Virtanen Beats Top Seed Andreev; Five US Girls, Two US Boys Reach Grade A Orange Bowl Quarterfinals; Sieg Wins Replay of Eddie Herr 16s Final

©Colette Lewis 2018--
Plantation, FL--

Friday's boys quarterfinals at the ITF Grade A Orange Bowl will not feature any of the top five seeds after No. 1 Adrian Andreev of Bulgaria and No. 3 seed Gauthier Onclin of Belgium were ousted Thursday at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center.

Yucatan Grade A finalist Liam Draxl of Canada, the No. 15 seed, defeated Onclin 6-1, 6-2 and No. 13 seed Otto Virtanen overpowered Andreev 6-4, 6-4.

Virtanen has not had the best junior results since he defeated Australian Open boys champion Sebastian Korda in the first round at Wimbledon, but he did reach a Futures final in August and has an ATP ranking of 834.  The 17-year-old from Finland lost in the first round of the Grade 1 Eddie Herr last week, but he has not lost a set in his three wins this week, and was able to use his serve and his forehand to keep Andreev on defense most of the match.

"I had a tough start, I was down 3-0, but I felt good still," said Virtanen, who won the Wimbledon boys doubles title this year. "It was just a few mistakes from me at the beginning, but after that I played really good."

Serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, Virtanen went down 0-30, and then 30-40, but his serve saved him. He hit an ace on break point, then crushed a forehand winner to get to match point, converting with a big first serve and a forehand winner to earn his first Grade A quarterfinal berth.

"I didn't think about going to 5-all or anything," Virtanen said. "But I was just, next point. I was just thinking now, a good serve, and I got four points just with serve."

Virtanen will play No. 7 seed Anton Matusevich of Great Britain next. They have played in the last two junior slams, with Matusevich winning in the third round at Wimbledon and Virtanen winning in the first round at the US Open.

Draxl will face unseeded Ajeo Lingua Lavallen of Argentina, who beat unseeded Andrew Paulson of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-6(3).  They met early this year in the first round of the Grade A in Porto Alegre Brazil, with Lavallen winning in three sets.

Both of the Americans are in the bottom half of the draw, with No. 8 seed Cannon Kingsley cruising past No. 10 seed Harold Mayot of France 6-1, 6-2 and unseeded Zane Khan overcoming a crushing second set to beat No. 14 seed Sergey Fomin of Uzbekistan 7-5, 6-7(1), 6-3.

Khan led 5-1 in the second set, yet couldn't close it out, and with a lackluster tiebreaker, momentum wasn't on his side. But he collected himself in the third set, and finished strong, with the 16-year-old advancing to a Grade A quarterfinal for the first time.

Kingsley will play unseeded Mateus Alves of Brazil, who beat the last qualifier in the boys draw, Luciano Tacchi of Argentina 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1.  Khan's opponent is No. 6 seed Jonas Forejtek of the Czech Republic, who beat unseeded Filip Kolasinski 6-4, 6-0.

The five US girls in the quarterfinals include two wild cards, 14-year-old Robin Montgomery and 16-year-old Charlotte Chavatipon. Montgomery took out fellow wild card Ellie Coleman 6-1, 6-1 and will face unseeded Emma Navarro, who beat Peyton Stearns 6-2, 6-4.

Chavatipon defeated No. 5 seed Hurricane Tyra Black 7-6(4), 6-2, with her rebound from a tough start providing the energy she needed to earn the win.

"I was down 4-1 in the first set and coming back and getting it neck and neck--I haven't really done that a lot," said Chavatipon, who recently has begun training at the USTA's Player Development site in Carson, California. "This was one of like the first tournaments I was able to show up. In the beginning I was overhitting, taking too big of swings and not moving, so I just tried aiming at safer targets. I don't think she was able to outhit me from the ground, but she's a smart player, and that's the reason why she's top 50 in the world."

Chavatipon lost in the second round of qualifying at the Eddie Herr, but she had qualified for the Grade A in Yucatan, and before that, reached the final of a $15,000 ITF Women's Circuit tournament in Mexico City.

"It was actually a surprise to me, but my dad said, oh, you're in this Mexico $15K, and we're going to fly from Tijuana and you're going to play this," Chavatipon said. "I didn't even expect to play that when I marked my calendar. It really boosted me up. From the beginning of the year until then, I was kind of struggling. I changed coaches, I work with the USTA now, and that change in coaching actually helped."

Chavatipon will face No. 3 seed Diane Parry of France, who beat qualifier Hina Inoue 7-5, 6-1. Parry defeated Chavatipon 6-4, 7-5 in the round of 16 en route to the Yucatan title two weeks ago.

Top seed Coco Gauff struggled late in the second set of her match with unseeded Ana Geller, but posted a 6-2, 7-5 victory. Geller served for the second set at 5-4, but didn't get to a set point, and Gauff didn't give her another opportunity after that one slipped away.

Gauff will play unseeded Helene Pellicano of Malta, who beat No. 11 seed Sada Nahimana of Burundi 6-1, 2-6, 6-2.

No. 2 seed Qinwen Zheng of China defeated unseeded Caijsa Hennemann of Sweden 6-4, 6-0 and will play doubles partner and No. 6 seed Lea Ma, who had no trouble in her 6-1, 6-2 rout of Mara Guth of Germany.

The US girls are also having success in doubles, with five US teams reaching the quarterfinals after wins today. Alexa Noel and Nikki Redelijk will face Kacie Harvey and Natasha Subhash in one of the all-US quarterfinals, with both teams unseeded. The other all-US quarterfinal is also between two unseeded teams, with Savannah Broadus and Kylie Collins taking on Navarro and Chloe Beck.  Top seeds Black and Gauff will face No. 5 seeds Nahimana and Selin Ovunc of Turkey.

