Noel's Impressive Performance Leads to Saturday's Girls Wimbledon Final Against Snigur; Mochizuki and Gimeno Valero Reach Sunday's Boys Final; My Q and A with Doubles Semifinalist Govind Nanda

©Colette Lewis 2019--
Wimbledon--

A repeat of of last week's ITF Grade 1 Roehampton final is on tap for Saturday's girls Wimbledon final, with unseeded Daria Snigur of Ukraine aiming for an even dozen wins in the past two weeks when she faces No. 10 seed Alexa Noel of the United States.

Both earned surprisingly routine victories in Friday's semifinals, with Noel beating No. 4 seed Diane Parry of France 6-2, 6-1 and Snigur eliminating top seed Emma Navarro 6-3, 6-0.

Noel and Parry's match was close for the first four games, but the American took control and experienced no dips in her level after that.

"I think I never let up," said the 16-year-old from New Jersey, who has yet to drop a set on the All England Lawn Tennis Club courts this week. "Once I got the break in that first set at 2-all, I realized what I needed to do and that gave me more confidence to keep hitting through the ball...certainly in the first four games it was close, she almost broke me in my first service game, but I just think I played very well. I played super well."

Although Parry and Noel had split their first two meetings, with Parry winning their most recent match at the Youth Olympic Games last October, Noel has shown her versatility this week, now in the Wimbledon final after claiming the Grade A title in Milan.

"From [Milan] I had a lot of confidence in myself and my game, so yeah it was pretty special. It's super cool that I'm able to adapt," said Noel, who is now at 14 in the ITF Junior rankings after peaking at 5 a year ago. "That's what you have to do to beat a good player. All the top players, everyone's able to adapt, everyone's good."

Unlike Noel, Snigur doesn't care for clay, and is not shy about proclaiming her love of grass.

"I have a very good forehand, a very good backhand and I want to attack all balls," said the 17-year-old, who beat Noel 6-1, 6-2 a week ago in the Roehampton final. "I like grass, grass is my favorite surface."

Snigur said she was very nervous to start the match, because she had lost to Navarro last month in the quarterfinals of the French Open Junior Championships.

"I play it game by game, see if the Queen of the Clay knows grass," said Snigur, the fifth Ukrainian girl to reach the Wimbledon girls final. "I know she plays very well on clay, [but] not on hard, not on grass."

Navarro, who had lost the first set in her previous three victories, admitted that she was concerned after dropping the first set to Snigur, not because she had played badly, but because she had played well.

"The first set, I played a really good set," said the 18-year-old from Charleston South Carolina. "I don't know if I could have done that much different. I played really well and she answered that. Every point, she played really well, played out of corners. Her game is definitely suited for grass, which was tough. She returned well, did everything well, and in the second set I got a little discouraged that I had played a really good set and lost 6-3, she was really tough."

"I think my game is better suited for clay, and her game is better suited for grass, but on any given day, anything can happen on any surface."

Navarro will not be playing next week's USTA Clay Courts, which she won last year, a title that earned her a main draw wild card into this spring's WTA Volvo Open in her home town. But she is planning to play the USTA National Hard Courts in San Diego next month and the week prior to that, the $60K ITF World Tennis Tour event in Kentucky.

After playing their semifinal matches on Court 5, which has only bench seating and no Hawkeye, the girls will move several steps up in atmosphere when they play on Court 1 Saturday afternoon. Noel says she enjoys playing in front of large crowds, while Snigur is less enthusiastic about the prospect.

"Yes, it's a very big court, and yes, I'm nervous of course, because it's too much people," said Snigur. "I'm very nervous when there is much people around me. I don't like big courts."

Although the two girls semifinals were virtually drama-free, the boys matches on Show Court 18 proved more exciting, although the anticipated semifinal between IMG friends and training partners Shintaro Mochizuki and Martin Damm was slow in getting on track before the 16-year-old from Japan saved a match point in his 6-1, 0-6, 10-8 victory.

Damm, the No. 4 seed, played poorly in the opening set, making 19 unforced errors and hitting only two winners, while making only one of every 3 first serves. The eighth-seeded Mochizuki, much more consistent in the opening set, lost his equilibrium in the second set, while Damm made only five unforced errors. The first two sets took only a total of 40 minutes to complete, and when Mochizuki jumped off to a 3-0 lead in the third set, it looked as if he had the match under control. But Damm indicated his willingness to battle in the sixth game, when he saved five break points in the nine-deuce game, and even when Mochizuki held easily to go up 5-2, the result appeared in doubt, not just to spectators, but to Mochizuki himself.

"I had some chances, up 5-2 in the third set, but I was so nervous," Mochizuki said.

Those nerves were especially evident in his next service game, when he went up 40-15, but hit a wild forehand and a double fault. Two points later, Damm was back on serve and he held at 40-30 to bring it back to 5-all. But the 15-year-old from Florida was not pleased with how he played the next game, with Mochizuki holding at love to take a 6-5 lead.

"I think at 5-all I played a really loose game, a couple of missed returns and I think that cost me a lot," Damm said. "I had the momentum with me and I missed four balls."

At 7-all, Mochizuki missed a backhand at 30-all, and another on break point, giving Damm a chance to serve out the match. He went up 30-0, but double faulted, then missed a volley to make it 30-all. A 131-mph ace gave Damm his first match point, but he sent a backhand crosscourt wide from a winning position at the net, and Mochizuki had new life.

"I hit a bomb serve and he got it back and he got it like a foot beyond the net," Damm said. "I don't know if I was nervous, or my legs were just heavy, but I got up to the ball too late and missed the ball wide. Obviously there a lot of things I could have done better, hit a drop shot, maybe went line, maybe if I went up there faster I would have hit a winner."

Mochizuki admitted that he was lucky to win the point, but also gave himself some credit for returning the serve.

"I thought I was lucky," said Mochizuki, "because he was near to the net and I was like, oh my god. But first of all I was happy to make the return, that's the important thing."

After going down 0-30 serving at 8-8, Mochizuki came up with two winners, and Damm chipped in with two unforced errors, and when it came time to hold serve to stay in the match, Damm couldn't get the momentum back, with Mochizuki breaking at 15-40, securing the victory on his fifth match point.

