Michael Mmoh

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Sold Out @CitiOpen Saturday Play Sizzles; Tournament Steps Up to Match @Andy_Murray Ukraine Relief Funds

Posted by Admin on July 30, 2022
Posted in: ATP, ATP Qualifying, Citi Open, Washington, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Sold Out Citi Open Saturday Play Sizzles; Tournament Steps Up to Match @Andy_Murray Ukraine Relief Funds

Steve Fogleman in Washington

WASHINGTON–The opening day of the 2022 Citi Open was one of the most action-packed days I’ve witnessed in over 20 years of attendance at the pro tennis tournament at Rock Creek Park in Washington. In years past, qualifying weekend was a somewhat low key affair, with free tickets and food and bouncy houses to attract families to the event. Last year, the King of Clay featured a qualifying weekend sellout and a packed stadium for Rafael Nadal’s practice sessions. So I was a little surprised to see a full house today to cheer on American players trying to make it into the main draw and watch practice sessions for Venus Williams, Simona Halep and others.

I almost missed the first match of the day as Tulane alum Dominik Koepfer needed only 42 minutes to dispatch Ryan Colby, 6-0, 6-0. Tomorrow, Koepfer will look for a main draw berth with a win against 19-year-old Shintaro Mochizuki, who advanced 6-1, 6-2 against American Alex Lawson.

Michael Mmoh, who has roots in the Washington area, routined his compatriot Raymond Sarmiento, 6-4, 6-2, and will square off against fellow American J.C. Aragone, who needed three sets to knock off Bruno Kuzuhara, 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4.

The women’s top qualifying seed Xiyu Wang topped Jamie Loeb, 6-4, 6-1, and the seeded women’s qualifiers did quite well today, with Heather Watson (3), Catherine McNally (7) and Sachia Vickery (8) all advancing to a final tomorrow. A notable exception was the 6 seed, Yue Yuan, who lost in three sets to Louisa Chirico on Stadium Court.

And finally, Citi Open tournament owner Mark Ein had a special announcement of the top of Andy Murray’s pre-tournament press conference at noon today. Murray, who has earmarked his summer tour earnings for Ukraine relief funding, will have his donations matched by the tournament. Murray had preciously announced that he would donate his tour earnings to the UNICEF Ukraine fund and now has double the reason to keep winning.

Qualifying in Queens: 10 Americans Awarded @CincyTennis Wild Cards

Posted by Admin on August 7, 2020
Posted in: ATP, Cincinnati, New York, US Open, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Ten Americans Among Wild Card Recipients for Western & Southern Open Qualifying 

Cincy Media Center

The Queen City. Borough of Queens. Fuhgeddaboutit!

CINCINNATI (AUGUST 7, 2020) – The Western & Southern Open has awarded 11 wild cards to its qualifying field, with 10 Americans – including one Cincinnatian – among the recipients.
The five men and six women round out the 48-player qualifying fields. Two rounds of qualifying matches will be held Aug. 20-21, with a dozen women and 12 men joining the main draws, which will begin Aug. 22. All tournament action will take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
Cincinnati native JJ Wolf, who played at Ohio State, will be joined in ATP Tour qualifying by Sebastian Korda, Mackenzie McDonald, Michael Mmoh and Brandon Nakashima. Ohio State standout Francesca Di Lorenzo joins the WTA qualifying field along with CiCi Bellis, Anna Kalinskaya, Ann Li, Shelby Rogers and Katie Volynets.
Wolf owns four career Challenger titles and has been victorious in three of his last five events dating back to last season. He was 14-2 with two titles during the first two months of this year before play was suspended due to the pandemic. Wolf turned pro in 2019 after going 35-2 and earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors as a junior at Ohio State University. A graduate of Cincinnati Country Day, the 21-year-old will play Western & Southern Open qualifying for the third time in his career.

Sebastian Korda, 2018 AO Boy's Champion

Sebastian Korda, 2018 AO Boy’s Champion

Korda is a 20-year-old Floridian who reached a pair of Challenger finals last season. In 2018, he was the Australian Open junior champion. His father, Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open and was a two-time Western & Southern Open quarterfinalist (1992, 98).

