Wimbledon Girls Top Seeds Jorovic and Bellis Ousted Tuesday; Three US Boys Reach Round of 16

Maia Lumsden upsets No. 2 seed CiCi Bellis Tuesday

©Colette Lewis 2014--
Wimbledon--

The rain stopped Tuesday, allowing the completion of the first round of singles at the Wimbledon Junior Championships, but the surprises continued, particularly in the girls draw, with top seed Ivana Jorovic and No. 2 seed CiCi Bellis both upset victims.

Bellis, who has been in Europe for over seven weeks and compiled a stellar record, led wild card Maia Lumsden of Great Britain 4-2 in the final set of their first round match Tuesday afternoon on Court 19.  But Lumsden, a 16-year-old No. 85 in the ITF junior rankings took advantage of some uncharacteristic unforced errors from Bellis late in the match, winning the final four games of the match to post a 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 victory.

"I've obviously seen her great results this year," said Lumsden, who served for the first set twice, at 5-4 and 6-5 before losing the tiebreaker. "I don't think she's lost many junior matches, so I knew it was going to be a very difficult match when I saw the draw.  But I just tried to believe that I had a chance."

Lumsden received a wild card into Wimbledon last year, but other than that precious experience, she didn't feel much of an advantage on the surface, although she did admit to being inspired by Andy Murray.

"I don't really train on grass either, so it's not much of an advantage," said Lumsden, who is also from Scotland, and has trained with Judy Murray, Andy's mother. "Just watching Andy, how well he deals with pressure, especially last year, I suppose that helps. It shows it's possible."

Jorovic was playing her second round match Tuesday evening, having defeated Kaitlyn McCarthy in three sets on Monday, and she knew she would be in for a battle against Paula Badosa Gibert of Spain. Badosa Gibert had beaten Jorovic, the ITF's top-ranked junior, when they played in and ITF women's circuit event a few months ago, on clay, but the surface change didn't bother the 17-year-old Spaniard, and she eliminated the French Open finalist 6-2, 7-5.

The other girls seeds to lose today, all in the first round, were No. 6 seed Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus, No. 14 seed Naiktha Bains of Australia, No. 15 seed Anna Bondar of Hungary and No. 14 seed Sandra Samir of Egypt.

Michaela Gordon beats No. 14 seed Sandra Samir

Samir was beaten 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 by 14-year-old qualifier Michaela Gordon of the United States, who lost in the French Open qualifying, and did not play the Roehampton Grade 1, instead returning to her home in Northern California to play, and win, the US Open National Playoff qualifying tournament before arriving last week in England.

"Since I had played on clay I wanted to play a tournament on hard courts for my confidence," said Gordon, who was allowed only one more ITF junior tournament before she turns 15 next month, due to the ITF's age restrictions. "I thought grass would be a really good surface for me, and I think it fits my game really well.  Even in my first qualifying match, I played really well, and I've really been liking the surface."

Against Samir, Gordon didn't want to get into any long rallies and multiple-deuce games.

"In the first set, I played like I did in the third set, pretty aggressive," said Gordon. "In the second set, all the games went to 30-all, deuce, and she won the important points. So in the third set, I didn't want the games to be 30-all or deuce, I wanted to focus on every point and play super, super aggressive, really focused.  I didn't show any emotion at all in the third set, I was, I don't know, completely focused."

Gordon plays another Scottish player, Isabelle Wallace, in the second round Wednesday, but she isn't worried about the British fans supporting her opponent.

"The crowd will probably be on her side, but I like it more when they're on their side," Gordon said. "It gets me more fired up for every point. I don't think it will make too much of a difference."

Taylor Fritz was certain his game would translate well to grass

Taylor Fritz took on a British opponent in his first round match Tuesday, overpowering wild card Julian Cash 6-4, 6-2 on Court 4.  Fritz lost only one point on serve in his first three service games, and had only one difficult game, saving two break points to secure a 5-3 lead in the first set.

