Travel Day; Neff and Anisimova Win Spring National 12s Championships in Delray Beach, Florida

I'm returning home to Kalamazoo and will be arriving late, so catching up on all the other college and junior tennis news will have to wait until Tuesday.

But I did want to congratulate Adam Neff and Amanda Anisimova for winning the USTA Spring Nationals in the 12s division at Delray Beach.

Neff, seeded ninth, beat top seed Brandon Nakashima 6-1, 6-4 to take the boys singles gold ball, and he will also be going to Paris during the French Open to play in the international Longines Future Tennis Aces competition for 12-and-under boys thanks to his title in Delray Beach.

No. 3 seed Anisimova captured the girls 12s gold ball with a 6-3, 6-1 win over top seed Sophie Edwards in the final.

The complete draws can be found at the TennisLink site.

Brymer Takes Second Easter Bowl Title, This Time in 18s; Bellis and Kumar Claim 16s Championships

©Colette Lewis 2013--
Rancho Mirage, CA--

It's not a narrative he can explain, nor does he have a history of  comebacks, but Gage Brymer won the Asics Easter Bowl ITF Grade B1 title in what is now predictable fashion Sunday afternoon at the Sunrise Country Club.

Down a set and a break, the unseeded 18-year-old roared back to defeat No. 3 seed Luca Corinteli 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, his fifth three-set win of his six victories this week, and the fourth from a set down.

"What's funny is that this is the first tournament where that's really been the case," said Brymer, an 18-year-old from Irvine, Calif. "It's not like I'm known for losing the first set. That's just been this week, but it's not too disheartening when I lose the first set now.  I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. I'll never count myself out in that second now, but it might be a bad thing because I'm having so many long matches."

Corinteli began the match determined not to engage Brymer in a baseline slug fest. He served and volleyed, hit drop shots and angles and played defense, never allowing Brymer to find a rhythm. Although Corinteli is built like a linebacker and does have the requisite serve of someone his size, the 17-year-old from Alexandria, Va. believed he needed to take advantage of his other skills.

"He stands really far back behind the baseline," said Corinteli, who will be joining the Virginia Cavaliers this fall. "I don't know if it's a tactic because I'm serving pretty big and the balls are kind of flying off these courts. I thought it would be a good idea to serve slice wide, kick wide and come in, use the angles of the court. If someone's standing really far back, you don't want to bang with him, because I don't think he'll miss a ball. I thought it would be a good idea, it's something I'm comfortable with and I do it a lot and it was definitely a part of my game plan the whole week.  I'm not completely a serve and volley type of player, but it's something that's in my toolbox and something I can use in the future for sure."

Corinteli saw three set points come and go in the opening set, with a perfect backhand volley finally securing it.  In the second set, Brymer needed seven deuces before he held in the first game, but he was broken for 2-1 in the second and went down 3-1 when Corinteli held. Brymer took the next two games, and then demonstrated his tenacity serving at 3-3, winning another seven-deuce game to go up 4-3.  After two more holds, Corinteli played his worst game of the match serving at 4-5, double faulting twice, including on game point, and missing a volley and netting a backhand to get broken at love.

The start of the third set went no better for Corinteli. He double faulted on game point again to go down 2-0, and it was 5-0 before he finally held, ending a seven-game losing streak.

Brymer said that seeing the finish line and yet maintaining his focus was difficult at that stage.

"I think it's an incredibly tough place to be, 5-0, 5-1, 5-2," said Brymer, who will be joining the UCLA Bruins this fall. "It's much harder to close it out than it is to get up 5-0. Those last couple of games are very tough, and to be honest, I got nervous at 5-0 and 5-1. But I did the best I could to shake off the nerves and pull out that last game at 5-1."

Corinteli saved two match points and had a break point in the final game, but Brymer held on for the victory, adding an Easter Bowl ITF title to the 16s championship he won in 2011.

Brymer is not planning a lengthy celebration, however, as he returns to school at University High in Irvine on Monday and will play a match with his team there on Tuesday.

"I have a little bit of a break tomorrow, but then I've got to get right back on the horse,"  said Brymer, who is the third consecutive UCLA recruit to win the Easter Bowl ITF, joining Marcos Giron and Mackenzie McDonald. "I'm looking to close out my senior year with a really good high school season as well. It means a lot."

The tournament's last day provided ideal conditions for excellent tennis, with temperatures in the upper 70s and no wind, with 14-year-old CiCi Bellis making the most of her second straight trip to an Easter Bowl final, this time in the 16s division.

Bellis, the No. 8 seed, who had lost in the 14s championship match in 2012, put that disappointment out of her mind with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 7 seed Caroline Dolehide.

