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Wednesday, March 27, 2024

San Diego ITF J300 Recap; Winter National Champions Seek Second Straight USTA Gold Balls Thursday at Easter Bowl, Top Seed Grumet Saves Six Match Points to Advance to B16s Quarterfinals

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Indian Wells California--

Wednesday was another busy day in Tennis Paradise, with the 16s and 18s hitting the midway point of the FILA Easter Bowl USTA Spring National Championships and the 12s and 14s deciding their finalists on a warm and sunny day in the desert.

But before we get to those results, check out my recap, up today at Tennis Recruiting Network, of last week's ITF J300 in San Diego, with Iva Jovic and Jack Kennedy securing their spots in the junior slams this summer by claiming their titles at the Barnes Tennis Center. Kennedy is up to a career-high 26 in the latest ITF rankings, with Jovic, who has been as high as No. 8, is now at 23, as she rebuilds her ranking after missing five months with injury last spring and summer.

Jiarui Zhang, Anjani Vickneswaran and Andrew Johnson will attempt to go back-to-back tomorrow, with the recent USTA Winter National champions playing for a second straight Level 1 gold ball in singles.

No. 2 seed Zhang, who won the boys 12s title in San Antonio in January, has not dropped a set this week, with his 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 3 seed Rex Kulman in today's semifinal on Stadium Court 4 demonstrating how he has dominated the field.

"It's my power," said Zhang, a Houston resident who will turn 13 next month. "I hit with a lot of power and a some of the smaller kids really can't generate that much power. Especially in the last set, after 3-1, I started hitting cleaner."

Although they are both competing in their first Easter Bowl, Zhang will not only have the advantage over unseeded Nathan Lee in size, but also in his experience in a Level 1 final. Lee, playing in just his second USTA Level 1, defeated No. 5 seed James Borchard 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals on Stadium 5, surprising himself in the process.

"I didn't think I was going to do this actually," said the 11-year-old from Orange County California. "But my energy was high and it never really dropped and I just played my own game, didn't focus on who I had next."

Although Lee hasn't played Zhang, he did some scouting during the quarterfinals Tuesday.

"He has a very strong game and how he plays is really solid," said Lee, who won a Level 3 last week in Anaheim. "He's very hard to break because he has a big serve, big ground strokes."

Vickneswaran had a much tougher match in her quest to get to a second straight USTA Level 1 final, needing more than three hours to beat unseeded Julia Seversen 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-1. 

The 14-year-old from Surprise Arizona said that winning the first set was such a relief that she lost her concentration in the second.

"I was not really in the court, just not as focused as I was in the first set," said the No. 3 seed. "I really wanted to get the first set, because I was down 2-4, so getting the first set was really good, but I slacked off a bit in the second set. But I feel in the third set, I polished my game in the third set, played really well."

Vickneswaran, a semifinalist here in the 12s in 2022, said winning the Winter Nationals in San Antonio in January was a big step forward for her.

"I definitely got a lot of confidence after Winter Nationals, I felt much better," said Vickneswaran, who turns 15 in July. "I had played a lot of L1s, but in all of them, quarterfinals, semifinals, I lost. Now I feel really good and I think I can definitely get it."

Vickneswaran will face No. 6 seed and 2023 Easter Bowl 12s champion Raya Kotseva, who defeated unseeded Kingsley Wolf 6-0, 6-4 to extend her Easter Bowl winning streak to 11 matches. Vickneswaran has defeated Kotseva twice in the past three months, both by 6-4, 6-3 scores, in the Winter Nationals quarterfinals and last month in the semifinals of a Level 3 in Long Beach. 

"I'm not thinking I have to beat her because I've beaten her the last two times," Vickneswaran said. "Playing her before I was not thinking about beating her, just about playing well and that's why I ended up winning the match. I think I definitely know how to play her right now, so if I do what I need to do, I should be fine."

A third Winter National champion will be contending for an Easter Bowl title, with No. 2 seed Andrew Johnson playing doubles  partner and No. 4 seed Izyan Ahmad for the singles championship, before partnering with Ahmad for the doubles title.

Johnson, who didn't lose any games in Tuesday's quarterfinal, lost just two today, beating No. 7 seed Akshay Mirmira 6-1, 6-1. Ahmad took out top seed Safir Azam 6-4, 6-2.

The girls 12s final will feature the only top seed remaining with No. 1 Nikol Davletshina taking on No. 9 seed Savannah Schmitz. Davletshina defeated unseeded Isabelle Nguyen 6-4, 6-3, while Schmitz took out No. 2 seed Nadia Poznick 6-3, 6-4 in a semifinal that lasted two hours and 30 minutes.

While all the the boys 18s round of 16 and several of the girls 18s round of 16 singles matches were played at other sites, the boys 16s were at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Way out on Practice Court 9, the drama was hidden from most viewers, when boys 16s top seed Gus Grumet saved six match points and went on to defeat unseeded Tyler Lee, Nathan's older brother, 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3.

Grumet was down 2-5 in the second set, and Lee had two match points serving at 5-3, 40-15. He double faulted on the first one and lost a cross court angle exchange on the second, and Grumet hitting a backhand passing shot winner to close the gap to 5-4.

But serving to stay in the match, Grumet went down 30-40, yet managed to fight that match point off with a backhand forcing an error from Lee. With another ad, Lee had a fourth match point, but a great first serve from the left-handed Grumet saved that one. Grumet saved a fifth with a perfectly executed drop shot and pass combination, and had two game points that Lee fought off. On match point No. 6, Lee sent a backhand wide, one of the few unforced errors in the seven-deuce game, and he would not get another chance, with another unforced error and a shanked forehand giving Grumet the game.

Although Lee never changed his expression, the result of the next game suggested he was shaken by what had transpired. He served two double faults in his next game after going up 30-0 and when another forehand went astray, Grumet was serving for the set. He held at 40-15 to take the set, which did not surprise him. 

