Baird, Boyer escape as girls' seeds cruise at ISC

While seeded players dominated in the girls' 18s draw at the USTA International Spring Championships, top boys' seeds Drew Baird and Tristan Boyer each battled through three-setters for the second consecutive round in Carson, Calif.

Baird, the No. 1 seed, stared down a match point in the second set against Canadian Cleeve Harper, before ultimately pulling through, 6-7, 7-5, 7-5. Harper, who sits at No. 368 in the ITF World Junior Rankings, served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but missed a backhand on his only match-point opportunity. The 17-year-old Baird took advantage by reeling off three consecutive games to take the set. 

At 5-2 in set three, the top seed looked to be in control, but Harper fought back to level at 5-5. The upset bid would end there, though, as Baird held his nerve to seal his place in the last 16. The 17-year-old from Holly Springs, N.C., will now face No. 13 Brandon Nakashima, who has not dropped a set in his two ISC matches. 

Boyer (pictured), the No. 2 seed, has now played six consecutive three-set matches, going back to the round of 16 at last week's Easter Bowl, where he won a USTA silver ball for his run to the boys' 18s final. The No. 9-ranked ITF junior was a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 winner over Christian Alshon.

The 16-year-old can now look forward to a third-round matchup with Brian Shi, who upset No. 14 Vikash Singh of India in round one.

In the two big upsets of the day, No. 4 Tyler Hilderbrand and No. 5 Emilio Nava both fell in straight sets. Qualifier Stefan Dostanic (Irvine, Calif.) took out Hilderbrand, 7-6, 6-2, while Cannon Kingsley (Northport, N.Y.) dismissed Nava, 6-4, 6-3.

In the girls' 18s draw, 12 of the 15 seeded players have advanced to the last 16. Round two was largely short on drama, save for a pair of third-set tiebreaks won by No. 8 Elli Mandlik and No. 14 Alexandra Vagramov. 

Mandlik (Delray Beach, Fla.), who sits at No. 90 in the ITF junior ranks, was a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 winner over Haley Giavara. Vagramov, of Canada, defeated Nikki Redelijk, 6-0, 3-6, 7-6. 

In the girls' 16s event, Easter Bowl finalist and No. 16-seeded India Houghton continued her hot streak by taking out No. 1 Mell Elizabeth Reasco Gonzalez, 6-3, 6-2. Joining the California native in the quarterfinals are: No. 2 Lauren G. Anzalotta-Kynoch, No. 4 Madison Sieg, No. 5 Maryam Ahmad, No. 7 Rachel Gailis, No. 8 Velizara Fileva, Daniella Benabraham and Anne Christine Lutkemeyer Obregon.

Boys' 16s quarterfinalists include: No. 1 Spencer Brachman, No. 2 Zachery Lim, No. 5 Maxwell McKennon, Muhammad Dossani, Max Fardanesh, John Kim, Ishaan Ravichander and Evan Wen.

Play will continue Thursday, as the field continues to trim ahead of this weekend's championship rounds.

For draws, schedules and live scoring from the 2018 USTA International Spring Championships, click here.