Two all-US boys teams advanced to the quarterfinals: No. 5 seeds Govind Nanda and Tyler Zink and unseeded Drew Baird and Toby Kodat. Baird and Kodat will face Mark Mandlik and his partner from France, Tom Leblanc Claverie. Emilio Nava, who is playing with Virtanen, and is seeded No. 7, will play No. 4 seeds Fomin and Onclin.

The semifinals are set for the 16s singles with three US girls and two US boys in the final four.

No. 4 seed Madison Sieg defeated No. 7 seed Elaine Chervinsky  6-3, 7-5 in a rematch of last Saturday's Eddie Herr final. Sieg had also lost to Chervinsky back in October, but this time they were playing on Sieg's favorite surface: clay.

"One thing that changed from other matches, I've always played her on hard," said the 15-year-old, who trains with Chervinsky at the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton. "I like how clay's a little slower, so I get to have a little more time. And also I love moving, just sliding."

Trailing 5-2 in the second set, Sieg decided to stop worrying about losing multiple close games in that set.

"I was getting a little frustrated, so I thought, just one point at a time," Sieg said. "I wasn't thinking about coming back to 5-all, I was just thinking about each point."

Sieg will play No. 8 seed Yelizaveta Karlova of Kazakhstan, who beat unseeded Fatma Idrizovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-3.

The other girls 16s semifinal features two unseeded Americans: India Houghton and wild card Jaleesa Leslie. Leslie defeated Lara Schneider 6-2, 6-1 and Houghton took out unseeded wild card Carson Tanguilig 6-3, 6-1.

An all-US boys final is still a possibility, after top seed Dali Blanch and No. 2 seed Alexander Bernard won their quarterfinal matches Thursday. Blanch defeated No. 8 seed Lorenzo Claverie of Venezuela 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 and will face No. 4 seed Kokoro Isomura of Japan, 1 6-4, 6-2 winner over No. 9 seed Marko Stakusic of Canada. Bernard will play No. 3 seed Pablo Llamas Ruiz of Spain, who defeated No. 10 seed Derrick Chen of Great Britain 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.  Bernard downed No. 12 seed Aidan Mayo 6-4, 6-2.

The 16s doubles finals are scheduled for Friday, with three unseeded teams advancing to the finals.

The girls final is an all-US contest between unseeded teams, with Allie Gretkowski and Ava Catanzarite facing Tanguilig and Elise Wagle. Gretkowski and Catanzarite beat No. 8 seeds Leyden Games and Lauren Stein 6-1, 6-3, while Tanguilig and Games beat unseeded Ava Krug and Sophie Williams 6-1, 6-2.

No. 3 seeds Llamas Ruiz and partner Angel Guerrero Melgar defeated top seeds Blanch and Stakusic 6-2, 4-6, 10-3 and will face unseeded Bohua Dong and Haoyan Huang of China. Dong and Huang defeated No. 8 seeds Alan Kam and Diego Navarro of Mexico 3-6, 6-4, 10-6.

For Friday's order of play and a link to live scoring, go to the tournament website.

Wild Card Coleman Advances over Fourth Seed Noel, Legendary Slam Champion Watches Navarro Oust No. 8 Seed in Second Round of ITF Grade A Orange Bowl

©Colette Lewis 2018--
Plantation, FL--

The heat and humidity of the first two days gave way to cool and breezy conditions today at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center, with half a dozen girls seeds and four boys seeds failing to survive their second round matches at the ITF Grade Orange Bowl.

No. 4 seed Alexa Noel was beaten by 15-year-old wild card Ellie Coleman, who advanced when Noel retired after calling the trainer down 4-6, 6-3, 4-1.  Coleman, who last year reached the Junior Orange Bowl 14s final, said her transition to the top level of junior competition has had its rocky moments.

"It's definitely different, and it's come with some bad tournaments, obviously," said Coleman, a Midland Michigan resident. "Transitioning to the junior ITFs is a big change, but you kind of have to adjust to playing week after week and having matches day after day."

Coleman knew that Noel's slicing and drop shots can lead to frustration, but after the opening set, she found ways to counteract them.

"I focused on my side of net, doing what I needed to do to win, step in a little more," said Coleman, who was expecting to play qualifying, but was given a wild card into the main draw at the last minute. "I felt like I handled that stuff pretty well. She sliced her backhand a lot, and it was a little tricky, because she changes it up quite a bit, but I kind of got the hang of it after the first set."

Coleman's willingness to come to the net and make a volley or two to win a point is particularly effective against someone with the defensive skills of Noel.

"It's definitely an advantage, because I finish a lot of points at the net, moving forward to attack," said Coleman, who will play another wild card, 14-year-old Robin Montgomery, in Thursday's third round. Montgomery defeated qualifier Abigail Forbes 6-4, 6-3.

Emma Navarro was also facing a seeded player with an unconventional game, and she too figured out how to solve the problem, beating No. 8 seed Kamilla Bartone of Latvia 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 while under the scrutiny of a special spectator, 18-time slam singles champion Martina Navratilova.

"She's coming to work with my dad a little bit in Charleston, at the Volvo Open," Navarro said of her father Ben, who recently purchased the WTA event in their hometown. "She came down to Charleston a few weeks ago and hit with me a little bit, watched me play. She is from here, so she's been watching my matches."

Although having a tennis legend at a match could be intimidating, Navarro sees it differently.

"It's super exciting to have her watching me," said the 17-year-old Duke recruit. "I couldn't ever have imagined that. It's inspiring and exciting."