"I knew the end was near, he was making a lot of errors," said Grumet, who is from Mill Valley in Northern California. "That would happen a lot. He was very on and off. He'd have strings of really good tennis, like most of the second set, and then times when he'd make a lot of errors. So I knew at 6-5, when I was serving, I'd have control and would finish off the set. I was thinking about how I would celebrate."

Grumet, who generally indulges in exhortations only on big points, had a famous Tom Brady expletive prepared and started with "Let's F.." when he caught himself before saying the word that would have been a code violation, with a roving umpire in the vicinity.

"I was like, I'm not going to say that, and then I kind of lost control," said Grumet, who basically swallowed the phrase after the F came out.

Grumet went up 2-0 in the third set, only to see Lee get back on serve, but he broke at 3-all and held for 5-3. Lee continued to go for his shots, but his first serve, which had also deserted him in the final four games of the second set, eluded him, with is only first serve in the last game an ace. At 30-40, the drama in the second set was absent, with Lee hitting a forehand long to give Grumet the match.

"In that 4-3 game, I just dug deep and made a lot of first serves," said Grumet, who will not turn 17 until November. "That's not usually my typical thing. I just felt super confident in my first serve and I believed I was going to be able to make that first serve, and I did it in the key moments."

Grumet knew he would have to play better today than he did in his first few rounds, with Lee on a 23-match winning streak since losing in the quarterfinals of the Winter Nationals.

"I heard from everybody that he was playing incredible and his game was on," Grumet said. "And so I didn't come in expecting to win. We're pretty much around the same level and I needed to be confident in my game. I didn't play well in my first two matches, I'm usually a slow starter, so I wanted to come out and play my game, so that even if I lost, I'd be happy with my performance. Being the one seed doesn't matter at this level, everyone's so strong and they're all really good."

The 16s and 18s quarterfinals are Thursday, with these matchups:

B16s:
Gus Grumet[1] v Tanishk Konduri
Andrew Li v Gray Kelley
Liam Alvarez v Lukas Phimvongsa[3]
David Wu v Gavin Goode[2]

G16s:
Bella Payne[1] v Alexandra Wolf[8]
Ellery Mendell v Carrie-Anne Hoo[6]
Ava Rodriguez[9] v Nancy Lee[3]
Isabelle DeLuccia[5] v Alyson Shannon[2]

B18s:
Ian Bracks v Jack Satterfield
Evan Burnett v Ronit Karki
Saahith Jayaraman[8] v Nicholas Reeves
Collum Markowitz[9] v William Manning[2]

G18s:
Capucine Jauffret[1] v Claire Hill[5]
Jennifer Jackson[9] v Tianmei Wang[9]
Avery Nguyen[8] v Daniela Borruel[9]
Emily Deming[7] v Addison Lanton[2]

All four of the 12s and 14s singles finals are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and as of tonight, the one match that will be streamed has yet to be determined.

The doubles finals are also scheduled for Thursday, after the singles finals.

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Last Alternate Burnett Ousts Defending Champion Chinlund in Easter Bowl 18s Second Round; Mixed Fortunes for Previous Easter Bowl Champions With Semifinals Set in 12s and 14s

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Indian Wells California--



Evan Burnett was not planning to compete in the FILA Easter Bowl this year. But the redshirt freshman at Texas kept his name on the alternate list, and when he received a text from the tournament that a position in the draw was available to him on Friday, he decided to take it. Four days later, the 18-year-old from Northern California had beaten defending 18s champion Cassius Chinlund 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in his first match ever at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

"My ranking isn't very high; I haven't played many junior tournaments," Burnett said. "So I wasn't planning on playing at all. But on Friday morning we got a text, and I talked to my parents and they said we can make it work. The team was going to be traveling to some away matches this week, since I'm redshirting I don't go to many away matches. So I thought it would be best to come play, get some matches."

Burnett, who attended regular school and wasn't highly ranked nationally when he was younger, didn't envision playing his first match at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Stadium 6, a court used for the BNP Paribas Open just two weeks ago.

"It was a little overwhelming, not like on Practice Court 9 or something," Burnett said. "But it's an amazing setting here, reallly special. I found my groove though, and worked my way into the match, found a good level."

Chinlund, was a No. 9 seed this year, is loud and emotional on the court and can disrupt the concentration of his opponents. But Burnett said the last two months in Austin have helped him prepare for just such a challenge, both physically and mentally.

"The couple of months I've been training there, I feel I've grown a lot mentally, and I used that to my advantage today, to stay really composed, play a mature match," Burnett said. "I feel in the past I would have gotten mad or tired, but I just stayed with it, stayed composed out there, and that's what got me through."

Burnett said Chinlund served well in the first set, but he adjusted in the second, and after the taking that set and conversing with his coach during the 10-minute break before the third, kept his aggressive mindset. Burnett broke in the first game of the third set and led 3-1, but lost the next three games, and three hours into the match the score was 4-4. Chinlund cracked a bit in his next service game, with two double faults to start it and he was broken, given Burnett the opportunity to serve out the match.

But after a difficult overhead winner to set up a match point, Burnett double faulted, and couldn't manage another, with Chinlund breaking on his third break point of the game.

"I just knew I couldn't do anything about it and so I just moved forward," Burnett said. "I got a little tight at 5-4 obviously, double fault on match point, you never like to see that, but I felt I stayed composed, said it was over, and worked on breaking."

Burnett did get a break, crushing a forehand winner at 30-40, and Chinlund fell to the ground as he tried to reach it. He didn't appear to be seriously injured however, getting up after a few moments and walking with no problem to the bench and then after the changeover, to the baseline. 

Burnett started the game with an ace up the T, which Chinlund called out, but Chinlund's call was overruled by the roving umpire on court. Burnett then hit a forehand passing shot winner, and two Chinlund errors later, the three-hour and 30-minute match belonged to Burnett.

"It was a grueling match, it's not too hot, not too bad, but it was a tiring match," Burnett said. "Really long points, really long games, it was tough. I put away a couple of clutch volleys at the end, had to be brave and go for it, and it worked out for me."