Mackenzie McDonald, 2018 Citi Open (Photo: Tennis Atlantic)

Mackenzie McDonald, 2018 Citi Open (Photo: Tennis Atlantic)

McDonald, who owns a pair of Challenger titles, posted his best ATP result in early 2019 with a semifinal in Delray Beach. His season was then cut short due to a hamstring injury which kept him out of action until the start of the 2020 campaign. The former UCLA Bruin was the nation’s No. 1 collegiate player in 2016, a season he capped by winning the NCAA Singles and Doubles titles. Before enrolling at UCLA, McDonald became the third unranked player to qualify for an ATP Masters 1000 when he did so at the 2013 Western & Southern Open. This year the 25-year-old Californian is seeking his third main draw appearance at the tournament.
Mmoh owns five career Challenger titles, including last fall in Knoxville after he missed four months earlier in 2019 with injury. The 22-year-old Florida resident suffered the injury after a 2018 campaign that included quarterfinals at ATP events in Brisbane and Los Cabos along with a pair of Challenger titles. He was the USTA Boy’s 18s National Championship winner in 2016.
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Nakashima burst onto the pro scene in February with a run to the quarterfinals at Delray Beach in his ATP debut. He has reached the semifinals at three ATP Challenger Tour events since turning professional in the summer of 2019. The 19-year-old Californian was named ACC Freshman of the Year last year while playing for the University of Virginia.
Francesca DiLorenzo, 2019 Citi Open (TennisAtlantic.com)
Di Lorenzo was a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year and won an NCAA doubles championship during her career at Ohio State. As a professional, she has reached the second round at the US Open in each of the past two seasons. Born in Pittsburgh, the 23-year-old Di Lorenzo was raised in Columbus, Ohio. Her sister, Cristina, was a two-time All Big East honoree while playing tennis at Xavier University.

Cici Bellis, Charleston (Photo: Steve Fogleman/TennisAtlantic)

Cici Bellis

Bellis has reached the third round at three of the four Majors, most recently at this year’s Australian Open. The 21-year-old Californian is working her way back after undergoing four surgeries in 2018-19 on her right arm. The 2014 USTA Girl’s 18s National Champion, Bellis finished that year as the No. 1 ranked junior in the world.
Anna Kalinskaya, 2019 Citi Open (TennisAtlantic.com)
Kalinskaya is a seven-time winner on the ITF Circuit. In the second half of 2019, she posted her best career WTA results with a semifinal at Washington, D.C., and a quarterfinal at Tashkent. The 21-year-old Russian’s parents were both professional badminton players.
Li reached five finals while posting more than 40 match wins on the ITF Circuit in 2019. Early this season she made her Grand Slam tournament debut as a qualifier at the Australian Open. In 2017, she finished as runner-up in the Wimbledon Girls’ Championship. The 20-year-old Pennsylvania native owns two career ITF Circuit titles.

Shelby Rogers, 2017 Volvo Car Open (Photo: Tony Callaio, Tennis Atlantic)

Shelby Rogers, 2017 Volvo Car Open (Photo: Tony Callaio, Tennis Atlantic)

Rogers has twice been a finalist at WTA events. The South Carolina native claimed her sixth career ITF Circuit title earlier this year in Midland, Michigan. A quarterfinalist at the 2016 French Open, Rogers battled knee injuries before undergoing an operation in 2018 that sidelined for over one year. As a junior, she was the 2010 USTA Girl’s 18s National Champion.
Volynets won the 2019 USTA Girl’s 18s National Championship and in doing so, earned a wild card into the US Open where she faced eventual champion Bianca Andreescu in the opening round. The 18-year-old Californian closed the 2019 season by reaching her first ITF Circuit final. As a junior, she reached the 2017 US Open quarterfinals.

It’s Quarterfinals Friday at Charlottesville Challenger (@CMPChallenger)

Posted by Admin on November 2, 2018
Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Charlottesville, USTA Pro Circuit. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Michael Mmoh, 2018 Charlottesville Challenger

Michael Mmoh, 2018 Charlottesville Challenger

It’s Quarterfinals Friday at Charlottesville Challenger

Paris it is not, but eight men are vying for smaller hardware this weekend at the Charlottesville, Virginia Men’s Pro Tennis Challenger at the Boar’s Head Resort, home of the University of Virginia tennis program.

I’ve attended this event seven times in the past, but only once for the final weekend of the event. As more than half the playing field had been dismissed prior to my arrival, I found the resort to be less crowded and was surprised to see players hanging around who’d lost their singles and doubles matches, just killing time before Knoxville.

First up this afternoon is 8 seed Peter Polansky against Jelle Sels of the Netherlands. The Canadian is a 2013 finalist at this event and is now 9-3 in Charlottesville main draw matches. This will be a first time match-up between the players.

ADVANTAGE: POLANSKY

Favorite “Son” Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of the University of Virginia impressively dismissed 2017 Charlottesville champion Tim Smyczek yesterday and will need another big showing today against 2 seed Michael Mmoh to advance to the semifinals. Mmoh won a two-setter against the tricky Evgeny Karlovsky on Thursday, and he was happy to get out in two sets after the Russian pulled the upset on Thanasi Kokkinakis on Wednesday. Mmoh is now 8-2 in his last ten matches on hard courts and has a 7-3 cumulative record in this event. This is another first time meeting.

