ITF Announces New Date, Significant Change to Junior Masters; 2015 Wimbledon Junior Finalists Get First Tour Wins; Exploring the Cost of Junior Tennis; Three More Regional Champions

The ITF announced today that its Junior Masters, held the past two Aprils in China, will be moved to October for 2017.  The date change is perhaps less significant than the news that the ITF will now be awarding ranking points for participation in the event, although the article does not give any details on the number of points allotted for this competition, which is for the top eight boys and the top eight girls by ITF junior ranking. Certainly those details will be included in the 2017 ITF Junior Regulations, which typically are released in February.

In its first two years of existence, the Masters did not award ranking points, and entries were based on the ranking of the previous year-end, meaning that players who were too old to play junior events in April could still participate.  That will no longer be the case with the October date, with the ranking cutoff date after the US Open Junior Championships.  The ITF has provided all expenses-paid trips for the participants and a private coach as well as travel grants in the previous years, which, along with wild cards into pro events, were the only incentives for juniors to participate.  All 16 players were guaranteed $7,000 in travel grants, with the champions receiving $15,000 travel grants, and it appears there is no change in that financial commitment.

Although I may be reading too much into this, there is a mention that the 2017 tournament is in the third year of the three-year contract with the Chinese Tennis Association and the Chengdu Sport Bureau. This is probably just boilerplate press release language, but it does raise the possibility that the event could move from China to another country for 2018 and beyond. In 2017, I believe the event will come right after the Osaka Mayor's Cup in Japan, which will no doubt help strengthen that Grade A tournament's field, traditionally the weakest of the ITF's Grade A's.

The release contains an explanation for the changes by ITF President
David Haggerty:

"Following the success of the first two ITF Junior Masters, we are pleased to be able to raise the status of this competition within the ITF junior calendar. The ITF is committed to helping the top junior players with their transition into the professional ranks. We felt that by changing the timing of the event to later in the calendar year, it would be more appropriate for the top ranked junior players and there is the added importance of junior world ranking points.”

Much like the WTA and ATP, the ITF has instituted a Masters race tracking function and currently Alex Brown and Lukas Greif are No. 1 and No. 2 in the boys race after their Tulsa results and Kayla Day and Sofia Sewing are No. 1 and No. 2 in the girls race. Sewing swept the Grade 2 titles in Canada at the end of September and Day won the Pan American Closed B1 on Saturday.

Eighteen-year-old Anna Blinkova of Russia, the 2015 Wimbledon girls finalist, won the 2016 ITF Junior Masters in April and today she picked up her first WTA victory in the first round of the WTA Premier Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Blinkova, who did not receive a wild card, but earned her place via qualifying, defeated WTA No. 31 Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(10), saving five match points.

The boys 2015 Wimbledon finalist, Mikael Ymer of Sweden, who had been out most of the year with a hip injury, earned his first ATP main draw victory, beating Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-2, 6-1 in the first round in Stockholm.  The 18-year-old wild card will play No. 3 seed Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in the second round Wednesday.  According to the ATP's Josh Meiseles, Ymer is the ninth 18-and-under player to win an ATP match in 2016, joining Americans Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Reilly Opelka and Stefan Kozlov, Russian Andrey Rublev, German Alexander Zverev and Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

CNN posted an article on the financial commitment required to develop a tennis player, with insights from WTA pros Madison Keys, Simona Halep as well as Rafael Nadal, who has just opened his own academy, Nick Bollettieri and Patrick Mouratoglou, who have been in the academy business much longer.  I was struck by the $306,000 price tag cited for a decade or more of junior development, which seems on the low side to me, if coaching, court time and travel are included in that number.

Three more ITA Division I Regional Championships were completed today, with the winners earning main draw berths in the National Indoors next month in New York.

WOMEN:
ATLANTIC: Marie Faure(5) William and Mary def. Derya Turhan(5), Marshall 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6)

MEN:
CAROLINA: Skander Mansouri(1), Wake Forest def. Gabriel Friedrich(4) South Carolina 6-4, 6-4

ATLANTIC: JC Aragone(2), Virginia def. Jacob Dunbar(6), Richmond 6-1, 6-4

Race for ITF No. 1 Moves to Grade A Osaka Mayor's Cup; Three Men's USTA Pro Circuit Events Underway; Bellis Top Seed in Canada $50K; Five ITA Regional Singles Champions Crowned

The race for the year-end ITF world junior championship on the girls side is shaping up to be a good one, with both current No. 1 Kayla Day and current No. 2 Anastasia Potapova of Russia indicating they want that honor (and the direct entry into a WTA $100,000-level event). For more on the perks of the ITF Junior Exempt program, see this document.