In addition to Chinlund and Ian Bracks, the 2023 Boys 16s champion last year who beat the top seed yesterday in the 18s and won again today, four other current or former Easter Bowl champions were in action today at the various site in the desert.


Girls 12s 2023 champion Raya Kotseva made her way to the semifinals of the 14s this year, defeating No. 2 seed Lyla Middleton 6-2, 6-3.

"I love this place," said Kotseva, who has now won 10 straight Easter Bowl matches. "It's amazing, very peaceful and I feel very free when I play here."

Kotseva has not only a lengthy Easter Bowl winning streak going, but so far this year is 22-2, winning the ITF J60 in her home town of Las Vegas earlier this month, and following that with a Level 3 18s title last week, and playing in the older age divisions have helped her improve.

"I've physically gotten stronger, but I've added some strategy to my game too," said the 13-year-old, who represents Bulgaria on the ITF Junior Circuit. "I've changed my forehand a little bit and I'm being more aggressive."

Kotseva, the No. 6 seed, will play unseeded Kingsley Wolf, who defeated Allison Wang 6-4, 6-2. The other girls 14s semifinal will feature unseeded Julia Seversen, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over No. 9 seed Hannah Ayrault, and No. 3 seed Anjani Vickneswaran, who beat 2022 Girls 12s Easter Bowl champion Baotong Xu, the No. 8 seed, 6-3, 6-4.

2023 Girls 14s champion Nancy Lee is the No. 3 seed in 16s this year, and she has advanced to the round of 16s. 2023 Boys 14s champion Roshan Santhosh[9] will not go back-to-back, as he fell to Gray Kelley 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) in today's second round.

The semifinals for the 12s division are set for Wednesday, with the top two seeds still in the running for the girls title. No. 1 seed Nikol Davletshina defeated No. 9 seed Audrey Dussault 6-3, 6-2 to advance to a meeting with unseeded Isabelle Nguyen, who beat No. 5 seed Anna Scott Laney 6-4, 6-3. No. 2 seed Nadia Poznick defeated No. 7 seed Olivia Lin 6-3, 7-5 and will face No. 9 seed Savannah Schmitz, who beat No. 6 seed Isha Manchala 6-3, 6-4. 

The boys 12s semifinal in the top half of the draw will feature unseeded Nathan Lee, a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 winner over No. 9 seed Beau Bronson Foster, and No. 5 seed James Borchard, who beat No. 4 seed Daniel Gardality 6-4, 6-2.  In the bottom half, No. 3 seed Rex Kulman, who beat unseeded Wyatt Markham 6-1, 6-0, will play No. 2 seed Jiarui Zhang, who defeated No. 6 seed Jason Zhao 6-3, 6-2. Zhang is going for his second straight USTA Level 1 title, after winning the Winter Nationals in January.

In the boys 14s, three of the top 4 seeds are through to Wednesday's semifinals, with top seed Safir Azam playing No. 4 seed Izyan Ahmad, a semifinalist in the 14s last year. Azam defeated Carter Jauffret 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals, while Ahmad beat No. 9 seed Tabb Tuck 6-4, 6-3.

Junior Orange Bowl and Winter Nationals 14s champion Andrew Johnson, the No. 2 seed, blanked No. 9 seed Luca Sevim 6-0, 6-0 and will meet No. 7 seed Akshay Mirmira in the bottom half semifinal. Mirmira beat unseeded Colter Amey 6-3, 6-1.

Girls 18s top seed Capucine Jauffret had another tough match, beating Eva Oxford 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 to advance to the round of 16. No. 2 seed Addison Lanton also had a challenging second round contest, beating Katiana Gonzalez 7-6(9), 6-3.

Girls 16s top seed Bella Payne cruised into the third round with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Reagan Levine, while boys 16s top seed Gus Grumet also advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ilias Bouzoubaa. 

Live streaming of the matches assigned to Court 2 is available at the Easter Bowl website

Monday, March 25, 2024

Unseeded Bracks Beats No. 1 Gelletich Again, Ayrault and Bronson Foster Avenge Losses in Ousting Top Seeds in 14s and 12s at FILA Easter Bowl; Jose Higueras Speaks Out on USTA's Failure to Support Player Development

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Indian Wells California--



There are upsets and then there are matches when the No. 1 seed is beaten in the first round and it's not shocking. Ian Bracks' 6-3, 6-2 FILA Easter Bowl win today over 18s top seed Braeden Gelletich falls into the latter category, with the unseeded Bracks repeating his triumph on Practice Court 2, the court where he defeated Gelletich last year in the 16s final.

"It's always fun on that court, lots of people, a good atmosphere," said the 17-year-old from Oklahoma. "I felt probably a little more comfortable, because I played a few matches on it last year, so it was a lot of fun."

Bracks had a mixed reaction when he saw the draw.  

"It was a little surprising, but I was excited, because we always have good matches," said Bracks, who is now 5-0 against Gelletich. "We've played quite a few times and it's always been close. It's a good one to get into the tournament, starting out in full flight."

Bracks got off to good start, breaking Gelletich in the third game and holding serve all four times in the first set, then breaking Gelletich again to take the lead.

The same pattern held in the second set, with Bracks jumping out to leads of 3-0 and 5-1, before Gelletich began to raise his level. He broke Bracks for the only time in the 90-minute match when Bracks served for it at 5-1, but Gelletich couldn't convert either of his game points serving at 2-5 and Bracks broke for the win.

"I feel like I served effectively, hit the spots I wanted to," Bracks said. "I think the percentage was a little lower than I would have liked, but the second serve was working well, so it didn't cost me too much. I feel like I played the serve plus one pretty effectively and controlled the point early on, getting him behind the baseline."

With a 4-0 record against Gelletich coming into the match, Bracks was careful not to get complacent.

"Not against Braeden," Bracks said. "He's always a good fighter always brings something new to the match. It's always been close. That was 3 and 2, but there so many deuce games, so many long rallies, if you do get complacent, that's when he's going to get you."