Mochizuki is the first Japanese boy to reach a junior slam final, and he was in demand with the large Japanese media contingent at the Championships, but it's not a milestone he considers particularly significant.

"They (Japanese media) told me," said Mochizuki. "It's weird. I'm a person, I don't really care if I'm Japanese or whatever. I just play tennis and I want to win the finals."

French Open semifinalist Mochizuki, playing in his first Wimbledon, won the Grade 1 in Nottingham two weeks ago, his first tournament on grass, but his opponent in Sunday's final, unseeded Carlos Gimeno Valero of Spain, has had even less experience on the surface and in big matches. The 18-year-old, who warmed up with Roberto Bautista Agut prior to his men's semifinal with Novak Djokovic, is playing not only his first grass court event, but his first junior slam.

In his 7-6(5), 6-4 semifinal win over No. 17 seed Harold Mayot of France, Gimeno Valero didn't get a look at a break point until he was down 4-1 in the second set, but once he broke through, he went on to win the final five games of the match.

"I played very aggressive with my forehand and I served really well in the first set," said Gimeno Valero, just the third Spanish boy to reach the Wimbledon singles final. "I played good on the break points and that gave me the confidence to win the match on my serve."

Gimeno Valero is still processing the fact that he's reached the Wimbledon boys final.

"It's incredible, to share the moment with Federer, Novak, Rafa," Gimeno Valero said. "To be in the final is unbelievable."

Both the boys and girls doubles semifinals are on tap for Saturday, with five Americans still in the hunt for the title. All the seeded teams are gone from the girls draw, with Savannah Broadus and Abigail Forbes defeating No. 2 seeds Alina Charaeva(RUS) and Anastasia Tikhonova of Russia today 6-7(3), 6-3, 9-7. They will play Aubane Droguet and Selena Janicijevic of France, who beat No. 4 seeds Joanna Garland of Taiwan and Sohyun Park of Korea 6-2, 6-3.

No. 3 seeds Damm and Toby Kodat defeated the unseeded British wild card team of Jacob Fearnley and Connor Thomson 6-3, 7-5 and will face top seeds Jonas Forejtek and Jiri Lechecka of the Czech Republic Saturday. No. 7 seeds Govind Nanda and Canadian Liam Draxl beat No. 2 seeds Mochizuki and Holger Rune of Denmark 6-3, 7-5 and will play the wild card team of Arthur Fery and Toby Samuel of Great Britain in Saturday's semifinals.

Earlier in the tournament, I spoke to Nanda about his first semester at UCLA and his decision to keep playing junior tournaments, as well as pro tournaments, for this article at the Tennis Recruiting Network.

Friday’s junior singles semifinal results:
Daria Snigur(UKR) d. Emma Navarro[1] 6-3, 6-0
Alexa Noel[10] d. Diane Parry(FRA)[4] 6-2, 6-1

Shintaro Mochizuki(JPN)[8] d. Martin Damm[4] 6-1, 0-6, 10-8
Carlos Gimeno Valero(ESP) d. Harold Mayot(FRA)[17] 7-6(5), 6-4

Friday’s doubles quarterfinals featuring Americans:
Savannah Broadus and Abigail Forbes d. Alina Charaeva(RUS) and Anastasia Tikhonova(RUS)[2] 6-7(3), 6-3, 9-7
Kamilla Bartone(LAT) and Oksana Selekhmeteva(RUS) d. Chloe Beck and Emma Navarro[7] 6-4, 6-3

Arthur Fery(GBR) and Toby Samuel(GBR) d. Brandon Nakashima and Valentin Royer(FRA) 6-3, 6-2
Martin Damm and Toby Kodat[3] d. Connor Thomson(GBR) and Jacob Fearnley(GBR)[WC] 6-3, 7-5
Govind Nanda and Liam Draxl(CAN)[7] d. Shintaro Mochizuki(JPN) and Holger Rune(DEN) 6-3, 7-5

Americans Noel, Navarro and Damm Advance to Wimbledon Junior Semifinals; Williams Reaches Fourth Wimbledon Women's Final in Past Five Years

©Colette Lewis 2019--
Wimbledon--

For Martin Damm and Emma Navarro, reaching the semifinals of a junior slam is nothing new, with both earning wins today to equal what they accomplished at the French Open Junior Championships last month. But for 16-year-old Alexa Noel, her performance at this year's Wimbledon Junior Championships constitutes a breakthrough.

"It's great," said the 16-year-old from New Jersey. "I've played all the slams and hadn't got past the third round, so making the semis is amazing."

Noel has yet to lose a set this week, and in today's quarterfinals defeated unseeded Priska Nugroho of Indonesia 7-6(4), 6-2, making the most of her unconventional game.

"It's for sure different," Noel said. "You don't see as much slice, trying to come to the net. At least everyone that I play just tries to hit through the court, and I don't try to do that."

Noel understands that power does have its place, but she considers others adapting to her game style, rather than vice versa give her the upper hand.

"I know there are shots, of course, you step in and rip, but not a lot of people are used to my game, so it's an advantage for me," Noel said. "Me being able to change the pace, go a little faster if I need to, that's good for me, because it's my choice."

Noel says the biggest change in her game from last year, when she lost in the second round, is in her attitude.

"I think I'm a lot mentally stronger," said Noel, who is now training in Kansas City with David Span. "Obviously my game has improved, but I trust myself a lot more now. I just think I'm better at dealing with difficult situations--when it's close, when I'm nervous, when the score's tight, when the girl's playing well--I think I deal with it a little bit better."

Noel will face her first seed in Friday's semifinal, No. 4 Diane Parry of France, who beat compatriot Elsa Jacquemot 6-1, 6-4. Noel and Parry have split their previous two meetings, both on clay, with Parry winning at last year's Youth Olympic Games and Noel winning at the Grade 1 Yucatan Cup in 2017.

"Both were pretty close matches," said Noel, who feels an affinity with the game style of World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty. "I'm just going to try play my game and embrace that I'm in the semis of Wimbledon."

Navarro's 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 6 seed Natsumi Kawaguchi followed a familiar pattern, with the top seed dropping the first set for the third consecutive match.