"I thought about it a little bit before the match," said Bellis, from Atherton, Calif. "I obviously wanted to win today, but I really didn't want to think about that. I tried my hardest and it just didn't happen."


Bellis had several better memories to draw on, as she had swept the European 14-and-under majors at Teen Tennis in England and Les Petits As in France this year, taking all four titles in singles and doubles. Bellis believed that her experience in Tarbes helped her on the Sunrise Country Club stadium court Sunday.

"There they had umpires to call the lines and ball kids and everything too," said Bellis. "I feel that gave me a lot more experience for this. I really love that--playing in front of people, playing on center court, everything."

Bellis started the match with all the poise of a longtime veteran, but Dolehide came back from two breaks down to even the first set at 4-4. Serving at 4-all, Dolehide, a 14-year-old from Hinsdale, Ill., had a game point for a 5-4 lead, but Bellis came up with the shots she needed to break, then held for the first set.

"I had a game point and she just hit a winner on that," said Dolehide. "I didn't feel tired, but I felt I needed to pick it up to stay with her. She's pretty consistent and all her balls are pretty deep. I missed a little bit too much to stay in the match."

Although Dolehide was down early in the second set, falling behind 3-0, the games were long and the points entertaining. The 5-foot-8-1/2-inch Dolehide used her serve and her power to keep Bellis from dictating the points, but it was Bellis who managed to find ways to win those close games.

"She was actually the one being aggressive there," Bellis said of the first few games of the second set. "Her serve is really good so I just had to try to get that back, and if there was a second serve, I had to attack it."

Bellis came close to seeing another 4-1 lead erode, but after saving a break point and surviving  a couple of deuces, she held for 5-1, and broke Dolehide for the win.

After a family dinner to celebrate, Bellis will return to competition, concentrating on ITFs and the 18s division in USTA events.

The boys 16s singles final, which closed the tournament Sunday afternoon, was not a competitive match, with 16s Winter National champion and top seed Sameer Kumar adding an Easter Bowl title to his resume with a 6-0, 6-0 rout of No. 17 seed Kalman Boyd.

Kumar, a 15-year-old from Carmel, Ind., hadn't played on stadium court throughout the week, so he and his coach Bryan Smith came out to practice on it after Saturday's matches in preparation for the final.

"We hit here to kind of get a feel for the court, get used to it, see the conditions, see how the wind was," said Kumar. "I think that helped quite a bit today."

Kumar dominated Boyd, who was playing in his first USTA Level 1 final, allowing him only 19 points total and finishing the match in 45 minutes.

"After a tough match yesterday (winning 7-5 in the third over No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz) I thought I recovered very well," said Kumar. "I felt physically perfect. I felt I could go for hours."

Boyd, who had reached the semifinals in the 16s division at the International Spring Championships in Carson, couldn't match Kumar's energy and resilience.

"I just couldn't hang with him," said Boyd, of Rancho Sante Fe, Calif. "I just got way too tired after each point and he was fresh. I guess he was more mentally tough or something, because after each point I was dead, just trying to recover. He played better today."

Kumar is undecided about which age division he'll play at this summer's USTA Clay Courts, but he is definitely going for the 16s title in Kalamazoo this summer.

"That's the goal for the year," said Kumar. "That's been the goal since the beginning of the year, to win Kalamazoo. I think I'm well on my way to that."

The boys 18s doubles title went to No. 2 seeds Spencer Papa and Jordi Arconada of Argentina, who defeated No. 4 seeds Mackenzie McDonald and JC Aragone 6-1, 7-5.

Papa had originally planned to play with Stefan Kozlov, with the pair already two-time doubles champions during the South American swing, but when Kozlov withdrew after winning the International Spring Championships in Carson, Papa had little time to find a replacement. Arconada, who trains at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md., didn't have a partner, so they agreed to join forces for the first time.

They went to a match tiebreaker in their opening match, but that was all the time they needed to feel comfortable.

"The first match we kind of struggled a little," said Arconada. "But we pulled through, 10-7 in the breaker. The guy's a beast."

"By the second match we were playing pretty well," said Papa, who trains with the USTA in Boca Raton.

Against McDonald and Aragone, Papa and Arconada were forced to find way over and around their opponents.

"They were both coming to the net pretty well and volleying pretty well, so we had to find little holes to pass them," said Papa. "Jordi did a good job with that, finding the down the line. We were being really aggressive with a lot of energy."

"In the second set, we had a lot of chances, deuce points, but they definitely stepped it up," said Arconada. "They played much better in the second set."

After her loss in singles Sunday morning, Dolehide had a second chance at a gold ball in the afternoon and she grabbed it, winning the 16s doubles with Brienne Minor. Dolehide and Minor, the No. 1 seeds, beat No. 3 seeds Emma Higuchi and Rebecca Weissman 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

For complete 16s results, see the TennisLink site.