Bracks, who has signed with Oklahoma State, said he understood why he wasn't seeded and it didn't bother him.

"I haven't done too many USTA tournaments," Bracks said. "But I'm not too worried about the seeding, I just go out and play my game."

Bracks will face George Cutone in the second round Tuesday.

Gelletich was the first of three No. 1 seeds to fall Monday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, with the top seeds in the Girls 14s and Boys 12s going out in the third round today.


No. 9 Hannah Ayrault defeated No. 1 seed Reiley Rhodes 6-2, 6-3 on Practice Court 2 this afternoon, avenging a loss to Rhodes in the first round of a USTA Level 2 last February.

"I played her a year ago and lost, but I had match points," said the 13-year-old from Georgia. "So I knew coming in this was going to be a tough match."

Ayrault said she was not surprised by the result, given that she was able to execute her strategy despite the often tricky winds late in the match. 

"I used my feet, got around the ball and was able to hit the ball pretty nicely, I think," Ayrault said. "I adjusted pretty well to the wind. And I used my first serve well, to be able to attack my serve and plus one. I was very confident in my game going into the match. I didn't play well in my first two rounds, but I was playing well in practice, so I knew if I played my best, I'd have a really good chance at winning."

Ayrault's opponent in the quarterfinals Tuesday is unseeded Julia Seversen, who defeated No. 9 seed Jordyn Hazelitt 6-4, 6-3.


No. 9 seed Beau Bronson Foster had lost to No. 1 seed Smyan Thuta 6-0, 6-2 in the second round of the USTA Clay Courts 12s last summer, but he said his 6-3, 6-1 win today was more the result of a mental adjustment rather than a strategic one.

"My mental was a little up and down, said Bronson Foster, who trains with Clay Pereira in Long Beach California. "If I was winning, I'd be like really happy and then when I was down, I'd get down on myself, instead of bringing myself up like I did today." 

Bronson Foster made his Easter Bowl debut a memorable one, but he is no stranger to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, accompanying his sister Ginger Foster, a freshman at Georgia Tech, when she competed at the Easter Bowl here.

"I played really well, it was one of my best matches, I would say," Bronson Foster said. "I'd been watching him and I was really ready, locked in just to play him, I was really excited. So this feels really good."

Bronson Foster will face unseeded Nathan Lee, who defeated unseeded Michael Chernevkov 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 after Chernevkov served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

The top seeds in the 16s earned straight-sets wins in their first round matches, with Bella Payne beating Riley Lepsi 6-3, 6-2 and Gus Grumet defeating Matthew Shapiro 6-4, 7-6(3). 

Girls 18s top seed Capucine Jauffret was tested by the big hitting Marina Fuduric, but escaped with a 7-6(2), 7-6(4) victory. Defending Boys 18s champion Cassius Chinlund, a No. 9 seed, advanced to the second round with 6-2, 6-1 win over Kaiaitz Mendibe.

Girls 12s top seed Nikol Davletshina advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Skylar Mandell, while Boys 14s top seed posted his second three-set win of the tournament, beating No. 9 seed Keshav Muthuvel 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

18s doubles were scheduled to be played Monday evening, but with matches running long throughout the day, those matches were postponed, although the 16s did play their first round of doubles under the lights.

Live streaming is available for Practice Court 2 matches at the Easter Bowl website.

Scores from all of today's matches, and Tuesday's schedule can be found at the USTA tournament page.

Last week I received an email from Jose Higueras about the issues he has with the USTA's disregard for the Player Development area of the organization. I will publish his email in full when I return home and have an opportunity to seriously consider it, which I currently do not have time to do while I'm covering these major California junior events.  But in the meantime, The Athletic has provided an overview of the Higueras email in this article published yesterday

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Amey Ousts No. 3 Seed in Second Round B14s Easter Bowl Action, 18s and 16s Begin Play Monday; SMU's Svajda Claims First Pro Circuit Title; Texas Men Shut Out No. 2 TCU

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Indian Wells California--


Sunday was another unseasonably cool and windy day in the desert, with the 12s and 14s divisions playing their second round matches at the FILA Easter Bowl.


Safir Azam and Reiley Rhodes, the top seeds in the 14s, and Smyan Thuta and Nikol Davletshina, the top seeds in the 12s, are through to the round of 16 with straight set victories, but two No. 3 seeds fell today, with Isabelle Nguyen beating London Evans 6-4, 6-4 in the girls 12s and Colter Amey sending Tristan Stratton to the back draw with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win in a three-hour marathon.

Amey was down 6-4, 4-2, 30-0, but won the last four games of the second set, which helped him mentally as he approached the third.

"I felt a lot looser after I won the second set," said the 14-year-old from Florida. "It was putting every ball in the court; I refused to lose down 4-2 30-0, I said, there's no way I'm loosing, so I just kept on fighting."

Both players struggled with the windy conditions, with Stratton going up a break at 2-1 and 3-2, but getting broken immediately. After those four breaks, Amey managed to hold after a long game, and broke Stratton at love in the next game to take a 5-3 lead. 

Serving for the match, Amey got to match point at 40-30, but a Stratton forehand forced an error to save it. At deuce, Stratton got to a tricky reply from a net cord exchange, and hit an improbable backhand winner down the line, and when Amey missed a forehand approach long, Stratton was back on serve.

"I worried a little bit, but not much," Amey said of his inability to convert his match point. "I'm going to lose if I worry about it. But if I reset, I'm probably going to win, so I just completely forgot about it and kept on playing."

Given that he had lost his last three service games, Stratton was not guaranteed to pull even, but he held at love for 5-5, and Amey followed with a love hold of his own for 6-5.

Stratton started the final game with a forehand winner, but he made three straight errors to give Amey two match points. He took the first, hitting a forehand approach and coming into the net, with Stratton attempt at a backhand pass finding the net.

"He got everything back, so I really needed to step my game up, come forward and close it out, instead of letting him get every ball back," Amey said. 

Amey had just an hour to prepare for his doubles match, but he wasn't fazed by the schedule.