"He started staying in the point longer," said Fritz, who reached the semifinals at Roehampton last week. "And he started hitting some bigger forehands in that game, and also, I felt pretty relaxed in the game. I started to just put it in, and that's when he started ripping shots. I think I got a little too tentative on my shots."

Fritz broke Cash in the first game of the second set, and when he got a second break, with Cash double faulting at 0-40 to make it 4-1, the suspense was gone.   Fritz did need to save a break point serving for the match at 5-2, but Cash helped him out by netting a forehand and missed his next two forehands as well, giving Fritz his second win in a junior slam, on a surface he was convinced would be his best.

"I'd never played on grass before, but I always knew I was going to really like it," said the 16-year-old, whose mother Kathy May and father Guy Fritz had competed in the main draw at Wimbledon during their playing careers. "I told everyone it was going to be my best surface, that it's going to be perfect for me. I'm usually so dependent on my serving, holding serve. It's really all I focus on and I feel grass exaggerates that, so I always felt it would be my best surface."

Francis Tiafoe finally finished his first round match on Tuesday

Other US boys to advance to the second round were No. 6 seed Stefan Kozlov, who beat qualifier Rafael Matos of Brazil 6-4, 6-1, Michael Mmoh, who came back to defeat big-serving German Jan Choinski 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-1, and Francis Tiafoe, who finished his match with Martin Blasko of Slovakia, delayed by rain late Monday. Tiafoe came out leading 5-4 in the first set, and held for the lead, but dropped the second set 6-3.  In the third set, the 16-year-old Orange Bowl champion struggled to hold serve, while Blasko was breezing through his service games, until the eighth game, when Tiafoe got his first break point opportunity at 30-40 and converted it, serving out the 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 decision.

"It's not easy to return on grass," Tiafoe said. "His serve was a little tough for me to read, it was kind of weird. He had a money(serve) slice wide on the deuce side and that was getting me a lot, and the T on the ad was getting me a lot. He was serving well, and I wasn't making too many first serves."

But after waiting since Saturday to play the match, Tiafoe was just glad the match finally concluded.

"I was just happy we got to play each other, Tiafoe said. "All these days. We were joking about it a lot. Happy that we got on the court, played a good match, and I was happy to get through this."

Three US boys played their second round matches on Tuesday, and all three won in straight sets.

Noah Rubin defeated No. 12 seed Kamil Majchrzak of Poland 6-3, 7-5, while Alex Rybakov and Logan Smith were among the last matches completed as the sun set at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.  Smith barely missed a ball in dismantling Petar Conkic of Serbia 7-6(0), 6-3, and Rybakov was equally impressive, defeating Petros Chrysochos of Cyprus 6-4, 6-3.  That trio will not play singles on Wednesday, as the other four American boys--Fritz, Kozlov, Tiafoe and Mmoh--catch up with them Tuesday.

Sofia Kenin won her first round match over Leticia Garcia Vidal of Brazil 6-4, 6-2 and will join No. 3 seed Tornado Alicia Black and Gordon in the second round.  Dasha Ivanova, who won her first round match Saturday, lost in the second round 6-1, 6-2 to No. 9 seed Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine. Dennis Uspensky lost his main draw junior slam debut Tuesday evening to lucky loser Pedro Iamachikine of Peru 7-6(4), 6-3.

Doubles begin on Wednesday, with all 32 first round matches scheduled after the completion of the second round of singles.

For complete draws and the order of play, see the Wimbledon website.

More Rain Keeps Wimbledon Junior Championships First Round From Being Completed, but Top Seeds Both Advance in Three Sets

Noah Rubin beats the rain, moves into second round

©Colette Lewis 2014--
Wimbledon--

Rain was the story again on Monday, with the Wimbledon junior championships again hit by delays, preventing the completion of the first round of singles.

American Noah Rubin was relieved to have completed his match, and not just because his 6-2, 6-4 victory over British wild card Jamie Malik was completed within minutes of the day's second rain delay.

