Showing posts with label Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Day. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Anisimova, 15, ousts No. 3 seed in 60K Sacramento

   In a matchup of top U.S. prospects, 15-year-old Amanda Anisimova ousted third-seeded Kayla Day 6-3, 7-5 today in the first round of the $60,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area.
  In May, Anisimova of Hallandale Beach, Fla., became the youngest player to compete in the women's main draw of the French Open since 15-year-old Alize Cornet in 2005.
   Day, a 17-year-old left-hander from Santa Barbara, Calif., advanced to the third round of the prestigious BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in March, losing to Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Muguruza won Wimbledon nine days ago for her second Grand Slam singles title.
   In another upset today, 24-year-old wild card Robin Anderson beat No. 6 seed Lizette Cabrera of Australia 7-5, 6-3.
   No. 2 seed Kristie Ahn, a 25-year-old former Stanford star based in Orlando, Fla., and No. 7 Danielle Collins, 23, of St. Petersburg, Fla., advanced in straight sets.
   Ahn, ranked No. 116, defeated 19-year-old left-hander Francesca Di Lorenzo, the top-ranked college player all spring as an Ohio State sophomore, 6-4, 6-4.
   Collins, the 2014 and 2016 NCAA champion from the University of Virginia, dismissed U.S. wild card Anna Tatishvili, a former top-50 player, 6-0, 6-3.
   In the final round of qualifying, cancer survivor Victory Duval, 21, of Bradenton, Fla., overwhelmed Michaela Gordon of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area 6-0, 6-1 in 60 minutes.
   Duval was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2014, shortly before cracking the top 100. Gordon will turn 18 on Wednesday and enroll at Stanford in September.
   Here are the Sacramento qualifying, singles and doubles draws and Wednesday's schedule.

Monday, July 24, 2017

No. 77 Brady to face junior star in 60K Sacramento

   Top-seeded Jennifer Brady, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in January as a qualifier, will face reigning Wimbledon junior champion Claire Liu in an all-American matchup on Wednesday in the first round of the $60,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger.
   Brady, 22, of Boca Raton, Fla., and Liu, 17, of Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles area will meet at a time to be announced at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area.
   Brady, ranked No. 77, is the only top-100 player in the draw. Next is No. 116 Kristie Ahn, a former Stanford star based in Orlando, Fla.
   Ahn will play Francesca Di Lorenzo, a 19-year-old left-hander from New Albany, Ohio, on Tuesday after the 10 a.m. match between Victoria Duval and Michaela Gordon in the final round of qualifying.
   Di Lorenzo, the top-ranked college player all spring as an Ohio State sophomore, reached the quarterfinals of last week's $60,000 Stockton Challenger.
   Duval was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 18 in 2014, shortly before cracking the top 100 in the world. Gordon, from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, will turn 18 on Wednesday and enroll at Stanford in September.
   Two top U.S. prospects will square off on Tuesday in the opening round. Third-seeded Kayla Day, a 17-year-old left-hander from Santa Barbara, Calif., will take on Amanda Anisimova, 15, of Hallandale Beach, Fla., at about 2 p.m.
   In May, Anisimova became the youngest player to compete in the women's main draw of the French Open since Alize Cornet at 15 in 2005. Anisimova joined Di Lorenzo in the Stockton quarterfinals.
   Day advanced to the third round of the prestigious BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in March, losing to Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Muguruza won Wimbledon eight days ago for her second Grand Slam singles title. Day did not play in Stockton.
   Eighth seed and Gold River defending champion Sofia Kenin, 18, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., will try to sweep the Stockton and Sacramento titles. She will open against Jillian Taggart, a 16-year-old wild card from Fair Oaks in the Sacramento area, on Wednesday at a time to be announced.
   Also in action Wednesday will be Marina Erakovic, a former top-40 player from New Zealand rebounding from knee problems, and 46-year-old Japanese marvel Kimiko Date, who ascended to No. 4 in the world in 1995.
   Erakovic will play Jennifer Elie, a 30-year-old American, and Date will meet U.S. wild card Emina Bektas, 24.
   Here are the Sacramento qualifying, singles and doubles draws and Tuesday's schedule.