"Honestly, I'm used to playing four matches a day, so two's fine for me."

The 16s and 18s division begin Monday morning, with the top eight seeds lists below. The popcorn match is in the B18s, with Ian Bracks playing top seed Braeden Gelletich, in a rematch of the Easter Bowl 16s final last year, won by Bracks 7-6(4), 6-4.
Another dangerous unseeded player in the 18s is Olivia Center, currently 103 in the ITF Junior rankings. Defending champion Cassius Chinlund is one of the eight No. 9 seeds.

Steve Pratt, who is covering the tournament for the Easter Bowl website, spoke with Bracks about facing Gelletich again in this article:

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (March 24, 2024) – A first-round rematch between last year’s Boys’ 16s singles finalists highlights a full day of play as all eight divisions are in action at the 56th Annual FILA Easter Bowl on Monday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. 

 

In last year’s 16s final, Oklahoma State-bound Ian Bracks from Tulsa, Okla., took out Braeden Gelletich from Goshen, N.Y., 7-6 (4), 6-4, for the coveted USTA National Gold ball.

 

Facing Gelletich on Day 1 of the Boys’ 18s could be viewed as an unfortunate draw for the unseeded Bracks going against the No. 1 seed, but Bracks said Sunday it doesn’t really matter who he opens up with. 

 

“It was such a cool experience last year playing in the final,” said Bracks, a 17-year-old high school senior who trains at the Tucker Tennis Academy.

 

Bracks holds a 4-0 career head-to-head against Gelletich also winning at past Clay Court and Indoor Nationals and the USTA Spring Team Championships.

 

“It’s always a close match when we play and it’s just a few points here or there that decides it,” Bracks said. “It’s pretty exciting. It will be a good match.”

 

Bracks is playing doubles with Nicholas Patrick from Coal Valley, Ill., and is hoping to leave the Coachella Valley with a national ball in both singles and doubles, just like he did at the FILA Easter Bowl in 2021 when he got a bronze in singles and a silver in doubles in the 14s. 



Easter Bowl G16s Top 8 Seeds:
1. Bella Payne
2. Alyson Shannon
3. Nancy Lee
4. Sobee Oak
5. Isabelle DeLuccia
6. Carrie-Anne Hoo
7. Kaya Moe
8. Alexandra Wolf

G18s Top 8 Seeds:
1. Capucine Jauffret
2. Addison Lanton
3. Sophia Holod
4. Anita Tu
5. Claire Hill
6. Avery Nguyen
7. Emily Deming
8. Alana Boyce

B16s Top 8 Seeds:
1. Gus Grumet
2. Gavin Goode
3. Lukas Phimvongsa
4. Yannik Alvarez
5. Shaan Patel
6. Ethan Chung
7. James Quattro
8. Ryan Cozad

B18s Top 8 Seeds:
1. Braeden Gelletich
2. William Manning
3. Shaurya Bharadwaj
4. Declan Galligan
5. Dylan Long
6. Mitchell Sheldon
7. Aidan Atwood
8. Saahith Jayaraman
9. Cassius Chinlund

Two of the boys 16s seeds, who are friends and frequent doubles partners, are coming to the desert from last week's ITF J60 in Puerto Rico, where Yannick Alvarez, the top seed, defeated Ryan Cozad, the No. 2 seed, 6-4, 6-2 in the singles final, while also claiming the doubles championship.

Jon Gamble won his second straight title J60 title in Central America, adding a title last week in Panama to the one he won two weeks ago in El Salvador.

University of Virginia signee Stiles Brockett, who opted for European clay rather than the two Southern California hard courts events the past two weeks, reached the semifinals at the J300 in Croatia two weeks ago, and the final of the J300 in Spain this past week.

SMU head coach Grant Chen and Trevor Svajda
photo credit: Jon Mulvey

Seventeen-year-old wild card Trevor Svajda, a freshman at SMU, won his first USTA Pro Circuit title today at the $25,000 tournament in Calabasas California. Svajda defeated No. 8 seed Nishesh Basavareddy 6-4, 6-1 in the final, his second win over Basavareddy in the past seven months. Svajda, the No. 10 seed, defeated No. 2 seed Basavareddy 7-6(3), 6-1 in the semifinals of the Kalamazoo 18s last August.

The college tennis conference season is in full swing, with the Texas and TCU men meeting for a second time, this time in a Big 12 conference match in Austin. It was all Longhorns, with No. 8 Texas beating No. 2 TCU 5-0. Jake Fearnley, the hero of TCU's 4-3 win over Texas early this month in Fort Worth, had been out with an injury and is now playing No. 2, with Sebastian Gorzny also out for TCU in today's match. Siem Woldeab did play for Texas in this match after missing the earlier one. 

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Jovic and Kennedy Claim ITF J300 Titles in San Diego; Teens Basavareddy and Svajda Reach Calabasas $25K Final; Easter Bowl Underway at Indian Wells

©Colette Lewis 2024--
San Diego California--


Iva Jovic and Jack Kennedy had divergent experiences at the ITF J300 in San Diego last year, with Jovic reaching the final and Kennedy falling in the first round. But both emerged as champions in the 2024 edition of the tournament, now a North American closed event, with No. 1 seed Jovic defeating No. 11 seed Kristina Penickova 6-3, 6-2 and No. 8 seed Kennedy edging No. 7 seed Ian Mayew 7-5, 7-5 on a cool and cloudy day at the Barnes Tennis Center.

Jovic took an early lead in both sets, with her break of Penickova in a lengthy third game of the first set proving pivotal.

"That game definitely shifted the momentum to my side," said the 16-year-old from Torrance California. "I took my chances, got a couple of good return winners off second serves, was brave in those moments. I knew she could play a lot of good tennis, she hits the ball super clean and is very aggressive, so I just had to kind of ride the wave and wait for it to drop down a little bit."

Jovic, who has been concentrating on improving her serve and her transition game, was especially pleased with her ability to hold serve, dropping only one service game in the match.