"This was a pretty important match for me," said the 18-year-old New Yorker. "This is my third year, and I didn't want to go down three years in a row in the first round."

Rubin lost to Luke Bambridge of Great Britain last year here 3-6, 6-4, 9-7, so negotiating a tricky spot in the second set was particularly important to him on Court 4 today.  Serving at 2-3, 0-40, Rubin reeled off five straight points, then broke the 17-year-old Malik's serve in the next game for a 5-3 lead.

"That could have been very dangerous," said Rubin. "He has a very good serve, so I knew if I didn't get that game back, it would have been difficult to come back in that set. To be honest, I don't want to go to three in England, with a Great Britain kid, and I got that game back, was serving well, so I was fortunate."

Malik saved two match points serving at 3-5 in the second, using his substantial power well, but he was simply too erratic to pressure Rubin consistently.  With Rubin serving for the match at 5-4 30-all, Malik netted a backhand during a neutral rally, and despite getting a second serve to return on the next point, put his forehand long to give Rubin the match.

Rubin's second round opponent is reigning Eddie Herr champion Kamil Majchrzak of Poland, the No. 12 seed, who defeated Joao Menezes of Brazil 6-1, 6-2 between the two rain delays.

Asked about not being seeded despite his ATP ranking of 539 (which should have earned him a 13-15 seed) Rubin admitted he didn't understand why, but wasn't going to dwell on it.

"I've learned that no matter what, if you want to win the tournament, you have to beat everybody," said Rubin. "I don't care if I'm the first seed, I don't care if I'm a qualifier. If I want to hold that trophy at the end, I have to take on everybody. So whether I get the toughest round in the first round or get the toughest round in the finals, that's up for them to decide. I believe in my game and I believe whoever I play I can have a good chance against.  I understanding the seeding, and maybe there was some confusion there, but it's not really a big deal for me."

Two Americans gave both the top seeds a battle, but fell in three sets.  Henrik Wiersholm, playing on Court 19 before the rain began, needed a set to get going against French boys champion Andrey Rublev of Russia, but found his form in the second set, before falling 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.  The volatile Russian seemed to lose his concentration in the second set, but he regained it in the third, digging out of a 0-40 hole serving at 1-2 in third. Rublev then broke Wiersholm to take a 4-3 lead, and that was all he needed, although Wiersholm made him serve it out by holding from 0-40 down at 3-5.

Wiersholm did have a glimmer of hope in the final game, winning the first two points, the second with a backhand return of a good serve so perfectly struck that Rublev dropped his racquet in disbelief.  But Wiersholm was wrong-footed on the next point and missed a second serve return long to pull even. A good serve and forehand combination gave Rublev his fourth match point and he converted it with a forehand winner, running his current winning streak to 17 matches.

Girls top seed Ivana Jorovic wins in three sets over Kaitlyn McCarthy

Kaitlyn McCarthy also lost her first set to Ivana Jorovic of Serbia in a hurry, but she too fought back before falling 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to the ITF world No. 1.

McCarthy took a 4-1 lead in the second set, lost her break of serve, with Jorovic breaking and holding for 4-all.  McCarthy saved two break points in her next service game, hitting a couple of forehand winners to fight her way to 5-4.  Serving to stay in the set, Jorovic went down two set points after a wild forehand, saving the first with a forehand winner. But McCarthy made a difficult and unexpected slice that forced an error from Jorovic on the second set point, and the match, Jorovic's first on grass due to her absence from the Roehampton Grade 1, was even.

It stayed that way until 2-all, when McCarthy saved two break points but not a third. The heavy hitting from both players made for some excellent rallies, but once Jorovic took the lead, she didn't face a break point and broke McCarthy on the fourth match point to secure the win.

Jorovic had played McCarthy last summer at the ITF Grade 1 in Canada, beating her easily in the second round, and she was impressed by the improvement in the North Carolina 16-year-old's game from then.

"I played her last year and it was like 6-2, 6-1 and this time she is a better player now," said the 17-year-old right-hander, who has a weapon in her two-handed backhand. "She's improved her game a lot and she's a good player."

