Oakland's Lee wins National Winter boys 16 singles title

   No. 2 seed Mitchell Lee of Oakland, Calif., defeated No. 4 seed Andrew Ena of Rego Park, N.Y., 6-1, 6-4 today to win the boys 16 title in the USTA National Winter Championships in Orlando, Fla.

   Ena led 2-0 in the second set.

   In the boys 18s in Orlando, No. 14 seed Emon van Loben Sels of Sacramento, Calif., took third place with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over unseeded Ryan Torres of Danville, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area.

   Lee and van Loben Sels, who has verbally committed to UCLA, are close friends and practice partners. Torres has signed a letter of intent to play for the University of California, Davis.

   Meanwhile, Bay Area residents Vihaan Reddy and Sephi Sheng swept the National Winter 12s singles titles in Tucson, Ariz.

   Reddy, the No. 4 seed from San Jose, downed No. 1 seed Izyan Ahmad of Wayne, N.J., 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3. Sheng, the No. 12 seed from Palo Alto, routed No. 2 seed Carrie-Anne Hoo of Brooklyn, N.Y., 6-2, 6-1.

   In the girls 14s in Tucson, No. 5 seed Alexis Nguyen of El Dorado Hills, Calif., in the Sacramento area and No. 28 seed Annika Penickova of Campbell in the Bay Area lost in Sunday's quarterfinals.

   In the boys and girls 12 doubles finals:

   —No. 1 seeds Ahmad and Tanishk Koduri of Santa Clara in the Bay Area beat unseeded Reddy and Kotaro Kunimoto of Palo Alto 6-4, 6-0. 

   —No. 1 seeds Nancy Lee of Belmont, Mass., and Hoo outplayed No. 2 seeds Welles Newman of Boca Raton, Fla., and Sheng 6-4, 6-4.

Sacramentan loses in National Winter boys 18 semis

   No. 18 seed Lucas Brown of Plano, Texas, defeated No. 14 seed Emon van Loben Sels of Sacramento, Calif., 6-1, 6-3 today in the boys 18 semifinals at the USTA National Winter Championships in Orlando, Fla.

   Van Loben Sels, a high school junior, has verbally committed to UCLA.

   In the boys 16 semis, No. 2 seed Mitchell Lee of Oakland, Calif., beat unseeded Lucas Coriaty of Long Beach, Calif., 6-3, 6-0. 

   Lee, a close friend and practice partner of van Loben Sels, is scheduled to play No. 4 seed Andrew Ena of Rego Park, N.Y. Ena outlasted No. 1 seed Ari Cotoulas of Brooklyn, N.Y., 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

   In Monday's boys 12 final in Tucson, Ariz., No. 4 seed Vihaan Reddy of San Jose, Calif., is set to face No. 1 seed Izyan Ahmad of Wayne, N.J.

   Also in Tucson, the girls quarterfinal results of No. 5 seed Alexis Nguyen of El Dorado Hills, Calif., in the Sacramento area and No. 28 seed Annika Penickova of Campbell in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 14s and No. 12 seed Sephi Sheng of Palo Alto, Calif., in the 12s were not available.

   In doubles in the rain-delayed Tucson tournament:

   —No. 13 seeds Giana Mucci and Thea Frodin, both from the Los Angeles region, topped No. 6 seeds Penickova and her twin sister, Kristina, 9-7 in the girls 14 quarterfinals.

   —No. 2 seeds Welles Newman of Boca Raton, Fla., and Sheng reached the girls 12 semifinals.

   —No. 1 seeds Ahmad and Tanishk Konduri of Santa Clara in the Bay Area advanced to the boys 12 semis, as did unseeded Reddy and Kotaro Kunimoto of Palo Alto. The teams are in opposite halves of the draw.

Sacramentan reaches semis in National Winter 18s

   No. 14 seed Emon van Loben Sels of Sacramento, Calif., topped No. 9 seed Landon Ardila of Dallas 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 today in the boys 18 quarterfinals in the USTA National Winter Championships.

   Van Loben Sels, who has verbally committed to UCLA, is scheduled to face No. 18 seed Lucas Brown of Plano, Texas, on Sunday in Orlando, Fla. Brown beat Dylan Tsoi of El Dorado Hills in the Sacramento area 6-4, 6-1. 

