Five Divisions Awarded USTA National Gold And Silver Balls Handed Out In Early Finals As Rain Forecasted Saturday

Weather forecasting was the story of the day on Friday as FILA Easter Bowl organizers scrambled to get in as many matches as they could before rain showers were set to hit the area early Saturday morning.

That meant some of the winners for the 56^th annual event taking place at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden were crowned a day earlier than expected as the Boys’ 16s singles and doubles and Girls’ 18s and 16s doubles and Boys’ 18s doubles champions were handed their USTA National Gold and Silver balls at one of the premier junior tennis events in the nation.

In the Boys’ 16s singles final it was a matchup of the No.1 and 2 seeds as No. 2 Gavin Goode from Raleigh, N.C., triumphed over top-seed Gus Grumet from Mill Valley, Calif., in convincing fashion, 6-2, 6-1.

It was an all-Southern California affair in the Boys’ 16s doubles final as unseeded Tyler Lee (Tustin) and Brayden Tallakson (Irvine) won the title taking out No. 5 Adrien Abarca (Chula Vista) and Justin Riley Anson (Laguna Niguel), 6-2, 6-2.

In the Girls’ 16s doubles final No. 2 seeds Bella Payne (Bradenton, Fla.) and Ava Rodriguez (Gainesville, Ga.) beat a pair of Texas neighbors in Zimora McKnight (McKinney, Texas) and Anna Bugaienko (Frisco, Texas), 6-4, 6-2.

The Boys’ 18 doubles final was also contested Friday as Jack Satterfield (Tampa, Fla.) and Ronit Karki (East Brunswick, N.J.) beat Krish Gupta (Fremont, Calif.) and Rithvik Katpelly (Fremont, Calif.), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.

No. 5 Sophia Webster (Bonita Springs, Fla.), a Vanderbilt commit, and Olivia Center (South Pasadena, Calif.), who will play next at UCLA, defeated Sabrina Lin (Saratoga, N.C.) and Maren Urata (La Canada, Calif.) to win the Girls’ 18s doubles title, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.

One final that was not contested was the Southern California showdown in the Girls’ 18s singles division between rivals Daniela Borruel from Buena Park facing fellow No. 9 seed Tianmei Wang from San Marino, Calif.

“I’m still trying to process the fact that I’m playing in the Easter Bowl final,” said Borruel, who needed three and a half hours to finally get past No. 2 Addison Lanton from Elgin, Ill., 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, in the semifinals. “I’ve played Tianmei so many times in the juniors and we just hope we get to play the match.”

Borruel, 17, is a high school junior who still plays high school tennis for Sunny Hills High in Fullerton. She has verbally committed to play for USC. Borruel said the Easter Bowl is one of her favorite tournaments and has played it every year since winning the 12s doubles and making the 12s singles final back in 2019.

She is set to play Wang at 8 a.m., the earliest possible time to beat the rain. Burruel said if the match is not played Saturday, the two would be named co-champions and the match would not be rescheduled for a later date.

In the other semi it was Wang having a much easier time against No. 5 Claire Hill from Cary, N.C., 6-0, 6-3, to move into the final.

It’s the same situation in the Boys’ 18s as the 8 a.m. scheduled singles final on Saturday morning will pit unseeded Ronit Karki of East Brunswick, N.J., facing against No. 2 William Manning. In the semis, Karki beat fellow unseeded Jack Satterfield from Tampa, Fla. In the other semi, Manning downed Saahith Jayaraman from El Dorado Hills, Calif., 6-4, 6-2.

In the Girls’ 16s singles finals, No. 5 Isabelle DeLuccia from Livingston, N.J., will take on top-seeded and 16s doubles champion Bella Payne on Saturday at 8 a.m. In the semifinals, Payne beat Ellery Mendell from Watkinsville, Ga., 6-2, 6-0, and DeLuccia downed No. 9 Ava Rodriguez, 6-4, 6-3.