Despite her praise for McCarthy, Jorovic was unsure what led to her loss of the second set.

"In the second set, it was new balls and it was a little bit different," Jorovic said. "I was down 4-1, but I stayed positive and came to 4-all and, I don't know, something happened. In third set, I'm trying to play my game like in first set, and it was very good, the third set."

Jorovic will play Paula Badosa Gibert of Spain in the second round, who isn't seeded here, but like Jorovic, has a WTA ranking in the top 500. They played in March, in the first round of a $25,000 event on clay in Brazil, with Badosa winning it 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

"I lost to her 7-5 in third set, so tomorrow I expect a big match and I will fight and we will see," said Jorovic, who is scheduled to play on Tuesday, despite the 37 first round matches that have yet to be completed.

Despite only 20 first round singles matches finishing on Monday, there were a few upsets. Tim Van Rijthoven of the Netherlands defeated No. 15 seed Jumpei Yamasaki of Japan 6-1, 6-2 and Petar Conkic of Serbia, brother of former Tennessee Volunteer Boris Conkic, won a rain-delayed match with No. 16 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia 3-6, 7-6(5), 2-1 ret.  So far, more boys seeds have lost (4, with Quentin Halys of France and Orlando Luz of Brazil losing Saturday) than have won, with only Rublev and Majchrzak advancing to the second round.  In the girls draw, Katie Boulter of Great Britain defeated No. 13 seed Priscilla Hon of Australia 6-3, 6-3. Hon is the only seed out in the girls draw.

Viktoria Kuzmova advances to second round

Of the American juniors in action Monday, Rubin was the only winner. In addition to Henrik Wiersholm, Raveena Kingsley fell to Simona Heinova of the Czech Republic in the completion of a suspended match  7-6(1), 6-4, and Katrine Steffensen lost to Slovakia's Viktoria Kuzmova 6-4, 6-4.

No. 7 seed Francis Tiafoe was serving for the first set at 5-4 against Slovakia's Martin Blasko when the third and final rain shower arrived, and despite the removal of the tarps covering the courts, play never resumed.  With the drizzle arriving, No. 11 seed Michael Mmoh wanted play stopped when he was serving at 2-2 in the first set in his match with German Jan Choinski of Germany, as he slipped at least twice. It wasn't until after Mmoh dropped his serve however that the umpire granted the request.

In something of an oddity, one junior match continued on when all the rest of the contests, seniors and junior alike, were cancelled. On Court 19, Ipek Soylu of Turkey, who won two $10,000 ITF women's circuit titles last month but needed to qualify to reach the main draw in the juniors here, ended the hopes of British wild card Jodi Burrage, much to the disappointment of the large crowd gathered for the only live tennis outside Centre Court.  The 15-year-old Burrage, who had gained some notoriety in beating the reigning Wimbledon women's champion Marion Bartoli in an exhibition less than two weeks ago, could not quite match the confident Soylu, who is 390 in the WTA rankings and three years older than Burrage.

The order of play for Tuesday includes the remaining 37 first round matches and 12 second round matches, with the latter scheduled later in the day.

The weather forecast is better for Tuesday, but it must be said that the rain on Monday was not predicted to be as widespread or as disruptive as it turned out to be.

For Tuesday's order of play and the draws, see the Wimbledon website.

Twelve US Juniors on Monday's Packed Wimbledon Schedule; Donaldson, Stewart, Smith and Novikov Claim Futures Titles

Some of the US juniors attending the USTA reception Sunday afternoon

Middle Sunday at Wimbledon is a tradition that can be frustrating for fans and players, particularly when the tournament is behind schedule, but for those who work a grand slam, having a day off in its midst is much appreciated.