Against Bartone, who hits dozens of drop shots and an equal number of forehand slices every match, Navarro needed some time to adjust.

"I think it took a whole set for me to not be annoyed with how she played, just accept it and figure out how to beat it," Navarro said. "It was actually tough today, with the wind and with her flat, low shots and drop shots. She's unlike anyone I've ever played, so it took me a set to figure it out, but once I did, I played well."

Navarro's strategy was to keep Bartone back and to anticipate the inevitable.

"I hit a lot of high heavies and gave myself time," Navarro said. "And on pretty much every shot I was ready for the drop shot. I just wanted to take that out of play, be ready for that, and I did. And being patient and playing good defense."

Navarro will face unseeded Peyton Stearns, who defeated No. 10 seed Adrienn Nagy of Hungary 6-2, 6-3.

There is a third all-US girls round of 16 match, with No. 5 seed Hurricane Tyra Black against wild card Charlotte Chavatipon. Black avenged her recent Pan American Closed loss to Kylie Collins 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-0, while Chavatipon defeated No. 9 seed Sohyun Park of Korea 6-3, 6-2.

Top seed Coco Gauff defeated qualifier Fiona Crawley 6-0, 7-5 and will face Ana Geller of Argentina in the third round Thursday. Hina Inoue is the last qualifier remaining in the girls draw, with the 15-year-old defeating No. 14 seed Gabby Price 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. She will face No. 3 seed Diane Parry of France next.

No. 6 seed Lea Ma defeated Charlotte Owensby 7-5, 6-1 and will face Mara Guth of Germany in the third round. Guth defeated No. 12 seed Loudmilla Bencheikh of France 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.

Only two US boys, both in the bottom half, remain after Tuesday's second round of play: No. 8 seed Cannon Kingsley and unseeded Zane Khan. Kingsley beat Matheus Pucinelli de Almeida of Brazil 6-2, 7-6(2) and Khan defeated Mathys Erhard of France 6-3, 6-2.  Kingsley will play No. 10 seed Harold Mayot of France, with Khan taking on No. 14 seed Sergey Fomin of Uzbekistan. Kingsley defeated Mayot 6-1, 6-1 this spring in the semifinals of the Santa Croce Italy Grade 1 on clay.

No. 11 seed Govind Nanda lost to Filip Kolasinski of Poland 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and No. 12 seed Eliot Spizzirri fell to Lodewijk Westrate of the Netherlands 6-4, 7-6(4).

No. 2 seed Filip Jianu of Romania retired trailing 6-4, 3-1 in the his match with qualifier Luciano Tacchi of Argentina. No. 5 seed Valentin Royer of France went out to Alejo Lingua Lavallen of Argentina  6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3.

Top seed Adrian Andreev of Bulgaria defeated Lilian Marmousez of France 7-5, 6-1.

The first round of doubles was completed this afternoon, and the No. 2 girls seeds, Lea Ma and China's Qinwen Zheng, lost to Navarro and Chloe Beck 6-2, 6-2.

In the 16s, the quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday, with a rematch of the Eddie Herr girls 16s final on tap. No. 7 seed Elaine Chervinsky and No. 4 seed Madison Sieg, will play for the third time in two months, with Sieg hoping to break Chervinsky's current winning streak against her.

That is one of three all-US quarterfinals, with wild card Carson Tanguilig playing India Houghton and wild card Jaleesa Leslie facing Lara Schneider. Leslie defeated No. 2 seed Jada Bui of Canada 6-4, 6-3.

In fourth quarterfinal, in the top half, Fatma Idrizovic of Serbia will play No. 8 seed Yelizaveta Karlova of Kazakhstan.

Only three Americans remain in the boys 16s singles, with No. 12 seed Aidan Mayo taking on No. 2 seed Alexander Bernard in one quarterfinal.  Top seed Dali Blanch will face No. 8 seed Lorenzo Claverie of Venezuela.

The 16s doubles semifinals are Thursday, with boys top seeds Blanch and Canada's Marko Stakusic facing No. 3 seeds Angel Guerrero Melgar and Pablo Llamas Ruiz of Spain. Unseeded Bohua Dong and Haoyuan Huang of China will play No. 8 seeds Alan Kam and Diego Navarro of Mexico.

The girls doubles semifinals will feature four American teams. Ava Catanzarite and Allie Gretkowski will play No. 8 seeds Lauren Stein and Leyden Games, while unseeded Tanguilig and Elise Wagle will face unseeded Ava Krug and Sophie Williams.

The draws, order of play and live scoring can be found at the tournament website.

Qualifiers Shine as ITF Grade A Orange Bowl First Round Concludes; Top Seed Evans Falls in 16s Second Round

©Colette Lewis 2018--
Plantation, FL--

Qualifying is always a mixed blessing, with the advantage of having recent confidence-building wins counteracted by the reality that it will take six more to claim the title. The fatigue that will become more pronounced later in the week wasn't a factor yet for the five girls and two boys who added first round main draw victories Tuesday to their three qualifying wins at the ITF Grade A Orange Bowl.

Ali Despain, who hadn't played an ITF event since last year's Orange Bowl, was the 63rd alternate when she drove down from Hilton Head to try to get into the tournament last Friday.  She did get in, and after three qualifying wins over the weekend, played her first main draw Grade A Orange Bowl match today, beating Carol Young Suh Lee of Northern Mariana Islands 7-6(2), 6-2.

"I played 16s, but I lost last round of qualies last year in the 18s, so this is my first time in the main draw," said the 18-year-old Despain, who trains at the Smith Stearns Academy. "It was great. I definitely think I've improved a lot since last year and it's definitely been showing. Going through qualies is definitely a grind, winning three tough matches against good level players, then winning today was awesome. Hopefully I can keep it up, because I have a lot of momentum with all the matches before this one."