"I think I had the right strategy and played well in the big points," said Jovic, who lost only six games in her four previous matches. "I did a good job, for the most part, with my serve. That's the most concerning stat for me, the breaks, so I took care of my service games, and you only have to break once to win the set."

Jovic went up 3-0 in the second set before suffering that sole service break serving at 3-1. Penickova couldn't capitalize however, with Jovic breaking right back to maintain her lead and finishing with another break. Jovic's consistent depth and pace put pressure on Penickova on nearly every point, and she maintained that level throughout the match.

"She played so good today," said Penickova, who was playing in her second ITF J300 final. "I think I played pretty well, gave her at least a challenge."

Penickova acknowledged that dropping that third game of the first set was a blow to her chances of winning.

"I that was a big deciding game for the first set," said the 14-year-old from California, who now trains at the USTA Campus in Lake Nona. "Maybe if I had won that one game, maybe it would have been a little bit different."

Penickova said playing an opponent of Jovic's quality was important in assessing her own development.

"I definitely learned a lot," Penickova said. "I played her in practice matches before, so I had a little bit of an idea going in, but playing her and others like her have helped me with the aggressive part of my game."


Jovic, who was out for five months with an injury last year, was happy to win her third career ITF J300 tournament title by improving on her showing here last year.

"It's definitely a sigh of relief now," said the Jovic, who missed Roland Garros and Wimbledon last year while injured, but has solidified her place in the main draw of both junior slams with this title. "I got through this stretch where I had a lot to defend.  And this is my first title of the year, so it feels good. I've been in two finals (a W35 in Texas and the J300 in Traralgon) and lost both, so it's nice to win a title for sure."

Kennedy has also earned his spot in this summer's junior slams, with the 15-year-old from New York winning a tight battle on Stadium court to cap an impressive two months on the ITF Junior Circuit, and an impressive two weeks in Southern California, as a finalist at Indian Wells and now a champion in San Diego.

Mayew had also had a breakout start to 2024, winning back-to-back J300 titles in Costa Rica and Colombia and reaching the singles quarterfinals and claiming the doubles title last week at Indian Wells.

The 17-year-old from North Carolina looked as if he was going to deny Kennedy his first J300 title when he took a 5-2 lead in the first set, but Kennedy roared back to claim the final five games of the hour-long set.

Mayew had two set points serving at 5-4, but he made a backhand error on the first, and didn't execute his plan on the second.

After using the drop shot effectively against the extremely quick Kennedy to build his lead, Mayew went to it again on his second set point. It was a good drop shot, and Kennedy could do no more than get it back over the net, but Mayew's backhand passing shot missed and Kennedy won the next two points to get back to 5-all.

"His drop shot, I told him after the match, it's really something, it might be better than Alcaraz's," Kennedy said. "His backhand drop shot was world class and it was effective; it won't work all the time but he executed it very well."

Mayew acknowledged that his dropshot was working well, but said that Kennedy was also having success against him with that shot.

"He started using it as well," said Mayew. "We both play pretty aggressive games, so we like to push each other side to side, so to throw in a drop shot is a nice mixup."

Mayew went up 4-2 in the second set, but Kennedy broke back in the next game and after three holds, Mayew was in trouble again serving at 5-all. Kennedy hit a winner off a good, not great drop shot attempt and then the errors began to multiply for Mayew. At 15-40, he made an unforced forehand error to give Kennedy the opportunity to serve out the match.

Kennedy looked shaky on the first two points, with a poor drop shot and a missed volley putting him in a hole. When Mayew made a difficult forehand overhead for 15-40, the match looked headed for a tiebreaker, but Mayew missed a routine backhand to squander the first break point. On the second Kennedy hit a ball deep in the corner that Mayew thought was out, but the chair umpire did not agree and Kennedy was back to deuce.  He then came up with a second serve ace to get to match point, and converted it with a forehand winner.


Kennedy anticipated that Mayew would not be looking for a serve out wide in that situation.

"During the match, he was running around his backhand to hit the forehand, so I said, ok, I think he's going to do it here," Kennedy said. "I just trusted my game, went for it and hoped for the best. But me and my coach have been working on that quite a bit and it really pays off, in the biggest moments."

Mayew was impressed with Kennedy's game, despite his relatively young age.

"You saw some of the points out there," said Mayew, who has verbally committed to North Carolina for 2025. "His level right now was just too good for me today, but I think I brought a high level myself and I challenged him well. It could have gone either way, one or two points and that was the match. It wasn't like I should have done anything crazy different."

Mayew said he was unsure of his schedule in the next few months, but it will definitely include his first junior slams this summer in Paris and London. 

"It's a first time for me, so I'll try to figure it out," said Mayew, who may play some of the tournaments leading up to Roland Garros this spring. "I never played on red clay before, but I did pretty well on green clay, got to semifinals of Clays last year. I'm looking forward to it, it's a junior slam, my first time, so I'm just going to enjoy the experience."

Kennedy played two J60s on the red clay in Spain last spring, winning one and reaching the final of the other, so he is eager to get back on the surface.

"I haven't played that much on the red clay, but I do enjoying playing on the clay," said Kennedy. "I can slide well, it's a little slower of a court and I prefer that. All in all, I think I prefer clay to hard courts."

Kennedy has a Florida family vacation coming up and then will represent the United States in the Junior Davis Cup North and Central American qualifying in the middle of April.

At the $25,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Calabasas California, 18-year-old Nishesh Basavareddy and 17-year-old wild card Trevor Svajda will play for the title Sunday after posting wins today. Stanford sophomore Basavareddy, the No. 8 seed, defeated Charlie Broom(Dartmouth/Baylor) 6-0, 5-7, 6-3, while SMU freshan Svajda advanced when Samir Banerjee(Stanford) retired after losing the first set 7-6(3). 

The Easter Bowl began today for the 12s and 14s, with the 16s and 18s beginning Monday. The draws are now up for the older age divisions at the USTA tournament site.