ADVANTAGE: MMOH

Bradley Klahn is assured of being ranked inside the top 100 next week, and how high he’ll go in the rankings depends on where he lands this weekend. The tournament’s top seed, Klahn hasn’t disappointed in the early rounds, and today will be a real test in Bjorn Fratangelo, who is enjoying a resurgence of his form. Fratangelo is 9-1 in his last 10 hard court matches. Fratangelo also owns a 3-1 head to head advantage over Klahn. Expect this one to go three.

ADVANTAGE: FRATANGELO

The happy hour match will feature the biggest man in the entire American Fall Challenger circuit: Ivo Karlovic. 2015 Charlottesville finalist Tommy Paul will try to size him up today. Paul is a lucky loser who’s ripped off two big wins after failing to qualify, beating Noah Rubin and Kamil Majchrzak in straight sets. Both players are 8-2 in their last 10 hard court matches and something will have to give. In yet another first time meeting between players, I’m going to have to go with Dr. Ivo.

ADVANTAGE: KARLOVIC

—S. Fogleman

 

 

 

If You Don’t Like American Tennis, You’ll Hate The @CMPChallenger in Charlottesville

Posted by Admin on November 2, 2016
Posted in: ATP, Charlottesville. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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Denis Kudla, 2016 Charlottesville Challenger (Photo: TennisAtlantic.com)

If You Don’t Like American Tennis, You’ll Hate The @CMPChallenger in Charlottesville
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

CHARLOTTESVILLE, NOV 2–Like the headline says.

But first, almost-local boy done good, Denis Kudla.

If there’s such a thing as a home court advantage, it might belong to Denis Kudla more than the entire contingent of UVA tennis players, past and present, in the main draw. It certainly looks like Kudla’s Castle after a breezy 6-1, 6-2, 56 minute victory on Tuesday over Tommy Paul at the USTA $50,000 Charlottesville Men’s Pro Tennis Challenger at the Boar’s Head resort in Virginia.

“Maybe a little bit of a home court advantage (at the Boar’s Head resort). I’ve come here and practiced a lot, so I’ve really gotten used to these courts. I love playing here. I’ve told a lot of people and a lot of people know, this is probably the best court for me in the world. Maybe on grass courts too, but on this court, I play my best tennis. I am so comfortable. I am really happy here.”

Kudla draws UVA recruit Carl Soderlund from Stockholm in the 2nd round.

“The UVA Freshman is really good and I look forward to the challenge,” he said.

US main draw direct entry players at the Challenger are an astounding 12-5, which doesn’t sound astounding until you figure that four of the losses were to OTHER American players. Noah Rubin, last year’s USTA Australian Open Wild Card Challenge champ, was the only direct entry American to lose a match against a non-American, so the record is more like 12-1. That’s Solid Gold. We’re used to all these American ATP 250s that hand out Wild Cards like funny money to local celebrities and they all get destroyed in the first round.

Not here.

Austin Krajicek defeated Great Britain’s Edmund Corrie, 7-6(3), 6-4 and Brian Baker took out Tim Van Reithoven of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-2 in less than an hour.

Broady defeated US qualifier J.C. Aragone, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, and was kind enough to venture down a dangerous trail with us in discussing the US Presidential election and Brexit’s impact on British players.

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Peter Polansky, 2016 Charlottesville Challenger (Photo: TennisAtlantic.com)

Peter Polansky showed up late for his match against 2016 USTA Australian Open Wild Card champion Noah Rubin and dealt the Long Island native an early setback in his hopes of repeating the feat in 2017. Since the USTA format allows for the best two scores in the three round event, Rubin can still repeat with strong showings in Knoxville and Champaign.

Bjorn Fratangelo dug himself a huge first set hole before battling back for a straight sets win over Belgium’s Joris De Loore, 7-6(3), 6-2. He spoke with us after the match.

Later, Michael Mmoh won a convincing match over compatriot Dennis Novikov 6-3, 6-2. Mmoh has roots in the Washington area, and is pleased to advance here in Charlottesville.

Tim Smyczek: What can you say about him? Love the guy, but at this point, he’s just knocking off young, often-American talent and he needs to go be a great coach. In this case, Tim’s victim was Thai “Favorite” Son Kwiatkowski of UVA, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Top seed Frances Tiafoe prevailed over UVA’s Ryan Shane in three, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. He will play fellow American Mackenzie McDonald, a winner over American Gonzales Austin, 7-6(0), 7-6(2).

In the ONLY singles match not involving at least one American yesterday, Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen defeated qualifier Yuki Bhambri, 6-3, 7-6(3).

Seeing a trend here? This is the most American event of American events ever. And I, for one, welcome our new American Tennis Overlords.

Jared Donaldson and Yoshihito Nishioka Battle to Main Draw @MemphisOpen

Posted by Admin on February 8, 2016
Posted in: Adam Addicott, ATP, ATP Qualifying, Memphis. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Jared Donaldson and Yoshihito Nishioka Battle to Main Draw @MemphisOpen
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

Nishioka (Photo: S. Kirby)

Nishioka (Photo: S. Kirby)

The first American ATP event of the year will get underway in Memphis this week. Headlined by defending champion Kei Nishikori, the field for the event consisted of four American seeds, two Australians and a Bosnian. Prior to the first round, 16 players battled for four places in the main draw of the event.

