By Joshua Rey, special to USTA.com
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – Daria Gavrilova coughed, Monica Turewicz cramped and the Dunlop Orange Bowl nearly came away with a monumental upset, as Girls’ 18s and Boys’ 18s play began at the Crandon Park Tennis Center on Monday.
World No. 1 Gavrilova overcame illness and resistance from her American opponent to escape with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory in two hours and 42 minutes.
"It was really windy, which made it hard to figure out when the ball was leaving and when the ball was going short," said Gavrilova. "We were both missing a lot."
Turewicz (Saratoga, Calif.), who will play college tennis at Duke next season, appeared anything but intimidated against the reigning US Open and Youth Olympic Games champion.
The lefty Turewicz led 3-2 in the first set and 3-1 in the second, thanks to a mix of slice backhands and topspin forehands. But she could not consolidate her service breaks in either set, as the Russian rebounded with inside-out forehands and delicate drop shots.
Leading 6-3, 5-4, Gavrilova failed to serve out the match, when Turewicz guessed right to retrieve an overhead smash, dipping a passing shot that drew the Russian’s volley into the net.
After holding serve, Turewicz claimed the seventh break of the second set when Gavrilova double-faulted, evening the match at one-set all.
The 16-year-old from Moscow said that her second-set struggles were all in her head.
"Step in; you have to dominate," Gavrilova said she told herself at the start of the third set.
That line of thinking worked, as she grabbed a 2-1 lead by bashing back-to-back forehand return winners off second serves.
Turewicz hit two forehand winners of her own to break back in the sixth game and then held at love to take a 4-3 lead.
But as the top seed struggled to contain her emotions, the future Blue Devil was troubled with cramps. Though Turewicz held a game point to reach 5-4, she was broken when Gavrilova found the sideline with an inside-out forehand.
The 5-foot-5 fighter clinched victory on her first match point, when Turewicz misfired on a backhand.
While Gavrilova has proven herself the queen of junior tennis in 2010, 17-year-old Caroline Garcia of France has made a name for herself on the pro tour, defeating former world No. 11 Alize Cornet at a $100,000 tournament in June.
Garcia’s opponent on Monday was Skylar Morton (Bethesda, Md.), a wild card whose ITF World Junior ranking of 328 is lower than Garcia’s WTA Tour ranking of 273. That makes Morton’s 6-4, 6-1 victory over the sixth-seeded Garcia all the more impressive.
With winds wrecking havoc on other players’ shots, Morton’s strokes barely made a sound as the ball bounced off her strings.
"Last week, I played at the Eddie Herr [tournament], and I lost in the first round," said Morton. "I had a lot of time to practice, and I played a lot of matches, so I was confident going into this match."
Also advancing to the second round was Ashley Dai (Temple City, Calif.), who edged her friend Rio Kitagawa of Japan, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (4). Dai and Kitagawa practice together at Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, Calif.
"It’s kind of hard to play people who you train with everyday," said Dai. "Until the third set, we were playing tentatively, but as the match escalated, we started playing better and better."
Asked about the difficult playing conditions, the well-spoken Dai said that she doesn’t think about the wind because she doesn’t do well when she thinks.
She also blocked out the memory of her 6-0, 6-0 loss to Kitagawa at a Grade 3 event in Morocco over the spring.
"I guess it’s fate," said Dai. "God’s not going to give you something you can’t pass. He’s always going to give you opportunities… This was a chance to show how much I’ve improved since then."
In all, five American wild cards won Girls’ 18s first-round matches: Dai, Morton, Victoria Duval (Norcross, Ga.), Jan Abaza (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and Gabrielle Andrews (Pomona, Calif.).
In Boys’ 18s play, unseeded Maxim Dubarenco of Moldova saved three break points in the last game of his first set against No. 14 seed Shane Vinsant (Keller, Texas). The highest-ranked American boy in the tournament recovered for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory.
"I was kind of kicking myself, walking over after the first set," said Vinsant. "But I feel like I always come out with a new set and start over, just let it go."