Day, who went to Tulsa to defend her title, is playing the next two Grade A tournaments in Mexico City and Plantation, while Potapova is entered this week in the Grade A in Osaka, Japan.  Wimbledon girls champion Potapova can overtake US Open girls champion Day if she wins the title in Japan, but the race will remain close and undecided with the two Grade A tournaments still to be played.

Potapova is, of course, the top seed in Japan and she has already won her first round match. The second seed, Xiyu Wang of China, defeated Potapova soundly in the semifinals of the Grade 1 in College Park in August, so while the fields are not typically strong in this Grade A, Potapova has serious competition for the title.

The boys top seed is US Open finalist Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, who has not yet played his first round match.

There are four Americans playing in Osaka: Naomi Cheong, who lost her first round match, Mimi Levine, who has not yet played her first round match and Jimena Rodriguez-Benito and Alafia Ayeni, who won their first round matches.  Ayeni will face No. 2 seed Yosuke Watanuki of Japan in his second round match.

While the only USTA Pro Circuit women's tournament this week was cancelled due to Hurricane Matthew, there are three men's events, two $25,000 Futures and a $50,000 Challenger.

The qualifying is complete at the Harlingen Futures, with Ohio State recruit John McNally and Florida recruit Duarte Vale of Portugal advancing to the main draw.  Current collegians reaching the main draw are Texas A&M's Jordi Arconada and AJ Catanzariti, Central Florida's Korey Lovett, and Oklahoma State's Arjun Kadhe and Julian Cash. The top seed is Alessandro Bega of Italy, with the No. 2 seed former Texas star Ed Corrie of Great Britain.

The new Futures in Berkeley, California, part of the USTA Collegiate series, has a only a 32-player qualifying draw with that qualifying just beginning today.  Ruben Bemelmens of Belgium is the top seed in the main draw, with wild cards going to three Cal players--Filip Bergevi, Florian Lakat and Andre Goransson--and Stanford's Michael Genender.

The top seed at the ATP Challenger in Las Vegas is Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic.  Frances Tiafoe has entered in a push to make the main draw of the Australian Open, and is the No. 2 seed.  Wild cards were given to Alejandro Falla of Colombia, Ohio State junior Mikael Torpegaard of Denmark, local resident Evan Song and UNLV senior Jakob Amilon of Sweden.

In the rain-delayed singles final of the $100,000 Fairfield California Challenger, Santiago Giraldo of Colombia defeated Quentin Halys of France 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The only action in North America for women this week is at the $50,000 tournament in Saguenay, Canada. NCAA champion Danielle Collins was one of four qualifiers, with two Canadian juniors, Charlotte Robillard-Millette and Katherine Sebov, also earning their place in the main draw.  Collins will face No. 4 seed Sachia Vickery in the first round. Vickery beat Collins in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Redding tournament two weeks ago.

CiCi Bellis is the top seed, with Jennifer Brady seeded No. 2.

The ITA Regional championships for Division 1 began this past weekend with five of them now complete (and just in time for the Cal players to compete in the Berkeley Futures). The winners receive automatic entry into next month's ITA/USTA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in New York.

The singles finals results as of Monday (click on winner's school name for article):

WOMEN:
CENTRAL: Lily Miyazaki(5), Oklahoma def. Carla Tur Mari(9), Oklahoma State 6-3, 6-3.

SOUTHERN: Alizee Michaud(4), Auburn def. Andie Dikosavlijevic(1), Auburn, 6-2, 6-4.

MOUNTAIN: Claudia Herrero Garcia(6), Nevada def. Sheila Morales(17), Nevada 6-0, 7-5.

MEN:
NORTHWEST: Andre Goransson(1), Cal def. Filip Bergevi(5), Cal 6-4, 7-6(3)

SOUTHERN: Nuno Borges(5), Mississippi State def. Constantin Schmitz(5), Tulane 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

Bobby Knight has links to both the singles and doubles draws for all the regionals at his site College Tennis Today.

Shibahara and Matsumura Win Oracle Masters; Small College Oracle Cup Champions Crowned; Spencer Earns Futures Title in Houston; Escobedo Claims Monterrey Challenger

The second Oracle Masters was completed today in Malibu, with UCLA's Ena Shibahara and Kentucky's Ryotaro Matsumura winning the singles titles.

Shibahara, who just last week reached the finals of the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships after going through qualifying and pre-qualifying, was the No. 2 seed in the 32-player draw.  In today's final, the 18-year-old freshman defeated top seed Luisa Stefani of Pepperdine 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, giving Shibahara 15 wins in 16 matches against the top collegiate players during the past two plus weeks.