American fans were not disappointed in the qualifying draw after two of their home players was triumphant. Seventh seed Jared Donaldson started his qualifying bid against compatriot Tennys Sandgren. 24-year-old Sandgren has been ranked as high as 183rd in the world and has won one Challenger tournament in his career (Champaign Open 2013). It was a tough opening match for Donaldson, who had to battle from a set down to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Following his opening round triumph, Donaldson faced the potentially tricky Irishman James McGee. McGee shocked fourth seed Tatsuma Ito 6-2,6-1, in his opening match. Despite the encouraging first round performance from the Irish player, he was no match for Donaldson. The 19-year-old eased his way to a 6-0, 7-6(0), victory in an hour and 19 minutes.

Jared Donaldson

The other American triumph came in the form of wildcard Michael Mmoh. Mmoh is 18-years-old and is currently ranked 20th in the junior rankings. Last year he won two titles on the Futures circuit. Mmoh faced sixth seed Dennis Novikov in his first match. Novikov recently reached the third round of qualifying at the Australian Open before losing to Japan’s Yuichi Sugita. Despite being ranked over 200 places below Novikov, Mmoh battled to win 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, in just under two hours. Next up for the young American was second seed Bjorn Fratangelo. Franteglo won his first Challenger title last year in Launceston. The encounter between the two players was a nerve-wrecking experience, lasting a fraction short of three hours. The world No.387 edged his way past the second seed 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(6). The double victory will now take Mmoh into his first ATP World Tour main draw.

Another surprise of the tournament was Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen. The Swiss player has experienced a disappointing start to 2016. After losing in the first round of his three opening tournaments this year, Laaksonen grabbed his first win of 2016 against Marek Michallcka at last week’s Dallas Challenger. The world No.188 began his Memphis journey with a 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-4, win over Australian fifth seed John-Patrick Smith. The reward for the Swiss player was a showdown with top seed Radu Albot. Albot defeated Andrey Rublev in his first round match. After narrowly losing the first set, Laakson battled back to stun the top seed 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-1. The duo of gutsy wins has earned the world No.188 his first main draw appearance on the ATP World Tour since  the 2015 Swiss Indoors. It will be his first non-Swiss ATP main draw tournament since the 2014 Stockholm Open.

Completing the qualifiers was third seed Yoshihito Nishioka. The world No.130 began qualification with a straight sets win over British world No.649 Joe Salisbury (6-2, 6-3). Next for the Japanese player was Spanish eighth seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras. After suffering a second set blip, Nishioka won 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. During the two-hour match, the world No.130 won 66% of his service points.

First round matches

(Q) Laaksonen SWI vs Ebden AUS (Q)
(Q) Jared Donaldson USA vs (Q) Nishioka JPA
(Q) Mmoh USA vs Taylor Fritz USA

Familiar faces and potential future stars feature in 2015 @MiamiOpenTennis Men’s Qualifying

Posted by Admin on March 23, 2015
Posted in: Adam Addicott, ATP, Miami. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Familiar faces and potential future stars feature in 2015 Miami Open Men’s Qualifying
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

As one Masters tournament ends, another begins with the start of the qualifying rounds at the Miami Open. Like Indian Wells, the draw consists of 48 players battling for the 12 spots in the main draw. The diverse field consists of both veterans of the tour as well as young up and coming talent from the junior circuit.

Leading the field will be Brazilian top seed Joao Souza. Souza is currently at a career ranking high of 70 in the world after enduring a successful run at two ATP tournaments in Brazil last month where he reached the semifinal in Sao Paulo followed by the semifinals of the Rio Open. On the other hand Souza does have a disappointing record in Masters events. Since 2010 the 26-year-old has participated in 8 Masters qualifying draws, but has only managed to qualify in one of them (Madrid 2013). In the first round, he faces an intriguing encounter with young German hopeful Alexander Zverev. So far this year Zverev has failed to reproduce the form which took him to the semifinals of the German International Open last year and is yet to win a main draw match in 2015. The German does process weapons on the court that could trouble Souza but it is touch and go if he is currently in the right form to produce them.

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Second seed Tatsuma Ito failed to end his Masters losing streak in Miami. The Japanese player has so far never won a main draw match in any Masters tournament. Ito has enjoyed some success on the Challenger Tour this year already by reaching the final in Hong Kong and the semifinals in Kyoto, Japan. In his first match he was defeated by the experienced Michael Berrer. Berrer, who is playing his last season before retiring, enjoyed a shock win over Rafael Nadal at the start of the year in Qatar. He also recently produced an impressive run recently at Indian Wells where he reached the third round as a qualifier. Now with a win over Ito, Berrer has the inside track to qualify for his fourth ATP event of the season (Doha, Zagreb and Indian Wells the previous successes).

