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| Alex Domijan upset No. 13 seed Karim Maamoun for his 12th straight ITF win© juniortennis.com |
By Andrew Labovitz, special to USTA.com
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Day three at the Dunlop Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships brought another strong showing by the American contingency. And as was the case on Monday, Tuesday’s action saw very few seeds fall, especially in the boys’ and girls’ 18s draws, each of which lost only two seeded players.
Americans were especially dominant in the girls’ 18s draw, as eight of 10 who saw action today advanced to the second round, led by Asia Muhammad, a 17-year-old from Henderson, Nev., who received a wild card based on her WTA ranking of No. 406. Muhammad put on a dazzling display of serves and groundstrokes, as she powered past No. 8 seed Heather Watson of Great Britain, 6-4, 6-3. Elsewhere, No. 11 Lauren Embree, who beat the aforementioned Watson on Sunday in the girls’ 18s final at the Eddie Herr Invitational, continued her recent string of success, as she beat Omani Fatma Al Nabhani, 6-4, 6-0.
Four American qualifiers were among Tuesday’s girls’ 18s winners, including two, ChiChi Scholl of Pompano Beach, Fla., and Hanna Mar of Burr Ridge, Ill., who needed wild cards just to get into the qualifying tournament. A third qualifier, 16-year-old Courtney Dolehide of Hinsdale, Ill., wasted little time in defeating Thailand’s Kanyapat Narattana, 6-4, 6-1, but she will face a much sterner test in the second round against No. 2 seed Laura Robson. Robson, the British 14-year-old who burst onto the international scene this summer when she won the girls’ title at Wimbledon, cruised in her opening-round match, beating Russia’s Julia Samuseva, 6-2, 6-1.
The most surprising girls’ 18s result came compliments of 14-year-old Russian Daria Gavrilova, who last week won the girls’ 14s title at the Eddie Herr but is playing in the girls’ 18s draw this week. Gavrilova stunned No. 15 Jacqueline Cako of Brier, Wash., 6-7 (7), 6-2, 7-5, in an extremely competitive match that featured a number of long rallies and saw Gavrilova fight off two match points at 4-5 in the third set before ripping off three straight games to advance.
The boys’ 18s draw featured the biggest upset of the day, as No. 3 Guillaume Rufin of France was defeated in a see-saw affair by Julen Uriguen, a 17-year-old Guatemalan, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-2. Uriguen remained hot after reaching the final of last week’s Eddie Herr, but perhaps no player in the draw is as hot as Alex Domijan of Wesley Chapel, Fla., who beat Uriguen in the Eddie Herr final and who today knocked out No. 13 Karim Maamoun of Egypt, 6-1, 6-0. It was Domijan’s 12th straight win in ITF events.
The other top seeds, including No. 2 Yuki Bhambri of India, No. 5 Jose Pereira of Brazil and No. 6 Chase Buchanan of New Albany, Ohio, all advanced with relatively easy straight-set victories. The draw’s best match featured US Open boys’ finalist Devin Britton of Jackson, Miss., pitted against Russia’s Mikhail Biryukov. The evenly matched players split the first two sets and then battled each other into a third-set tiebreaker, as the crowd began to gather around their court. The momentum swung back and forth in the breaker, but Britton’s big serve and relentless serve-and-volley style ultimately proved too much for Biryukov, and Britton prevailed, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5).
The boys’ and girls’ 16s draws featured second-round play on Tuesday, and the top three seeds in both draws all advanced to the third round with straight-set victories. However, boys’ 16s No. 4 Junior Ore of Gaithersburg, Md., was upset 6-3, 6-0, in an overpowering performance by Shane Vinsant of Keller, Texas. In an even bigger surprise, relatively unknown qualifier Alexander Petrone, a 15-year-old from Staten Island, N.Y., had spectators questioning why they hadn’t heard his name before, as he outlasted No. 16 Christian Harrison, the younger brother of top American junior Ryan Harrison, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. Petrone pounded his groundstrokes all day, and despite blowing a 5-2 lead in the second set, he never lost his composure, as he regained control and eventually ran away with the final set.