The men's singles title also went to the No. 2 seed, with Matsumura defeating No. 20 seed Shawn Hadavi of Columbia 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final.  Seeded by Universal Tennis Ratings, the men's draw saw early exits from most of the top seeds, including No. 1 Yuya Ito of Texas, No. 3 Arthur Rinderknech of Texas A&M and No. 4 Ryan Peniston of Memphis.

In addition to having representatives of all Division I conferences in singles this year and an expansion of the draw to 32 players from 16, a mixed doubles event was added to the schedule.  Hayley Carter of North Carolina and Chris Eubanks of Georgia Tech won the mixed doubles title, defeating Blair Shankle and Max Tchoutakian of Baylor 8-6 in the final.

A new Junior Masters event was held simultaneously with the collegiate one. Unseeded Rena Lin defeated unseeded Julia Deming 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 for the girls title, while unseeded Robert Baylon downed No. 3 seed Mason Beiler 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 for the boys title.

For more on today's collegiate singles finals, see the ITA tournament page.

What was previously called the Small College National Championships, now known as the Oracle Cup, wrapped up today in Surprise, Arizona, with two singles players and two doubles teams earning their places in next month's USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in New York.

The Division II, Division III, NAIA and Junior College divisions all determined a national champion, then played off for the overall winner.

D III men's singles champion: Aman Manji, Emory
D III women's singles champion: Bridget Harding, Emory

D II men's singles champion: Oliver Frank, Asuza Pacific
D II women's singles champion: Madeline Hill, Washburn

NAIA men's singles champion: Kevin Konfederak, Georgia Gwinnett
NAIA women's singles champion: Camille Gbaguidi, Savannah College of Art and Design

JUCO men's singles champion: Jorge Martinez, Tyler JC
JUCO women's singles champion: Maria Medina, State College of Florida

In the men's playoff, Frank defeated Martinez 7-5, 6-1 to earn his place in the NIIC draw, while Gbaguidi defeated Medina 6-3, 6-2 in the women's playoff to earn her entry to the Indoor.

Konfederak and Jordan Cox of Georgia Gwinnett won the men's doubles playoff, with Diana Bogolii and Rosalie Willig of Lynn taking the women's doubles playoff.  Both teams also made the NIIC field last year by winning the Superbowl, as it was then called.

A complete championship recap from the ITA is available here.

At the $25,000 Futures in Houston, unseeded Wil Spencer captured his third Futures singles title, beating wild card Aron Hiltzik 6-4, 6-3 in the final. The 27-year-old Spencer, who played at Texas A&M and Georgia, beat three seeds, including top seed Yuki Bhambri of India in the semifinals, en route to the final. The 20-year-old Hiltzik, a junior at Illinois, had never made it past the second round of a Futures prior to this week.  For more on Spencer's title, see this article from Northwest Florida Daily News.

Hans Hach of Mexico and Rhyne Williams won the doubles title in Houston, beating Hunter Reese and Jackson Withrow 6-3, 6-3 in the final.

The other USTA Pro Circuit event this week, the $100,000 Fairfield California Challenger, is not yet complete due to rain in Northern California. The final is between Santiago Giraldo of Colombia and Quentin Halys of France, with Tommy Paul the only American to reach the quarterfinals. NCAA doubles champion Mackenzie McDonald won his first Challenger doubles title, however, teaming with Brian Baker to beat Sekou Bangoura and Eric Quigley 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

At the $100,000+H tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, 20-year-old Ernesto Escobedo, seeded fifth, won his second ATP Challenger title, beating No. 3 seed Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-4 in the final.  Escobedo now climbs to a new career-high of 129 in the ATP rankings.

Kudla did get a title however, partnering with Evan King to beat Jarryd Chaplin and Ben McLachlan 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-2 in the doubles championship match between unseeded teams.

Although she had to withdraw due to illness prior to the semifinal this weekend at the WTA event in Austria, Madison Keys has qualified for the elite year-end WTA Finals in Singapore.  The 20-year-old Keys is now at a career-high of 7 in the WTA rankings.

Day Repeats as Pan American Closed Girls Champion; Unseeded Brown Claims Boys Title at ITF Grade B1 in Tulsa

©Colette Lewis 2016--
Tulsa, OK--

Defending a junior title is never easy, particularly if you are the No. 1 player in the world. Top seed Kayla Day met that challenge this week at the ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed, beating No. 5 seed Ellie Douglas 6-1, 6-4 in Saturday's final, coping with both windy conditions and the weight of expectations.