Despain said the qualifying wins helped sharpen her focus when it mattered.

"When you're playing big points, 40-30 points, deuce points, ad points, big moments, just trusting myself and stepping in," Despain said. "That's been a big thing for me. At this level, everyone's good, qualies, main draw, so you have to go for your shots and play your game, no matter what the score is. That's a big thing I learned going through qualifies."

Despain recently signed with Clemson, a decision that came easily for her.

"I'm really excited about that," said the Georgetown South Carolina native. "I just knew, from the moment that I stepped on campus that it was the right fit for me. [Clemson coaches] Nancy (Harris) and Darrell (Jernigan) are both such positive people and I know they'll bring out the best in me when I go there. It was a great decision for me, so I'm really excited."

Despain is joined in the second round by qualifiers Fiona Crawley, who beat Eddie Herr quarterfinalist Alice Tubello of France 6-3, 6-3; Jenna DeFalco, Hina Inoue and Abigail Forbes, who also qualified and won two rounds at the Eddie Herr last week.

The two qualifiers in the boys draw advancing to the second round are Neel Rajesh, who beat Natan Rodrigues of Brazil 6-3, 6-3, and Luciano  Tacchi of Argentina, who defeated fellow qualifier Filip Krolo of Germany 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Tuesday wasn't a good day for the American Eddie Herr finalists, with No. 16 seed Emilio Nava losing to Mateus Alves of Brazil 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 and No. 7 seed Elli Mandlik falling to Helene Pellicano of Malta 6-3, 6-2.  Those were the only two seeds to lose in the 18s on Tuesday. Nava had beaten Alves in the Eddie Herr quarterfinals after trailing 4-2 in the third set.

Eddie Herr champion and No. 2 seed Qinwen Zheng of China was playing the last singles match of the day when lightning suspended play. Only a few drops of rain fell from the storm, but it proved difficult timing for Zheng, who led wild card Elvina Kalieva 6-0 when played was stopped. When play resumed, Zheng lost four straight games, but managed to find her form after that, winning the final six games for a 6-0, 6-4 victory.

The top half of the 18s doubles draws played first round matches today, with all four seeds in both the boys and girls draws advancing to the second round.

The second round of 16s produced one major surprise, with top girls seed Kailey Evans falling to Fatma Idrizovic of Serbia 0-6, 6-3, 6-2. No. 2 seed Jada Bui of Canada also had a tough match, but she came through with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win over Jordyn McBride.

Boys 16s top seed Dali Blanch defeated wild card Gabrielius Guzauskas 6-3, 6-4 and No. 2 seed Alex Bernard beat wild card Evan Wen 6-3, 6-1.

The 16s doubles quarterfinals are set for Wednesday, but the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the girls draw lost today, with Tomi Main and McBride beating No. 1 seeds Elaine Chervinsky and Madison Sieg 6-4, 6-2 and Ava Krug and Sophie Williams beating No. 2 seeds Bui and Rachel Gailis 6-2, 6-4.

Complete draws and Wednesday's order of play can be found at the tournament website.

Khan Beats No. 4 Seed, Top Seeds Gauff and Andreev Advance as Heat Disrupts First Day at ITF Grade A Orange Bowl

©Colette Lewis 2018--
Plantation, FL--

Monday's opening day of play for the 18s at the ITF Grade A Orange Bowl had an unexpected delay, with matches halted for extreme heat at around 12:30 p.m. at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center, and restarted two hours later, when the humidity had begun to drop.

The temperature was listed at 88, with a "feels like" of 94, but the measurement that is used by tournament officials is more nuanced than that, and the heat index temperature exceeded the required 104 degrees when the decision was made to suspend play. Few players, spectators or college coaches felt conditions warranted a suspension, but the ITF rule, new for 2018, required it.  My Tennis Recruiting Network interview with USTA tournament director Lew Brewer on this new rule, written shortly after the US Open Junior Championships were affected by it in September, explains the process in more detail.

Top seeds Coco Gauff of the US and Adrian Andreev of Bulgaria made it through in straight sets, although Andreev was close to going three, beating Chris Rodesch of Luxembourg 6-4, 7-6(9).  Gauff, who pulled out of the Eddie Herr after winning the doubles title with Hurricane Tyra Black at the Grade in Yucatan two weeks ago, defeated Diana Khodan of Ukraine 6-1, 6-2 in a late afternoon match on Stadium court.

Of the 10 boys seeds playing first round matches Monday, eight won, with No. 9 seed Tyler Zink falling to Andrew Paulson of the Czech Republic 7-6(4), 6-1 and No. 4 seed Deney Wassermann of the Netherlands losing to wild card Zane Khan 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3.

Khan, who reached the quarterfinals of last week's Eddie Herr Grade 1 before retiring with a right shoulder injury, said he was close to withdrawing before the start of today's match.

"I hurt my shoulder warming up in the quarterfinals last week," said the Kalamazoo Nationals 16s finalist. "I was hitting serves and I started to feel so much pain. Since Eddie Herr, I was completely off, I didn't practice at all, and I was really close to retiring before this match. I still felt pain in my shoulder, on hitting serves again and on my forehand and backhand. Tomorrow's a day off, so I'll try to rest, ice, go to the trainer again."

Khan had never played Wassermann before, but the powerfully built right-hander with a one-handed backhand is an intimidating presence on the court.

"I saw him play a little at the US Open, so I knew he was really tall, and played really aggressive," Khan said. "I knew it was going to be tough."

Khan did his best to attack the one-handed backhand on the occasions when he had control of the point.

