, 6-2

Thursday's final:
McHale def. Brodsky 6-1, 6-0.

In today's men's wild card tournament, Levine beat Odesnik in straights and Isner beat Young in a third set tiebreak. Sorry I don't have complete scores.

Tags: junior tennis, Australian Open wild card playoff, Colette Lewis

Top Seeds Advance in Boys 14s; Van Nguyen Upset in Girls 14s Play at Junior Orange Bowl

©Colette Lewis 2008--
Coral Gables, FL--

I concentrated on the 14s today, splitting my time equally between the boys at the University of Miami and the girls at the Biltmore Tennis Center.

Not having seen top seed Moos Sporken of the Netherlands play since the 12s, I was eager to see what he'd added to his game. Sporken finished the year as the European 14-and-under champion, and in today's second round 6-2, 6-3 win over Alp Horoz of Turkey, Sporken had too big a serve and too much power for the qualifier. I watched some of Eddie Herr champion Alex Halebian's match with with Erik Johnsson of Sweden, and Johnsson gave Halebian a test with his strong serving, but Halebian broke late in an extremely close first set and went on to a 7-5, 6-2 victory. Halebian, a 17 seed, and Harrison Richmond, a 9 seed, will meet Friday in a rematch of their extremely competitive Eddie Herr semifinal. Richmond beat Or Ram of Israel 6-2, 6-1 in Thursday's second round.

No. 3 Tyler Gardiner, the highest seed from the U.S., lost to Mateo Martinez of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, but there were six other U.S. players in addition to Halebian and Richmond to advance to the round of 32: Sean Karl, Reo Asami (9), Roy Lederman, Mitchell Krueger(17), Trey Strobel(6), and qualifier Alex Ritschard.

I didn't stay to see the No. 2 seed, who, in something of a Brazilian tradition, is known by two different surnames in the Eddie Herr and Junior Orange Bowl. Last year, it was Jose Pereira of Brazil, who was known as Jose Silva when he competed at the Eddie Herr. This year it is Eddie Herr finalist Pedro Guimaraes, who is Pedro Dumont in the Junior Orange Bowl draw. He came back to defeat Conrad Harron of the U.S. 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2.

By that time I had made my way to the Biltmore Tennis Center specifically to see No. 3 seed Kyle McPhillips take on Eddie Herr 14s finalist Nadia Echeverria Alam. They were running a hour or two behind, however, so I watched most of the match between Orange Bowl 16s champion Chanelle Van Nguyen and qualifier So Ra Lee of Korea.

Just from the warmup I could tell that Lee was going to provide stiff competition for the 17th seeded Van Nguyen. Lee, a left-hander, displayed great power, keeping Van Nguyen on the defensive while she snapped off one forehand winner after another. Van Nguyen started to work her way into the match after trailing 4-1, getting one of the two breaks back, but Lee served out the first set at 6-4. The Korean continued to play brilliantly in the second set, and again she was called on to serve out the set (and match). At 30-30, Lee put away a short ball on the forehand side, and on her first match point, she fittingly rifled a forehand winner down the line to claim the match, 6-4, 6-4.

In the meantime, McPhillips and Echeverria Alam had gotten half way through their first set, but at 3-3 McPhillips took control and won nine of the next ten games for a 6-3, 6-1 win.

It wasn't quite as easy as the score looked however. Echeverria hits hard and deep, but she is less consistent than McPhillips, who can deflect pace and break rhythm. On successive points in the second set, she brought Echeverria Alam to the net with good drop shots, then placed perfect lobs over her head.

At 5-0, McPhillips surrendered her serve after saving four break points, and Echeverria Alam, who stayed positive and upbeat despite the score, came through with some inspired shotmaking to take that game. But the relentless pressure of tracking down the moonballs and the angles and the drop shots finally wore down Echeverria Alam, sending her to the consolation tournament.

The anticipated round of 16 meeting between Sachia Vickery and Eugenie Bouchard will not take place, as Bouchard had an injury to her knee and withdrew before yesterday's first round. Vickery, who rolled past No. 17 seed Joanna Henderson of Great Britain 6-1, 6-4, will play Tristen Dewar in the third round.

For complete results, see the TennisLink site.

Tags: junior tennis, Junior Orange Bowl, So Ra Lee, Colette Lewis

McHale Wins Australian Open Wild Card Tournament in Boca Raton

Sixteen-year-old Christina McHale of New Jersey has won a wild card into the main draw of the Australian Open next month, defeating Gail Brodsky 6-1, 6-0 today in the final match of the round robin competition at the USTA High Performance Center in Boca Raton. The USTA conducts the tournament to decide who will receive the wild card exchanged by the two countries for their respective Grand Slams.

McHale won all three of her matches in the round robin this week, in straight sets over Cecil and Vandeweghe, and in three sets over King yesterday. Thanks to commenter "old pro," who was there and gave us an immediate update and a succinct description of how McHale played in a comment in the post below. McHale has had an outstanding two weeks of tennis as a finalist at the Orange Bowl and now winning the wild card tournament to reach her first Grand Slam main draw.

Tags: junior tennis, Christina McHale, Australian Open, USTA, Colette Lewis

Orange Bowl Wrap; Brodsky vs. McHale for Australian Open Wild Card; AO Junior Acceptances

My weekly column for The Tennis Recruiting Network is a wrap of the Orange Bowl. Again, if you were unable to follow my daily coverage last week, it is a compilation of the tournament action, with an emphasis on the finals.

Christina McHale and Gail Brodsky will meet this morning in Boca Raton to decide the USTA's reciprocal agreement with Tennis Australia for a main draw women's wild card. Orange Bowl finalist McHale, 16, went undefeated in her three matches. Brodsky, 17, won her first two matches, so her loss to Muhammad in her group on Wednesday didn't have an impact on the final.

The Australian Open Junior Championship acceptances are out at the ITF Junior site. McHale is in, so if she wins the wild card, I expect she'll stick around for the juniors. Brodsky doesn't appear to have entered the juniors, because her WTA ranking of 416 would have automatically gotten her into the junior qualifying, if she had.

Tags: junior tennis, The Tennis Recruiting Network, Dunlop Orange Bowl, Gail Brodsky, Christina McHale, USTA Australian Open Wild Card Tournament, Colette Lewis