"I think it's a combination of me being a little slow and them coming out firing," said Navarro, who lost the first set to Katrina Scott 6-0 on Wednesday before again finishing with two 6-1 sets in her favor. "It's kind of a bad habit of mine to work my way into matches, to come out and see what they are going to do, and against good players, they'll come out swinging like she did, playing big, and if I'm not ready for that and completely committed to what I'm doing, they'll take control of every point."

With Navarro's success on the pro tour this spring and her run to the French Open girls final, the 18-year-old Duke recruit has seen plenty of big hitting, and she ranks the 17-year-old left-hander's power in that top category.

"It's similar," said Navarro. "On every shot she's going big and she's either going to make it or miss it. It depends on my ability to be able to push back against her pace and neutralize it, because most girls can't hit four or five shots like that in a row."

While Kawaguchi managed to do that in the first set, Navarro began to make her hit more shots as the match wore on and the unforced errors came in bunches, with Kawaguchi committing 60 in total.

Navarro will play unseeded Daria Snigur of Ukraine for a place in her second consecutive slam final, after Snigur defeated qualifier Polina Kudermetova of Russia 6-2, 6-4. Snigur, who won the Roehampton Grade 1 last week, and Navarro are meeting for the third consecutive junior slam, with Snigur winning in the third round in Australia 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and Navarro winning 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.

"She's a very good player," said Navarro, who also beat Snigur on clay last year. "She has unconventional strokes and looking at her, it's frustrating to play against. She doesn't look as good as the other girls, look like she's moving as good as other girls, but she hits big and flat and low and it'll be tough on grass."

As with the girls quarterfinals, the boys produced only one three-setter, with Carlos Gimeno Valero of Spain defeating Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Gimeno Valero will face No. 17 seed Harold Mayot of France, who beat unseeded Illya Beloborodko of Ukraine 6-4, 6-4.

In the top half, No. 4 seed Damm will take on IMG friend and training partner Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan, the No. 8 seed, after both scored straight set victories Thursday.

Mochizuki, who, like Damm, reached the French Open semifinals last month, took out the last British junior in singles, beating Anton Matusevich 6-3, 6-3. Damm was at the top of his game in the first set of his 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 10 seed Carlos Alcaraz Garfia of Spain, but went down 4-1 in the second set before rebounding to win the last five games of the match.

Damm double faulted twice at deuce in his first service game of the second set, but did not show his frustration. That equanimity has not always been evident in the emotional 15-year-old's past, but he was determined not to lose control with so much on the line.

"That game was tough, and it cost me a lot of energy, but thankfully it didn't cost me the set," the 6-foot-6-inch left-hander said. "I had a game point, missed a forehand approach then two double faults. Obviously I was fuming inside, but I knew I had to forget about it real quick to get that break back. Even though I didn't get it that game, I stayed pretty positive, held at 0-3 and was able to break at 2-4."

Damm's serve is among the best in junior tennis, and he hit one that read 131 mph on the Court 12 display, but Damm avoided the temptation to attach outsized importance to his service speed.

"I've had it [access to a serve speed display] a couple of times, but I think this was the most legit one," Damm said. "But I didn't really pay any attention to it. If I hit a good, clean serve, I looked at it like three times the whole match, but it doesn't say much to me. Not every serve do I hit as hard as I can, less spin, more spin, sometimes slower on purpose. Obviously, when I hit an ace T as hard as I can, I'll have a look."

Although Damm and Mochizuki have met only once in ITF Junior Circuit play, with Mochizuki winning the Grade 1 final in Costa Rica over Damm this year, they are intimately familiar with each other's games from many years of training together at the IMG Academy in Bradenton Florida.

"We're really good friends," Damm said. "It's me Toby(Kodat) and Shintaro. We're always together at IMG, we do fitness together every day, we're around each other five, six hours every single day. We practice a lot, obviously. I'm very happy we're both in the semis. He got the better of me in the beginning of the year, but I'm feeling pretty confident and we have a good game plan, and hopefully I can play well again tomorrow."

Damm and Navarro have also reached the quarterfinals in doubles, so will be playing two matches on Friday.  They are among the eight Americans still alive in the doubles draw.

Damm and Kodat, the No. 3 seeds, beat Andrew Paulson of the Czech Republic and Eric Vanshelboim of Ukraine 6-3, 6-4. Brandon Nakashima and his partner Valentin Royer of France reached the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Flavio Cobolli of Italy and Dominic Stricker of Switzerland. No. 7 seeds Liam Draxl of Canada and Govind Nanda advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Baptiste Anselmo and Loris Pourroy of France.

Navarro and Chloe Beck, the No. 7 seeds, defeated the British wild card team of Holly Fischer and Matilda Mutavdzic 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Unseeded Savannah Broadus and Abigail Forbes moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Waronika Baszak and Martyna Kubka of Poland.

Thursday’s junior singles quarterfinal results featuring Americans:

Emma Navarro[1] d. Natsumi Kawaguchi(JPN)[6] 4-6, 6-1, 6-1
Alexa Noel[10] d. Priska Nugroho(INA) 7-6(4), 6-2
Martin Damm[4] d. Carlos Alcaraz Garfia(ESP)[10] 6-1, 6-4

Friday’s junior singles semifinals:

Emma Navarro[1] v Daria Snigur(UKR)
Alexa Noel[10] v. Diane Parry(FRA)[4]

Martin Damm[4] v. Shintaro Mochizuki(JPN)[8]
Carlos Gimeno Valero(ESP) v. Harold Mayot(FRA)[17]

Serena Williams defeated unseeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 in today's semifinal and will face Simona Halep of Romania in the final on Saturday. Williams, who has reached the Wimbledon final every year she's played it since 2015 (she missed 2017 while pregnant), goes for her 24th major singles title. See this article from Liz Clarke at the Washington Post for more on today's women's semifinals.

Americans Navarro, Noel and Damm Reach Wimbledon Junior Quarterfinals; Great Britain's Matusevich Ends Rune's Quest for Second Junior Slam

©Colette Lewis 2019--
Wimbledon--

Martin Damm has a comfort level at Wimbledon very few can claim, a feeling that stems from his trips there dating to before he was old enough to form memories. After his 6-2, 6-3 win over unseeded Taha Baadi of Canada to reach the Junior Championships quarterfinals, he recalled the trips to the All England Club with his father Martin Damm, an ATP professional.