Sunday, April 3, 2016

NorCal's Riffice falls in USTA Spring boys 18 final

   First, Liam Caruana was overmatched. Then Sam Riffice was.
   The 11th-seeded Caruana, a resident of Austin, Texas, who recently began playing for his native Italy, beat the fourth-seeded Riffice, from the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 today for the boys 18 singles title in the USTA International Spring Championships in Carson, Calif.
   Caruana trailed 1-5 in the first set, which he attributed to nerves, and took a medical timeout at 2-5.       
   “Earlier in the tournament, I strained my (abdominal) muscle, so I’ve carried that throughout the tournament,” Caruana, 18, said on usta.com. “It wasn’t enough to default, but it hurt when I was serving. After that medical timeout, I told myself to play loose and free because, if not, I was just getting destroyed.”
   Instead, Riffice got destroyed.
   “I don’t think there was much I could have done to beat him today,” said the 17-year-old Riffice, ranked No. 1 nationally in the 18s. “I think he just started slow and picked up his game. There was a lot I could have done better to make it closer. I didn’t play as offensive as I would have liked, and he was dictating the points. I didn’t get to pressure him much, and my balls didn’t have a lot on them.
   “He mixed up the pace a lot, and he hit a lot of different shots and didn’t give me the same ball too many times in a row.”
   Second-seeded Kayla Day of Santa Barbara, Calif., won the girls 18 singles title. The 16-year-old left-hander topped fifth-seeded Claire Liu, 15, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in just under three hours. Liu led 6-4, 2-0.
   In the prestigious Easter Bowl in Indian Wells, Calif., third-seeded Ryder Jackson of Nicasio in the San Francisco Bay Area, Aidan Mayo of Roseville and Karl Lee of Los Altos reached the round of 16 in the boys 14s.
   Top-seeded Stefan Leustian of Mather lost to Ronald Hohmann of Oyster Bay, N.Y., 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the boys 14 round of 32.
   India Houghton of Tiburon advanced to the round of 16 in the girls 14s.
   The Easter Bowl boys and girls 18s and 16s begin Monday.

Friday, April 1, 2016

NorCal girls reach 16 singles final in USTA tourney

   The girls 16 singles final in the USTA International Spring Championships in Carson will be an all-Northern California encounter.
   No. 14 seed Jessi Muljat of Sacramento will meet No. 15 Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday.
   Muljat, 15, outlasted unseeded Eryn Cayetano of Corona, Calif., 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 today. Volynets, 14, routed No. 10 Hailey Baptiste of Takoma Park, Md., 6-0, 6-2.
   Cayetano ousted No. 1 seed Kacie Harvey, 14, of Braintree, Mass., in the second round, and Volynets eliminated No. 2 Marcella Cruz of Marlboro, N.J., in the third round.
   Muljat is ranked 42nd nationally in the 16s, and Volynets is No. 1 in the 14s.
   In the girls 18 quarterfinals, No. 2 seed Kayla Day of Santa Barbara, Calif., held off No. 6 Michaela Gordon of Saratoga, Calif., 6-4, 7-5 in a matchup of promising 16-year-olds. 
   Day, a left-hander, was the girls 18 runner-up in the Orange Bowl in Plantation, Fla., last December. She is ranked No. 13 in the world among girls and No. 685 among women. Gordon is No. 44 and No. 605, respectively.
   Both Day and Gordon have reached the quarterfinals of $25,000 professional tournaments. Day did so in Wesley Chapel, Fla., in January and, as a qualifier, in Surprise, Ariz., in February. Gordon gained the quarters in Redding in 2014 at 15 years old.
   In the boys 18s in Carson, Sam Riffice of Roseville in the Sacramento area reached the singles semifinals and doubles final.
   Riffice, seeded No. 4 in singles, topped No. 5 Duarte Vale of Portugal 7-5, 6-1. Riffice, who has not lost a set in his four matches, will face No. 2 seed and defending champion William Blumberg of Greenwich, Conn. In the other semifinal, No. 10 Oliver Crawford of Spartanburg, S.C., will play No. 11 Liam Caruana of Italy.
   No. 5 doubles seeds Brian Cernoch of North Bethesda, Md., and Riffice beat No. 3 Crawford and Brandon Holt of Rolling Hills, Calif., 7-5, 6-4. Cernoch and Riffice saved nine set points after trailing 5-1 in the first set. Cernoch won the 16s last year with Crawford.
   Holt, the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, and Riley Smith of Long Beach, Calif., were the boys doubles runners-up in the U.S. Open last September.
   Cernoch and Riffice will take on No. 1 Blumberg and Nathan Ponwith of Scottsdale, Ariz., for the title.
   Past tournament singles champions include Sam Querrey (2005), Bradley Klahn (2008), Sloane Stephens (2009) and Melanie Oudin (2008).
   Past participants include Milos Raonic, Madison Keys, Steve Johnson, Christina McHale, Madison Brengle, Vania King, Ryan Harrison, Nicole Gibbs, CoCo Vandeweghe, Lauren Davis, Taylor Townsend and Jesse Levine. 

