Sponsored by IMG Academy

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Four Girls Seeds Fall in Grass Court Second Round, Doubles Semifinalists Set

©Colette Lewis 2010--
Philadelphia, PA--

There are only two seeds left in the girls draw after Tuesday's second round at the ITF International Grass Courts, No. 1 Lauren Herring and No. 8 Kyle McPhillips.

On an unseasonably cool and breezy day at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the No. 2, 3, 6 and 7 seeds joined Nos. 4 & 5, who lost Monday, on the sidelines.

Unseeded Spencer Liang downed No. 2 seed Kelsey Laurente 7-5, 7-6(1) in one of the day's closest matches that featured many long points and deuce games. Skylar Morton took out No. 3 seed Juliana Gajic of Canada 6-3, 6-3, local player Anna Mamalat breezed past No. 6 seed Skylar Kuykendall 6-2, 6-0 and Jennifer Kellner took out No. 7 seed Laura Deigman of Great Britain 6-4, 6-1.

The two players that beat seeds in the opening round--Brooke Austin and Zoe Scandalis--also continued their runs, with Austin downing lucky loser Madison Cohen 6-1, 7-5 and Scandalis again coming back from a set down, this time beating qualifier Leighann Sahagun 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

McPhillips stuggled a bit with her serve early in the match against the big-hitting qualifier Maci Epstein, but McPhillips took control late in the second set to post a 6-4, 6-1 win. Herring also needed some time to figure out the game style of Thailand's Peeraya Charoensirisutthikul before coming away with a 6-4, 6-0 victory.

Boys top seed Bjorn Fratangelo had his difficulties against wild card Jordan Daigle, but recorded a 6-4, 6-4 win. In the first set, there were four consecutive breaks of serve from the third game on, and Fratangelo never looked comfortable on the grass, but he got another break in the ninth game. Serving for the first set, Fratangelo managed to get his first serve in on three key points, going from 30-40 to game, when Daigle couldn't get any of the three returns in play.

In the second set, there was only one break of serve, with Daigle serving at 3-3, and Fratangelo made it hold up, although Daigle had two game points with Fratangelo serving at 5-4. Daigle couldn't convert either, and Fratangelo advanced to the quarterfinals, where he'll meet wild card Maxx Lipman.

Lipman, the younger brother of two-time Grass Court finalist Ryan, proved too much for No. 8 seed Shaun Bernstein. Down 4-1 in the opening set, Lipman won the final five games of the first set and went on to a 6-4, 7-5 victory. The other quarterfinal match in the top half will feature qualifier Richard Del Nunzio against No. 6 seed Brandon Burke of Jamaica. Del Nunzio beat lucky loser Tyler Gardiner 6-2, 6-2, while Burke defeated Mac Styslinger 6-2, 6-1.

The day's only three-set match in the boys draw saw Evan Song fight back to post a 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 win over Harrison Richmond. Song will play Shane Vinsant, seeded No. 3, who beat qualifier Thai Kwiatkowski 7-6(4), 6-3. Mitchell Polnet, who had bounced No. 2 seed Alix Carlos of Mexico in the first round, kept rolling with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Christian Lee of Malaysia. He will play No. 5 seed Emmett Egger next, after Egger's 6-3, 6-4 victory over qualifier Anthony Delcore.

Because there is a likelihood of rain on Wednesday, there were two rounds of doubles played on Tuesday, meaning that Thursday's doubles semifinals are set.

Top seeds Carlos and Michael Zhu withdrew before the first match, and two other seeds were defeated in the first round, leaving only Egger and Vinsant, the No. 2 team, as seeds in the semifinals. Egger and Vinsant will meet Daniel Khanin and Richmond, who saved three match points in the match tiebreaker against No. 4 seeds Andrew Ochotta and Styslinger to earn a 1-6, 7-6(4), 14-12 decision in the first round. Khanin and Richmond then went on to beat Gardiner and Kwiatkowski, who had had a walkover in their first round, 6-0, 6-3. Egger and Vinsant were not extended past two sets in wins over Berstein and Spencer Simon in the first round and Daigle and Lipman in the second.