"Yesterday we actually visited creche, the daycare that's here, and we were always there," said the 15-year-old left-hander. "I saw a picture from when I was like 10 months old, the first time I was here, and basically every year I've been coming here since, until the last four years, when my dad stopped playing. This is the tournament I came to the most, and I have the best memories, not just because my dad was playing here, but all the memories I made in that daycare, all the players I met when I was a little kid; it's pretty special here."

Damm played his first junior slam last summer at the US Open, but has already reached the French Open boys semifinal and he is the No. 4 seed this week. Damm, the youngest Kalamazoo 16s champion in the tournament's long history, credits the work he's done with Dr. Larry Lauer's USTA Mental Skills staff for his success this year on the ITF Junior Circuit.

"It's for sure mental," said Damm, "though obviously tennis-wise as well. Before Kalamazoo, I had a couple tough tournaments, so we sat down with the USTA coaches, my agent, my dad. I've put in a lot of work on the mental side, and to be honest, that's the biggest key to my success lately. All the routines, what we've set up in practices, in our talks, I think a lot of the matches I've won against the older guys, it's more the mental side than the physical."

Damm had beaten Baadi, a rising freshman at Wake Forest, at the Grade A in Italy back in May."I had confidence, I beat him in Milan, so it was just about executing, doing the things we worked on after my [second round] match," said Damm, who hit eight aces in the 53-minute match. "And I think I served very well and that helped a lot on grass."

Damm's opponent in Thursday's quarterfinal is No. 10 seed Carlos Alcaraz Garfia of Spain, who squeezed past lucky loser Will Grant 6-4, 5-7, 8-6. Alcaraz Garfia served for the match three times, but didn't have a match point on his own serve until he led 7-6. Grant saved four match points serving at 3-5 in the third set, and buoyed by that comeback, attacked the Alcaraz Garfia serve aggressively, but the 16-year-old Spaniard finally ended Grant's impressive tournament on his third attempt.

Damm and Alcaraz Garfia met in the semifinals of the Grade A in Brazil back in February, with Damm winning 6-4, 6-4.

Great Britain's Anton Matusevich  has now reached the Wimbledon boys quarterfinals for the second straight year, taking out French Open champion and No. 1 seed Holger Rune of Denmark 6-4, 7-5.

Matusevich, who had lost to Rune 6-3, 6-2 last week in the ITF Grade 1 in Roehampton, said he was buoyed by the support of the crowd and from a group of friends who he had lured to the match with free ground passes.

"They were supporting me and it gets you fired up especially," said the 18-year-old, who completed his A level exams just a few weeks ago will now devote himself to tennis full time. "I got them grounds passes, my two best friends, and I said guys, bring the support tomorrow. It was a very good atmosphere out there. Obviously, the crowd will be behind me, but I sometimes block out the crowd and like to focus on each point."

Matusevich, who said he didn't think the quality of the match particularly high, got the only break of the first set, and had no trouble closing it out, but he failed to capitalize on his four match points serving at 5-4 in the second, leading to a tense few minutes for his mates and the rest of the crowd. Rune played a poor game to get broken again, although Matusevich did come up with an excellent lob winner to end it, and in the next game he made no mistake, hitting a good serve to earn his fifth match point and closing it out with an ace.

"I was playing very smart today, I think," said Matusevich, the 2018 US Open Junior doubles champion. "I wasn't hitting my forehand unbelievably well; I wasn't killing it. I was just making the return, slicing a lot...no rhythm, just win, find a way against this guy, so I was really happy."

Matusevich will face No. 8 seed Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan, who defeated wild card Arthur Fery of Great Britain 6-3, 6-3. Matusevich beat Mochizuki last week in the round of 16 at Roehampton 6-1, 6-4.

In the bottom half of the boys draw, the only seed remaining is No. 17 Harold Mayot of France, who beat No. 6 seed Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 6-4. Mayot will face Illya Beloborodko of Ukraine, who beat Nicolas Alvarez Varona of Spain 7-6(3), 6-4.  Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic will play Carlos Valero Gimeno of Spain in the other bottom half quarterfinal.

In the girls draw, top seed Emma Navarro lost the first set to 15-year-old qualifier Katrina Scott 6-0, but she took control of the match early in the second set and went on to take the next two sets 6-1, 6-1. Navarro had to save two break points to open the second set, but the match really turned when Scott went up 40-0 in the set's second game, but could not secure it, with Navarro finding her form and rolling from there.

The first set featured outstanding grass court tennis from Scott, who had ten winners, many of them coming via her drop shots, and only four unforced errors. Navarro made a rash of uncharacteristic errors, 14 to be exact, with only three winners, but she turned that around, and Scott, her right thigh heavily taped, was unable to sustain the level she had displayed in the first set. Scott, who played all three grass events, went 10-3 in that stretch, which included qualifying for Wimbledon.

Navarro will play No. 6 seed Natsumi Kawaguchi of Japan, who advanced when Elli Mandlik retired with an ab injury after dropping the second set 6-4, having won the first set 6-3. The other quarterfinal in the top half features 16-year-old qualifier Polina Kudermetova of Russia against Roehampton champion Daria Snigur of Ukraine. Kudermetova beat No. 3 seed Qinwen Zheng of China 6-2, 6-1, while Snigur took out Robin Montgomery 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-2.

There is an all-French quarterfinal coming Thursday after No. 4 seed Diane Parry defeated Hong Yi Cody Wong of Hong Kong 6-2, 6-3, and unseeded Elsa Jacquemot beat Mai Nirundorn of Thailand 7-5, 6-0.  No. 10 seed Alexa Noel advanced to her first junior slam quarterfinal, beating 15-year-old British wild card Matilda Mutavdzic 6-4, 6-4.

Noel was playing on one of the larger outside courts, Court 5, and with a British player competing on it, Mutavdzic had plenty of support from those waiting to get into Court 3 next door or exiting Show Courts 2 or 12. After a while, Noel begin to put her hands over her ears whenever Mutavdzic won a point, anticipating the coming roar.

