News

CARSON, Calif.  – They will likely meet again on the court; perhaps over the next four years. On Friday during Day 5 of the sixth annual USTA International Spring Championships it was UCLA recruit Daniel Kosakowski’s time to shine as he toppled top-seeded and future USC Trojan Raymond Sarmiento in a battle of Southern California baseliners in the boys’ 18s quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-4.

“Maybe it’ll be an All-UCLA final now,” said Kosakowski, referring to the other Southern Californian who won again Friday, fellow unseeded player and future Bruin teammate Clay Thompson. UCLA men’s coach Billy Martin was all smiles with what he saw, perhaps imaging national championships as he watched the future Bruins.

Sarmiento said he was simply outplayed, and that he was bothered by a sore back that he had to request treatment for during the match. It didn’t seem to faze Kosakowski one bit. “Nah, I was just trying to stay focused,” he said. “I came here to win the match so something like that wasn’t going to bother me.”

Kosakowski meets No. 6 seeded Nick Chappell in one semifinal while Thompson plays unseeded Daniel McCall in the other.

Two Canadian players recorded wins to make the girls’ 18s semifinals as top-seeded Katarena Palivets took out No. 5 Madison Keys in three sets and in a battle of unseeded players Juliana Gajic beat Sarah Lee of Los Angeles, 6-1, 6-3.

Gajic, who trains at the Roddick Lavalle Academy in San Antonio, Texas, next faces 14-year-old Sachia Vickery in the semifinals. “It’s pretty exciting to be all the way into the semifinals,” said Gajic, 17, who is ranked No. 319 in the junior ITF world rankings. “I just tried to put pressure on her from the start. I knew I could do it. Everything about my game is clicking right now and coming together at the right time.”

In the other semifinal, 15-year-old Southern Californian Krista Hardebeck of Santa Ana will play Palivets

In the boys’ 16s singles final, No. 9 seeded Jordan Daigle will play No. 11 Thai Kwiatkowski.

In the boys’ 16s doubles final, unseeded Jonathan Poon and Seth Stolar of the U.S. meets the unseeded team of Jonathan Hammel and Alex Scheinman of the U.S.

In the girls’ 16s singles final No. 10 seeded Alyssa Smith of the U.S. will face Japan’s Mayo Hibi, the No. 7 seed.

In the girls’ 16s doubles final, the top two teams will square off as Brooke Austin and Mia King face Hibi and Skylar Morton.

For more information on the tournament including scores and draws, log onto the website at www.usta.com/isc.

Clay Thompson, U.S., def. Bjorn Fratangelo, U.S., 6-2, 6-3

Daniel Kosakowski, U.S., def. Raymond Sarmiento (1), U.S., 6-1, 6-4

Nick Chappell (6), U.S., def. Gonzales Austin, U.S., 6-3, 6-0

Daniel McCall, U.S., def., Spencer Newman, U.S., 6-2, 6-2

Jordan Daigle (9), U.S., def. Luca Corinteli, U.S., 6-2, 2-6, 7-5

Thai Kwiatkowski (11), U.S., def. T.J. Pura (8), U.S., 6-2, 6-1

Krista Hardebeck, U.S., def. Monica Turewicz (6), U.S., 6-4, 6-3

Juliana Gajic, Canada, def. Sarah Lee, U.S., 6-1, 6-3

Sachia Vickery (8), U.S., def. Emina Bektas, U.S., 7-5, 6-1

Katarena Palivets (1), Canada, def. Madison Keys (5), U.S., 6-2, 4-6, 7-5

Alyssa Smith (10), U.S., def. Kiah Generette, U.S., 7-5, 4-6, 6-0

Mayo Hibi (7), Japan, def. Mia King (6), U.S., 6-4, 6-3

Darian King, U.S.-Raymond Sarmiento (1), U.S., def. Theodore Marin, U.S.-Justin Rossi, U.S., 6-3, 6-1

Emmett Egger, U.S.-Shane Visant (4), U.S., def. Chase Baker, U.S., Austin Smith, U.S., 6-0, 2-6, (10-7)

Chase Curry, U.S.-Wyatt McCoy, U.S., def. Morgan Mays, U.S.-Gino Meeuwsen, Netherlands Antilles, 2-6, 4-6, (10-4)

Connor Farren, U.S.-Dennis Novikov (6), U.S., def. Gabriel Flores Ruiz, Puerto Rico-Vitor Galvao (3), Brazil, 7-6 (4), 6-2

Jonathan Poon, U.S.-Seth Stolar, U.S., def. Justin Butsch, U.S.-Jose Gracia, U.S., 6-1, 6-3

Jonathan Hammel, U.S.-Alex Scheinman, U.S., def. Abraham Hewko, U.S.-Cristobal Rivera, U.S., 6-4, 2-6, (10-5)

Lauren Herring, U.S.-Grace Min (1), U.S., def. Desirae Krawczyk, U.S.-Brittney Sanders, U.S., 7-5, 6-2

Kyle McPhillips, U.S.-Chanelle Nguyen (5), U.S., def. Catherine Harrison, U.S.-Lynda Xepoleas, U.S., 6-2, 6-3

Ashley Dai, U.S.-Riko Shimizu, U.S., def. Julie Elbaba, U.S.-Krista Hardebeck, U.S., 6-3, 6-1

Ellen Tsay, U.S.-Monica Turewicz (4), U.S., def. Victoria Duval, U.S.-Caroline Price, U.S., 6-3, 7-6 (4)

Mayo Hibi, Japan-Skylar Morton (2), U.S., def. Katrine Steffensen, U.S.-Taylor Townsend (7), U.S., 6-2, 5-7, (10-7)

Brooke Austin, U.S.-Mia King (1), U.S., def. Sivan Krems, U.S.-Jana McCord, U.S., 6-2, 6-1