"Once I got into the match, I felt his backhand was pretty erratic," Khan said. "He would hit a winner, or he was going to miss after a few balls. So I tried my hardest to get every ball back, especially on his service games, try to chunk it up, lob, try to get in the points, and it paid off in the third set in that one break."

Khan double faulted twice serving for the match at 5-3, but down 15-30, he came up with an ace for 30-all. Wassermann shanked a forehand return on the next point, and Khan closed out the win with a good first serve.

"I'm happy with the way I'm playing," Khan said. After dealing with blisters on his feet that inhibited his movement, Khan said he has learned how to deal with that problem now, including orthotics and a taping regimen. "The main thing is I'm able to start moving now, so that's helped out a lot. I've learned how to take care of it now, after Kalamazoo."

Three of the nine girls seeds in action Monday were defeated. No. 16 seed Natsumi Kawaguchi of Japan lost to wild card Emma Jackson 7-6(5), 6-2; No. 15 seed Yasmine Mansouri of France was beaten by wild card Robin Montgomery 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-2; and No. 13 seed Chloe Beck lost to Caijsa Hennemann of Sweden 6-1, 6-3.

Thirty-six of the 64 first round 18s singles matches were played Monday, with 28 more on Tuesday's schedule.

The first round of singles and doubles in the 16s division were completed today, with the top 8 girls seeds all advancing to the second round.  The boys field has lost three of its top 8 seeds, with No. 5 seed Max McKennon, No. 6 seed Juan Dominguez Collado of Guatemala and No. 7 seed Spencer Brachman out in the first round.  Top seed Dali Blanch won his opener in straight sets today. Yesterday, girls top seed Kailey Evans beat Karina Miller 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

Tuesday's action begins at 8 a.m. with the second round of 16s singles, followed by the remaining first round 18s singles matches. The first round of 18s doubles will be played, with Gauff and Black the No. 1 seeds in the girls draw and Andreev and Anton Matusevich of Great Britain the No. 1 seeds in the boys draw.  The second round of 16s doubles is also scheduled for Tuesday.

For the draws and order of play, see the tournament website. Live scoring is available here.

Mejia and Zheng Earn Eddie Herr International ITF Grade 1 Titles; USA Team Reclaims Master'U Title; Andreev and Gauff Top Seeds as Orange Bowl Begins Monday

©Colette Lewis 2018--
Bradenton FL--

In 2014, Nicolas Mejia won the Eddie Herr International Championships 14s title, the most significant accomplishment of his budding junior career. On Sunday, the 18-year-old Colombian closed out his junior career with the Eddie Herr ITF title, defeating No. 16 seed Emilio Nava of the United States 6-2, 6-4 on a warm and breezy afternoon at the IMG Academy.

Mejia gave an emotional speech after the match, thanking all those at the IMG Academy who have helped him in the years he has lived and trained there. But as happy as he was to have bookended his career with Eddie Herr titles, he missed sharing the second one with his father, who died early last year.

"Four years ago I won it here and my dad was really happy," Mejia said. "He's not here with me anymore; I just get used to it, but it hurts. But I was just happy I was able to play in my home in IMG, and being able to win the tournament means a lot to me."

Meija, seeded No. 2, started both sets with a break of serve, so Nava was always in the position of needing to come up with winners, a tricky position with the gusty winds that strengthened during the afternoon.

"He has a really big game and in these conditions, it's really tough to play that kind of game," Mejia said. "It was really windy and the conditions didn't really favor him at all. They were not helping him, but I don't think he played his best either. He played better during the week, but I can't control that. The conditions, they worked a little bit better on my side than on his side."

Nava agreed, yet didn't feel the wind was the whole story.

"My ball, the wind slows it down a lot, and I don't really like that, plus the clay, but no, it's definitely been tough the last couple of days, and that's tennis, you know?"

Nava said Mejia's all-around game and impressive defense contributed to his subpar performance.

"He's a great player and he makes every ball in, makes you play two more, not even one more," said the Los Angeles resident, who was celebrating his 17th birthday in the Eddie Herr final. "I started rushing a bit, I felt I had to work for every point, make winners on every point, because he wasn't going to miss a shot. I was kind of doubting a bit, but I still wanted to compete, of course. I didn't really step up to the occasion for sure."

After going down a break to open the second set, Nava broke right back, and he could envision another comeback, having dropped the first set in both the quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday and Saturday. But Mejia kept the pressure on in Nava's service games, earning at least one break point in the fifth and seventh games, then breaking Nava at love at 4-4.

"He's a good returner, doesn't miss one, makes you play every single one," Nava said. "[My service games] were pretty tough, I had to fight for every one."

Mejia had to save two break points in the final game of the match, with two big serves and a drop shot winner earning him a first match point. He hit another big serve that was called out by the sideline umpire, but the chair quickly moved to check the mark, and before he could get there, Nava conceded the ace and the match.

After playing four weeks in a row, winning a Futures tournament in the first week and the Eddie Herr in the fourth week, Mejia doesn't regret his failure to enter the Orange Bowl quite as much as he might have.

"Honestly, I didn't sign up and the plan was I was supposed to play [Orange Bowl], but all these four weeks, I've won like 15, 16 matches and I don't remember the last time I did that," Meija said. "I'm tired because I've played a lot of matches and that means I've won a good amount of matches, but I'm hurt a little bit in my back and my Achilles tendon, but I take it as it is now. I won this last junior tournament so I'm very happy and I look forward to whatever's coming."

Nava is moving on to the Orange Bowl in Plantation next week, with his expectations high.

"I'm pretty confident for sure," said Nava, who is coached by his mother Xochitl. "And physically, I feel fine, prepared for this, but it is awfully tough on the body, so I'm just going to go out there and compete."

