Max Pettingell Shocks No. 2 Seed In Boys’ 18s While Ciara Harding Topples No. 1 In Girls’ 16s

It’s hard to choose who had the most impressive upset on Tuesday as the 16s and 18s began play at the 57^th Annual FILA Easter Bowl.

Was it 18-year-old current University of Auburn freshman Max Pettingell’s 6-1, 7-5 shocker against No. 2 seeded Drew Fishback of Geneva, N.Y., in the Boys’ 18s first round? Or would the Upset of the Day title go to Ciara Harding, who eliminated the No. 1 seeded Anna Bugaienko of Frisco, Texas, in the Girls’ 16s, 7-6 (3), 6-2?

The pair of Florida players have had decorated junior careers as Sarasota’s Pettingell won a USTA Gold ball by way of his USTA 18s National Clay Court Doubles title last year. Boca Raton’s Harding is a one-time USTA National Clay Court singles champion who is trained by the famed Rick Macci.

Two more upsets took place in the Girls’ 18s as Amy Lee of Beverly Hills, Calif., beat No. 3 Carrie-Anne Hoo from Brooklyn, N.Y., 6-4, 6-3. In another big upset, Hi’Ilani Williams from Tucson, Ariz., took out No. 6 Karlin Schock of Green Bay, Wisc., 7-6 (6). 7-5.

In the Boys’ 16s Antanas Daugis from Staten Island, N.Y., beat No. 3 Magnus Weng from San Jose, Calif., as Weng was forced to retire after losing the first-set marathon tiebreaker 14-12 and was down 3-0 in the second before calling it quits.

The Boys’ and Girls’ 14 and 12s are down to the semifinals in singles and doubles.

Unseeded Adrian Sharma of Porter Ranch, Calif., continued his amazing Easter Bowl run in the Boys’ 14s as he recorded his fourth straight upset over a top-16 seeded player. On Tuesday, Sharma took out No. 7 Joshua Dolinksy from Brooklyn, N.Y., 6-2, 7-5. Sharma has now beaten the No. 2, 7 and two 9-16 seeds and will next face, you guessed it, another seeded player in No. 8 Arjun Krishnan from San Jose, Calif. In the other semi it will be top-seeded Rafael Pawar from Essex Fells, N.J., taking on No. 6 Zesen Wang of State College, Pa.

In the Girls’ 14s, No. 6 Daniela del Mastro (Maple Grove, Minn.) upset No. 2 Olivia Lin (Lexington, Mass.), 6-2, 6-2, and will next face No. 9 Abigail Haile (Los Angeles) after Haile beat unseeded 11-year-old and last year’s 12s champion Nikol Davletshina (Boca Raton, Fla.) in three sets. No. 9 Molly Widlansky (Parkland, Fla.) and No. 3 Allison Wang (San Jose, Calif.) will play in the other semi.

In the Boys’ 12s, top-seeded James Borchard (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) equaled his best showing in singles at the Easter Bowl as he moved into the semis just like he did last year as a 10-year-old. The sixth-grader, who is coached by his father Quinn Borchard, beat No. 5 William McGugin (Nashville, Tenn.), 7-6 (1), 6-4. Last year’s 12s Easter Bowl doubles champion, Borchard later teamed with Evan Fan (Mason, Ohio) as the No. 3 seeds advanced to the semis in doubles.

Borchard and Fan could well be headed for a clash in the singles final as the No. 2 Fan came back to beat No. 6 Keita Iwata (Port Washington, N.Y.), 1-6, 6-1, 6-0. Borchard and Fan have never met in singles.

Borchard said after the match that the heat was intense but that he was glad to get revenge against McGugin, who he had previously lost to.

The other two semifinalists will be Haris Shahbaz (Bowling Green, Ky.) taking on Borchard and No. 3 Udham Singh (Sunnyvale, Calif.) playing Fan with both matches slated for 10 a.m. at IWTG.

In the Girls’ 12s, top-seeded Lucy Dupere (Wake Forest, N.C.) had the most impressive day as she was simply dominant in her 6-0, 6-0 win over Alisa Shifrin (Boca Raton, Fla.). The No. 5 seed Kareena Cross (Los Angeles) upset No. 2 Gabrielle Alexa Villegas, 7-6 (2), 6-1, and will face No. 3 Violetta Mamina (Henderson, Nev.) in the semis. Dupere takes on unseeded Cataleya Brown (Murrieta, Ga.), who took out Skylar Mandell (Encino, Calif.) in three tight sets, 7-5, in the third.