   In the quarterfinals of the 16s:

   —No. 2 seed Mitchell Lee of Oakland, Calif., beat unseeded Jackson Caldwell of Seabrook, Texas, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-1. Lee and Tsoi are close friends and practice partners of van Loben Sels.

   —No. 13 seed Pearlie Zhang of Plainsboro, N.J., beat No. 4 seed Natasha Rajaram of Cupertino in the San Francisco Bay Area 6-3, 6-1.

   Tsoi, Lee and Rajaram lost in the doubles quarters. Meg McCarty of Bozeman, Mont., and Ellie Morrow of Houston edged No. 8 seeds Sophie Hernandez of Los Gatos in the Bay Area and Rajaram 5-7, 6-2 [12-10].

   Advancing to the singles quarterfinals in Tucson, Ariz., were:

   —No. 5 seed Alexis Nguyen of El Dorado Hills and No. 28 seed Annika Penickova of Campbell in the Bay Area in the girls 14s.

   —No. 12 seed Sephi Sheng of Palo Alto, Calif., in the girls 12s. Sheng ousted No. 1 seed Nancy Lee of Belmont, Mass., 6-4, 6-2.

   —No. 4 seed Vihaan Reddy of San Jose, Calif., and No. 7 seed Tanishk Konduri of Santa Clara in the Bay Area in the boys 12s.

NorCal's Tsoi upends No. 2 seed in National Winter 18s

   Unseeded Dylan Tsoi of El Dorado Hills, Calif., in the Sacramento area surprised No. 2 seed Bjorn Swenson, a University of Michigan signee from North Oaks, Minn., 6-7 (3), 7-5, 7-5 today in the fourth round of the boys 18s in the USTA National Winter Championships.

   Tsoi, a high school junior, is scheduled to play No. 18 seed Lucas Brown of Plano, Texas, in Saturday's quarterfinals in Orlando, Fla. Brown beat No. 22 seed Noah Hernandez of Hinsdale, Ill., 6-4, 6-1.

   Also reaching the quarters were No. 14 seed Emon van Loben Sels of Sacramento in the boys 18s, No. 2 seed Mitchell Lee of Oakland, Calif., in the boys 16s and No. 4 seed Natasha Rajaram of Cupertino in the San Francisco Bay Area in the girls 16s.

   The 14s and 12s in Tucson, Ariz., are behind schedule because of inclement weather, ZooTennis reported.

Winter Nationals canceled; Orange Bowl to begin soon

Roger Federer won the Orange Bowl in 1998. This year's tournament is scheduled
to begin on Sunday (16s) and Monday (18s).

   The USTA has canceled the National Winter Championships, a junior tournament that had been scheduled for Dec. 28 to Jan. 3 in Arizona and Florida, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

   However, the Orange Bowl remains set for Sunday (16s) and Monday (18s) through Dec. 13 on clay in Plantation, Fla.

   The top three seeds in the Orange Bowl boys 18s are, in order, Peter Fajta of Hungary, Dali Blanch of Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Lukas Neumayer of Austria.

   Also entered is Aidan Mayo, who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, Calif. Mayo reached last year's boys 18 doubles final with Lorenzo Claverie of Venezuela.

   Heading the field in the girls 18s are Elsa Jacquemot of France, Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra and Kristina Dmitruk of Belarus. Jacquemot, 17, captured the French Open girls singles title in October, and Kasintseva, a 15-year-old left-hander, won this year's Australian Open girls singles crown at 14. 

   Andorra, situated between France and Spain, is 2.5 times the size of Washington, D.C., with a population of about 77,000 and one indoor tennis court.

   The Orange Bowl was founded by Eddie Herr in 1947. It was played on clay until 1998, then on hardcourts until 2011. It has been contested on clay again since then.

   Past winners of the Orange Bowl 18s include International Tennis Hall of Famers Chris Evert (1969-70), Bjorn Borg (1972), John McEnroe (1976), Ivan Lendl (1977), Gabriela Sabatini (1984) and Jim Courier (1987).

   Winners of the tournament on hardcourts include Roger Federer (1998), Andy Roddick (1999) and Caroline Wozniacki (2005).