The recap of today's action from Steve Pratt is below:

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (March 23, 2024) – The two top-seeded players in the 14s singles division opened up play at the 56th FILA Easter Bowl taking different routes to the second round on Saturday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.  

 

Girls’ 14s No. 1 Reiley Rhodes of Annapolis. Md, started fast with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Ksia Chen of Lafayette, Colo. The Boys’ 14s No. 1 barley survived his first-round match as Safir Azam from Redmond, Wash., had to come back after dropping the first set to beat Jose Vasquez of Boca Raton, Fla., 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

 

Rhodes will next face Saanchi Dalal of Cary, N.C., in the second round. Azam will play Raj Pisal of Pleasanton, Calif., on Sunday.

 

The 14-year-old Rhodes was forced to retire mid-match in tine finals of the 14s National Indoors last November due to a groin injury, The finals appearance was Rhodes’ first USTA National Silver Ball in singles and she also has one in doubles. 

 

Rhodes is playing her third FILA Easter Bowl and called it her favorite tournament. “It’s amazing to be here,” said Rhodes, before her doubles match at Palm Valley Country Club where she is playing with Bella Arwood of Georgia and the pair come in as the No. 5 seeded team. “Last year was my first year in the 14s and I lost in the first round and two years ago I made it to the Round of 16s in the 12s. It’s great to be the No. 1 seeded this year.”

 

Rhodes is traveling this week with her father Keith Rhodes and trains at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md., and coached by Ali Agnamba.  

 

Also moving on in the 14s was No. 2 seeded Andrew Johnson, who trains with Peter Smith at the famed Kramer Club in Rolling Hills. Johnson is playing with all the confidence in the world coming off singles and doubles titles at the 14s Winternationals in January after winning the Junior Orange Bowl a month before.

 

The top seeds in the boys’ and girls’ 12s – Smyan Thuta from San Jose, Calif., and Nikol Davletshina from Boca Raton, Fla. – both won easily with Thuta downing Jacques Chen from Jericho, N.Y., and Davletshina dropping just one game against Gabriela Hernandez of Virginia. 

 

FILA Easter Bowl matches will once again be live-streamed on www.EasterBowl.com with Fox Sports Radio and Tennis Channel commentator Bryan Fenley handling the play-by-play duties.

 

Friday, March 22, 2024

Indian Wells ITF J300 Recap; Mayew Versus Kennedy in Boys ITF J300 San Diego Final, Jovic and Penickova Reach Girls Championship Match; Stanford Teammates, SMU's Svajda Reach Calabasas $25K Semifinals

©Colette Lewis 2024--
San Diego California--


Wild card Rudy Quan and unseeded Valerie Glozman were not projected to claim their first ITF Junior Circuit titles last week in Indian Wells, but the former Easter Bowl champions proved their mettle once again at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. If you weren't able to follow my daily coverage, my recap, posted today at the Tennis Recruiting Network, will bring you up to speed on a good week for American juniors, with all four champions from the United States.

The odds for US champions were even greater this week in San Diego, with the ITF J300 tournament open only to players from the United States and Canada. Although Quan and Glozman did not compete this week, Americans will sweep the championships again after all-US singles semifinals and doubles finals were played today at the Barnes Tennis Center.


The first player into the final was top seed Iva Jovic, who also was a finalist last year. The 16-year-old from California has spent very little time on court this week, losing only six games; this morning's match with wild card Elizabeth Ionescu was even shorter than her previous three contests, with Ionescu retiring down 4-0 with an injury to her left knee.

"When I saw her walking to the court, I could tell there was something wrong," Jovic said. "So I just told myself to make some balls in the court, test it out, see how she's was feeling. The court was very open, so I tried to open it up with wide serve targets then hitting the open court. Unfortunately she was hurting really bad, which sucks; she's a good friend of mine, so I hope she feels better soon."

Jovic got to know the 15-year-old from Pennsylvania during a  training block at the USTA National Campus. 

"I roomed with her at the Orlando dorms a month ago," Jovic said. "Roommates, you meet someone pretty closely, so we became good friends there."

That interaction in Lake Nona also provided Jovic will a feel for how Ionescu would play.

"I definitely had a good idea of how I was going to play her, but there wasn't much of a match today because of physical circumstances," Jovic said. "But she's a great player, and I know it would have been a fight if she was healthy."


Jovic, who lost to Clervie Ngounoue 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-0 in last year's final, will face No. 11 seed Kristina Penickova, who came back to post a 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 win over No. 4 seed Aspen Schuman. Schuman received changeover treatment for cramping down 1-4 in the second set, and Penickova didn't lose a game after that.

It was Penickova's first win over Schuman, after losing to her in straight sets in both the Pan American Closed J300 last September and the USTA Winter Nationals last December.

"I was definitely more patient and consistent today," said the 14-year-old from California, who will be playing in her second J300 final of the year and her career Saturday. "The two times I played her I tried to be too aggressive and I would make the mistake in the end. I mean, she would hit really good shots and we would have really good rallies, but today I was patient and consistent with my shots."

Once she dropped the first set, Penickova vowed to change the match dynamic.

"I think I just changed my mindset a little bit, I was just like, I'm going to grind now, not miss at all," said the Eddie Herr 16s champion. "I was making more mistakes, going for a little too much in the first set, so I was like, I'm not going to miss now, stay consistent and wait for her mistake. I did feel like around 2-1 in the second, she started to move a little slower, but I tried not to be too conscious of that, to start getting ahead of myself. So I just tried to continue to play my game, pretend like nothing's happening and I think that worked."

Penickova admitted that not only did her 0-2 record against Schuman provide motivation, but her win over twin sister Annika in the quarterfinal also made today's victory a high priority.

"Yesterday was really tough," Penickova said. "Playing your sister is never great, but it is what it is. By now we know, one of us is going to win and we wish the best for the other one after the win, so yeah, I felt this (win today) was a little more important, since I beat her yesterday, I felt the need to show her I can win."

Penickova and Jovic haven't played before, but have practiced together, so Penickova is familiar with Jovic's game.