"It's really easy to play good when nobody expects you to win, because you have no pressure," said Day, a 17-year-old from Santa Barbara, California. "It's a little bit of relief, yeah. I'm happy I could come here and do what I needed to do, because it's hard, a lot times, to play as the favorite."

Douglas was unable to take advantage when Day went down 0-40 to open the match, with Day winning five straight points to hold, then breaking Douglas twice for a 4-0 lead.

"In the first set I had so many unforced errors, I didn't even give myself a chance," said Douglas, a 16-year-old from McKinney, Texas. "In the second set, I started playing a little bit better, had a bunch of game points in several different games that I didn't convert."

Douglas got her first two holds of the match in the first and third games of the second set, and even took a 3-1 lead briefly, but gave the break back in the next game with a double fault.  One of the missed opportunities she mentioned came in Day's next service game, with Day saving a break point for 3-3, but Day then broke Douglas at love to take a 4-3 lead. Day gave the break right back, missing a backhand on her second break point, but she hit a backhand winner in the next game to get the fifth and last break of the second set to go up 5-4.

"The points were really quick in the first set--either I'd hit a good serve or a winner or she'd miss," said Day, who agreed that the wind and Douglas's errors made it difficult to establish any rhythm. "In the second set, there were a lot longer points and she was getting it high to my backhand, and making more balls."

With more than half the games in the match won by service breaks, Day was hardly a lock to serve out the match, but at 30-30, Douglas made an forehand error, then was unable to get Day's serve back in play on match point, giving Day her 19th consecutive junior victory.

"I think I was able to be a little bit more aggressive at the end," said Day, who has been coached in 2016 by Henner Nehles of the USTA. "I don't think it was the best set, because there were so many breaks, but I'm happy that I was able to win."

Day had been planning to play this coming week's USTA Pro Circuit stop in Florence, South Carolina before it was cancelled due to Hurricane Matthew, so she will return home to California for a week of training, which she missed prior to the Pan American Closed due to a stomach virus.  Day is planning to play the three $50,000 tournaments in Macon, Scottsdale and Waco in the three weeks after that, with an eye toward a place in the women's Australian Open qualifying, before returning to junior competition for the last two Grade A championships in Mexico City and at the Orange Bowl.

Douglas is also heading to Macon, for the qualifying.

"It's my first pro tournament," said Douglas, who recently began working with coach Mariano Puerta of Argentina, the 2005 French Open finalist, who was with her in Tulsa. "I've been hurt a lot, so I couldn't play them. Then I'm playing the Grade A in Mexico City and Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl."

The boys final had its share of twists and turns, with Alex Brown defeating wild card Lukas Greif 6-4, 7-6(4).

The first set featured just one break, with Brown getting that at 2-2, then saving two break points to consolidate a 4-2 lead.  Greif saved four set points serving at 3-5, but Brown had no difficulty serving out the set, with the 6-foot-4 left-hander holding at love.

After holds by each player to open the second set, Greif was broken, but despite not breaking Brown in the first set, he wasn't discouraged.

"I knew I could come back," said the 16-year-old from Newburgh, Indiana. "I just had to stay positive, change up my return tactics, take it early and get ahead in the point, because he was serving really well."

That attitude and strategy served Greif well, as he got the break back immediately then held and broke to take a 4-2 lead.  But Brown indulged in what was for him a huge show of frustration, then broke Greif right back.

"I let out a loud 'come on'," said the mild-mannered Brown, a 17-year-old from Urbandale, Iowa. "That helped clear my brain of all the bad things, and that worked pretty well to get it back on track."

At 3-4, Brown had to save three break points, and serving at 5-6, he had to save two set points, with his serve again proving invaluable in getting him out of trouble.

"Today the wind was a big factor, especially serving and returning," said Brown, who trains with Elliott McDermed at the KCUT Academy in Overland Park, Kansas. "I thought I did a pretty good job using it to my advantage for the most part, except the two games I got broke.  I pulled him out wide, and hit more kick serves and slice serves with the wind. Against it, I hit the flat serve really well, and that was pretty successful."

"With the wind, he was getting the ball up, so it was hard to attack," said Greif, who trains with Bryan Smith at the Smith Academy in Indianapolis. "He served really well today; it was tough to break."

In the tiebreaker, Brown was up a mini-break at 3-2, but Greif got it back to 4-3 with a forehand winner off a short ball.  Two consecutive Greif backhands that caught the tape changed the momentum quickly however, with Brown now holding three match points, two on his serve.  A shanked forehand wasted one, but when Greif's forehand went just wide on the second match point, Brown had his first ITF junior title.