Quinn wins all-NorCal boys 16 final in Winter Nationals

   Sixth-seeded Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., beat fifth-seeded Kurt Miller of Los Gatos, Calif., in the San Jose area 6-2, 6-2 today to win the boys 16 singles title in the USTA National Winter Championships on clay in Orlando, Fla.
   Quinn did not lose a set in seven matches. Miller was coming off a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory over third-seeded Michael Zheng of Montville, N.J., on Thursday.
   In the boys 18 doubles final on a hardcourt in Orlando, fourth-seeded Keshav Chopra of Marietta, Ga., and Coy Simon of Charleston, S.C., topped third-seeded Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara, Calif., also near San Jose, 4-6, 6-2, retired.
   Chaudhary and Zapp, who won the singles title, will enroll at Stanford and North Carolina, respectively.
   Top-seeded Natalie Block of Plantation, Fla., and Aubrey Nisbet of Wilmington, Del., won the girls 16 doubles crown on clay in Orlando. They wore down unseeded Katie Codd of Carlsbad in the San Diego region and Tomi Main of Seaside, near Monterey, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. Codd claimed the singles title.

Winter Nationals to feature all-NorCal boys 16 final

   A Northern Californian will win the boys 16 singles title in the USTA National Winter Championships.
   Fifth-seeded Kurt Miller of Los Gatos in the San Jose area and sixth-seeded Ethan Quinn of Fresno advanced to Friday's final on clay in Orlando, Fla.
   Miller topped third-seeded Michael Zheng of Montville, N.J., 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 today, and Quinn defeated 17th-seeded Michael Ross of Charleston, S.C., 6-2, 6-4. Ross had ousted top-seeded Louis Cloud of San Antonio 6-2, 6-1 in the third round.
   Meanwhile, two Northern Californians will play for separate doubles titles in Orlando.
   Third-seeded Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara and Logan Zapp of Fleming Island, Fla., will meet fourth-seeded Keshav Chopra of Marietta, Ga., and Coy Simon of Charleston, S.C., on a hardcourt in the boys 18s. Chaudhary and Zapp will enroll at Stanford and North Carolina, respectively.
   Also, unseeded Katie Codd of Carlsbad in the San Diego area and Tomi Main of Seaside in the Monterey region will face top-seeded Natalie Block of Plantation, Fla., and Aubrey Nisbet of Wilmington, Del., on clay in the girls 16s.
   Main, seeded 10th in singles, lost to 17th-seeded Lucinda Gatsiounis of Studio City in the Los Angeles area 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
   In the boys 16 doubles semifinals on clay, top-seeded Lucas Brown of Plano, Texas, and Aidan Kim of Milford, Mich., beat unseeded Quinn and Gabriele Brancatelli of Westhampton Beach, N.Y., 7-6 (2), 6-2.
   In the girls 14 singles semifinals on hardcourts in Tucson, Ariz., 10th-seeded Ava Bruno of Bronxville, N.Y., beat 17th-seeded Emily Novikov of Campbell in the San Jose area 6-2, 7-6 (5).

NorCal players reach National Winter quarters in 16s

   Three Northern Californians, two boys and one girl, reached the 16-and-under singles quarterfinals of the USTA National Winter Championships on clay in Orlando, Fla.

   Advancing today were fifth-seeded Kurt Miller of Los Gatos in the San Jose area, sixth-seeded Ethan Quinn of Fresno and 10th-seeded Tomi Main of Seaside (near Monterey).

   Miller topped 14th-seeded Nathan Nguyen of McLean, Va., 5-7, 6-0, 6-3, and Quinn defeated 11th-seeded Maxwell Sheldon of Arlington Heights, Ill., 7-6 (2), 6-2. Main beat unseeded Abby Nugent of Springboro, Ohio, 7-6 (1), 6-2.

   Quinn, playing with Gabriele Brancatelli of Westhampton Beach, N.Y.,  and Main, teaming with Katie Codd of Carlsbad in the San Diego region, also advanced to the doubles semifinals on hardcourts. Both teams are unseeded.

   In boys 18 doubles on hardcourts in Orlando, third-seeded Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara in the Bay Area and Logan Zapp of Fleming Island, Fla., moved into the semifinals. Chaudhary and Zapp will play at Stanford and North Carolina, respectively.