The girls’ 16s draw was highlighted by two 13-year-olds from Boca Raton, Fla., No. 3 Madison Keys and Breaunna Addison, both of whom won while ceding just three games combined. Grace Min, a 14-year-old from Lawrenceville, Ga., also put forth a dominating performance, beating No. 15 Elianna Douglas-Miron of Canada, 6-1, 6-1. And two wild cards, Lauren Herring of Greenville, N.C., and Ann Mamalat of Philadelphia, also advanced to the third round.
Wednesday will feature another full day of action, as the 18s draws will play a full slate of second-round matches, while the 16s competitors will try and earn their slot in the quarterfinals.
62nd Annual Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships
Crandon Park Tennis Center
Key Biscayne, Fla.
Dec. 7-14, 2008
Tuesday’s Results:
Boys’ 18s Singles – First Round
Richard Hampel, Czech Republic, def. Q-Adrian Forberg Skogeng, Norway, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Jordan Cox, Duluth, Ga., def. Q-Alessandro Bega, Italy, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(9)
Alex Domijan, Wesley Chapel, Fla., def. (13) Karim Maamoun, Egypt, 6-1, 6-0
Q-Emilio Gomez, Ecuador, def. WC-William Parker, Shelby, N.C., 6-1, 6-3
Julen Uriguen, Guatemala, def. (3) Guillaume Rufin, France, 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-2
Jarmere Jenkins, College Park, Ga., def. Sudanwa Sitaram, India, 6-2, 6-0
Devin Britton, Jackson, Miss., def. Mikhail Biryukov, Russia, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5)
(12) Blaz Rola, Slovenia, def. Q-Ulrik Thomsen, Denmark, 6-3, 6-3
Evan King, Chicago, def. Grant Ive, South Africa, 6-3, 6-3
Q-Nikoloz Basilashvili, Georgia, def. James Seal, Chattanooga, Tenn., 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
(5) Jose Pereira, Brazil, def. Johannes Van Overbeek, Boca Raton, Fla., 6-2, 6-3
(6) Chase Buchanan, New Albany, Ohio, def. Q-Alejandro Gomez, Colombia, 6-0, 6-1
(16) Dino Marcan, Croatia, def. Q-Dino Dell’orto, Hong Kong, 7-5, 6-3
Q-Gabriel Dias, Brazil, def. WC-Kyle McMorrow, Thousand Oaks, Calif., 6-3, 6-3
(11) Nikala Scholtz, South Africa, def. LL-Emanuele Molina, Italy, 6-2, 6-4
(2) Yuki Bhambri, India, def. WC-Dennis Novikov, Boca Raton, Fla., 6-0, 6-2
Girls’ 18s Singles – First Round
WC-Nicole Gibbs, Manhattan Beach, Calif., def. Q-Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada, 6-0, 6-0
Daria Gavrilova, Russia, def. (15) Jacqueline Cako, Brier, Wash., 6-7(7), 6-2, 7-5
(12) Anna Orlik, Belarus, def. Ivete Dapkute, Lithuania, 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
WC-Christina McHale, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., def. Q-Hao-Ching Chan, Chinese Taipei, 6-1, 6-0
WC-Asia Muhammad, Henderson, Nev., def. (8) Heather Watson, Great Britain, 6-4, 6-3
(6) Beatrice Gumulya, Indonesia, def. Hannah James, Great Britain, 6-4, 7-5
Q-ChiChi Scholl, Pompano Beach, Fla., def. Chantal Skamlova, Slovakia, 6-3, 6-1
(11) Lauren Embree, Marco Island, Fla., def. Fatma Al Nabhani, Oman, 6-4, 6-0
Q-Allie Will, Boca Raton, Fla., def. Christi Potgieter, South Africa, 6-2, 6-1
Q-Hanna Mar, Burr Ridge, Ill., def. Monika Tumova, Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-3