"Coming here I honestly didn't have any expectations," said Brown, who was the last boy into the main draw with his ITF ranking of 732. "But making it to the last day and then winning, that's a huge plus. Another positive was that I played better throughout the week, and I hope I can keep doing that whenever I come to these long tournaments."

Brown's next goal is his first ATP point and he will play three Futures tournaments this fall in pursuit of it.  The University of Illinois recruit has qualified twice in Futures tournaments, but lost in the first round both times.  As for junior events, he is hoping that his performance in the two big ITF events in California next spring can set him up for the junior slams next summer.

With his points from this week, Greif can probably gain entry into the Grade A and Grade 1 in Mexico, but is not sure if he'll play those.

"I might play them, but Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl for sure," Greif said.

Greif ended his tournament on a positive note, taking the boys doubles title with Danny Thomas with a 6-1, 6-3 win over No. 2 seeds Nicolas Mejia of Colombia and Sebastian Korda.

The unseeded Greif and Thomas defeated the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seeded teams in their run to the title and didn't surrender more than four games in any of the ten sets they won.

Although they hadn't played together since the 12s, Thomas said their comfort level was high from the beginning.

"We played together a lot, a while ago, but we have good chemistry," Thomas said. "I think we're just a good pair."

Thomas, who won two Futures doubles titles last month in Israel and had won the College Park Grade 1 doubles title in August with William Woodall, certainly had the credentials, if not the seeding, to win Tulsa.

"We won a lot in the 12s back then," said Greif. "We came here and expected to do well. I knew I had a pretty good partner," Greif said with a laugh when asked about Thomas's Futures wins. "Decent. It's great having him, he's an unbelievable doubles player and unbelievable guy. It's awesome to win this event."

Thomas's win in College Park was over Mejia and Korda in the final, so he knew what to expect.

"They are two good players together and they've played a lot together and are pretty good chemistry-wise," Thomas said.

"I thought we played our best match today," Greif said. "We stayed focus and returned really well. We broke them a few times so that gave us confidence in our service games and we played aggressive, played well."

In the girls doubles final, top seeds Kayla Day and Sofia Sewing held off defending champions Ann Li and Natasha Subhash, seeded No. 5, 6-2, 3-6, 10-7.

Day and Sewing had not played together before, but when Day knew she was going to play Tulsa, she asked Sewing to be her partner.

"I knew she was a good doubles player," Day said of Sewing, who, like Thomas, also won the College Park Grade 1 doubles title, with Claire Liu. "I didn't know that many people playing here and those I knew already had partners."

Sewing knew she and Day would have to play well to oust the defending champions.

"I'm good friends with them and I know they play really well together," said Sewing of Li and Subhash. "It was a hard match.  I think we were aggressive on the court, but we let each other play how we usually play, so it was good."

The match tiebreaker that decided the championship saw Day and Sewing go up 5-2, but then lose four straight points, two of those on Day's serve. There were no more mini-breaks until Subhash lost her second point on serve to give Sewing and Day an 8-7 lead, and Day won both points on her serve to close it out.

For Day, who had suffered a painful loss in the doubles finals of the US Open Junior Championships with Caroline Dolehide, it was an especially sweet victory.

"It feels really good, especially to get the doubles title too," said Day, who needs as many points as she can accumulate in her quest to hold off Russian Anastasia Potapova for the title of year-end World Junior Champion. "At the US Open, I had that awful finish to the doubles, so yeah, it feels really good." 

Douglas Earns Place in Final Against Defending Champion Day; Unseeded Brown and Greif to Decide Boys ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed Title

©Colette Lewis 2016--
Tulsa, OK--

It was deja vu for top seed Kayla Day Friday in her ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed semifinal match with unseeded Ann Li.  In their last meeting, in the third round of the 2016 ITF Grade 1 International Spring Championships, Li had come out on fire, taking the first set, before Day found her game and posted a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Today, Day dropped the first set 6-2, but no sign of frustration or panic was evident, as the USTA girls 18s National Champion and US Open girls champion confidently worked herself back into the match to post a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory.

Day, who has now won 18 straight junior matches since losing in the semifinals of the Wimbledon Junior Championships, said she didn't think about her previous match with Li until she again dropped the first set.

"I didn't really think about it before, but I guess during," said Day, who was broken three times in the first set. "I was like, well, the same thing kind of happened in Carson and I won the next two sets.  But yeah, she came out really hot and I think I came out really flat. I wasn't moving well and she was really on the ball, so it was hard for me to get into it."

Day gave an early break right back in the second set, but she took the lead for good with a hold for 3-1 and began to get more points on errors from Li.

"I started the set better--I still wasn't playing great--but I think she dropped her level," Day said. "I was just a little bit off the whole match today, but I played really well the last two games."