The 18s ITF results are here.

Hibi Adds Easter Bowl ITF B1 Singles Championship to Last Week's ISC Title; Corinteli and Brymer Set for Boys 18s Clash Sunday

©Colette Lewis 2013--
Rancho Mirage, CA--

Mayo Hibi has played an ITF Grade 1 singles match 12 of the past 13 days, but she made it as easy as she possibly could on herself by winning them all in straight sets.

On a hot and sunny afternoon in the Coachella Valley, the 13th-seeded Hibi showed no sign of mental or physical fatigue, taking a 6-3, 6-2 decision from No. 6 seed Tornado Alicia Black in the ITF Grade B1 girls final.

Black, who will be 15 next month, had survived two matches of nearly three hours in length in the quarterfinals and semifinals, and she admitted those wins took their toll.

"I was really exhausted from yesterday and the day before," said Black, who is now training at L'Academie de Tennis in Boynton Beach, Florida after over a year at the USTA National Center in Boca Raton.   "I thought I could have done a lot better today, come out to the match more prepared."

Hibi said she was a bit taken aback by the atmosphere for the final, which included ballrunners carrying the players' bags to the court for them.

"I was really, really nervous in the beginning," said Hibi, who turned 17 last week. "In the beginning you walk out and you don't have your bag, they're taking pictures, you have ball kids, everything was so different. There was a huge crowd out there, it was also really hot and we had to wait a while because of the 14s final and at first I didn't feel like it was really in the match."

The first four games were all breaks of serve, with Black failing to win a point in her first two service games.  After three holds, Hibi got another break and held to take the first set.

Black makes very few errors regardless of her opponent's pace or placement, and she handled Hibi's slice and changes of spin and pace with little trouble. But Black's serve was a definite liability, and Hibi stepped in and took control when she was presented with an especially soft offering.

Hibi took an early 3-0 lead in the second set, with two breaks, but Black got one of them back, only to lose her serve yet again.  Again Hibi couldn't quite close the door, losing her serve on a double fault on game point, but Black again lost her serve and Hibi held in the next game for the win.

"I was getting pretty tired in the first and second round of the Easter Bowl, and I wasn't sure if my body was going to hold up," said Hibi, a Japanese citizen who has lived in Irvine, Calif. since before she began playing tennis. "I'm happy it did, and now I can finally rest."

Hibi is waiting to see where her ITF ranking lands on Monday before deciding on playing the junior slams, but she is planning to play Pro Circuit events on clay in Florida and North Carolina.

With a couple of days off before she begins training on clay, Hibi will finally have time for a delayed birthday celebration.

"I actually haven't celebrated my birthday yet, because I had Carson," said Hibi. "My mom will bake my cake--she's a good cook and baker. And we always have this deal that when you win a tournament you get ice cream."

Gage Brymer may also be from Irvine, California, but he has taken a contrasting path to the boys 18s final.  While Hibi did not lose a set this week, Brymer has won four matches in three sets, coming from a set down in three of them.

"It's not intentional, I promise," said Brymer, who defeated No. 5 seed Martin Redlicki 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in Saturday's semifinal. "I just start off a little shaky and the other guy starts off playing his game, and I'm missing too much in that first set. I don't know if it's because of nerves--I feel tight here and there, but it's not all the way through the set. But once I find my groove in the second set, I find my game and once I start rolling and get into a third, I play the same way."

Brymer, the 2011 Easter Bowl 16s champion, will play No. 3 seed Luca Corinteli in the final, after Corinteli took out top seed Noah Rubin 7-6(6), 6-1 in the semifinals Saturday. The last time the two played was in that 2011 Easter Bowl, with Brymer beating Cortineli 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

"He beat me up pretty good," said Corinteli. "I was trying to play a big man's game. I was still big, but I was very immature at the time, so he kind of dissected me and broke me down. I think I've matured a lot in the last two years and I'm sure he has as well. He's fighting really hard and I think we're both competing really well this week."

Corinteli came into the Easter Bowl knowing he would have to perform well to make the field at the junior slams this summer, since he failed to defend his semifinal points at Carson last week.

"It could have been a negative," Corinteli said of the pressure that scenario created. "If I would have looked at like oh, if I play tight, if I lose, I'm not going to make the slams in my last year of juniors. But my dad kind of helped me prepare for this, waking up early, getting in a routine, getting up at the same time, hitting with the same kids, and I think I prepared really well for this week."

The girls 18s doubles title went to unseeded Spencer Liang and Peggy Porter, who defeated Josie Kuhlman and Katerina Stewart, also unseeded, 6-4, 6-4.