Californians, 16, to meet in Spring quarterfinals

   Two promising 16-year-old Californians will meet today in the girls 18 quarterfinals at the USTA International Spring Championships in Carson.
   No. 2 Kayla Day of Santa Barbara wore down Ann Li of Devon, Pa., 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday to set up a showdown against No. 6 Michaela Gordon of Saratoga. Gordon dominated Elysia Bolton of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 6-3, 6-1.
   Day, a left-hander, was the girls 18 runner-up in the Orange Bowl in Plantation, Fla., last December. She is ranked No. 13 in the world among girls and No. 685 among women. Gordon is No. 44 and No. 605, respectively.
   Both players have reached the quarterfinals of $25,000 professional tournaments. Day did so in Wesley Chapel, Fla., in January and, as a qualifier, in Surprise, Ariz., in February. Gordon gained the quarters in Redding in 2014 at 15 years old.
   Day is 1-0 against Gordon, having won 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 on clay in the round of 16 in the 2014 Orange Bowl. 
   In the boys 18s in Carson, Sam Riffice of Granite Bay advanced to the singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals. Seeded No. 4 in singles, Riffice dismissed No. 14 Trent Bryde of Suwanee, Ga., 6-3, 6-1. Riffice, who hasn't lost more than three games in a set in his three matches, will play No. 5 Duarte Vale of Portugal. 
   No. 5 Riffice and Brian Cernoch of North Bethesda, Md., knocked off No. 2 Ulises Blanch of Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Liam Caruana of Italy 5-7, 7-5 [10-6].
   A pair of Northern Californians, meanwhile, reached the girls 16 singles semifinals.
   No. 14 seed Jessi Muljat of Sacramento defeated No. 6 Peyton Stearns of Mason, Ohio, 6-4, 6-4, and No. 15 Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek beat her doubles partner, No. 12 Cali Jankowski of Carlsbad, 6-4, 4-6, 4-0, retired.
   Muljat, 15, will play unseeded Eryn Cayetano of Corona, and Volynets, 14, will take on No. 19 Hailey Baptiste of Takoma Park, Md. Cayetano ousted No. 1 Kacie Harvey of Braintree, Mass., in the second round.
   In the doubles quarterfinals, No. 6 Baptiste and Mackenzie Clark of Bernardsville, N.J., edged No. 4 Harvey and Muljat 6-4, 2-6 [10-6].

