Mendell & Shannon on Collision Course
Top-seeded Ellery Mendell and No. 3 seed Alyson Shannon are on track for a potential finals showdown in the Girls’ 18s division at the 58th Annual Easter Bowl, presented by adidas.
Both players reached the semifinals in very different fashion.
Mendell, a future Ohio State player from Watkinsville, Georgia, delivered a dominant performance, defeating Amy Lee 6-3, 6-0. After a competitive first set, Mendell took full control in the desert heat.
“It’s definitely been a little toasty out, but I’m managing it and it’s getting easier each round,” Mendell said.
The 16-year-old is competing in her fifth Easter Bowl and fourth in Indian Wells.
Shannon, who is committed to the University of Tennessee, had a much more dramatic path. She saved three match points in a third-set super tiebreak to defeat defending 16s champion Amira Kockinis, 1-6, 6-3, 11-9.
“Down 6-9, I just thought—do everything you can,” Shannon said. “I had a little doubt, but I kept telling myself ‘I can and I will.’”
She now faces unseeded Yilin Chen of San Diego in the semifinals.
Girls’ 16s Highlights
Unseeded Caroline Coan continued her impressive run, upsetting No. 8 Molly Widlansky in a third-set tiebreak. She will face Sylvana Jalbert next.
Jalbert, 15, advanced with a straight-sets win and noted the challenging conditions:
“This was by far the toughest match I’ve had. The heat definitely got to me.”
She is now into her first Easter Bowl semifinal after never advancing past the Round of 16 in previous appearances.
In the other semifinal, No. 4 Shristi Selvan will face wild card Tanvi Pandey, who won convincingly over Mingyue Deng.
Boys’ 16s & 18s Semifinals
In the Boys’ 16s, wild card Anay Kulkarney advanced and will face No. 6 Ivan Rybak. The other semifinal features top seed Eli Kaminski vs. No. 3 Piotr Gradzki.
In the Boys’ 18s, top seed Alexander Suhanitski continued his strong run and will face Peter Jorniak. The other semifinal pits Rishvanth Krishna against No. 9 David Wu, who upset No. 2 Omar Rhazali.