Liang and Porter were playing together for the first time, but they were not surprised at their success.

"We meshed really well from the first match," said Porter. "We just read each other really well and we have similar games, so I think we can predict what the other is going to do."

"We just have great chemistry," said Liang. "It worked out really well from the first point."

In Friday's semifinals, Liang and Porter trailed ISC champions Jamie Loeb and Maegan Manasse 6-2 in the match tiebreaker, but went on to win the last eight points of the match.

There was nothing quite as dramatic as that in Saturday's final against the Florida pair, but Liang and Porter did need to win a deciding point at 5-4 in the first set to keep from losing a 5-0 lead.

Now that they've collected their first ITF Grade 1 titles, Liang and Porter are planning to stay together for the major USTA events this summer at the Clay Courts in Memphis and the Hard Courts in San Diego.

For complete ITF results, see the TennisLink site.

Jaeda Daniel and Connor Hance Claim Easter Bowl 14s Titles; Kumar and Boyd Set for Boys 16s Final Sunday; Bellis and Dolehide Meet for Girls 16s Championship

©Colette Lewis 2013--
Rancho Mirage, CA--

Connor Hance and Jaeda Daniel earned precious USTA gold balls Saturday, claiming the 14s titles at the Asics Easter Bowl with hard-fought three set victories on the stadium court of the Sunrise Country Club.

Hance, the No. 2 seed from Torrance, Calif., beat top seed John McNally of Cincinnati 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4, in a nearly three-hour marathon, saving a match point in the second set.

McNally was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, and at 30-all had hit one of his big forehands to force an error from Hance and set up a match point. He missed his first serve, then his second, and two forehand errors later, the score was 5-5.

"You really can't live life like that," McNally said, when asked if he had regrets about the match point. "Crap happens. I would say another word, but....that's what my papa tells me. It's part of tennis. You're going to have matches where you come back from match points and you're going to have matches where you blow match points. It's just a part of tennis, a learning process. I did get tight, I'm not going to lie. It's match point and I got tight on that second serve."

Hance, who had never played McNally before, said it wasn't until 5-3 in the second set that he felt he had a handle on the match and a workable strategy.

"He was dictating points, running me left and right and left and right," said Hance, 14. "At 5-3, I sort of realized he went inside in a lot on his forehands, so I just started guessing inside in every time. I got a lot more balls back then, but he was still dictating the points. I was just running for my life, pretty much, on his serve. Coming back from 5-3 gave me a lot of confidence, even though I still went down another break."

McNally served for the match a second time after breaking Hance for a 6-5 lead, but he got no closer than deuce in that game.  The tiebreaker was 3-3 at the change of ends, but Hance played flawlessly in the next four points, with a big first serve and a gorgeous backhand drop volley winner to earn three set points. He converted the first with a big overhead, and approached the third set with confidence.

"I do a lot of fitness in my practices, so I'm in pretty good shape. I never cramp or anything," said Hance, who trains with his father Ken at the South Bay Tennis Center in Torrance. "In the third set, I kept doing what I was doing and I think he was a little more tired than I was."

Hance was down 2-0 in the third set, but won five of the next six games to go up 5-3. Down 0-40 serving at 3-5, McNally fought off four match points in an eight-deuce game, going for the sidelines and hitting them with both his forehand and his backhand.

Serving for the match, Hance double faulted on the opening point, but that was the only sign of nerves, and when he earned his fifth match point at 40-15, he stayed aggressive, hitting a forceful backhand that McNally couldn't handle.

"Connor's just a very good player," said McNally, who trains with Wil Lofgren at Queen City Racquet Club. "He mixes up his shots well and he played amazing at the net today. It was probably the best I've ever seen him volley. When I got my first serve in, he got it right back and neutralized the point. He made me go for a little too much, and I started missing my forehands, which probably cost me the match."

Hance was equally impressed with McNally's game.

"John's just a great player," said Hance, who adds his Easter Bowl gold ball to the one he captured at the 12s Clay Courts in 2011. "He's got all the shots."

Thirteen-year-old Jaeda Daniel was in her first USTA level 1 final, and despite some ups and downs, the No. 3 seed emerged with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over No. 11 seed Ashley Lahey.

Broken early in the first set, Daniel was unable to recover, with too many unforced errors and too much pace from Lahey to allow her to get comfortable.

"I started out pretty nervous," said the left-handed Daniel, who lives in Port Charlotte, Florida. "It slowly went away, but I still had to find my game and get back into it. I kept the same strategy, but I just had to execute."

The second set started off going Daniel's way, as she took a 4-0 lead, but all the games were close, and Lahey fought back, taking the next four games.