The girls final was a three-hour marathon, with No. 2 seed Qinwen Zheng of China defeating No. 5 seed Elli Mandlik of the United States 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2.

Zheng, known as Ana to her English-speaking colleagues, came into the tournament lacking in confidence and reluctant to play the event after losing in the first round of the Grade 1 in Campeche and the second round of the Grade A in Yucatan.

"After I lose second round at Grade A, I don't want to play Eddie Herr, because I lose all my confidence then," said the 16-year-old, who is a client at IMG and will remain at the Academy for off-season training. "My agent from IMG and my team from ITF and my mom, they said, you can do it, keep going, you are a really good player."

Zheng said her own low expectations helped her in the her opening match with USTA Girls 18s Clay Court champion Emma Navarro, a 6-1, 6-0 display of high-level tennis.

"I think, just relax, because you're already so bad, it can't be more worse," Zheng said. "The first match make me so surprised, and the second match, I thought maybe I can do something better. I lose first set, but I fight and I continue and then before the final, all the matches are easy."

Zheng brought something of the same attitude to bear in the final, when she led 5-2 in the tiebreaker, but saw Mandlik streak by her with five straight points, that results a combination of Zheng errors and Mandlik winners.

"After the first set, I think both of us are tired," Zheng said of the 87-minute set. "We started to miss much more than the first set and the rhythm started to go down. But after the first set, I can be more relaxed, because I lose already. So I need to focus and I need to fight much more than her."

Zheng went up 4-1 in the second set, served for it at 5-3, and didn't get to set point, but Mandlik couldn't quite pull even. She was broken at love with Zheng hitting a deft drop shot winner on her first set point, a shot that betrayed no fatigue or doubt.

The third set began with four consecutive breaks of serve, with Zheng getting the first hold and taking the final four games of the match from the tiring Mandlik.

"I couldn't even sit down on the last changeover, my leg would have gave out," said the 17-year-old daughter of Hana Mandlikova, who is coached by Gabriel Trifu. "So I just stood up and went back to the next game. Usually when I get tired, my left leg gives out, and I don't really know why."

Mandlik was expecting the big-hitting Zheng to dictate the points in today's first meeting between the two, but said she was able to hold her own until she tired late in the match.

"I expected harder from her," said Mandlik, who is not going to college, but is concentrating instead on a pro tennis career. "I was at most of the balls, but when it got to the third set, I couldn't get to them anymore, so that's how she took over."

Although Mandlik's fatigue played a role in the third set, Zheng said that was not the only factor in her ability to win the final four games.

"It's about mental," said Zheng. "It's not about tactics or technique anymore. It's about who can fight more to get this match. I knew I can beat her, and it's really good for me, this win."

Both Zheng and Mandlik are heading to the Orange Bowl to close out the year, with Zheng the No. 2 seed and Mandlik seeded No. 7.

The Master'U BNP Paribas International Collegiate event in Grenoble France concluded today, with the team from the United States reclaiming the title with a 4-1 win over Great Britain. Last year the United States lost in the final to Great Britain, but avenged that loss this year, claiming its eighth title in ten years.  The members of the US team are Brandon Holt(USC), Oliver Crawford(Florida), Emil Reinberg(Georgia), Ashley Lahey(Pepperdine), Maria Mateas(Duke) and Jada Hart(UCLA).  Mateas and Hart saved four match points in the first doubles match to clinch the victory, after Lahey, Holt and Crawford had won singles matches.  Greg Patton and Cal's Amanda Augustus were the coaches for the team.  For more on the final, see the Master'U website.  Greg Patton's blog from the event can be found here.

The Orange Bowl main draw is already underway with matches in the 16s division today, and the 18s begin play on Monday at the Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation Florida.  Adrian Andreev of Bulgaria is the top seed in the boys draw, with Coco Gauff the No. 1 seed in the girls draw.

Qualifying was completed today with six US girls and two US boys reaching the main draw: Fiona Crawley(last year's 16s finalist), Ali Despain, Jaedan Brown, Jenna DeFalco, Hina Inoue, Abigail Forbes, Mark Mandlik and Neel Rajesh.  Alexis Blohkin received entry as a lucky loser.

I will be on site in Plantation Monday afternoon and throughout the week. The draws and order of play can be found at the tournament website. Live scoring is also available here.

Nava and Mejia Meet for Eddie Herr ITF Boys Title, Mandlik and Zheng Vie for Girls Championship; Dussault and Chervinsky Capture 12s and 16s Titles

©Colette Lewis 2018--
Bradenton, FL--

Emilio Nava and Elli Mandlik earned spots in Sunday's Eddie Herr International ITF Grade 1 Championships finals, with Nava earning a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over qualifier Matheus Pucinelli de Almeida of Brazil and Mandlik claiming a 6-2, 7-5 decision from Kamilla Bartone of Latvia on a warm and breezy day at the IMG Academy.

The fifth-seeded Mandlik, who won the last junior tournament she played, the ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed back in October, admitted her confidence is growing with every win.

"I didn't expect this at all, not at all," said the 17-year-old from Delray Beach Florida. "Before Charlotte[site of the Pan Am Closed], it wasn't that great of results, then Charlotte and now this, so I'm pretty confident."

Against Bartone, who had beaten top seed Alexa Noel in the quarterfinals, Mandlik wasn't able to run down all the No. 6 seed's drop shots early, but Bartone quit going to that shot once Mandlik began to expect it.

"In the first set, she got me on like probably ten drop shots," Mandlik said. "Then I finally got the hang of it, saw her doing it, and I just ran. Then she quit doing it, just started hitting the ball."