"It was hard," said Noel, who turns 17 in September. "I love crowds, and obviously she's at home, but it was difficult for me just because she hit a few shots, I hit a few unforced errors, but the crowd was still going crazy. But it's something you have to deal with."

Despite all the crowd support, Mutavdzic was eventually worn down by the slicing and drop shots that Noel alternated with big serves and forehands. Down 5-2 in the second set, Mutavdzic saved three match points and broke Noel, then held to put the pressure back on the American, but some excellent serving delivered the win for Noel.

"I think I went for way too much," Noel said of failing to close out the match in that eighth game. "I could have easily just kicked a serve and play the point, hit a forehand, but for some reason I was like, hit an ace. And I didn't do that at all."

Noel will face Priska Nugroho of Indonesia in the quarterfinals. For the third consecutive match, Nugroho came from a set down to win, beating 14-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

All of the four girls quarterfinal matchups are a first ITF Junior Circuit meeting.

In the completion today of the first round of doubles, top seeds Parry and Zheng were defeated by Kamilla Bartone of Latvia and Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia 7-5, 6-4.  Navarro and Chloe Beck, the No. 7 seeds, won their first round match over Nirundorn and Pia Lovric of Slovenia 7-6(3), 6-3.

In boys doubles, top seeds Jonas Forejek and Jiri Lehecka defeated Andrew Dale and Andres Martin 6-4, 6-4. No. 3 seeds Damm and Toby Kodat beat Roman Burruchaga of Argentina and Natan Rodrigues of Brazil 7-6(7), 6-4. Eliot Spizzirri and Tyler Zink advanced to the second round with a 7-6(1), 6-1 win over Alejo Lingua Lavallen of Argentina and Mayot. Govind Nanda and his Canadian partner Liam Draxl, seeded No. 7, beat Nicholas David Ionel of Romania and Wojciech Marek of Poland 7-6(4), 7-6(5).

Sam Querrey lost to Rafael Nadal 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 in the men's quarterfinals today, leaving Serena Williams as the only American still in singles save for Damm, Noel and Navarro. For more on Nadal's win today over Querrey, see this article from the Wimbledon website.

Wednesday's third round singles results for Americans:

Alexa Noel[10] d. Matilda Mutavdzic(GBR)[WC] 6-4, 6-4
Emma Navarro[1] d. Katrina Scott[Q] 0-6, 6-1, 6-1
Natsumi Kawaguchi(JPN)[6] d. Elli Mandlik  3-6, 6-4, ret.
Daria Snigur(UKR) d. Robin Montgomery 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-2

Martin Damm[4] d. Taha Baadi(CAN) 6-2, 6-3
Carlos Alcaraz Garfia(ESP)[10] d. Will Grant[LL] 6-4, 5-7, 8-6
Harold Mayot(FRA)[17] d. Brandon Nakashima[6] 6-4, 6-4

Thursday's quarterfinal singles matches featuring Americans:

Emma Navarro [1] v Natsumi Kawaguchi(JPN)[6]
Alexa Noel[10] v Priska Nugroho(INA)
Martin Damm[4] v Carlos Alcaraz Garfia(ESP)[10]

Lucky Loser Grant Advances to Third Round at Wimbledon Junior Championships; Fourteen-Year-Old Fruhvirtova Ousts Second Seed Osoro Serrano

©Colette Lewis 2019--
Wimbledon--

Eight Americans have advanced to Wednesday's third round of the Wimbledon Junior Championships, and none of them feel half as fortunate as Will Grant.

Grant, the only player in either singles draw to get in as a lucky loser after losing in the final round of qualifying, defeated No. 5 seed Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6(6) to earn just his second win at the junior slam level.

"If you would have told me I would have been here, it's like nah, it's crazy," said Grant, who lost in the first round at the Grade 1 in Nottingham and failed to qualify at Roehampton in the two previous grass court tournaments. "If you would have asked me [if I liked grass] that two weeks ago, I would have definitely said no. Losing in qualies in Roehampton, it wasn't pretty, I was really struggling on the grass....honestly I was in such a bad place mentally, I wanted to go home, I'm so done with the grass. But luckily my parents and coaches pushed me, kept me in a good place, and now I'm here."

Despite picking up his first junior slam win Monday against friend Nini Dica, who had drawn Grant's number in the lucky loser procedure, Grant was less than confident going into the match with Lehecka, who has a Top 500 ATP ranking and had beaten him 6-4, 6-1 in the final of a Grade 2 on the clay in April.

"Honestly, going into the match, obviously you think you can win and be positive," Grant said. "But in the back of my mind, I really didn't feel I could win. He beat me pretty easily a few weeks ago, pretty routine. I don't think he played his best today, but I had a part in that."

Grant also made good use of his challenges, with the Hawkeye system available on Court 16.

"I got one wrong, second game, it was way in, and I got three right towards the end, and it was pretty big points, and all were in," Grant said. "After the first or second I got right, I could sort of tell that the ref wasn't having a good day."

Grant didn't need any help from Hawkeye when he saved a set point with Lehecka serving for the second set at 6-5. Lehecka had come back from 0-40 down, taking four straight points, but Grant connected with a nifty cross court passing shot to save it and two consecutive Lehecka backhand errors sent the set to a tiebreaker. Lehecka led 5-4 and had two serves, but his backhand again let him down and Grant found himself serving at 6-5. Lehecka connected on a forehand winner to save the first match point, but he hit another errant backhand to give Grant a second chance, then double faulted to end the match.

"Honestly, in that second set, I got lucky," said Grant, who will be joining the Florida Gators this fall. "I probably should still be out there in the third, but it just went my way today, and I'm really proud."

Grant will play No. 10 seed Carlos Alcaraz Garfia, one of three Spanish boys remaining in the draw, in the third round. Alcaraz Garfia powered past Matheus Pucinelli de Almeida of Brazil 6-1, 6-2 Tuesday.

No. 4 seed Martin Damm defeated qualifier Ryoma Matsushita of Japan 6-4, 6-4 and will face Taha Baadi of Canada on Wednesday. No. 6 seed Brandon Nakashima is the third American boy in the round of 16, after he defeated Nicholas David Ionel of Romania 7-6(4), 6-2. Nakashima will take on No. 17 seed Harold Mayot of France Wednesday in the only boys third round match featuring two seeds.