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Benoit Paire (3) will enter the draw with a large amount of confidence following his recent triumph’s on the Challenger Tour. The Frenchman has made three finals since February in which he has won two of them (Bergamo, Italy and Quimper, France). In his first match he defeated Austria’s Gerald Melzer in 3 sets for the first time in his career. Melzer is currently ranked 168th in the world and played in his first ever Masters qualifying draw at the age of 24.

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Rounding off the top four is Steve Darcis. The Belgian has beaten four top 100 players so far this year (Adrian Mannarino, Tatsuma Ito, Jarkko Nieminen and Jeremy Chardy). In his most recent tournament he reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Irving Challenger in Texas before losing to Kyle Edmund. In the first round, he will open up against 22-year-old Italian Marco Cecchinato. Two two has played each other once before which was on clay last year. On that occasion Cecchinato took the win in three sets.

Make way for the young guns

As well as the usual names on the entry list, the organizers of the tournament have also given some younger players the chance of qualifying for their first ever Masters tournament. 2014 US Open boy’s champion Omar Jasika has received a wildcard into the draw. Jasika was tantalizingly close to his first ever Grand Slam first round but lost in the final stage of qualifying to Marius Copil. The 17-year-old is yet to win a title at pro level. The Australian will play 19th seed Aljaž Bedene. Last week Bedene won his first title in almost a year by winning the ATP Irving Challenger.

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Elias Ymer has also been granted a wildcard into the draw. Ymer, who was recently referred to as top 50 material by former world number one Mats Wilander, reached his first Grand Slam main draw earlier this year at the Australian Open where he lost in five sets to Go Soeda. In the first round, he will play 7th seed Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

Finally, junior world number 7 Michael Mmoh got his first taste of life on the main stage against 21st seed Alejandro Falla, a match he lost 6-2 6-1 to the experienced Colombian. Last year Mmoh won a Grade A junior tournament in Mexico and also reached the final of the prestigious Eddie Herr International Open. On the pro tour the 17-year-old has won one Futures title (USA F29 , 2014) and is currently ranked 655th in the world.

In-form players Thiemo De Bakker and Edouard Roger-Vasselin have also scored qualifying wins today, as has American Chase Buchanan over James Ward, and Japanese young gun Taro Daniel. Daniel’s countryman Yoshihito Nishioka wasn’t as successful as he lost to Damir Dzumhur in straights.

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Adam Addicott TA Watermark

Florida’s Stefan Kozlov & Maryland’s Michael Mmoh Lead US Junior Boys @AustralianOpen

Posted by Admin on January 2, 2014
Posted in: Australian Open, Junior Tennis, USTA. Tagged: , , , , , .

TOP-10 JUNIORS STEFAN KOZLOV, MICHAEL MMOH TO LEAD AMERICANS IN AUSTRALIAN OPEN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Stefan Kozlov

Stefan Kozlov

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., January 2, 2014 – Stefan Kozlov and Michael Mmoh – two 15 year olds ranked among the Top 10 juniors in the world – will headline the Americans playing in the Australian Open Junior Championships January 18-25 in Melbourne.

While many American teens will begin the year playing clay events on the USTA Pro Circuit, No. 5 Kozlov (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and No. 9 Mmoh (Temple Hills, Md.), who turns 16 on January 10, will attempt to follow Andy Roddick (2000) and Donald Young (2005) as Australian Open boys’ singles champions. They are the only two American boys entered into the main draw in Melbourne.

Katrine Steffensen (17, Scarsdale, N.Y.) leads the Americans in the girls’ singles main draw. Michaela Gordon (14, Los Altos Hills, Calif.), Usue Arconada (15, College Park, Md.) and CiCi Bellis (14, Atherton, Calif.) were also accepted.

Taylor Townsend (2012) and Kim Kessaris (1989) are the only Americans to win the Australian Open girls’ singles title, while Lindsay Davenport (1992) was a finalist.

Six girls are entered into qualifying: Olivia Hauger (16, Tulsa, Okla.), Mira Ruder-Hook (17, Denver), Chloe Michele Ouellet-Pizer (16, Chapel Hill, N.C.), Raquel Pedraza (15, Claremont, Calif.), Meghan Kelley (16, Falmouth, Maine) and Ally Miller-Krasilnikov (16, Boca Raton, Fla.).

Taylor Fritz (16, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) and Ulises Blanch (15, Pompano Beach, Fla.) are entered into boys’ qualifying.