The USTA took advantage of the unique day to host a reception at Cannizaro House, just off Wimbledon Common, for the Americans competing in the junior draw, along with their coaches and family members.  Dave Haggerty, the current USTA president, CEO and chairman, has been hosting these Team USA events at every junior slam since last year's French Open, and when he learned last month that I would be at Wimbledon this year, he invited me to attend.  In addition to Haggerty, USTA Executive Director Gordon Smith was there, as was board member Tommy Ho. Patrick McEnroe, General Manager of Player Development, Jay Berger, head of men's tennis, Ola Malmqvist, head of women's tennis, and National coaches Nicolas Todero and Leo Azevedo were also at the late afternoon gathering, which was only dampened by the occasional brief shower.

Most of the juniors attending had yet to play, after Saturday's rain had allowed only seven junior matches to be finished. Logan Smith, Alex Rybakov and Dasha Ivanova were among the seven winners Saturday, so they have Monday off, but most of the other US juniors are scheduled, some of whom will not get on until late in the day, with six matches planned for some courts.  Raveena Kingsley who had her match with Simona Heinova of the Czech Republic suspended Saturday, having lost the first set in a tiebreaker and at 3-3 in the second set, is not on Monday's schedule (UPDATE: as of Monday morning, the suspended junior matches have now appeared on Monday's order of play). Kaitlyn McCarthy, Sofia Kenin, Usue Arconada, Tornado Alicia Black and Katrine Steffensen are scheduled to play Monday, but CiCi Bellis and Michaela Gordon are not.  All the US boys--Francis Tiafoe, Stefan Kozlov, Michael Mmoh, Taylor Fritz, Dennis Uspensky, Noah Rubin and Henrik Wiersholm--are scheduled for their first round matches Monday.

A few first round doubles matches are usually played on Monday, but with the courts so busy with professional matches, they will wait until Tuesday at least.

The draws and order of play for Monday can be found at the Wimbledon website.

Four Americans claimed singles titles today, three on the USTA Pro Circuit and one in Canada.

Jared Donaldson won his third straight Futures title, winning the $15,000 tournament in Oklahoma City.  The 17-year-old, seeded sixth, defeated unseeded Andrew Harris(Oklahoma) of Australia 6-3, 6-2 in the final.  Top seeds Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA) and Martin Redlicki won the doubles title, beating No. 3 seed Jesus Bandres(East Tennessee State) of Venezuela and Gonzalo Escobar(Texas Tech) of Ecuador 4-6, 7-6(3) 10-8.

Unseeded Connor Smith(Ohio State), won his second Futures title, claiming the championship of the $10,000 tournament in Rochester, NY.  Smith defeated No. 6 seed Jean-Yves Aubone(Florida State) 6-2, 6-3 in Sunday's final.  Smith also collected the doubles title with Daniel Nguyen(USC), with the No. 4 seeds defeating top seeds Liam Broady and Luke Bambridge of Great Britain 6-3, 6-3.  It was Smith's third straight Futures doubles title with his third different partner.

In the $15,000 Futures in Canada, No. 3 seed Dennis Novikov(UCLA) defeated top seed Filip Peliwo of Canada 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 to take the title, his third Futures title.  Rik De Voest of South Africa and Matt Seeberger(UC-Santa Cruz) won the doubles title, beating No. 3 seeds Hans Hach of Mexico and Brayden Schnur(North Carolina) of Canada 5-7, 7-5, 10-5.

Katerina Stewart and Josie Kuhlman met in the final of a $10,000 women's Pro Circuit tournament for the second week in a row, and again it was Stewart coming out on top. The 16-year-old from Florida, seeded No. 5, downed unseeded Florida recruit Kuhlman 6-1, 7-6(2) in Charlotte, NC.  Stewart has now won three $10,000 titles, all since March.  No. 2 seeds Lena Litvak(Harvard) and Alexandra Mueller won the doubles title, defeating juniors Andie Daniell and Sophie Chang 6-3, 6-3.

This week's Pro Circuit events in the United States are a $10,000 Futures in Pittsburgh and the $50,000 Challenger in Winnetka for the men, but there are no women's events.