   In girls 14 singles on hardcourts in Tucson, Ariz., 17th-seeded Emily Novikov of Campbell in the San Jose area dispatched eighth-seeded Nina Wiese of Flushing, N.Y., 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

NorCal juniors dominate; Brooksby routs top seed

Connie Ma, 15, of Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area swept
the girls 18 titles in the USTA National Winter Championships
in Orlando, Fla. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   Juniors from Northern California, not more-heralded Florida or Southern California, dominated the singles events in past week's USTA National Winter Championships.
   Of the eight singles titles offered in Orlando, Fla., (boys and girls 18s and 16s) and Tucson, Ariz., (boys and girls 14s and 12s), NorCal players won five.
   Ishaan Ravichander (boys 18), Connie Ma (girls 18), and Luke Casper (boys 16) today joined Ria Bhakta (girls 14) and Mason Nguyen (boys 12) as champions.
   The 17th-seeded Ravichander, 16, defeated ninth-seeded Zachery Lim 7-6 (2) on a hard court at the USTA National Campus in a matchup of players from Sacramento's JMG Tennis Academy.
   Ravichander lost two sets in his seven tournament matches, including his 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 victory over 17th-seeded Finn Garner of Annapolis, Md., in the fourth round.
   The fourth-seeded Ma, a 15-year-old resident of Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area, downed third-seeded Alana Wolfberg of Orlando 6-4, 6-0.
   Ma, only 5-foot-3 (1.60 meters) and 95 pounds (43.1 kilograms), won the last nine games against the Oklahoma State signee and dropped no more than four games in a set in the tournament. She also won the doubles title with Anna Campana of Hillsborough in the Bay Area on Thursday.
   The fifth-seeded Casper, a Santa Cruz resident who turned 16 on Dec. 16, beat 13th-seeded Quinn Snyder of Delran, N.J., 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Har-Tru at the USTA National Campus.
   Casper never lost a set in the tournament, winning three tiebreakers.
   USTA Pro Circuit -- Unseeded Jenson Brooksby, an 18-year-old amateur from Carmichael in the Sacramento area, routed top-seeded Dmitry Popko, a 22-year-old Russia native who plays for Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-0 in 68 minutes in $25,000 Los Angeles to reach the semifinals of a professional tournament for the second time.
   Popko, at No. 351, is the highest-ranked player and second consecutive top seed whom Brooksby has beaten. He also shocked 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Michael Redlicki of Fayetteville, Ark., en route to the semis of the $25,000 Waco (Texas) Futures in November.
   Brooksby, who plans to enroll at Baylor in Waco in the fall or next January, will meet wild card Brandon Holt, a USC junior and the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin.

Ma, 2 others reach Winter finals; Brooksby survives; etc.

Connie Ma, 15, of Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area, will
play for the girls 18 singles title in the USTA National Winter
Championships in Orlando, Fla. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Three more Northern California juniors will play for singles titles in the USTA National Winter Championships.
   Advancing today in Orlando, Fla., were 15-year-old Connie Ma of Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area in the girls 18s, Zachery Lim of Fairfield in the boys 18s and Luke Casper of Santa Cruz in the boys 16s.
   Ria Bhakta of Saratoga in the Bay Area and Mason Nguyen of El Dorado Hills in the Sacramento region won the girls 14 and boys 12 crown, respectively, in Tucson, Ariz., on Wednesday.
   The fourth-seeded Ma, only 5-foot-3 (1.60 meters) and 95 pounds (43.1 kilograms),  routed eighth-seeded Carly Briggs of Calhoun, Ga., 6-2, 6-1. Ma will face third-seeded Alana Wolfberg, an Orlando resident and Oklahoma State recruit who topped unseeded India Houghton of Belvedere Tiburon in the Bay Area 7-6 (4), 6-4.
   Anna Campana of Hillsborough in the Bay Area and Ma, seeded 15th in doubles, beat fourth-seeded Allie Gretkowski of Mount Pleasant, S.C., and Anna Ross of Charleston, S.C., 6-4, 6-2 for the title.
   The ninth-seeded Lim defeated 14th-seeded Daniel Milavsky of Needham, Mass., 7-6 (4), 6-2 to set up a match against 17th-seeded Ishaan Ravichander of Belle Mead, N.J.
   Casper, seeded fifth, eliminated 11th-seeded Samir Banerjee of Basking Ridge, N.J., 6-1, 7-5. Casper will meet 13th-seeded Quinn Snyder of Delran, N.J.
   ITF World Tour -- Jenson Brooksby, 18, of Carmichael in the Sacramento region saved two match points in a 2-6, 7-6 (10), 7-5 victory over Brandon Nakashima, 17, of San Diego in the second round of the Los Angeles $25,000 Pro Tournament.
   Brooksby, who's headed to Baylor, won all three of his matches against Nakashima last year in straight sets. Each match was in the juniors, including the best-of-five-set final in the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich.
   Brooksby will face top-seeded Dmitry Popko, a 22-year-old Russia native who plays for Kazakhstan, in the quarterfinals.
   WTA Tour -- Unseeded Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia held off Amanda Anisimova, a 17-year-old wild card from Aventura, Fla., 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
   Anisimova, who won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, ousted fifth-seeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic in the second round.
   ATP Challenger Tour -- No. 14 seed Mathias Bourgue of France defeated wild card Sam Riffice, a Florida freshman from Roseville in the Sacramento area, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the third round of the $50,000 Orlando (Fla.) Open.
   Riffice stunned fourth-seeded Filip Peliwo of Canada in the second round. Peliwo won the 2012 Wimbledon boys singles title.