"I'll need to stay really consistent and really positive, because I think for me, staying positive really helps," said Penickova, who lost in the second round here last year. "Consistency, but stay aggressive as well. I've played her in practice matches before and I know she likes to be aggressive, so I don't want to be passive."


The boys final will feature two of the hottest players on the ITF Junior Circuit, with No. 7 seed Ian Mayew, 20-1 this year, taking on No. 8 seed Jack Kennedy, 22-3, who lost in last week's J300 Indian Wells final.

Mayew defeated No. 3 seed and 2023 finalist Roy Horovitz 6-2, 7-5 in a first-time meeting that lasted just short of two hours.

Mayew, who lost in the singles quarterfinals at Indian Wells last week and won the doubles title, said that his first loss of the year, to top seed Kaylan Bigun, didn't dent his confidence.

"I knew my level was still there, even if I lost to Kaylan," said the 17-year-old from North Carolina. "It didn't ruin my confidence at all, so I came in here with the same mindset, that I'm coming off great tennis and I know I can compete with anyone out here."

Mayew got an early break in both sets against Horovitz, but he couldn't serve out the match at 5-4, which didn't faze him.

"The second set was a lot closer, we had a lot longer points because he really locked it down, cut down his errors," said Mayew, who has verbally committed to North Carolina for 2025. "I had broken him a lot before; his serve is very tricky, has a lot of spin on it, but I felt I could get a racquet on it every time."

Mayew did break back immediately after getting broken, and converted his his second opportunity to serve it out.


Kennedy also had a slight blip closing out his 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 10 seed Nikita Filin. 

The 15-year-old from New York had a 5-1 lead in the second set and served for it at 5-2, but Filin broke and held to put the pressure back on Kennedy. 

"At 5-2 he raised his level, put in a good return game and got a little momentum," Kennedy said. "He had a good service game at 5-3, so I kind of slowed things down to calm down the momentum a little bit. At 30-all I played a good point, hit a good approach and he missed a lob, so after that I had a little more of the momentum and confidence for that 40-30 point and was able to close it out."

Kennedy and Mayew will be meeting for the first time, but are well aware of the other's success this year.

"He's been on a good run recently and I think he's really confident," Kennedy said. "I've been more confident recently, with the results I've been having, so that just shows it's going to be a good match tomorrow, that we're both going to bring a high level. I'm looking forward to it, and another learning experience."

"He's a pretty young kid and he's also having a really good run," Mayew said. "He's balling out right now, so it's going to be a great final tomorrow, I'm sure of it."


While both singles finals will be a first-time meeting, the girls doubles final, played during the four semifinals in singles, was definitely not. No. 7 seeds Alanis Hamilton and Kayla Chung got their revenge on No. 3 seeds Kate Fakih and Olivia Center, taking the title 6-4, 6-3.

Unseeded Fakih and Center had beaten No. 4 seeds Hamilton and Chung 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 on the very same Barnes Tennis Center Stadium Court, in the final of last August's USTA 18s National Championships.

"We definitely had motivation," said the 16-year-old Chung, who partnered with Hamilton to claim the USTA Winter National 18s and Easter Bowl 16s titles last year. "And we really did well on our service games. We pretty much had an easy time holding throughout the match and we kind of mixed it up well on the close deuce points."

"I agree we were serving pretty well," said the 16-year-old Hamilton, who reached the Indian Wells ITF final last week with Claire An. "A high first serve percentage and knocking off the volleys very easily, which helped us big time. And early on, in both sets, we got a break which I believe was one of the most important games. We've been in this situation multiple times now, so I think we went out there today loose and just ready."

Chung and Hamilton did not lose a set all week, so when Hamilton dropped serve on a deciding point with a double fault serving for the match at 5-2, they didn't panic, and broke Fakih in the next game on another deciding point.


The boys doubles final, played in the afternoon with Horovitz needing rest after his singles semifinal, pitted the top two seeds, with Australian Open boys doubles champions Max Exsted and Cooper Woestendick beating No. 1 seeds Horovitz and Razeghi 6-4, 7-6(3).

Woestendick and Exsted won the first set on a deciding point with a huge first serve by Woestendick, and they came up big late in the second set, saving four set points on serve, at 4-5 and 5-6.

"Cooper came up clutch, we both came up clutch in the big moments," said the 17-year-old Exsted, who won the doubles title last year with Nikita Filin. "When it comes down to small margins I think we have an edge."

"I feel like we've just have enough trust in each other, we've played with each other enough, we're confident in each other so we know what we're going to do," said Woestendick, also 17. "So it's not just the big points, but every point. We know our patterns, and have been doing that pretty well, and on the big points, can you play simple tennis. And we did that pretty well today."

Woestendick and Exsted didn't drop a set all week, with their last three matches all ending with scores of 6-4, 7-6.

"In each of them we were up a set and a break and we let them back in it," Woestendick said. "These guys played really well and we got lucky to win the (second) set."

Woestendick and Exsted have now won two J300 titles and a junior slam this year, with their only loss of the year in the quarterfinals last week at Indian Wells.

The singles finals are both scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, in the hope of beating the rain that is predicted to arrive during the day.

At the $25,000 USTA men's Pro Circuit tournament in Calabasas California, Stanford sophomores Nishesh Basavareddy and Samir Banerjee have advanced to Saturday's semifinals. Basavareddy, the No. 8 seed, defeated No. 3 seed and last week's Bakersfield $25K champion Brandon Holt(USC) 6-1, 6-3; the unseeded Banerjee beat qualifier Pablo Masjuan Ginel(UC-Santa Barbara) of Spain 6-3, 6-2.  Stanford freshman Kyle Kang lost to Charlie Broom(Dartmouth/Baylor) of Great Britain 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, but he and teammate Neel Rajesh, who received a wild card, have reached the doubles final.

Basavareddy will play Broom, with Banerjee taking on 17-year-old wild card Trevor Svajda. Svajda, a freshman at SMU, defeated Karue Sell(UCLA) of Brazil 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a match that finished at 9:30 p.m. Pacific time.