Logan Smith, Alex Rybakov and Dasha Ivanova Win First Round Matches in Soggy Opening Day at Wimbledon Junior Championships

Dasha Ivanova wins her first junior slam match Saturday

©Colette Lewis 2014--
Wimbledon--

A long day of waiting out the rain proved worthwhile for three US juniors, with Logan Smith and Dasha Ivanova picking up their first junior slam wins, and Alex Rybakov getting his second as the Wimbledon Junior Championships began Saturday.

Rain arrived shortly before the scheduled 11:00 a.m. start time, but Rybakov and Ivanova were the first matches scheduled on their courts, so they had to be ready the moment the rain stopped and the covers were removed from the courts.  At around 12:30, Rybakov began his match with wild card Rhett Purcell of Great Britain and Ivanova took the court against Qiu Yu Ye of China, but not much was decided before heavy rain disrupted play for three more hours.  Purcell was serving at 1-2 and Ivanova was serving at 2-3 and as they waited matches of the other juniors scheduled for later in the day were steadily being cancelled. 

It was after 6 p.m. when the skies finally cleared and the players returned to the courts, having spent their time hanging out in the separate junior lounge, trying to stay loose.

"I don't have a coach with me but I have three of my friends here (Alejandro Tabilo, Tornado Alicia Black and Katrine Steffensen) and they relax me, get me laughing and that's the best," said Ivanova, who trains at L'Academie de Tennis in Boynton Beach, Florida. "I was just listening to music, watching FIFA as well."

Ivanova was determined to play aggressively against Ye, ultimately posting a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2 victory, and using her experience from last year, when she qualified for the main draw, but fell in the first round.

"I learned from last year, everything is just chaos, my mind's all over the place," said the 17-year-old from Portland, Oregon. "I look up and see Centre Court. I knew I had to just focus--that's why I wear the visor, to focus on the court--and not pay attention to what's going on around me.  Last year I felt like a little girl out there, in such a big world, with everyone staring down at me."

Ivanova admitted that her concentration waned slightly in the second set but she continued to hit out, with her service return particularly effective in the latter stages of the third set.

"When I played aggressive she couldn't really keep up," said Ivanova. "That worked the best for me.  I pushed a few balls and she would just hit winners, so I knew I had to stay aggressive."

Alex Rybakov posts his second win in a junior slam

While Ivanova was closing out Ye on Court 5, Rybakov was in deep trouble on Court 19.  After winning the first set 7-6(5), after saving two set points serving at 3-5, Rybakov dropped the second set 6-3 and trailed 3-1 in the third.  But even with a large crowd urging on the British wild card, Rybakov got the break back and earned two match points with Purcell serving at 4-5 15-40.  The 18-year-old right-hander saved them both with some good serving, closing out the game with an ace, and soon they reached the advantage portion of a match--new territory for Rybakov.

"It's a new feeling," said Rybakov, a 17-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida. "But for me it was pretty regular. I just told myself to hold my serve, try to get into the return games and make him play. I was prepared to go whatever distance it was going to go."

Rybakov saved a break point at 7-7 in the third set with a perfectly struck forehand winner that painted the sideline and went on to hold.  In the next game, Purcell saved his third match point with a similarly bold forehand winner, but he was unable to keep Rybakov from earning a fourth in a rapid-fire exchange with Purcell at the net. Purcell wasn't able to get his first serve in on that fourth match point, and finally succumbed to the pressure, double faulting to give Rybakov the 7-6(5), 3-6, 9-7 victory.

A year ago, Rybakov was winning the ITF Grass Courts in Philadelphia, but acknowledged the differences between that grass and the surface at Wimbledon.

"I wasn't really taking that result into mind, because I knew when I came here it was going to be a lot different," Rybakov said. "It's really a unique surface, and these past two weeks, I've really, really enjoyed playing on it, and hopefully, I'll get to play some more."