Bhakta, Nguyen claim National Winter singles titles

   Ninth-seeded Ria Bhakta of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area crushed fifth-seeded Kinaa Graham of Austin, Texas, 6-0, 6-0 today to win the girls 14 title in the USTA National Winter Championships in Tucson, Ariz.
   Bhakta lost an average of only 1.4 games per set in her seven tournament matches. Her closest match came in the fourth round, a 6-3, 6-4 victory over sixth-seeded Sia Chaudry of Midlothian, Va.
   Ninth-seeded Mason Nguyen of El Dorado Hills in the Sacramento area captured the boys 12 title in Tucson, beating fourth-seeded Maxwell Exsted of Savage, Minn., 6-4, 7-5.
   Nguyen was not tested until the semifinals, in which he ousted third-seeded Santiago Muhala of Katy, Texas, 6-4, 7-5. Nguyen also toppled second-seeded Cooper Woestendick of Olathe, Kan., 6-2, 6-0 in the fourth round.
   In Orlando, Fla., India Houghton of Belvedere Tiburon in the Bay Area and Luke Casper of Santa Cruz knocked off the top seed in the girls 18 and boys 16 quarterfinals, respectively.
   Houghton, the runner-up in the Orange Bowl 16s last month, took out Anessa Lee of San Marino in the Los Angeles region 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2.
   Advancing in the other half of the draw was fourth-seeded Connie Ma, 15, of Dublin in the Bay Area. Ma, who also reached the doubles semifinals with Anna Campana of Hillsborough, helped the United States win the Junior Fed Cup in Budapest, Hungary, in September.
   Casper surprised Jack Anthrop of Orlando 6-3, 6-4. In the other half of the draw, 17th-seeded John Kim of Sunnyvale beat unseeded Carter Morgan of Jacksonville, Fla., 6-2, 6-4.
   In the boys 18 quarterfinals, ninth-seeded Zachery Lim of Fairfield topped 17th-seeded Joshua Raab of Woodstock, Ga., 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2. Lim will face 14th-seeded Daniel Milavsky, a resident of Needham, Mass., who downed 10th-seeded Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
   Also in the boys 18s, fourth-seeded Logan Zapp of Fleming Island, Fla., beat unseeded Karl Lee of Sacramento 6-4, 6-3.
   Anisimova scores upset -- Amanda Anisimova, who won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, surprised fifth-seeded Barbora Strycova, a 32-year-old Czech ranked 33rd, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
   Anisimova, a 17-year-old wide card from Aventura, Fla., ranked 90th, will play Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia. Kuzmova beat Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla., 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in a matchup of 20-year-olds. Kenin won a Northern California Challenger for the third consecutive year in Berkeley in July.
   Strycova outlasted Kenin 6-4 in the third set to help the Czech Republic defeat the United States 3-0 in the Fed Cup final in Prague in November. Kenin played in the international team competition for the first time and Strycova for the last.

Fed tops Serena; Bryan back; Stephens stumbles; etc.

   Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Frances Tiafoe and Serena Williams 4-2, 4-3 (5-3) today, lifting Switzerland to a 2-1 victory over the United States in the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia.
   It was the first meeting between Federer, who has won a record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, and Williams, who needs one more major singles crown to tie Margaret Court's mark of 24.
   Both Williams and Federer are 37. Williams has a residence in Silicon Valley, and Federer made his Northern California debut in a San Jose exhibition last March.
   Bryan returns -- Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Milos Raonic of Canada edged top-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, 40-year-old identical twins, 3-6, 6-4 (10-7) in the first round of the Brisbane International.
   Bob Bryan played for the first time since hurting his hip in the Madrid final in May. He underwent surgery on Aug. 2.
   All four players have Northern California connections.
   The Bryans led Stanford to the NCAA team title in both of their years there (1997-98).
   Lindstedt, 41, played at Fresno State before transferring to Pepperdine and reaching the 1998 NCAA doubles final, in which he and Kelly Gullett lost to the Bryans.
   Raonic, 28, never lost a set in the SAP Open in San Jose, winning the last three titles (2011-13) before the tournament ended a 125-year run in NorCal.
   Stephens ousted early -- Johanna Konta of Great Britain eliminated third-seeded Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Brisbane International. Konta won the 2016 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   Riffice scores big upset -- Wild card Sam Riffice, a Florida freshman from Roseville in the Sacramento area, stunned fourth-seeded Filip Peliwo of Canada 1-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the second round of the $50,000 Orlando (Fla.) Open. Peliwo won the 2012 Wimbledon boys singles title.
   USTA National Winter Championships -- Ria Bhakta of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area and Mason Nguyen of El Dorado Hills in the Sacramento region reached the girls 14 and boys 12 singles final, respectively, in Tucson, Ariz.
   Both players are seeded ninth. Bhakta will meet fifth-seeded Kinaa Graham of Austin, Texas, and the Nguyen will play fourth-seeded Maxwell Exsted of Savage, Minn.
   Three boys and two girls from NorCal reached the 18s quarterfinals in Orlando. Advancing were ninth-seeded Zachery Lim of Fairfield, 10th-seeded Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara, unseeded Karl Lee of Sacramento, fourth-seeded Connie Ma of Dublin and unseeded India Houghton of Belvedere Tiburon.
   Moving into the boys 16 singles quarterfinals in Orlando were fifth-seeded Luke Casper of Santa Cruz and 17th-seeded John Kim of Sunnyvale.

Quan rolls to Winter Nationals title; Nelson falls

   Rudy Quan allowed -- gasp -- four games in a set.
   The resident of Roseville in the Sacramento area then reverted to his dominating ways and won the boys 12 singles title in the USTA National Winter Championships.
   Quan, seeded seventh, beat ninth-seeded Kaylan Bigun of College Park, Md., 6-4, 6-0 today on a hard court in Tucson, Ariz. Quan, ranked 26th nationally in the 12s, surrendered only 13 games in his seven matches and never more than two in a set until the final. In the quarterfinals, Quan crushed top-seeded Nicholas Mangiapane of Davidson, N.C., 6-0, 6-1.
   In the girls 14 final, unseeded Midori Castillo of Bonita in the San Diego region downed seventh-seeded Priya Nelson of Sacramento 6-2, 6-2. Nelson won the Easter Bowl 12s at Indian Wells in March and turned 12 in June.

Nelson, Quan to play for Winter National titles

   Two Sacramento-area juniors will play for singles titles on Tuesday in the USTA National Winter Championships.
   Sacramento's Priya Nelson and Roseville's Rudy Quan, both seeded seventh, advanced in the girls 14s and boys 12s, respectively, today in Tucson, Ariz.
   Nelson, who won the Easter Bowl 12s in March and turned 12 in June, dominated 17th-seeded Emma Charney of Prospect, Ky., 6-1, 6-3. Nelson will face unseeded Midori Castillo of Bonita in the San Diego area. Castillo upended 10th-seeded Anushka Khune of Palo Alto 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
   Quan continued to dominate with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over fourth-seeded Adam Sun of Glendale, Ariz. Quan, who has lost only nine games in his six matches, will meet ninth-seeded Kaylan Bigun of College Park, Md. Bigun topped second-seeded Andrew Salu of Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego region 6-4, 7-5.
   In the Winter National girls 16 semifinals in Orlando, Fla., top-seeded Gianna Pielet of El Paso, Texas, beat unseeded Allura Zamarripa of Saint Helena in the Napa area 7-6 (5), 4-2, retired (injury).
    Zamarripa ousted four seeds in the tournament, including No. 4 Anessa Lee of San Marino in the Los Angeles area in the first round.