"I thought he came out playing pretty well in the first set," said the 17-year-old Nakashima, who completed his first semester of college at the University of Virginia before returning this summer to the ITF Junior Circuit for the French Open. "I just tried to stay consistent with him, stay patient and wait for my moment. Luckily I closed it out in a tight first set and then got a little confidence, started playing a little better in the second, got some more returns in play and started serving a lot better."

Only five seeds remain in the girls draw, with 14-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic, pulling off the biggest upset of the girls tournament by defeating No. 2 seed Maria Osorio Serrano of Colombia 6-4, 6-3.  Fruhvirtova, the youngest competitor at Wimbledon this year, looked in control throughout the match, despite having just won her first junior slam match on Saturday.

"I'm really happy with my win today," said Fruhvirtova, the reigning Les Petis As champion. "I feel like I played really, really well. Of course there were some mistakes, but I played consistent. There weren't many downs in my game, I kept playing well first set, second set and I was focused."

A little more than a year younger than this year's Wimbledon sensation Coco Gauff, Fruhvirtova views the American prodigy as an inspiration, but does not see herself making the second week of the women's tournament by this time next year.

"I think I can get there, but I don't think I can do it like in one year," said Fruhvirtova, who faces the same age restrictions as Gauff, which both must continue to navigate in the coming years. "It's really tough. I can't get so many wild card, I'm limited in count of tournaments, but I think what she achieved here is amazing, great results. I think I can do it, some day."

While Osorio Serrano was not able to hold off her younger opponent, top seed Emma Navarro did, just barely, beating 16-year-old Selena Janicijevic of France 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. Up 4-1 and serving in the first set, Navarro lost five straight games, then went down a break in the second set at 3-1, but fought back. The 18-year-old from South Carolina took a 4-2 lead in the third set, lost it, served for the match at 5-4, didn't get to match point, but never allowed any frustration to disrupt her focus. Janicijevic showed off some exquisite volleys in high pressure situations, but Navarro was still able to find spots for well-executed passing shots, including one stunning forehand from eight feet behind the baseline as she was tumbling to the grass.

Navarro got another chance to serve for the match after breaking Janicijevic with a forehand winner at 30-40, but she needed three match points to finally end the challenge from Janicijevic, who played outstanding tennis to save the first two match points. After forcing a forehand error for a third match point, Navarro got a good first serve in and Janicijevic netted her backhand return, ending a match the spectators crowding around court 10 were delighted to have witnessed. Navarro ended with 38 winners and just 23 unforced errors, while Janicijevic hit 37 winners with 35 unforced errors.

Navarro will face 15-year-old qualifier Katrina Scott, who added to her impressive grass court resume with a 6-1, 6-4 win over British wild card Sonay Kartal.

A day after going 11-9 in the third set, Elli Mandlik beat Elina Avanesyan of Russia 6-0, 6-0. Robin Montgomery and No. 10 seed Alexa Noel also advanced to the third round with straight-sets wins.

Half of the first round of doubles matches were completed today, with the only girls seeded team to fall No. 6 Sada Nahimana of Burundi and Liubov Kostenko of Ukraine losing to Savannah Broadus and Abigail Forbes 6-1, 6-4.  Thailand's Thasaporn Naklo was forced to retire in her doubles match after being hit in the eye with a ball late in the third set. Naklo and her partner Mananchaya Sawangkaew were coming back from 5-1 down against Fruhvirtova and Kristyna Lavickova when the unfortunate accident occurred.

The wild card team of Jacob Fearnley and Connor Thomson of Great Britain beat No. 8 seed Sergey Fomin of Uzbekistan and Gauthier Onclin of Belgium 6-2, 6-4, and Nakashima and Valentin Royer of France beat No. 4 seeds Pucinelli de Almeida and Argentina's Thiago Tirante 6-3, 6-2 in first round boys doubles action Tuesday.

In the women's quarterfinals, No. 11 seed Serena Williams defeated Alison Riske 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and will face unseeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic in Thursday's semifinals. See this Wimbledon website article for more on that all-American quarterfinal.

Tuesday’s second round junior singles results featuring Americans:

Arthur Fery(GBR)[WC] d. Cannon Kingsley 6-4, 6-4
Anton Matusevich(GBR) d. Govind Nanda 6-3, 6-3
Brandon Nakashima[6] d. Nicholas David Ionel(ROU) 7-6(4), 6-2
Martin Damm[4] d. Ryoma Matsushita(JPN) 6-4, 6-4
Carlos Gimeno Valero(ESP) d. Andrew Dale[Q] 6-1, 6-3
Will Grant[LL] d. Jiri Lehecka(CZE)[5] 6-4, 7-6(6)

Katrina Scott[Q] d. Sonay Kartal(GBR)[WC] 6-1, 6-4
Elli Mandlik d. Elina Avanesyan(RUS) 6-0, 6-0
Alexa Noel[10] d. Charlotte Owensby[Q] 6-2, 6-1
Diane Parry(FRA)[4] d. Abigail Forbes 7-6(5), 6-4
Emma Navarro[1] d. Selena Janicijevic(FRA) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
Robin Montgomery d. Funa Kozaki(JPN)[Q] 7-6(1), 6-2

Wednesday's third round singles matches featuring Americans:

Alexa Noel[10] v Matilda Mutavdzic(GBR)[WC]
Emma Navarro[1] v Katrina Scott[Q]
Elli Mandlik v Natsumi Kawaguchi(JPN)[6]
Robin Montgomery v Daria Snigur(UKR)

Martin Damm[4] v Taha Baadi(CAN)
Will Grant[LL] v Carlos Alcaraz Garfia(ESP)[10]
Brandon Nakashima[6] v Harold Mayot(FRA)[17]

Qualifier Scott Keeps Winning on Grass; Mandlik, Kingsley Save Match Points; Thirteen Americans Through to Wimbledon Junior Championships Round Two; Williams, Riske and Querrey in Quarterfinals

©Colette Lewis 2019--
Wimbledon--

Fifteen-year-old Katrina Scott had never played on grass before the ITF Grade 1 in Nottingham three weeks ago, but she reached the semifinals there, and with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 16 seed Adrienn Nagy of Hungary today in the first round of the Wimbledon Junior Championships, Scott has chalked up nine victories on the surface.