(4) Ajla Tomljanovic, Croatia, def. Q-Nadejda Guskova, Russia, 0-6, 6-4, 6-0
Amandine Hesse, France, def. Q-Alexandra Anghelescu, Norcross, Ga., 6-2, 7-5
Q-Courtney Dolehide, Hinsdale, Ill. def. Kanyapat Narattana, Thailand, 6-4, 6-1
(2) Laura Robson, Great Britain, def. Julia Samuseva, Russia, 6-1, 6-2
Boys’ 16s Singles – Second Round
(1) Denis Kudla, Arlington, Va., def. Cristian Chavez, Colombia, 6-2, 6-0
(13) Nicholas Jones, Great Britain def. WC-Evan Song, Henderson, Nev., 6-4, 6-4
George Morgan, Great Britain, def. WC-Dennis Mkrtchian, Reseda, Calif., 6-4, 7-6(5)
Spencer Newman, Miami, def. Elliot Barnwell, Great Britain, 6-4, 6-3
Shane Vinsant, Keller, Texas, def. (4) Junior Ore, Gaithersburg, Md., 6-3, 6-0
Spencer Simon, Santa Barbara, Calif., def. (15) Dovydas Sakinis, Lithuania, 7-6(1), 6-4
Ben Davis, Great Britain, def. Jeremy Efferding, Lake Worth, Fla., 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
LL-Bjorn Fratangelo, Pittsburgh, def. Q-Cedrik Commin, France, 6-4, 7-5
WC-Marcos Giron, Thousand Oaks, Calif., def. (8) Diego Acosta, Ecuador, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
(12) Mitchell Frank, Annandale, Va., def. WC-Dane Webb, Richardson, Texas, 6-1, 6-3
Arturs Kazijevs, Latvia, def. WC-Jack Sock, Lincoln, Neb., 7-6(3), 6-4
(3) Gianni Mina, France, def. Edward Nguyen, Canada, 6-3, 6-4
Lewis Burton, Great Britain, def. Lucas Vrnak, Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-3
Saurabh Singh, India, def. WC-Daniel Kosakowski, Downey, Calif., 7-5, 6-3
Q-Alexander Petrone, Staten Island, N.Y., def. (16) Christian Harrison, New Braunfels, Texas, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2
(2) Raymond Sarmiento, Fontana, Calif., def. Q-Wyatt McCoy, Shoreview, Minn., 6-0, 6-0
Girls’ 16s Singles – Second Round
(1) Eugenie Bouchard, Canada, def. Q-Clothilde De Bernardi, France, 6-3, 6-2
Daria Salnikova, Russia, def. (16) Karyna Alesha, Belarus, 6-2, 6-2
(12) Emma Onila, Canada, def. LL-Belinda Niu, Portland, Ore., 4-6, 7-6(10), 6-4
Monica Turewicz, Los Gatos, Calif., def. Ellen Tsay, Pleasanton, Calif., 7-6(3), 6-0
(3) Madison Keys, Boca Raton, Fla., def. Renata Arshavskaya, Russia, 6-1, 6-1
Breaunna Addison, Boca Raton, Fla., def. Elisabeth Abanda, Canada, 6-1, 6-0
WC-Ann Mamalat, Philadelphia, def. Rio Kitagawa, Japan, 6-0, 6-2
Natalija Kostic, Serbia, def. (5) Khristina Blajkevitch, Canada, 6-3, 6-3
Giuliana Olmos, Fremont, Calif., def. WC-Melissa Kopinski, Palos Hills, Ill., 6-3, 6-4
Caitlyn Williams, Knoxville, Tenn., def. (9) Liat Zimmerman, Israel, 7-6(0), 6-1
WC-Lauren Herring, Greenville, N.C., def. (15) Tristan Dewar, Bradenton, Fla., 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
(4) Marianne Jodoin, Canada, def. LL-Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Belarus, 7-6(2), 6-7(2), 6-2
(8) Emi Mutaguchi, Japan, def. Q-Juliana Gajic, Canada, 6-2, 6-2
Chanelle Van Nguyen, Miami def. Q-Leolia Jeanjean, France, 6-3, 6-3
Grace Min, Lawrenceville, Ga., def, (14) Elianna Douglas-Miron, Canada, 6-1, 6-1
(2) Cristina Dinu, Romania, def. Annie Mulholland, Bradenton, Fla., 6-4, 6-1