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

U.S. goes 0 for 8 in prestigious junior tourneys

   The recent Orange Bowl and Junior Orange Bowl weren't exactly encouraging for the United States.
   The U.S. failed to win any of the eight singles titles in the prestigious Florida tournaments. Argentina took three crowns, Ukraine two, and Serbia, Canada and China one each.
   The Orange Bowl consisted of boys and girls 18 and 16 singles and doubles on clay in Plantation, Fla. The Junior Orange Bowl was comprised of boys and girls 14 and 12 singles only on clay and hardcourts in Coral Gables, Fla.
   Only two Americans, both girls from the West, reached a singles final. Sixth-seeded Kayla Day of Santa Barbara, Calif., lost in the 18s, and ninth-seeded Naomi Cheong of Las Vegas fell in the 14s.
   At least Americans won one doubles crown as unseeded McCartney Kessler of Calhoun, Ga., and Emma Kurtz of Atlanta prevailed in the girls 16s.
   The only other U.S. finalist was Brian Shi of Jericho, N.Y. He and Nicaise Muamba of Canada lost in boys 16 doubles as the second seeds.
ORANGE BOWL
In Plantation, Fla.
Boys finals
18 singles
   Miomir Kecmanovic (9), Serbia, def. Stefanos Tsitsipas (3), Greece, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5).
18 doubles
   Yuta Shimizu and Yunosuke Tanaka, Japan, def. Ergi Kirkin, Turkey, and Alexei Popyrin, Australia, 7-5, 7-6 (2).
16 singles
   Sebastian Baez (9), Argentina, def. Karl Friberg (3), Sweden, 6-2, 6-1.
16 doubles
   Sebastian Baez, Argentina, and Miguel Fernando Pereira (3), Chile, def. Nicaise Muamba, Canada, and Brian Shi (2), Jericho, N.Y., 6-2, 6-3.
Girls finals
18 singles
   Bianca Andreescu (9), Canada, def. Kayla Day (6), Santa Barbara, 7-6 (7), 6-4.
18 doubles
   Pranjala Yadlapalli, India, and Tamara Zidansek (5), Slovenia, def. Eleni Christofi, Greece, and Anastasia Detiuc, Moldova, 6-2, 6-2.
16 singles
   Maria Carle (2), Argentina, def. Gabriela Tatarus, Romania, 6-2, 7-6 (7).
16 doubles
   McCartney Kessler, Calhoun, Ga., and Emma Kurtz, Atlanta, def. Ania Hertel, Poland, and Mihaela Marculescu (4), Romania, 6-3, 4-6 [10-6].
JUNIOR ORANGE BOWL
In Coral Gables, Fla.
Singles finals
Boys 14
   Thiago Tirante (1), Argentina, def. Anton Matusevich (17), Great Britain, 6-2, 6-2.
Boys 12
   Xiaofei Wang (1), China, def. Jewon Jeon (8), South Korea, 6-1, 6-2.
Girls 14
   Marta Kostyuk (5), Ukraine, def. Naomi Cheong (9), Las Vegas, 6-3, 6-4.
Girls 12
   Daria Lopatetska (7), Ukraine, def. Noa Krznaric (1), Croatia, 7-5, 6-0.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Results of Orange Bowl finals

ORANGE BOWL
In Plantation, Fla.
Boys finals
18 singles
   Miomir Kecmanovic (9), Serbia, def. Stefanos Tsitsipas (3), Greece, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5).
18 doubles
   Yuta Shimizu and Yunosuke Tanaka, Japan, def. Ergi Kirkin, Turkey, and Alexei Popyrin, Australia, 7-5, 7-6 (2).
16 singles
   Sebastian Baez (9), Argentina, def. Karl Friberg (3), Sweden, 6-2, 6-1.
16 doubles
   Sebastian Baez, Argentina, and Miguel Fernando Pereira (3), Chile, def. Nicaise Muamba, Canada, and Brian Shi (2), Jericho, N.Y., 6-2, 6-3.
Girls finals
18 singles
   Bianca Andreescu (9), Canada, def. Kayla Day (6), Santa Barbara, 7-6 (7), 6-4.
18 doubles
   Pranjala Yadlapalli, India, and Tamara Zidansek (5), Slovenia, def. Eleni Christofi, Greece, and Anastasia Detiuc, Moldova, 6-2, 6-2.
16 singles
   Maria Carle (2), Argentina, def. Gabriela Tatarus, Romania, 6-2, 7-6 (7).
16 doubles
   McCartney Kessler, Calhoun, Ga., and Emma Kurtz, Atlanta, def. Ania Hertel, Poland, and Mihaela Marculescu (4), Romania, 6-3, 4-6 [10-6].