Mandlik served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, and let two match points slip away, but she didn't get down mentally.

"I kind of choked a bit, but I got through it," Mandlik said. "It's semifinals, so I got a little nervous, but it was good. I knew that I could break on return and go back on serve and win."

Down 0-30 in that game, Mandlik was facing the prospect of a second set tiebreaker, but she put together four good points to close it out on match point number three.

Mandlik will play No. 2 seed Qinwen Zheng of China, who advanced to the final when No. 16 seed Georgia Drummy of Ireland retired down 4-1 in the first set. Drummy tweaked her back after her quarterfinal win on Friday.

"I've seen her, and I know she's really powerful," Mandlik said of Zheng. "I've never played her. It will be completely different from today. I'll have to hold her power more, rather than running, like today."

For the second day in a row, Nava dropped the first set, but he was not on the edge of defeat against Pucinelli as he had been against another Brazilian, Mateus Alves, in the quarterfinals.

"He's a great player, great backhand, but I was rushing myself a little bit, in the first set," said Nava, who is hoping for a title as a 17th birthday present on Sunday. "In the second set, I just kind of relaxed, stayed calm and did the same in the third set."

Nava wasn't aware that Pucinelli had come through qualifying, playing eight matches in the past eight days, but understood how that could have taken its toll.

"That's tough for sure," said Nava. "It definitely got to him for sure. It gets pretty tough after four matches."

Nava will face No. 2 seed Nico Mejia of Colombia, who defeated No. 3 seed Filip Jianu 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, with Jianu cramping late in the third set.

"He was cramping at the end, but the first set was extremely tough," said the 18-year-old, who trains with Jianu at the IMG Academy. "I knew it was going a very physical match. We played in January or February and it was also very tough. But these conditions were way slower than there, and conditions were very tough today, extremely windy, it was not easy to serve but I am really glad I was able to get the win."

Mejia, who has played four weeks in a row, with the result in the first of those weeks a title at the Niceville Florida Futures, did not feel any fatigue as the match went on.

"I kept my energy high and physically I think I was really stable," said Mejia, who hadn't lost a set in the tournament until today. "He struggled a little bit at the end of the set with some cramps and that was a bit of a shame, but I would have loved to continue to play how we were playing the first set, but it is what it is."

Mejia will not be playing the Orange Bowl, having forgotten to sign up, so Sunday's final will mark the end of his junior career. He hopes to add a second Eddie Herr title to the 14s championship he won in 2014.

"It's really exciting. I was here four years ago in the 14s, and I'm really happy I can be in another Eddie Herr final in my last junior tournament," Mejia said.

Nava hasn't play Mejia in singles, but is familiar with his game, and knows the other IMG players on site will be cheering on Mejia in the final.

"It's going to be a great match," Nava said. "He's a great player, really consistent, great serve, great returns, just great overall. It's going to be a tough atmosphere to play in, but I'm always looking for a challenge. I love these situations. I've got some good adrenaline, I guess you could say."

The Sunday schedule begins at 9 a.m. with the girls final, followed by the boys final.

Regardless of the outcome in Sunday's singles final, Mandlik has already claimed one Eddie Herr ITF title, winning the girls doubles with Anna Hertel of Poland.  The unseeded pair, playing together for the first time, defeated unseeded Kacie Harvey and Natasha Subhash 6-4, 6-3 in the final.

Mandlik said she knew Hertel from previous tournaments, saying "we were kind of friends, but not really," but Hertel didn't hesitate when she received Mandlik's text asking her to play at the Eddie Herr. "It was easy."

Mandlik said she did not expect to win the tournament, at least prior to seeing the draw, while Hertel said she could envision it, "a little bit."

Although they were taken to a match tiebreaker twice during the tournament, including yesterday's semifinal, Hertel said their games meshed very quickly.

"We are a team on the court, and we feel each other," Hertel.

Hertel also had a prediction for the girls singles final Sunday. "She's going to kill it," Hertel said. "Obviously."

Mandlik and Hertel will not be playing the Orange Bowl as a team, with other partners already having been arranged.

The boys doubles title went to unseeded Roko Horvat and Admir Kalender of Croatia, who saved four match points in a 1-6, 7-5, 10-5 win over No. 8 seed Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan and Taha Baadi of Canada.

Down 6-1, 5-4, 40-0, Horvat and Kalender saved three match points, then took the deciding point when Mitsui missed a routine overhead three feet beyond the baseline. Horvat and Kalender could not help but laugh at their good fortune in that game, and relaxed and re-energized, took control of the match after that.

"To be honest, we started really bad," Kalender said. "It was windy so much, we didn't find our games and we were a little bit nervous; we wanted to win. I don't know, one point changed everything, then we started to fight more and more, to be more motivated. We were a little bit lucky then, and we won."

Kalender and Horvat are close friends and have played doubles together throughout this fall swing in North America, but their friendship is not tied to their results on the court.

"Our friendship will keep at the same level, even if we didn't win today, I think it would be pretty much the same," Horvat.

"Unfortunately two weeks ago [at the Campeche Grade 1] we had three match points in the final and we lost," Kalender said. "So this time we save four match points," said Horvat.

The pair, both 17, will go for their second title as a team at the Orange Bowl.

The finals in the younger age division were all played at 9 a.m. Saturday, with Maximus Dussault claiming the boys 12s title and Elaine Chervinsky capturing the girls 16s title in all-American finals.

Dussault, the No. 6 seed, came back to defeat No. 5 seed Quang Duong 1-6, 7-5, 10-6.

The 11-year-old left-hander won five of his six matches this week in match tiebreakers, so today's high pressure final set was nothing new for him.

