Top Seeds Advance, Semifinals Set in Desert Heat
The boys’ and girls’ 18s and 16s divisions got underway, while semifinal matchups were set in the 14s and 12s on another extremely hot day at the 58th Annual Easter Bowl at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
With temperatures again reaching the high 90s, players had to manage both the heat and the pressure of competition. Matches that went to a deciding set were settled with a 10-point super tiebreaker instead of a full third set.
Defending girls’ 16s champion Armira Kockinis of La Habra Heights opened her tournament with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Emi Dowdell of Salt Lake City. Kockinis, who has been competing for four straight weeks, said she focused on keeping points short in the heat.
In the girls’ 18s, the top two seeds advanced with matching 6-2, 6-2 wins. No. 1 Ellery Mendell of Watkinsville, Ga., and No. 2 Calla McGill of Alexandria, Va., both moved through their opening matches without much trouble.
The boys’ 18s draw mostly held to form, with the top five seeds advancing, including No. 1 Alexander Suhanitski and No. 2 Omar Rhazali. There were a couple of upsets, as unseeded Carson Dwyer defeated No. 6 Soren Swenson, and Reddy Harsha Karakla knocked out No. 7 Noble Renfrow.
In the boys’ 16s, top seeds Eli Kaminski and Lennart Hammargren both advanced. Kaminski needed a super tiebreak to get past Tristan Ascenzo of Dallas, winning 6-3, 4-6, 11-9 after saving a match point. He said he was nervous early on, especially given their previous matchup, and noted how much more aggressive Ascenzo has become.
On the girls’ side, Sylvana Jalbert and Vanessa Kruse each had dominant starts, dropping just one and two games, respectively.
The boys’ 14s semifinalists are Ishaan Marla (No. 1), Nathan Lee (No. 3), Pranav Vignesh (No. 9), and Michael Chervenkov (No. 2).
In the girls’ 14s, top seed Nadia Poznick will face Nicle Alexandrovich, who upset the No. 4 seed to reach the semifinals. The other semifinal will feature Isabelle Nguyen against Violetta Mamina.
In the girls’ 12s, top seed Chloe Anthony advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1, 7-6 (9) win. She will face Valentina Singh Carvajal, who won in a super tiebreak after splitting sets. The other semifinal is an all-Southern California matchup between Lindy Zhou and Cordelia Skye.
The boys’ 12s semifinals will feature No. 1 Dmitriy Flyman against No. 3 Thomas Gamble, while Jesse Goldman and Milan Nair, both seeded No. 9, will meet in the other matchup.