Li was broken to open the third set and again in the next game, but she got one of the breaks back for 3-1.  But the 16-year-old from Pennsylvania lost a three-deuce game, with Day converting her forth break point, then getting another break to end the match.

Day's opponent in Saturday's final is No. 5 seed Ellie Douglas, who defeated No. 11 seed Dalayna Hewitt 7-5, 6-4.

Easter Bowl finalist Douglas was happy to be back in a Grade B1 final, but she was not pleased with her play, and she was back out on the practice court with her coach immediately following the match to prepare for Saturday's final.

"It reassuring to know that not playing my best I can still be in the final," said Douglas, a 16-year-old from Texas. "But I would like to be playing how I'm practicing at home, so it's a little disappointing, but tomorrow I'm hoping to bring my game out to the court."

Douglas got a break in the first set and then held for 5-3, but she was unable to serve it out at 5-4, hitting three consecutive double faults from 30-0 up, then making an unforced backhand error.  Hewitt, a 15-year-old from Ohio, couldn't take advantage of that poor game however, as she was broken in the next game and Douglas seized her second chance to serve for the set.

The second set started with four straight breaks, with Hewitt the first to hold for a 3-2 lead.  In the seventh game, Hewitt saved five break points, but lost the sixth and Douglas held for 5-3. Hewitt's forehand and serve are dangerous, and she saved a match point with a big forehand serving at 3-5, but Douglas closed out the match on a positive note, hitting an ace and forehand winner from 30-all.

Douglas believes her lack of match play may account for some of her struggles.

"Definitely that's a part of it," said Douglas. "I haven't had much competition and I just finished five weeks training. But also it's a little bit mental. I just need to go out on the court and relax, swing my racquet like I practice."

Despite long and noteworthy junior careers, Douglas and Day have never played. Douglas is looking forward to seeing how her game stacks up against the No. 1 junior player in the world.

"It's really a good opportunity to play my game and see where I am," Douglas said. "I think I can do really good if I play how I've been practicing."

The finalists in the boys championship match are also playing for the first time, with unseeded Alex Brown and Lukas Greif earning semifinal victories over seeded Mexican opponents on Friday.

Brown defeated No. 3 seed Alan Rubio Fierros 6-4, 6-2, holding on to the first set after failing to serve it out at 5-0 and 5-2.

"I was just hitting the ball well and clean," Brown said of his fast start. "I was dictating most of the points and that took him out of his rhythm, but he found it again when I got up 5-0. I missed a few more balls in the net and he came back a bit, but I closed it out with some big serves, which is what I'm looking to do."

Brown's serving stayed at that level in the second set, with the 17-year-old left-hander not facing a break point, while breaking Rubio in the third and fifth games.  Once Brown earned the second break and held for 5-1, he no longer felt he needed to guard against a Rubio comeback.

"Once I got up 5-1 I felt pretty comfortable," said Brown, who is from Iowa, but currently trains with Elliot McDermed at KCUT Academy in Overland Park, Kansas. "I felt I wasn't going to let my level drop again. I didn't feel as much pressure then."

Brown, who has beaten No. 2 seed Trent Bryde, No. 11 seed Danny Thomas and now No. 3 seed Rubio Fierros, said those particular wins weren't necessarily surprising, but the progression was unusual for him.

"Usually I'll have a good win, but I won't follow it up with a good match," Brown said. "So being able to follow each win and have another good win right after that, that's probably the biggest difference for me. I've been happy with it."

While also in straight sets, Greif's 7-6(4), 6-2 win over No. 7 seed Juan Hernandez Serranos was markedly different from Brown's, with Greif off his game at the beginning of the match and needing nearly as long to win the first set as Brown did to complete his two sets.

Overnight thunderstorms left the courts wet Friday morning, so the semifinalists warmed up indoors, which Greif thought may have contributed to his slow start.

"Because it rained this morning, we had to warm up indoors, so going outdoors, my timing was a little bit off the first few games," said Greif, who was down 3-1. "But yeah, the first set was a battle."

Greif earned his first set point with Hernandez serving at 5-6 in the first set, but an unforced error off the backhand cost him, and Hernandez held.  Trailing 3-1 in the tiebreaker, Greif won five of six points, the last when Hernandez missed a forehand after a long, physical rally. At 6-4, Hernandez had an opportunity to put the pressure back on Greif, but he netted another forehand to give Greif the set.

"He was playing very solid off of both sides, playing good defense," Greif said. "I was missing a few too many balls, but he was playing well the first set, giving me trouble. After I won the first set, I knew I would have to play a strong first game to get ahold of this match, and I did that."