"The first set I felt I was rushing a little bit too much and he was also making more balls," said Dussault, who trains with Gabe Jaramillo at the Club Med Academies at Sandpiper Bay. "I raised the level in the second set; it was a really good match. He played very well, and so did I."

After beating top seed and overwhelming pre-tournament favorite Rudy Quan, who won all four USTA National Level 1 12s singles titles this year, in Friday's semifinals, Dussault might have been satisfied with his tournament, but he said that's not how he thinks.

"I just think about the next point, the next match," said Dussault, who had an enthusiastic cheering section on Court 1, including his mother, father, grandparents, siblings, friends and coaches. "They are amazing."

Dussault comes to the net often, a game style that he said is second nature for him.

"I like to use my hands, and I like to be the one controlling the point, not being on defense," Dussault said. "I have a way larger percentage of winning the point; that's just naturally my game."

Duong, who travelled from Manhattan Beach California to play this event and the Junior Orange Bowl, was not happy with his performance in the second set.

"I kept pushing the ball, not attacking it as much as usual, like in the first set," Duong said. "He also played even better in the second set, started to be more consistent and stuff."

No. 2 seed Chervinsky defeated top seed Madison Sieg 6-2, 7-6(6), a match that was difficult for both as they are good friends who train together at the Evert Academy in Boca Raton.

"It was really difficult, she's my best friend," said Chervinsky, 15. "We've played each other a couple of times before but this was one of the hardest times, our first time in a final. It was a pretty big deal."

Chervinsky said the nearly two-and-a-half hour match was grueling for two reasons.

"It was physically and mentally hard," Chervinsky said. "I think we are both mentally exhausted, especially in the second set. We both got nervous a lot and we both played really well at times, it was just my day."

Sieg looked as if she was going to force a third set when she went up 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but Chervinsky won the next six points, only to see Sieg save three consecutive match points.

"When I was down 3-0 it was just like, ok, just play, it's fine," Chervinsky said. "Up 6-3, I think I got caught up in the moment, thinking that ok, this is my chance to win. I just needed to calm down and when I got up 7-6 I was pretty calm."

Chervinsky, who had double faulted on her first match point, got a first serve in on her fourth and when Sieg's forehand return found the net, she had her title, although without much celebration. The pair embraced and the net, and both were subdued when talking about the match a few minutes later.

"It's always hard playing one my friends," the 15-year-old Sieg said, who lost to Chervinsky in the third round of the Pan American Closed in October. "She is a really aggressive player, which is sometimes hard for me, but it was a great opportunity and it was really nice that both people from Evert were in the final."

Both Chervinsky and Sieg and scheduled to begin play at the Orange Bowl 16s on Monday.

Unseeded Haoyuan Huang won the boys 16s title, beating unseeded Jacobi Bain of the Bahamas 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

"He plays so intense, I just had to play with a lot of focus," the 16-year-old Huang said of the big 15-year-old left-hander. "I had to get used to his shots, but I wasn't nervous. I don't think of it as a big final. It's just a match, I don't try to think oh, it's a huge tournament and then I'd get nervous for sure. I just focus on every point."

Huang, who spent four years in the United States until eighth grade and was showing as being from the USA in the draws, is actually back living in China again, although he remains interested in playing college tennis in the United States.

"I'm not completely going professional or something," said Huang, who was known as Tony when he lived in the US. "I want to leave a way for college."

The boys 14s title went to No. 7 seed Togan Tokac of Turkey, who defeated No. 2 seed Fnu Nidunjianzan 6-2, 6-2.

The girls 14s champion is last year's girls 12s champion: 11-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic.

Fruhvirtova, the No. 5 seed, defeated No. 6 seed Clervie Ngounoue 6-2, 6-4, having also beaten Ngounoue last year in the quarterfinals of the 12s.

"I played my game," said Fruhvirtova, who joins Russia's Anastasia Potapova and Great Britain's Laura Robson as girls who won the 12s and 14s titles back to back. "And I think she played the best she could do. But I played better than her. I did less mistakes than her, and I ran better than her and I played smarter I think."

Fruhvirtova is hoping for a wild card into Les Petits As in January, but is not sure whether she will return next year to try for a third straight Eddie Herr title in the 16s. "I don't know, probably, but I'm not sure, it's hard to say."

The girls 12s champion is unseeded Alexandra Azarko of Belarus, who defeated No. 14 seed Sasha Situe of New Zealand 7-6(3), 6-4. Azarko trains at recently retired Max Mirnyi's club in Belarus, and Mirnyi could be seen observing her matches during the week.

Below are the results of the doubles finals, with photos of the winning teams. For complete draws, see the TennisLink site.

B12s: Quang Duong and Thomas Faurel[3](USA) d. Fadi Bidan(LBN) and Jinpeng Tang[4](CHN) 6-2, 7-5

B14s: Aidan Kim and James Rico[8](USA) d. Gonzalo Bueno Rodriguez(PER) and Nicolas Nino(COL)[7] 7-5, 6-4

B16s: Hugo Hashimoto and Benjamin Kittay[6](USA) d. Jack Anthrop and Max Fardanesh[2](USA) 3-6, 7-6(2), 10-8

G12s: Brooklyn Olson and Natalia Perez[1](USA) d. Sarah L'Allier(CAN) and Mia Slama(USA)[3] 6-1, 6-2

G14s: Melisa Ercan and Ozlem Uslu[1](TUR) d. Katerina Dimitrova(BUL) and Angella Okutdyi[2](KEN) 3-6, 6-2, 10-5

G16s: Allie Gretkowski and Lara Schneider[2](USA) d. Mary Grace Armistead and DJ Bennett[6](USA) 6-1, 6-1