Vinsant’s countryman Christian Harrison (Bradenton, Fla.) was not as fortunate, falling 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 to Hong Chung of Korea in a match that showcased spectacular volleys from both players.
Harrison, 16, is on the comeback trail after a lingering leg injury kept him off the court for 18 months. In the interim, he’s watched his older brother Ryan rise into the top 200 on the ATP World Tour.
On Tuesday, Boys’ and Girls’ 18s action continues at the Crandon Park Tennis Center, while Boys’ and Girls’ 16s second-round play takes place at the Biltmore Tennis Center in Coral Gables.
Admission to the 2010 Dunlop Orange Bowl is free.
64th Dunlop Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships
Crandon Park Tennis Center
Key Biscayne, Fla.
December 5-12, 2010
Monday’s Results:
Girls’ 18s Singles – First Round
[1] Daria Gavrilova (Russia) d. Monica Turewicz (Saratoga, Calif.) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
[10] Daria Salnikova (Russia) d. Veronika Zavodska (Czech Republic) 6-1, 6-3
[WC] Victoria Duval (Norcross, Ga.) d. Saska Gavrilovska (Serbia) 6-3, 6-1
[WC] Jan Abaza (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) d. Eri Hozumi (Japan) 6-1, 6-3
[3] Monica Puig (Puerto Rico) d. Ester Goldfeld (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 6-3, 6-4
[WC] Gabrielle Faith Andrews (Pomona, Calif.) d. Darya Lebesheva (Belarus) 6-1, 6-2
Ran Tian (China) d. Annie Mulholland (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) 6-3, 6-3
[WC] Ashley Dai (Temple City, Calif.) d. Rio Kitagawa (Japan) 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(4)
[WC] Skylar Alexander Morton (Bethesda, Md.) d. [6] Caroline Garcia (France) 6-4, 6-1
Klara Fabikova (Czech Republic) d. Victoria Kan (Russia) 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
Indy de Vroome (Netherlands) d. Petra Rohanova (Czech Republic) 6-0, 0-6, 6-2
[4] Irina Khromacheva (Russia) d. Gabrielle Desimone (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) 6-1, 6-4
Margarita Gasparyan (Russia) d. Jessica Pegula (Boca Raton, Fla.) 6-3, 6-3
[12] Hao Chen Tang (China) d. Miyu Kato (Japan) 6-3, 6-2
[13] Natalija Kostic (Serbia) d. [WC] Kelsey Laurente (Miramar, Fla.) 6-3, 6-3
Viktoriya Tomova (Bulgaria) d. Alison van Uytvanck (Belgium) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
Boys’ 18s Singles – First Round
Chuhan Wang (China) d. [WC] Michael Redlicki (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
[14] Shane Vinsant (Keller, Texas) d. Maxim Dubarenco (Moldova) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
Hong Chung (Korea) d. [WC] Christian Harrison (Bradenton, Fla.) 6-0, 2-6, 6-2
[8] Hugo Dellien (Bolivia) d. Maciej Smola (Poland) 6-3, 7-5
Karue Sell (Brazil) d. [15] Matthias Wunner (Germany) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Denys Mylokostov (Ukraine) d. Benjamin Lock (Zimbabwe) 6-1, 6-3
[WC] Evan Song (Henderson, Nev.) d. Patrick Elias (Germany) 6-1, 6-2
Vitor Galvao (Brazil) d. Xin Gao (China) 6-4, 6-1
[11] Mate Delic (Croatia) d. Mitchell Krueger (Aledo, Texas) 7-6(1), 6-1
[13] Vladyslav Manafov (Ukraine) d. Bruno Sant’Anna (Brazil) 7-6(7), 6-2
Marco Aurei Nuñez (Mexico) d. Robin Kern (Germany) 6-2, 6-3
[LL] Joseph van Dooren (Belgium) d. Dennis Novak (Austria) 7-6(3), 6-0
[9] George Morgan (Great Britain) d. Karim Hossam (Egypt) 6-1, 6-1
For Boys’ 16s and Girls’ 16s results from the Biltmore Tennis Center, please click on the draw links located at
DunlopOrangeBowl.com.