Rybakov's second round opponent is  Petros Chrysochos of Cyprus, who upset No. 5 seed Quentin Halys of France 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Logan Smith wins his grand slam debut

While Rybakov finished before the fading light became a factor, Smith was getting worried as his match with Marc Polmans of Australia was drawing to a close.  After trailing 5-3 in the opening set, Smith shook off his nerves and dominated the second half of the match, finishing off Polmans 7-5, 6-2 with very little light left.

"It's the first grand slam main draw I've ever played," said Smith, 17. "I was a little nervous, but I started to loosen up a little more. I got a lot of confidence after I broke at 5-all, and I knew I had it in my hands there. At 5-2 (in the second), I was like, I've got to finish this, I've got to finish this before they suspend it."

Smith, who played the Italian Open but returned to Southern California to finish his school year rather than stay in Europe for the French, said he likes the grass, and the buzz, at Wimbledon

"It suits my game," said Smith, who signed dozens of autographs after his match. "I served really well and that was a main factor today. The atmosphere is amazing, something like I've never played before. I love the courts here--Roehampton has some not-so-good bounces--and it's definitely amazing to play here.  To play my first grand slam and to win here is really special."

Raveena Kingsley was the fourth US junior to take the court on Saturday, but she was not able to complete her match with Simona Heinova of the Czech Republic. Kinglsey lost the first set in a tiebreaker, with the second  set at 3-3 when play was suspended until Monday due to darkness.

Although only seven junior matches were completed, two seeds lost, both of them boys.  In addition to Halys's loss, No. 3 seed Orlando Luz of Brazil was eliminated, with British wild card Joshua Sapwell delighting the legion of British fans with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 upset.

For complete results, and Monday's order of play, see the Wimbledon website.

There is no play on the middle Sunday at Wimbledon, so the other 14 US juniors are scheduled to play on Monday.

Wimbledon Junior Championships Begins Saturday with 6 of 18 US Players in Action; Rublev, Ostapenko Win Roehampton Titles; Donaldson Downs Altamirano to Reach Semis in OKC Futures

©Colette Lewis 2014--
Wimbledon, England--

Court 19 empty Friday evening, but will host junior matches on Saturday

I've arrived in England to cover the Wimbledon Junior Championships, which will feature nine US boys and nine US girls in the main draw.

Two of them--Henrik Wiersholm and Kaitlyn McCarthy--drew the No. 1 seeds.  McCarthy will play No. 1 seed Ivana Jorovic of Serbia on Saturday and Wiersholm will play No. 1 seed and French Open boys champion Andrey Rublev of Russia on Monday. Wiersholm took Rublev to three sets in the second round of the French Open earlier this month, losing 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Rublev won the Roehampton Grade 1 singles title today, defeating No. 6 seed Johan Sebastien Tatlot of France 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. That win extended the 16-year-old's winning streak to 17 straight, including a Futures title back in May.

The girls title at Roehampton went to Eddie Herr champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.  The unseeded 17-year-old defeated No. 5 seed Kristina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-3.  No. 4 seeds Priscilla Hon of Australia and Fanny Stollar of Hungary won the girls doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Paul Badosa Gibert and Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov of Spain 3-6, 6-3, 10-8.

In the boys doubles final between two unseeded teams at Roehampton, Jan Choinski of Germany and Hubert Hurkacz of Poland defeated Tatlot and Corentin Moutet of Franch 6-4, 7-5.

Back to the Wimbledon draws, where two surprise entrants appeared in the boys division: 2013 Wimbledon boys finalist Hyeon Chung and Duck Hee Lee, both of Korea.  Neither were on the initial acceptance list but both received wild cards.  Chung, who is seeded No. 2 due to his ATP ranking of 299, is actually still competing in the Nan Chang Challenger in China, where he has reached the quarterfinals, with the semifinals also scheduled for Saturday. Lee, the No. 10 seed at Wimbledon, was playing a Futures in Korea this week, but lost in the second round. Needless to say, neither will have much of an opportunity to adjust to a vastly different time zone and surface.

Those two late additions may have bumped qualifier Noah Rubin out of the seedings, but my calculations show he still should have been seeded based on his ATP ranking of 539.  I will have to clarify what miscalculation I made, but Rubin is not seeded, and will play British wild card Jamie Malik in a Monday match.