After breaking to open the set, Greif stormed out to a 4-0 and 5-1 lead, but he couldn't convert on three match points with Hernandez serving at 1-5, losing six straight points in that stretch.  Greif had to save two break points serving for the match at 5-2, but that's when his serve proved valuable.

"I hit two good serves to get me a match point, and then I hit another good serve and he missed a forehand," said Greif, a 16-year-old from Indiana, who trains with Bryan Smith at the Smith Tennis Academy in Indianapolis. "But it was good to finish it there."

Much like last year's champion Brandon Holt and finalist JJ Wolf, Greif and Brown have limited experience in ITF tournaments, with both reaching their first final at the Grade 1 level.  Greif will play in a second final on Saturday, as will Day, in the doubles championships.

The unseeded team of Greif and Danny Thomas advanced by defeating top seeds Trent Bryde and Brian Cernoch 6-2, 6-4, their fourth consecutive straight-sets win.  They will face No. 2 seeds Sebastian Korda and Nicolas Mejia of Colombia in the final, after Korda and Mejia came back to beat Chih Chi Huang and Nicaise Muamba of Canada 4-6, 6-1, 10-5.

Day and Sofia Sewing, the top seeds, defeated unseeded Salma Ewing and Peyton Stearns 6-2, 7-6(4) and will play defending champions Ann Li and Natasha Subhash, the No. 5 seeds.  Li and Subhash downed No. 7 seeds Malkia Menguene and Alana Smith 6-1, 7-6(6).

The singles finals will be played simultaneously at 9 a.m. CDT Saturday, with the doubles finals to follow after suitable rest.

Brown Wins 24-point Third Set Tiebreaker to Reach ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed Semifinals; Hewitt Tops Second Seed Subhash in Girls Quarterfinals

©Colette Lewis 2016--
Tulsa, OK--

With conditions cold and damp for the quarterfinal round of the ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed Thursday, players were bundled up against the chill, and free flowing, stylish tennis were also under wraps to start the day.

An inauspicious beginning led to a satisfying ending however, as the final match, completed nearly three hours after its 10 a.m. start, came to a thrilling conclusion when unseeded Alex Brown defeated No. 11 seed Danny Thomas 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(11), saving a match point in that marathon tiebreaker.

Thomas, who had won a third set tiebreaker in the third round last night against Tristan McCormick, was the beneficiary of a net cord winner at 4-4 in the tiebreaker, putting the match on his racquet, but he double faulted on the next point. The double fault was a rare error from either of the left-handers in the final game, which was played with great composure and skill by both.

After the double fault, Thomas lost his next service point when Brown came up with a stunning running forehand winner on a point Thomas had controlled from the start, giving Brown his first match point. It was the only one of the six Brown held that he regretted not converting, with his double fault leading to another change of ends.

A Brown backhand winner gave him a second match point, which Thomas saved with a forehand winner. After a long and diverse point ended with a backhand wide from Thomas, Brown had match point No. 3. Thomas made him pay for not getting a first serve in, crushing a forehand return winner to make it 8-8. Brown earned a fourth match point with an overhead winner, but Thomas saved that too, using a surprise serve and volley tactic on a second serve to put Brown on the defensive in the point.  After the third change of ends, Thomas then earned his first and only match point with a forehand winner, but it too was saved when Brown got a first serve in and forced an error with a forehand for 10-10.

A rare forehand error by Thomas gave Brown a fifth match point, which Thomas saved this time with a forehand drop shot winner, making it 11-11. A good return by Brown on the next point caused Thomas to net a backhand to give Brown match point No. 6, which he converted, finally. A good Brown first serve and a netted Thomas forehand return ended it, with an emphatic but not overjoyed 'yes' Brown's only reaction to the tense conclusion.

Brown did not allow himself to think about all the match points that came and went in the tiebreaker.

"The only one that was sort of frustrating was when I double faulted," said the 17-year-old from Iowa, who has verbally committed to the University of Illinois for 2017. "Other than that, he just came up with some nice shots. I was like, oh well, if he can do that the whole entire time, then he deserves to win."

On the match point he saved, Brown was determined not to be passive.

"In the past, I've played those kind of tentatively and lost those points," said Brown, who could recall only one other match in his career decided by a third-set tiebreaker, which he lost. "So I thought I might as well swing out and go after it and it worked out well for me."

Brown wasn't happy with his level in the opening set, but had no complaints with his play deep in the third.

"The first set was not the best by either of us, then I played better in the second," said Brown. "In the third we went back and forth and we were both playing a lot better than we had been, and then it peaked the tiebreaker. We both played our best tennis, I felt like, at the end there."