The wind, which had been absent all day, began gusting around the middle of the second set, and both girls struggled to keep the ball in the court.  Serving at 4-3, Daniel double faulted three times to give Lahey her opportunity, but Lahey was broken at love and Daniel served out the second set, with the help of a couple of wind-aided errors from Lahey.

"I had chances in the second set, I was came back, was playing well," said Lahey, her voice still quivering with emotion. "She was completely out of it, she double faulted three times, first ball error, completely giving me the game, she was so nervous, and I blew the next two games."

The 13-year-old Lahey, who is from Colorado, but now lives in the Los Angeles area and trains at the USTA's Player Development Center in Carson, had never been past the fourth round of a USTA Level 1 event before, and she felt that cost her.

"I've never really been in that situation before," said Lahey, "and it's nerve-racking, because you're so close. But they're still fighting, and just because they're nervous it doesn't mean they're not still trying. So next time, I'll be better. It's all a new experience for me."

As she had done in her three-set semifinal victory over Alexa Graham on Friday, Daniel took control in the final set, winning the last five games of the match, despite the gusty winds and her still balky serve.

Daniel knew she hadn't played perfectly all week, but she was happy with how the tournament turned out.

"It was a great tournament overall," said the soft-spoken Daniel. "There were matches where I played really well, and matches where I didn't. All the girls were spectacular and it was tough to get out there and do what I had to do myself. So I think it was a good week overall."

As for a celebration, Daniel said that was up to her mother, but it would probably include dinner and Cold Stone ice cream.

While the 14s boys and girls finals and the 18s girls final were commanding all the attention on the stadium courts, the finalists in the 16s were being decided.

Boys top seed Sameer Kumar was in trouble against No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz in Saturday's semifinal, with Fritz serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set.  But Kumar drew hope from the fact he had broken Fritz several times in the third set, and he reeled off the final three games of a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory.

"It was very tough to break him the first two sets," said Kumar, the Winter National 16s champion, who had beaten Fritz in the semifinals there. "I broke him once in the second, he broke me once in the first. But in the third, we broke each other two or three times, so I knew I could break him. I still had confidence. He did make a few errors, but I think I made him play very well. He has a huge serve, so I was happy I made a lot of returns that game, and I made him play."

With Fritz serving to stay in the match at 5-6, he had a game point, after saving a match point at 30-40, but a running backhand passing shot a few points later gave Kumar his second match point and he made good on that one.

"I'm excited," said the 15-year-old from Indiana. "It'll be a tough one, but I'm definitely excited."

Kumar will meet Kalman Boyd, a No. 17 seed, who reached the finals with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Emil Reinberg, also a 17 seed.

"It was really tough," said Boyd, who turned 16 earlier in the week. "I had to make at least 50 balls in a row to earn a point. He was playing really well and I had to stay super mentally tough to win."

Boyd credits his recent move to Advantage Tennis Academy in Irvine, California with his success this week, which comes on the heels of a semifinal showing at the International Spring Championships in Carson last week.

"I never would have thought before that I would have gotten to the finals," said Boyd, who will play in his first Level 1 final Sunday in his first meeting with Kumar. "Ever since I've starting going to Advantage, I feel my game has finally gone to the next level."

The girls 16s final will feature two 14-year-olds: No. 8 seed CiCi Bellis and No. 7 seed Caroline Dolehide.  Bellis avenged her loss to Emma Higuchi, seeded No. 4, in last year's Easter Bowl 14s final with a 6-2, 7-5  win in Saturday's semifinal.

"I remember last year she was really the aggressive player," said Bellis, the Les Petits As champion. "I was trying to be more aggressive this year, take control of more points. She's a really good player, really fast and when I get my short ball, I have charge and move forward."

Dolehide reached the semifinals last week in the 16s division of the International Spring Championships in Carson and she continued her successful run in California with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 victory over unseeded Hanna Chang on Saturday.

"Carson gave me a lot of positive energy," said Dolehide, who says she is not in the least bit tired despite her run in Carson and reaching the singles and doubles finals at the Easter Bowl. "I just feel like any other day. I just have to get back out there and play my best."

Like the boys final, Sunday's girls championship will be the first meeting between Dolehide and Bellis.

The boys 16s and 14s doubles champions were also decided on Saturday. No. 7 seeds Jake Devine and Catalin Mateas won the 16s title, defeating No. 5 seeds Grayson Broadus and Jean Thirouin 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.

The boys 14s title went to No. 5 seeds Bryce Pereira and Michael Zhao, who defeated No. 6 seeds Jake Van Emburgh and JJ Wolf 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the final.

Complete results from the 14s and 16s are at the TennisLink site.