"I'm surprised about how much I love grass," said the Southern Californian. "Before here I've never really played on grass. I like how it's faster; for me it's easier to move on and points are quicker."

Scott fell behind in the first set, and trailed 4-2 in the second, but the confidence she's gained over the past three weeks proved too much for Nagy.

"It didn't faze me, I knew that I just had to keep playing," Scott said. "I broke back every time and I had some confidence in that. I have a lot of self-belief--after you do well in big tournaments, beat really good players, you gain confidence, and that makes it easier."

The only player to beat Scott during this three-week junior grass court season, No. 5 seed Hurricane Tyra Black, will not stop Scott this week, with Black losing to Elsa Jacquemot of France 6-2, 6-0. Black had beaten Jacquemot 6-2, 6-2 last week in the Roehampton quarterfinals, but she was wrapped with tape from her thighs to her ankles today, and after retiring in the semifinals at Roehampton, was obviously not 100 percent.

Scott was not the only Wimbledon debutante to pick up her first junior slam win today, with 14-year-old Robin Montgomery also getting into the win column with a 6-4, 7-6(5) decision over Marta Custic of Spain. Montgomery had lost to Custic 6-1, 6-1 last November, but the powerful left-hander was able to turn the tables and prevail on the key points to advance.

Elli Mandlik took out No. 9 seed Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand by a 6-7(2), 7-5, 11-9 score, saving two match points serving at 8-9, 15-40. Mandlik had squandered a match point of her own serving for the match at 7-6 in the third, and had another chance to serve it out at 8-7, but couldn't manage to shake Sawangkaew, who raised her game when she was behind. Mandlik managed another break, after Sawangkaew went up 40-15 serving at 9-all, but Mandlik broke and, on her third opportunity, served out the two-hour and 50 minute match.

Qualifier Charlotte Owensby earned her first junior slam win, with the 16-year-old beating Savit Kimchi of Israel 6-2, 6-2, and Roehampton finalist Alexa Noel, the No. 10 seed this week, sliced and diced her way to a 6-4, 6-4 win over qualifier Amarissa Toth of Hungary.

Will Grant, the only lucky loser in either singles draw, earned his first junior slam main draw win by beating Nini Dica of Romania 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Andrew Dale had never played a junior slam, qualifying or main draw, prior to this week's Wimbledon, but he was able to overcome that lack of experience and the crowd support for his opponent to beat fellow qualifier Derrick Chen of Great Britain 7-6(7), 6-4.

No. 6 seed Brandon Nakashima rolled through his first set with qualifier Phuong Van Nguyen of Vietnam, but had a battle on his hands in the second set before posting a 6-0, 7-6(5) victory.

Cannon Kingsley trailed No. 11 seed Otto Virtanen of Finland 4-1 in the final set, and the Ohio State Buckeye saved two match points with Virtanen serving for the match at 5-3, 40-15 to go on to claim the final four games of the match in a 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 win.

"It was a weird match all around," said Kingsley, who has already began classes this summer at Ohio State. "He was obviously a little injured in his elbow, or his wrist, I couldn't tell. Sometimes he would serve really big, sometimes really slow, he started underhanded serving also, and in the second set, once I got a break, he almost gave up. But right off the bat in the third set, it was like he was back in the first set."

Down 4-1 in the third and then 5-3, Kingsley was determined to keep fighting.

"Even though I was down a break, I still felt like every game, on my return, I could break him," Kingsley said. "I was close every game, deuces, 30-alls, break points, but I wasn't converting."

At 5-3, 40-15, Virtanen, the reigning Orange Bowl champion, tried another underhand serve, but Kingsley ended up hitting a forehand volley winner to save the first match point. On the second Virtanen made an unforced error, and Kingsley won the next two points to get out of danger. After a quick hold and another break, Kingsley was ready to serve for the match, but Virtanen called for the trainer for his right wrist, and Kingsley had plenty of time to think about the next game.

"That was a long medical timeout," said Kingsley, who spent most of the time shadow serving near his chair. "It was a solid 10 minutes. Then I hit the serve, weird bounce, kind of missed it, then double faulted for 0-30, and I'm like, focus. But I just played a couple of good points and I was back in it. I'm just glad I didn't throw that game away."

After three of the top 8 boys seeds went out on Saturday, upsets were rare today. In addition to Virtanen, the only other seed to lose was No. 15 seed and Roehampton Grade 1 champion Gauthier Onclin of Belgium, who lost to 2018 Wimbledon boys quarterfinalist Anton Matusevich of Great Britain 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Top seed and French Open champion Holger Rune of Denmark extended his junior slam winning streak, beating Kevin Chahoud of Sweden 6-2, 6-4.

Eight of the 16 girls seeds are out, but the top four have all advanced to Tuesday's second round, with No. 4 seed Diane Parry of France beating Darja Semenistaja of Latvia 6-3, 6-3 today. Top 3 seeds Emma Navarro, Maria Osorio Serrano of Colombia and Qinwen Zheng of China advanced with wins on Saturday.

Coco Gauff's Wimbledon run came to an end today, with No. 7 seed Simon Halep beating the 15-year-old qualifier 6-3, 6-3. Serena Williams[11] beat Carla Suarez Navarro[30] of Spain 6-2, 6-2 and Alison Riske earned the biggest win of her career, beating WTA No. 1 and French Open champion Ashleigh Barty of Australia 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Williams and Riske will play tomorrow for a place in the semifinals.

Sam Querrey won the all-US battle with Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 7-6(5) and will play No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal in Wednesday's quarterfinals.