—USTA

McDonald, Brymer, Chirico, Black, Peus Advance @ASICSEasterBowl

Posted by Admin on April 12, 2013
Posted in: Easter Bowl, Junior Tennis. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

McDonald, Brymer, Chirico, Black, Peus Advance at ASICS Easter Bowl

Mackie McDonald (Photo:Dave Kenas/ ASICS Easter Bowl)

Mackie McDonald
(Photo:Dave Kenas/ ASICS Easter Bowl)

 

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (April 11, 2013) – Future UCLA teammates and fellow Californians Mackenzie McDonald and Gage Brymer recorded convincing straight-set victories on Thursday in the Boys’ 18s division on Day 5 of the 46th annual ASICS Easter Bowl being played at the Sunrise Country Club.

The No. 2-seeded McDonald of Piedmont, Calif., beat No. 15-seeded Dennis Uspensky of Atlantic Beach, N.Y., 6-3, 6-1, and the unseeded Brymer of Irvine, Calif., got past Henrik Wiersholm, the No. 14-seed from Kirkland, Wash., 6-2, 7-5, as both now move on to Friday’s quarterfinals.

The defending champion and former boys’ 14s champion McDonald is looking to become the first back-to-back boys’ 18s winner at the ASICS Easter since 1971-72.

“I feel like Palm Springs brings out the best in my game,” said McDonald, who played in warm 85-degree, but ideal conditions. “I feel like just going out there and playing. I want to stay in the present and not think about the past and just get through each point and each match.”

McDonald, 17, next meets Martin Redlicki, the No. 5-seed from Boca Raton, Fla., while Brymer will face Michael Mmoh, the No. 8-seed from Temple Hills, Md.

In the upset of the day, 13-year-old Ryan Peus of Carpinteria, Calif., beat 12-year-old and No. 1-seeded Claire Liu of Thousand Oaks, Calif., in the girls’ 14s quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-3. The two are training partners at the USTA Training Center – West in Carson, Calif.

Ryan Peus (Photo:Dave Kenas / ASICS Easter Bowl)

Ryan Peus
(Photo:Dave Kenas / ASICS Easter Bowl)

Peus was elated after the match, advancing to her first 14s semifinal of a USTA Nationals. “It was a good win for me,” she said. “We’ve played like eight times and it always goes three sets. I was just a lot more aggressive and I felt like I had nothing to lose today. She was tight the entire match and the she had all the pressure on her.”

Peus wore her sweat-stained Roger Federer hat with three signatures on the bill of the cap belonging to R-Fed, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. “It’s my lucky hat,” she said, adding she got all the signatures at the nearby BNP Paribas Open just down the road in Indian Wells.

A 13- and 14-year-old both advanced to the semifinals of the girls’ 18s as unseeded Michaela Gordon, 13, of Los Altos Hills, Calif., beat Raquel Pedraza of Claremont, Calif., 6-3, 6-3, and No. 6-seeded Tornado Ali Black, 14, upset No. 2 Marika Akkerman in a nearly three-hour marathon, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Serving for the match at 5-4, Black was called for a time violation up 30-love but was able to close it out. “I got down 3-1 in the first set and was thinking, ‘she can’t keep this level up,’ ” said Black, who recently left training with the USTA and has began working with the L’Academie de Tennis Academy in Boynton Beach, Fla.

Tornado Ali Black

Tornado Ali Black

Louisa Chirico, 16, of Harrison, N.Y., and Mayo Hibi, 17, of Irvine, Calif., are the other semifinalists and both have WTA rankings with Chirico at No. 427 and Hibi at No. 368 in the world. Hibi had no problems with last year’s 18s finalist Brooke Austin, 6-0, 6-2.

Louisa Chirico

Louisa Chirico

The 18s singles draws can be found here:  http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122977

For 16s and 14s go to TennisLink here:

http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122896

To keep up with all the ASICS Easter Bowl news, visit the website at www.easterbowl.com and check out the tournament on Facebook (www.facebook.com/EasterBowl) and Twitter (@easterbowl). For more information on ASICS, check out: www.ASICSAmerica.com and follow on Twitter @ASICSAmerica.

Thursday’s Scores

          Boys’ 18s Singles (Round of 16)

Michael Mmoh (8) Temple Hills, MD def. Justin Butsch (12) Miami Beach, FL 7-5, 6-0

Alexandru Gozun Sarasota, FL def. Francis Tiafoe (10) College Park, MD 6-2, 7-6(4)

Martin Redlicki (5) Boca Raton, FL def. Brandon Sutter El Dorado Hills, CA 6-1, 6-3

Gage Brymer Irvine, CA def. Henrik Wiersholm (14) Kirkland, WA 6-2, 7-5

Luca Corinteli (3) Alexandria, VA def. Stephen Watson Orlando, FL 6-3, 6-2

Mackenzie McDonald (2) Piedmont, CA def. Dennis Uspensky (15) Atlantic Beach, NY 6-3, 6-1