In the top half, Lee and Gino Meeuwsen of the Netherland Antilles prevailed over Fratangelo and Polnet 6-4, 3-6, 11-9. They will play Delcore and Vikram Hundal, who beat No. 3 seeds Burke and Alexander Petrone 6-3, 6-0 in the first round and Hunter Callahan and Song 6-3, 6-4 in the second.

In the girls doubles, the top two seeded teams advanced to the semifinals. Hai-Li Kong and Laurente, the No. 1 seeds, had a bye in the first round and beat Hanah Camhi and Charoensirisutthikul 6-4, 6-1 in the second round. Kong and Laurente will play unseeded Kellner and Mamalat, who took out No. 4 seeds Morton and Fausthyara Pietersz 6-3, 6-1 in the first round and Rima Asatrian and Ariana Rodriguez 6-2, 6-2 in the second round.

Liang not only had a big win in singles, but took two doubles wins as well. She and Sahagun beat No. 3 seeds Gajic and Kuykendall in the first round 6-4, 6-0 and edged past Johnnise Renaud and Scandalis 7-6(4), 2-6, 10-8 in the quarterfinals. Liang and Sahagun will play No. 2 seeds Herring and McPhillips, who downed Austin and Mia King 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round and Nelo Phiri and Nicolle Stracar 6-4, 6-0 in the day's second match.

For complete draws, see the TennisLink site.


getreal said...


Heard some stunning news. The USTA is probably going to give Andrea Collarini a WC into the Zoo. I get it that the kid used his dual citizenship to switch to the USTA for more funding at 18, and the USTA is desperate enough to embrace him with open money arms. And I don’t fault the kid looking for the best deal because that’s what professional athletes do. But the bottom line is that his parents are Argentinean , he grew up and was educated in Argentina and never played one point in a USTA junior tournament. For the USTA to grant him a WC to the Zoo is a real slap in the face to every American kid who grew up in the system. The USTA can just give him a WC into the Open Qualies and let him show his mettle but to give him a WC in to the Zoo is over the top even for the USTA. If indeed the USTA does give a WC is there a way to protest it after all the USAT is a non-profit subject to some kind accountability of to its members and I am a dues paying member. My other question is he is older than Ryan Harrison so why is he still hanging around the juniors anyway.

tennis said...

if collarini wins the ZOO a lot of american player and parents are not going to be very happy.

the group of 92 boys:
Kudla, Cox, King, Vanoverbeek, Sarmiento, Ore, Frank, Sock, Pasha, Chappell, Kosakowski, thompson, even harrison who wont be playing i presume has been one of the deepest years in a long time and i was looking forward to seeing the best battle it out for the title. Also, keep in mind the late 91's: Kandath, lin, bangoura, fowler, leslie. now of course a REAL american can still win but collarini will be the 1 seed due to ATP ranking and he has a decent chance of winning. This will be a great shame if this happens.

getreal said...

To tennis

Agree wit your point. The usta is supporting Collarini now so they clearly have the final input on his tournament schedule. If the USTA supports him playing the Zoo (can’t imagine he would play it w/out their input) would be very in your face to all the kids who developed and grew up in the USTA system. The USTA should be politically sensitive about integrating their new 11th hour recruit. Suggestion would be a WC to the qualies of the mens at the open. Will be interesting to see if the USTA does the right thing but not particularly hopeful.

tennisforlife said...

They did this repeatedly with Berman and so I assume they will do the same with Collarini- Who is accountable for this stuff - Maybe this time around they will at least insist he complete the tournament and play the backdraw like the rest of the mugs paying their USTA dues!!

USTA watcher said...

Berman is the greatest striker of the ball since Agassi. I can't believe the USTA let him go. He's better than all the players mentioned above. What a loss for U.S. tennis.

jokester said...

USTA Watcher...I'm assuming that was a joke with deep sarcasm. If not it will be taken as one by almost everyone on this thread.

tennisforlife said...

Jokester - I think what USAT watcher meant to say is that Berman is the greatest backdraw player since Agassi - I mean the results speak for themselves.

john said...

usta watcher you need to open your eyes