FILA Easter Bowl “Show” Court 2 Proves Tough Place For 18s and 16s Top-Seeded Players Who Fall In Quarterfinals

In the shadows of one of the largest tennis stadiums in the world – known as Practice Court 2 during the BNP Paribas Open – two of the biggest upsets at this week’s 57^th annual FILA Easter Bowl took place on Friday during quarterfinal action at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

This week, Practice Court 2 is considered the “show” court with scoreboards and commentating being done by RadioTennis.com’s Ken Thomas. Friday the court earned a new name – “Upset Court” – as first Keshav Muthuvel from Pleasanton upset No. 1 Safir Azam of Redmond, Wash., 6-3, 6-4, in the Boys’ 16s and then Tyler Lee of Tustin, Calif., shocked Boys’ 18s top-seeded Shaan Patel from St. Louis, Mo., 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3).

“This means a lot to me,” Muthuvel told Thomas after the match. “This is my first semis at a Level 1.”

Muthuvel, who lost to Azam in three sets in the 14s last year in the Round of 16 at the Easter Bowl, is a crafty player who used his drop shot effectively the entire match. He admitted to fighting through some nerves being on the court that sits in front of the check-in desk and where players mill around watching and waiting for their matches to be called.

Muthuvel will play fellow No. 9 seeded Marcel Latak of Darien, Ill., in the semifinals on Saturday. In the other 16s semifinal it will be a battle of New Yorkers as No. 8 Tristan Stratton (Forest Hills, N.Y.) faces No. 2 Alexander Suhanitski (New Rochelle, N.Y.)

Just 15, Lee trains at the Veylix Tennis Academy in Tustin, just one town over from Irvine, where current world-ranked No. 66 Learner Tien comes from. The two hit last year and Lee said that, like Muthuvel, Friday’s win was the biggest of his career as he has never reached the final four at a Level 1 tourney.

Lee is one of the few players who have played all three top events on the junior calendar the past three weeks, including the ITF J300 at Indian Wells and San Diego. “I lost fairly early in the first two, so I’ve had a fair amount of time to recover,” Lee said.

Next up for Lee is unseeded Cooper Han from Los Altos, Calif. In the other semifinal it will be UC-Berkeley bound Winston Lee (Cupertino, Calif.) against future LSU Tiger Nikolas Stoot (Miami).

In the Girls’ 18s, last year’s Easter Bowl 16s singles and doubles champion Bella Payne (Bradenton, Fla.) continued her torrid run in the desert as she is into the semifinals in both events extending her winning streak to 18 matches at the IWTG.

The unseeded Payne took out No. 2 JoAnna Kennedy (Englewood, Colo.), 6-2, 6-1, and will next play Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) in the semis.

“I love it here. I love Palm Springs,” Payne said. “I don’t really know what it is about this place, but I guess it works for me.”

Payne said the windy conditions actually helped her because of Kennedy’s aggressive playing style. “I was just trying to stay in control,” Payne said. “I broke down her serve and I think it was my returns that won me the match.

Payne said she recently lost to Drenser-Hagmann in Las Vegas. “But you’re in your happy place, so you must like your chances?” ZooTennis.com reporter Colette Lewis asked Payne. “I do,” she replied.

Payne said she recently left IMG Academy having trained there full-time since she was 12. She has committed to the University of Georgia to play next year for the No. 1-ranked team in college tennis. She will be Bulldog teammates with her doubles partner this week Emily Deming from Fallbrook, Calif., as the pair eked out a super-tiebreaker win to advance late in the day Friday.

In the other Girls’ 18s singles semifinal it will be a pair of No. 9 seeds facing each other as Nadia Valdez (San Antonio, Texas) takes on Nicole Weng (South Pasadena, Calif.).

In the Girls’ 16s semifinals, Ciara Harding (Boca Raton, Fla.) meets Carolina Castro (Stevensville, Md.) and Armira Kockinis (La Habra Heights, Calif.) faces No. 3 Carlota Moreno (Knoxville, Tenn.).

Be sure to catch all the action starting Saturday morning on the Easter Bowl YouTube channel with RadioTennis.com’s Ken Thomas on the call.