Ernesto Escobedo West Covina, CA def. Deiton Baughman Carson, CA 6-3, 2-6, 6-3

Noah Rubin (1) Rockville Centre, NY def. Logan Smith Carlsbad, CA 7-5, 7-5

Boys’ 18s Doubles (Round of 16)

JC Aragone / Mackenzie McDonald (4) def. Deiton Baughman / George Goldhoff Wo (inj)

Robbie Bellamy / Joseph Di Giulio def. Farzin Amiri / Nicholas Crystal (8) 6-2, 6-3

Michael Mmoh / Francis Tiafoe (3) def. Jake De Vries / Trevor Johnson 6-4, 7-5

Gregory Garcia / Tyler Lu def. Alexandru Gozun / Carter Lin 7-5, 6-4

Jordi Arconada / Spencer Papa (2) def. Aron Hiltzik / John Mee 7-6(1), 3-6, 10-7

Luca Corinteli / Martin Redlicki (1) def. Walker Duncan / Thomas Mayronne 7-6(3), 6-3

AJ Catanzariti / Dennis Uspensky (7) def. William Blumberg / Nathan Ponwith 6-3, 6-1

Justin Butsch / Tommy Mylnikov (5) def. Jake Stefanik / Stephen Watson 6-3, 3-6, 10-7

          Girls’ 18s Singles (Quarterfinals)

Louisa Chirico (14) Harrison, NY def. Monica Robinson Valley Center, CA 6-3, 6-1

Michaela Gordon Los Altos Hills, CA def. Raquel Pedraza Claremont, CA 6-3, 6-3

Tornado Ali Black (6) Miami, FL def. Marika Akkerman (2) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Mayo Hibi (13) Irvine, CA def. Brooke Austin Indianapolis, IN 6-0, 6-2

          Girls’ 18s Doubles (Quarterfinals)

Brooke Austin / Mayo Hibi def. Ayla Aksu / Hadley Berg (6) 6-4, 6-3

Spencer Liang / Peggy Porter def. Marika Akkerman / Rianna Valdes (2) 6-3, 6-2

Maegan Manasse / Jamie Loeb def. Monica Robinson / Mira Ruder-Hook 6-1, 6-1

Josie Kuhlman / Katerina Stewart def. Louisa Chirico / Dasha Ivanova (1) 6-2, 7-5

 

Boys’ 16s Singles (Round of 16)

Kalman Boyd (17) Rancho Santa Fe, CA def. Kial Kaiser (5) Saratoga, CA 6-0, 6-2

Sameer Kumar (1) Carmel, IN def. Spencer Richey Memphis, TN 7-5, 6-3

Chase Colton (4) Davie, FL def. Michael Lorenzini (17) Clarendon Hills, IL 6-2, 6-2

Kyle Seelig (2) Hatfield, PA def. Yancy Dennis (17) Reisterstown, MD 6-3, 6-2

Emil Reinberg (17) Atlanta, GA def. Stephen Madonia (17) Lakeland, FL 6-4, 6-3

Victor Pham (9) Saratoga, CA def. Catalin Mateas (8) Braintree, MA 6-2, 6-3

Jake DeVine (17) Boca Raton, FL def. Artemie Amari New York, NY 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(4)

Taylor Fritz (3) Rancho Santa Fe, CA def. Austin Rapp (17) Rancho Mirage, CA 6-2, 6-2

 

Boys’ 16s Doubles (Quarterfinals)

Henry Gordon / Austin Rapp (6) def. Daniel Gealer / Michael Lorenzini 6-2, 7-6(4)

Chase Colton / Alfredo Perez (12) def. Yancy Dennis / Brian Tsao 6-2, 6-2

Jake DeVine / Catalin Mateas (7) def. Taylor Fritz / Riley Smith (10) 4-6, 6-1, 10-6

Grayson Broadus / Jean Thirouin (5) def. Michael Chen / Julian Rozenstein (4) 6-2, 6-1

Girls’ 16s Singles (Round of 16)

Meredith Xepoleas (3) Huntington Beach, CA def. Jaclyn Switkes (17) Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 3-6, 6-2, 6-1

Emma Davis (17) Cohasset, MA def. Brienne Minor (6) Mundelein, IL 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(4)

Caroline Dolehide (7) Hinsdale, IL def. Madison Clarke (17) Phoenix, AZ 6-2, 6-0

Hanna Chang Fontana, CA def. Alaina Miller Saratoga, CA 6-3, 6-7, 6-2

Meghan Kelley (11) Falmouth, ME def. Rebecca Weissmann (17) Loveland, CO 6-4, 4-0 Ret (inj)

Emma Higuchi (4) Los Angeles, CA def. Katharine Fahey (14) Fair Haven, NJ 6-2, 6-2

Francesca Dilorenzo (1) New Albany, OH def. Jessie Aney Rochester, MN 6-2, 6-2

Catherine Bellis (8) Atherton, CA def. Kenadi Hance (17) Torrance, CA 4-6, 6-0, 6-0