Hibi and Black Reach ITF Easter Bowl Final; Daniel, Lahey to Decide Girls 14s Title; No. 1 McNally and No. 2 Hance for Boys 14s Championship

©Colette Lewis 2013--
Rancho Mirage, CA--

In her Easter Bowl debut last year, Tornado Alicia Black, then 13, lost in her first round match in the ITF Grade B1. Twelve months later Black has reached the final, where she will be attempting to end International Spring champion Mayo Hibi's winning streak.

The two finalists reached Saturday's championship match in contrasting fashion with No. 13 seed Hibi rolling past unseeded 13-year-old wild card Michaela Gordon 6-2, 6-0, while No. 6 seed Black needed nearly three hours to defeat No. 14 seed Louisa Chirico 7-6(5), 7-6(5).

Chirico was up a break in the first set and served for the second set, but played a miserable game at 5-4, with three unforced errors and a double fault resulting in a break to love. Black held in the next game, saving a break point and Chirico forced a tiebreaker with a much better service game. At 5-5 in the tiebreaker, Black and Chirico played a  point that typified the match: a long rally of deep and heavy ground strokes, ending with a Chirico error. On match point, Chirico, a 16-year-old from New York, committed to hitting out with each swing, but Black countered every shot and the match ended on a Chirico backhand wide.

It was a big win for Black, and not just because it put her in her first Grade 1 final.

"I've known Louisa for a while now," said Black, who hadn't played Chirico before today. "We've been on a lot of trips with the USTA together, so I kind of knew her game and how she played. I was really excited to play Louisa; she's really good and I look up to her, I respect her a lot."

Black has played Hibi once before, at the $10,000 Pro Circuit event in Hilton Head last spring, which was Black's first professional tournament. Black reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier, having already won six matches that week, and managed to win only one game against eventual champion Hibi.

"She was kind of tired," said Hibi, explaining Black's performance in that match. "She played the No. 1 seed and she had a lot of three-setters in that tournament. I guess she was nervous. It wasn't the best match you could watch. It's going to be a completely different match (in the final); I'm sure she's going to really fight for it."

Hibi, who has played 11 matches in the past 12 days not including doubles, admitted to being tired, although she has yet to drop a set in either Carson or Rancho Mirage.

"I really just want to grind out one more," said the 17-year-old, who is a Japanese citizen, but has lived in Southern California since she was a toddler.  Hibi is seeking to duplicate the International Spring Championship/Easter Bowl ITF double that both Melanie Oudin(2008) and Krista Hardebeck(2010) accomplished.

The boys 14s final will feature No. 1 John McNally against No. 2 Connor Hance in their first meeting.

McNally defeated No. 5 seed Nathan Perrone 7-5, 6-3 in Friday morning's semifinal at the Sunrise Country Club, while Hance took down No. 3 seed Zeke Clark 6-4, 6-4.

Perrone served for the first set against McNally at 5-4, but he was broken in his next two service games, and again early in the second set. McNally, of Cincinnati, Ohio, made that lead hold up to reach his second consecutive USTA Level 1 championship.

"My mom (Lynn Nabors-McNally) won gold balls in juniors, she won a couple in doubles, and I always wanted one," said McNally, the reigning boys 14s Winter National champion, who beat Clark in that final. "So when I won that gold ball, it was a weight off my shoulders. I said you've got that, so you might as well start playing, having fun. So that's what I'm doing out here, having fun."

Hance and Clark slugged it out from the baseline, with many a long and punishing rally.

"The average rally was like twenty shots," said Hance, from Torrance, Calif. "I was playing smart, trying to keep it deep so he couldn't pass and going for it when I had the right ball. He doesn't give you a lot of balls that you can put away. He's a really good player, so I had to do a lot of slices, lobs, to throw him off a little bit. But it's hard to get it by him, because he is so fast, so I ended up grinding with him."

Hance, who is famous in tennis circles for his role as Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf's son in a Genworth Financial ad featuring he and Taylor Dent playing a match, is looking forward to finally playing McNally.

"It's strange, because we play all the same tournaments, but we're just always on the other side of the draw," said Hance. "So I'm excited to finally get to play him. He has a gigantic forehand that I'm going to have to stay away from, but I have a plan, I think."

The girls 14s final Saturday afternoon will also be a first-time meeting, with No. 3 seed Jaeda Daniel against No. 11 seed Ashley Lahey.

Lahey, who had never gone past the fourth round of a USTA Level 1 tournament before, beat best friend and USTA-West training partner Ryan Peus 6-2, 6-2.

"We're inseparable, so it's kind of tough to play your best friend, but eventually you get over that mental barrier of who you're playing," said Lahey, who is originally from Colorado, only moving to Southern California in the past year.