Michaela Gordon also came through qualifying, and as with all qualifiers, will have two days off, opening their tournament on Monday.
All told, there are 15 boys singles matches and 13 girls singles matches on tap for Saturday.  In addition to McCarthy, two other US girls will be in action--Dasha Ivanova, who plays Qiu Yu Ye of China, and Raveena Kingsley, who faces Simona Heinova of the Czech Republic.

No. 2 seed CiCi Bellis, No. 3 seed Tornado Alicia Black, Katrine Steffensen, Sofia Kenin and Usue Arconada are Americans projected to play their first round matches on Monday.

Three US boys will take the courts Saturday, with Logan Smith playing Marc Polmans of Australia, Alex Rybakov taking on wild card Rhett Purcell of Great Britain and No. 7 seed Francis Tiafoe meeting Martin Blasko of Slovakia.

In addition to Rubin and Wiersholm, four other US boys will start their tournament on Monday--Stefan Kozlov(6), Michael Mmoh(11), Dennis Uspensky and Roehampton semifinalist Taylor Fritz.

For the complete draws, see the Wimbledon website.

Back in the United States, Jared Donaldson stayed undefeated in Futures events this month, defeating Collin Altamirano 6-2, 6-1 to reach the semifinals of the $15,000 Oklahoma City Futures and avenging his loss in the 2013 Kalamazoo final.  Donaldson is now 13-0 in Futures play in June.  He will play Raymond Sarmiento(USC) in the semifinals Saturday.

Rubin, Gordon Advance in Wimbledon Junior Qualifying; US Women Have Good Day at Wimbledon; USTA Clay Court Wild Cards; Altamirano and Donaldson Meet in 2013 Kalamazoo Final Rematch

CiCi Bellis and Taylor Fritz lost today in the semifinals at the ITF Grade 1 in Roehampton, the warmup tournament for the Wimbledon Junior Championships, which begin on Saturday.  Bellis, the top seed, fell to No. 5 seed Kristina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-2, while the unseeded Fritz was beaten by top seed Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.  Schmiedlova will meet unseeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in Friday's final, with Rublev's opponent No. 6 seed Johan Sebastien Tatlot of France.

For complete draws see the LTA website's home page.

The first round of qualifying for the Wimbledon Junior Championships was completed at Roehampton today, with Noah Rubin and Michaela Gordon advanced to the the second and final qualifying round.  Rubin, the top seed, beat Mateusz Terczynski of Poland 6-2, 6-3 and No. 5 seed Gordon, playing her first match on grass this season, defeated Morgane Michiels of Belgium 6-1, 6-2.  No 11 seed Raquel  Pedraza, the other US player in qualifying, lost to Mirabelle Njoze of Great Britain 6-2, 6-4.

The draws and Friday's order of play can also be found at the LTA website.

John Isner is the last US man standing in the men's singles draw at Wimbledon, with Jack Sock, Sam Querrey and Denis Kudla all losing their second round matches today.  The news for the US women was much better, with Madison Keys, Serena Williams and Alison Riske joining Lauren Davis and Venus Williams in the round of 32.  Vicky Duval's second round match with 2013 ITF junior champion Belinda Bencic of Switzerland had to be rescheduled for Friday due to evening rain at Wimbledon.

Nineteen-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios, the only teenager in the ATP Top 200, saved nine match points today to defeat No. 13 seed Richard Gasquet of France 10-8 in the fifth set and will play another former ITF world No. 1 junior,  Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic in the third round.

Complete draws can be found at the Wimbledon website.

Lisa Stone at the Parenting Aces blog has posted the names of the wild cards for the USTA Clay Courts next month.  I would be willing to bet that all eight wild cards WILL be used for the Kalamazoo 18s this year.

Two players who will need them--last year's finalist Jared Donaldson and winner Collin Altamirano--will meet again tomorrow in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 Futures in Oklahoma City.