Brown, who had gotten revenge for a loss to No. 2 seed Trent Bryde earlier this week, had also lost to Thomas in their previous meeting, in the back draw at the 16s Nationals.

"I played him 2015 in Kalamazoo and he beat me in a third-set (match) tiebreaker," said Brown. "It was a pretty similar match. He won the first, I won the second, and he just played a little bit better of a tiebreaker."

Brown, who has played in the main draw of only five ITF events, will face No. 3 seed Alan Rubio Fierros of Mexico in the semifinals. Rubio Fierros had little difficulty with No. 6 seed Nicolas Mejia of Colombia, taking the match by a 6-3, 6-0 score.

Unseeded wild card Lukas Greif, who had downed top seed Liam Caruana of Italy in two tiebreakers on Wednesday, continued his excellent play, defeating unseeded Paul Barretto in one of the longest 6-2, 6-0 matches imaginable.  Greif will play No. 7 seed Juan Hernandez Serrano of Mexico, who defeated No. 4 seed Brian Cernoch 6-4, 6-1.

One of the girls semifinals will feature top seed and defending champion Kayla Day against unseeded Ann Li, after Day downed No. 10 seed Abigail Desiatnikov 6-3, 6-2, with much less drama than the two match points Day saved in their semifinal match last year in Tulsa.  Li defeated unseeded Lea Ma 6-4, 6-2, and will be looking for another chance at Day after losing to her 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the third round of the Grade 1 in Carson this past spring.

No. 5 seed Ellie Douglas, whose elbow injury kept her out of competition for the bulk of the summer, advanced to the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 13 seed Elysia Bolton.  Douglas will play No. 11 seed Dalayna Hewitt, who defeated No. 2 seed Natasha Subhash 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3.

Hewitt, who had won only four ITF Grade 1 matches prior to this week, two of them at this tournament last year, said staying positive and changing tactics helped her recover after dropping a tough first set.

"I couldn't get down on myself too much," said the 15-year-old from Ohio. "There was a lot of stuff going on out there--it's really cold and kind of windy--so you just have to stay in it."

Subhash was taking advantage of Hewitt's return game in the first set, so Hewitt made some adjustments.

"She was playing really good in the beginning," Hewitt said. "She was getting most of her free points on my returns. I had to improve my movement too, because she was hitting deep. I was standing too far back, and then she started hitting winners on angles, so I had to fix that. She kept coming to the net and finishing points, so I had to keep the ball deeper."

Hewitt was able to implement what she learned and got the key break in the third set, with Subhash serving at 3-4.  In order to keep from getting nervous serving out a match, Hewitt said she tells herself she's down in the game, to keep her focus. That strategy also worked, as she took a 30-0 lead in the final game and hit two consecutive aces to close it out.

"That felt really good actually," Hewitt said of the emphatic conclusion to the match. "My serve is a strength, one hundred percent, and it was off in the beginning, so I just had to figure out something else."

Day is not the only player looking to defend a title here in Tulsa, with No. 5 seeds Subhash and Li, the 2015 doubles champions, into the semifinals after a 6-4, 6-4 win over unseeded Victoria Flores and Madeline Meredith in a match moved indoors for the last game due to a light rain shower. They will play No. 7 seeds Malkia Menguene and Alana Smith, who defeated unseeded Mimi Levine and Whitney Osuigwe 6-3, 6-4.

Day and Sofia Sewing, the top seeds, defeated unseeded Hind Abdelouahid and Katie Volynets  6-4, 6-2 to set up a semifinal encounter with unseeded Salma Ewing and Peyton Stearns.  Ewing and Stearns beat unseeded Hailey Baptiste and Safiya Carrington 5-7, 7-5, 10-3.

Top seeds Trent Bryde and Brian Cernoch will play unseeded Lukas Greif and Danny Thomas in one of the boys semifinals after Bryde and Cernoch got by No. 8 seeds Andrew Fenty and William Woodall 7-6(5), 6-2 and Greif and Thomas beat unseeded Paul Barretto and Alan Rubio Fierros 6-3, 6-4.

No. 2 seeds Nicolas Mejia and Sebastian Korda advanced with a 6-4, 6-0 win over unseeded Trey Hilderbrand and Austen Huang and will face unseeded Chih Chi Huang and Nicaise Muamba of Canada in the semifinals.  Huang and Muamba downed unseeded Alex Brown and Sean Sculley 4-6, 6-3, 10-4.  Both Greif and Thomas and Huang and Muamba had to complete their wins indoors due to the mid-afternoon rain.

Play begins Friday with three singles matches at 10 a.m. CDT, with the fourth singles match and doubles to follow.