Lahey called the Easter Bowl her breakthrough tournament, and she is looking forward to collecting her first USTA ball on Saturday.

"It's feels really good to have a good chance at a gold ball," said Lahey. "Hopefully I can play one more good match."

Daniel will also be contesting her first USTA Level 1 final after a 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-2 win over Alexa Graham, a No. 17 seed.

"It not something I ever expected really," said the 13-year-old left-hander from Port Charlotte, Florida. "I always just play match by match and if I got there, I got there. I've never said that's what I want. I just want to play and improve and hopefully get to the best level there is."

The quarterfinals in the 16s and the boys 18s were played on Friday, with two of the top three seeds surviving.

Noah Rubin, No. 1 in the 18s, eliminated wild card Alexandru Gozun 6-4, 6-0 and will play No. 3 seed Luca Corinteli, who down unseeded Ernesto Escobedo 6-1, 6-4.  The other 18s semifinal will be between unseeded Gage Brymer, who beat No. 8 seed Michael Mmoh 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, and No. 5 seed Martin Redlicki, who beat defending champion and No. 2 seed Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Top boys 16s seed Sameer Kumar has yet to drop a set in the tournament, and he advanced to the semifinals with a 7-5, 6-4 win over International Spring 16s champion Jake DeVine. He will play No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz, who posted an impressive 6-1, 6-0 victory over No. 9 seed Victor Pham.  The other boys 16s semifinal is between two No. 17 seeds: Emil Reinberg and Kalman Boyd. Reinberg outlasted No. 4 seed Chase Colton 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, and Boyd crushed No. 2 seed Kyle Seelig 6-0, 6-1.

Francesca Dilorenzo, the top girls 16s seed, fell to No. 8 seed CiCi Bellis 7-5, 6-2, to set up a rematch of the 2012 girls 14s Easter Bowl final against Emma Higuchi.  Higuchi, who beat Bellis for that championship, now has a 10-match winning streak at the Easter Bowl after her 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 quarterfinal victory over Emma Davis, a No. 17 seed.

The other girls 16s semifinal will feature unseeded Hanny Chang against No. 7 seed Caroline Dolehide.  Chang beat 2012 16s finalist Meredith Xepoleas 6-4, 6-3, and Dolehide downed No. 11 seed Meghan Kelley 6-3, 7-5.

The first Asics Easter Bowl title of 2013 was decided on Friday afternoon, with top seeds Hada Change and Abigail Chiu defeating No. 2 seeds Kelly Chen and Annette Goulak 6-2, 6-2 for the girls 14s doubles championship.

The schedule for the Saturday finals in the 14s and girls 18s will start with the boys 14s at 10 a.m., followed by the girls 18s and the girls 14s.

For the 14s and 16s draws, including doubles results, see this TennisLink site.

The 18s ITF draws are at this TennisLink site.

Complete results from Friday's action below:

Boys’ 18s Singles (Quarterfinals)
Gage Brymer Irvine, CA def. Michael Mmoh (8) Temple Hills, MD 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
Martin Redlicki (5) Boca Raton, FL def. Mackenzie McDonald (2) Piedmont, CA 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Luca Corinteli (3) Alexandria, VA def. Ernesto Escobedo West Covina, CA 6-1, 6-4
Noah Rubin (1) Rockville Centre, NY def. Alexandru Gozun Sarasota, FL 6-4, 6-0

Boys’ 18s Doubles (Quarterfinals)
JC Aragone / Mackenzie McDonald (4) def. AJ Catanzariti / Dennis Uspensky (7) 6-4, 6-0
Luca Corinteli / Martin Redlicki (1) def. Justin Butsch / Tommy Mylnikov (5) 6-3, 6-3
Robbie Bellamy / Joseph Di Giulio def. Michael Mmoh / Francis Tiafoe (3) 6-2, 6-4
Jordi Arconada / Spencer Papa (2) def. Gregory Garcia / Tyler Lu 7-5, 6-4

Girls’ 18s Singles (Semifinals)
Tornado Ali Black (6) Miami, FL def. Louisa Chirico (14) Harrison, NY 7-6(5), 7-6(5)
Mayo Hibi (13) Irvine, CA def. Michaela Gordon Los Altos Hills, CA 6-2, 6-0

Girls’ 18s Doubles (Semifinals)
Josie Kuhlman / Katerina Stewart def. Brooke Austin / Mayo Hibi (6) 6-2, 6-2
Spencer Liang / Peggy Porter def. Maegan Manasse / Jamie Loeb 3-6, 6-4, 10-6