A. Zamarripa, Quan stay hot in Winter Nationals

   Allura Zamarripa of Saint Helena in the Napa area and Rudy Quan of Roseville in the Sacramento region continued their remarkable runs in the USTA National Winter Championships today.
   Zamarripa upset a seed for the fourth time to reach the girls 16 semifinals in Orlando, Fla. Quan, seeded seventh in the boys 12s, throttled top-seeded Nicholas Mangiapane of Davidson, N.C., 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals in Tucson, Ariz. Quan has lost only seven games in his five matches.
   Zamarripa ousted No. 11 Carmen Corley of Albuquerque, N.M., 6-4, 6-2 in the hard-court tournament. Zamarripa also knocked off No. 4 Anessa Lee of San Marino in the Los Angeles region in the first round, No. 17 Allison Zipoli of Winnetka, Ill., in the third round and No. 13 Katja Wiersholm of Kirkland, Wash., in the fourth round.
   Zamarripa will take on No. 1 Gianna Pielet of El Paso, Texas. Pielet held off No. 10 Rosie Garcia Gross of New York 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 after edging Leyden Games of Newport Beach 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the fourth round.
   Fourth-seeded Allura and Maribella Zamarripa lost to top-seeded Corley and Pielet 6-3, 6-4 in the doubles semis.
   Meanwhile, No. 7 Priya Nelson of Sacramento and No. 10 Anushka Khune of Palo Alto advanced to the girls 14 semis in Tucson, but No. 14 Tomi Main of Seaside in the Monterey area lost.
   Nelson beat No. 17 Nevena Carton of Middletown, N.J., 7-5, 6-2, and Khune outclassed Emma Baker of Chicago 6-2, 6-3. Khune has not lost a set in her five matches.
   Midori Castillo, from the San Diego suburb of Bonita, dominated Main 6-1, 6-3 to prevent an all-Northern California matchup against Khune.
   In the boys 14 quarterfinals in Tucson, No. 3 Samir Banerjee of Basking Ridge, N.J., downed No. 14 Brian Chong of Cupertino (near San Jose) 6-3, 7-5.

A. Zamarripa reaches quarters in Winter Nationals

   Allura Zamarripa of Saint Helena in the Napa area upset No. 13 seed Katja Wiersholm of Kirkland, Wash., 7-5, 6-2 today to reach the girls 16 quarterfinals in the USTA National Winter Championships in Orlando, Fla.
   Wiersholm is the third seed Zamarripa has beaten in the hard-court tournament. She also ousted No. 4 Anessa Lee of San Marino in the Los Angeles region in the first round and No. 17 Allison Zipoli of Winnetka, Ill., in the third round.
   Zamarripa will meet No. 11 Carmen Corley of Albuquerque, N.M. Corley topped Bridget Stammel of Dallas 6-1, 6-7 (7), 6-2.
   No. 17 seed India Houghton of Belvedere Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay Area lost to Justine Dondonay of Alhambra in the Los Angeles region 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (6).
   Zamarripa also advanced to the doubles semifinals with her sister Maribella. Seeded fourth, they will face top-seeded Corley and Gianna Pielet of El Paso, Texas.
   Three NorCal girls advanced to the singles quarters in the Winter National 14s in Tucson, Ariz. No. 7 Priya Nelson of Sacramento and No. 14 Tomi Main of Seaside in the Monterey area prevailed in three sets, and No. 10 Anushka Khune of Palo Alto won in straight sets.
   Unseeded Gavathri Krishnan and Emily Novikov, both from the San Jose area, lost in the girls 12s in Tucson.
    In the boys 18s in Orlando, No. 3 Kevin Zhu of Pearland, Texas, beat Marcus McDaniel of Vacaville (near Sacramento) 6-2, 6-4.
   Two NorCal boys stayed alive in Tucson. No. 14 Brian Chong of Cupertino (near San Jose) survived against No. 8 Louis Cloud of San Antonio 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the 14s. No. 7 Rudy Quan, from the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, routed No. 11 Meethre Bardot of Frisco, Texas, 6-0, 6-2 in the 12s.
   Quan will take on No. 1 Nicholas Mangiapane of Davidson, N.C.