Monday’s Junior singles first round results featuring Americans:

Andrew Dale[Q] d. Derrick Chen(GBR)[Q] 7-6(7), 6-4
Cannon Kingsley d. Otto Virtanen(FIN)[11] 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
Carlos Alcarez Garfia(ESP)[10] d. Tyler Zink 6-3, 6-2
Dominic Stricker(SUI) d. Andres Martin[Q] 7-5, 6-0
Illya Beloborodko(UKR) d. Eliot Spizzirri 1-6, 7-5, 6-4
Will Grant[LL] d Nini Dica(ROU) 6-1 4-6, 7-5
Brandon Nakashima[6] v Phuong Van Nguyen(VIE)[Q] 6-0, 7-6(5)

Elli Mandlik d. Mananchaya Sawangkaew(THA)[9] 6-7(2), 7-5, 11-9
Katrina Scott[Q] d. Adrienn Nagy(HUN([16] 6-3, 6-4
Alexa Noel[10] d. Amarissa Toth(HUN)[Q] 6-4, 6-4
Priska Nugroho(INA) d. Chloe Beck 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-4
Carole Monnet(FRA) d. Savannah Broadus 2-6, 7-5, 6-2
Robin Montgomery d. Marta Custic(ESP) 6-4, 7-6(5)
Helene Pellicano(MLT)[15] d. Alexandra Yepifanova[Q] 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
Elsa Jacquemot(FRA) d. Hurricane Tyra Black[5] 6-2, 6-0
Charlotte Owensby[Q] v Shavit Kimchi(ISR) 6-2, 6-2

Tuesday's second round junior singles matches featuring Americans:
Cannon Kingsley v Arthur Fery(GBR)[WC]
Govind Nanda v Anton Matusevich(GBR)
Katrina Scott[Q] v Sonay Kartal(GBR)[WC]
Elli Mandlik v Elina Avanesyan(RUS)
Brandon Nakashima[6] v Nicholas David Ionel(ROU)
Martin Damm[4] v Ryoma Matsushita(JPN)
Robin Montgomery v Funa Kozaki(JPN)
Andrew Dale[Q] v Carlos Gimeno Valero(ESP)
Emma Navarro[1] v Selena Janicijevic(FRA)
Will Grant v Jiri Lehecka(CZE)[5]
Charlotte Owensby[Q] v Alexa Noel[10]
Abigail Forbes v Diane Parry(FRA)[4]

Sixteen US Juniors Play First Round Matches Monday at Wimbledon; Malik, Bernard, Catanzarite and McKennon Sweep Titles at Three ITF Junior Circuit Events

A day of rest Sunday at Wimbledon means that three days elapse before the completion of the first round of singles at the Junior Championships, with 16 Americans on Monday's schedule, after four advanced on in Saturday's opening day of play.

Top seed and French Open boys champion Holger Rune will make his Wimbledon debut against Kevin Chahoud of Sweden, hoping to avoid the fate of No. 2 seed Jonas Forejtek of the Czech Republic and No. 3 seed Thiago Tirante of Argentina, who lost their opening matches on Saturday. The top three seeds in the girls draw all posted routine wins Saturday, with No. 4 seed Diane Parry of France set to take the court against Darja Semenistaja of Latvia Monday.

Below are Monday's first round junior singles matches featuring Americans:
Andrew Dale[Q] v Derrick Chen(GBR)[Q]
Cannon Kingsley v Otto Virtanen(FIN)[11]
Tyler Zink v Carlos Alcarez Garfia(ESP)[10]
Andres Martin[Q] v Dominic Stricker(SUI)
Eliot Spizzirri v Illya Beloborodko(UKR)
Will Grant[LL] v Nini Dica(ROU)
Brandon Nakashima[6] v Phuong Van Nguyen(VIE)[Q]

Elli Mandlik v Mananchaya Sawangkaew(THA)[9]
Katrina Scott[Q] v Adrienn Nagy(HUN([16]
Alexa Noel[10] v Amarissa Toth(HUN)[Q]
Chloe Beck v Priska Nugroho(INA)
Savannah Broadus v Carole Monnet(FRA)
Robin Montgomery v Marta Custic(ESP)
Alexandra Yepifanova[Q] v Helene Pellicano(MLT)[15]
Hurricane Tyra Black[5] v Elsa Jacquemot(FRA)
Charlotte Owensby[Q] v Shavit Kimchi(ISR)

Five Americans--three women and two men--take to the show courts on Manic Monday, with the round of 16 for both men and women on the schedule.

Serena Williams[11] v Carla Suarez Navarro(ESP)[30]
Coco Gauff[Q] v Simona Halep(ROU)[7]
Alison Riske v Ashleigh Barty(AUS)[1]
Sam Querrey v Tennys Sandgren

Four Americans claimed both the singles and doubles titles this week at the ITF Junior Circuit tournaments in Brazil, Canada and the Bahamas.

Tara Malik, the No. 1 seed at the Grade 3 in Brazil, won her first singles title above the Grade 5 level while also claiming the doubles title on the South American clay. The 16-year-old from New Jersey defeated No. 6 seed and doubles partner Erica Di Battista of Canada 7-6(4), 7-5 in the final, with all of her victories during the week coming in straight sets. In the doubles final, top seeds Malik and Di Battista defeated unseeded Namie Isago and Isadora Walber Machado of Brazil 6-4, 5-7, 10-8.

Top seed Maxwell McKennon won both titles at the Grade 4 in Edmonton Canada, with the Arizona State recruit sweeping through the singles draw without dropping more than four games in any set. McKennon defeated No. 2 seed Luka Vukovic of Canada 6-2, 6-4 in the singles final for his second ITF Junior Circuit singles title. McKennon and Alexander Petrov, the No. 1 seeds, took the doubles title without dropping a set, beating No. 4 seeds Maxime Mareschal-Hay and Alvin Tudorica of Canada 6-0, 6-1 in the final.

It was a US sweep at the Grade 4 in the Bahamas. Top seed Alexander Bernard won an all-American singles final, beating No. 2 seed Jack Anthrop 6-4, 6-3 for his second ITF Junior Circuit singles title. The 15-year-old Bernard and his partner Oskar Poulson of Denmark, the No. 1 seeds, won the doubles title via walkover from No. 2 seeds Anthrop and Spencer Brachman.

No. 3 seed Ava Catanzarite won her third ITF Junior Circuit singles title, all since April and all in the Caribbean, beating No. 4 seed Anika Jaskova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-3 in the final. No. 4 seeds Catanzarite and Maya Rukosuev won the all-American doubles final, beating Mary Grace Armistead and Sophie Williams 6-3, 3-6, 10-4 in the championship match.