Boys’ 16s Singles (Quarterfinals)
Kalman Boyd (17) Rancho Santa Fe, CA def. Kyle Seelig (2) Hatfield, PA 6-0, 6-1
Sameer Kumar (1) Carmel, IN def. Jake DeVine (17) Boca Raton, FL 7-5, 6-4
Taylor Fritz (3) Rancho Santa Fe, CA def. Victor Pham (9) Saratoga, CA 6-1, 6-0
Emil Reinberg (17) Atlanta, GA def. Chase Colton (4) Davie, FL 4-6, 6-1, 6-2

Boys’ 16s Doubles (Semifinals)
Jake DeVine / Catalin Mateas (7) def. Henry Gordon / Austin Rapp (6) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Grayson Broadus / Jean Thirouin (5) def. Chase Colton / Alfredo Perez (12) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5

Girls’ 16s Singles (Quarterfinals)
Hanna Chang Fontana, CA def. Meredith Xepoleas (3) Huntington Beach, CA 6-4, 6-3
Catherine Bellis (8) Atherton, CA def. Francesca Dilorenzo (1) New Albany, OH 7-5, 6-2
Emma Higuchi (4) Los Angeles, CA def. Emma Davis (17) Cohasset, MA 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Caroline Dolehide (7) Hinsdale, IL def. Meghan Kelley (11) Falmouth, ME 6-3, 7-5

Girls’ 16s Doubles (Quarterfinals)
Jada Hart / Stephanie Hazell def. Jessica Livianu / Alexandra Sabe 6-4, 6-2
Caroline Dolehide / Brienne Minor (1) def. Ena Shibahara / Savannah Slaysman (7) 4-6, 6-4, 10-8
Emma Higuchi / Rebecca Weissmann (3) def. Kenadi Hance / Risa Nakagawa (8) 7-5, 7-6(4)
Jessie Aney / Alexis Nelson (6) def. Katharine Fahey / Jacqueline Urbinati (2) 6-3, 6-1

Boys’ 14s Singles (Semifinals)
John McNally (1) Cincinnati, OH def. Nathan Perrone (5) Mount Laurel, NJ 7-5, 6-3
Connor Hance (2) Torrance, CA def. Zeke Clark (3) Tulsa, OK 6-4, 6-4

Boys’ 14s Doubles (Semifinals)
Bryce Pereira / Michael Zhao (5) def. Jonathan Dollahite / Dylan Levitt (16) 6-2, 6-3
Jake Van Emburgh / JJ Wolf (6) def. Connor Hance / Sam Riffice (14) 7-6(1), 6-4

Boys' 14 Singles (Gold Draw Quarterfinal Losers; Semifinal Round)
Max Pham Newport Coast, CA def. Robert Baylon Buena Park, CA 6-1, 6-0
Justin Lee Cos Cob, CT def. Jacob Brumm Rancho Santa Fe, CA WO (ill)

Boys' 14 Singles (Gold Draw Quarterfinal Losers; Final Round)
Max Pham Newport Coast, CA def. Justin Lee Cos Cob, CT 6-2, 6-2

Boys' 14 Singles (Silver Draw 4th Round Losers; Final Round)
Conrad Russell Palo Alto, CA def. Michael Zhao Princeton Jct, NJ 6-2, 6-2

Girls’ 14s Singles (Semifinals)
Ashley Lahey (11) Hawthorne, CA def. Ryan Peus (9) Caprinteria, CA 6-2, 6-2
Jaeda Daniel (3) Port Charlotte, FL def. Alexa Graham (17) Garden City, NY 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-1

Girls' 14 Singles (Gold Draw Quarterfinal Losers; Final Round)Kylie McKenzie, Anthem, AZ def. Claire Liu, Thousand Oaks, CA 6-4, 7-6(7)

Girls' 14 Singles (Gold Draw Quarterfinal Losers; Semifinal Round)
Claire Liu Thousand Oaks, CA def. Ellie Douglas McKinney, TX Wo (inj)
Kylie McKenzie Anthem, AZ def. Janice Shin Houston, TX 6-3, 6-3

Girls' 14 Singles (Silver Draw 4th Round Losers; Final Round)
Riley McQuaid Tustin, CA def. Abigail Desiatnikov Gates Mills, OH 7-6(4), 1-6, 14-12

Girls’ 14s Doubles (Finals)
Hada Chang / Abigail Chiu (1) def. Kelly Chen / Annette Goulak (2) 6-2, 6-2

Girls' 14 Doubles (Playoff)
Samantha Martinelli / Delaney Nothaft (3) def. Darya Possokhova / Katya Tabachnik (8) 6-4, 6-4

International Spring Championships Recap

Before the start of play today at the Asics Easter Bowl, here is my recap of last week's ITF Grade 1 International Spring Championships in Carson, Calif. for the Tennis Recruiting Network.