 

Girls’ 16s Doubles (Round of 16)

Jessica Livianu / Alexandra Sabe def. Paige Cline / Gaby Pollner (5) 7-5, 6-1

Kenadi Hance / Risa Nakagawa (8) def. Madison Clarke / Michelle Lui 6-1, 6-1

Ena Shibahara / Savannah Slaysman (7) def. Annemarie Emme / Alexandra Sanford 7-5, 6-2

Caroline Dolehide / Brienne Minor (1) def. Ilana Oleynik / Drew Spinosa 6-0, 6-3

Emma Higuchi / Rebecca Weissmann (3) def. Kennedy Shaffer / Jaclyn Switkes (13) 6-4, 6-4

Jessie Aney / Alexis Nelson (6) def. Elizabeth Tsvetkov / Sabrina Xiong (16) 6-2, 6-3

Katharine Fahey / Jacqueline Urbinati (2) def. Lauren Goodman / Danielle Wolf (10) 6-2, 6-7(4), 10-8

Jada Hart / Stephanie Hazell def. Nadia Gizdova / Christina Rosca (12) 6-3, 6-3

 

Boys’ 14s Singles (Quarterfinals)

Zeke Clark (3) Tulsa, OK def. Jacob Brumm (6) Rancho Santa Fe, CA 6-3, 6-1

Nathan Perrone (5) Mount Laurel, NJ def. Robert Baylon, Buena Park, CA, 7-5, 6-1

John McNally (1) Cincinnati, OH def. Max Pham Newport Coast, CA 7-5, 6-3

Connor Hance (2) Torrance, CA def. Justin Lee (8) Cos Cob, CT 6-2, 6-2

Boys’ 14 Singles (Silver Draw 4th Round Losers, Quarterfinal Round)

Michael Zhao Princeton Jct, NJ def. Sam Riffice Roseville, CA 6-3, 6-2

Jake Van Emburgh Verona, WI def. Alafia Ayeni San Diego, CA 6-3, 6-4

Patrick Kypson Greenville, NC def. Alex Gee Bellaire, TX 6-1, 6-3

Conrad Russell Palo Alto, CA def. Noah Makarome Wesley Chapel, FL 6-2, 7-6(2)

Boys’ 14 Singles (Silver Draw 4th Round Losers, Semifinal Round)

Michael Zhao Princeton Jct, NJ def. Jake Van Emburgh Verona, WI 7-5, 6-3

Conrad Russell Palo Alto, CA def. Patrick Kypson Greenville, NC 6-0, 6-2

Boys’ 14s Doubles (Quarterfinals)

Connor Hance / Sam Riffice (14) def. Hady Habib / John McNally (2) 7-6(3), 0-6, 10-3

Bryce Pereira / Michael Zhao (5) def. Richard Ciamarra / Peter Conklin (9) 6-3, 6-2

Jonathan Dollahite / Dylan Levitt (16) def. Trent Bryde / Aleks Huryn 7-6(12), 6-1

Jake Van Emburgh / JJ Wolf (6) def. Brandon Lam / Max Pham 6-7(7), 6-2, 10-7

 

Girls’ 14s Singles (Quarterfinals)

Jaeda Daniel (3) Port Charlotte, FL def. Kylie McKenzie (6) Anthem, AZ 6-4, 6-4

Ashley Lahey (11) Hawthorne, CA def. Ellie Douglas (10) McKinney, TX 7-5, 6-2

Alexa Graham (17) Garden City, NY def. Janice Shin (17) Houston, TX 6-2, 6-0

Ryan Peus (9) Carpinteria, CA def. Claire Liu (1) Thousand Oaks, CA 6-2, 6-3

Girls’ 14 Singles (Silver Draw 4th Round Losers, Quarterfinal Round)

Samantha Martinelli Denver, CO def. Abigail Chiu Austin, TX 6-1, 6-3

Loren Haukova Elmsford, NY def. Christie Wan Rowland Heights, CA 6-3, 6-1

Abigail Desiatnikov Gates Mills, OH def. Sofia Sewing Doral, FL 6-3, 6-4

Riley McQuaid Tustin, CA def. Rachel Lim Briarcliff Manor, NY 6-3, 6-2

Girls’ 14 Singles (Silver Draw 4th Round Losers, Semifinal Round)

Riley McQuaid Tustin, CA def. Samantha Martinelli Denver, CO 6-3, 6-0

Abigail Desiatnikov Gates Mills, OH def. Loren Haukova Elmsford, NY 6-3, 6-0

Girls’ 14s Doubles (Semifinals)

Hada Chang / Abigail Chiu (1) def. Darya Possokhova / Katya Tabachnik (8) 6-2, 7-5

Kelly Chen / Annette Goulak (2) def. Samantha Martinelli / Delaney Nothaft (3) 6-4, 6-2

 

—S. Pratt