McDaniel gains last 16 of Winter National boys 18s

   Marcus McDaniel of Vacaville surprised No. 17 seed Robert Baylon of Buena Park in the Los Angeles area 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 today to reach the boys 18 round of 16 in the USTA National Winter Championships on hard courts in Orlando, Fla.
   McDaniel, the only remaining Northern Californian in the age group, will face No. 3 seed Kevin Zhu of Pearland, Texas. Zhu defeated Andre Ilagan of Honolulu 6-3, 6-4. McDaniel reached the semifinals of the 16s last year in Scottsdale, Ariz.
   The three remaining NorCal girls in the 18s lost. Falling to high seeds were No. 17 seeds Jessi Muljat of Sacramento and Connie Ma of Dublin and unseeded Emily Zhou of Palo Alto.
   Only two NorCal boys are left in other age groups: No. 14 Brian Chong of Cupertino in the 14s and No. 7 Rudy Quan of Roseville in the 12s. They are playing on hard courts in Tucson, Ariz.
   Other NorCal girls advancing were:
   --No. 17 seed India Houghton of Belvedere Tiburon and unseeded Allura Zamarripa of Saint Helena in the 16s in Orlando.
   --No. 7 Priya Nelson of Sacramento, No. 10 Anushka Khune of Palo Alto and No. 14 Tomi Main of Seaside in the 14s in Tucson. Nelson won the Easter Bowl 12s at Indian Wells, Calif., in March and turned 12 in June.
   --Unseeded players Emily Novikov of Campbell and Gavathri Krishnan of Cupertino in the 12s in Tucson.

Novikov upsets No. 2 seed in Winter National 12s

   Emily Novikov of Campbell in the San Francisco Bay Area ousted No. 2 seed Madeleine Jessup of Rancho Palos Verdes in the Los Angeles region 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 today in the second round of the girls 12s  at the USTA National Winter Championships in Tucson, Ariz.
   Novikov will play unseeded Ellie Gyuro of Bountiful, Utah. Gyuro beat No. 17 seed Mariana Shulman of Newton, Mass., 3-4, retired (illness).
   Advancing in the girls 14s were No. 7 Priya Nelson of Sacramento and No. 10 Anushka Khune of Palo Alto.
   In the second round of the boys 14s, Will Mayew of Chapel Hill, N.C., knocked off No. 2 Max Fardanesh of Albany in the Bay Area 7-6 (3), 6-2.
   Three boys and three girls from Northern California advanced in the Winter National 18s in Orlando, Fla. Winning in the boys draw were Marcus McDaniel of Vacaville, Eric Hadigian of Sacramento and John Carroll of Greenbrae. Triumphing in the girls bracket were No. 17 seeds Jessi Muljat of Sacramento and Connie Ma of Dublin and unseeded Emily Zhou of Palo Alto.
   Winners in the 16s in Orlando included No. 17 seeds Karl Lee of Sacramento and Zachery Lim of Fairfield among boys and No. 17 India Houghton of Belvedere Tiburon and Allura Zamarripa of Saint Helena among girls.

Ovrootsky sweeps girls 12 titles in Winter Natls.

   Vivian Ovrootsky of San Jose swept the girls 12 singles and doubles titles today in the USTA National Winter Championships in Tucson, Ariz.
   Also, Carolyn Campana of Hillsborough in the San Francisco Bay Area won the girls 18 doubles crown with Ivana Corley of Albuquerque, N.M., in Scottsdale, Ariz.
   Ovrootsky, the No. 1 seed, overwhelmed No. 2 Matilyn Wang of Scottsdale 6-1, 6-2. Then No. 4 Ovrootsky and Anushka Khune of Palo Alto in the Bay Area topped No. 8 Katherine Hui of San Diego and Emmie Moore of Salt Lake City 7-5, 6-4.
   No. 3 Campana and Corley outclassed No. 5 Jessica Aragon of Plano, Texas, and Emilee Duong of Placentia in the Los Angeles area 6-3, 6-2.
   In the rain-delayed 18s and 16s in Scottsdale, three Northern Californians lost in the singles semifinals to the eventual champions.
   No. 6 Ryan Seggerman of Coronado in the San Diego area defeated No. 16 Jenson Brooksby from the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Brooksby was the runner-up in the national hard court and clay court 16s last summer. He won the national hard court 12s in 2013.
   Eighth-seeded Chelsea Kung of Fort Worth, Texas, beat seventh-seeded Sara Choy of Palo Alto 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Choy won the 16s last year.
   Top-seeded Brandon Nakashima of San Diego dominated unseeded Marcus McDaniel of Vacaville, between San Francisco and Sacramento, 6-1, 6-3.

Ovrootsky reaches two finals in Winter Nationals

   Vivian Ovrootsky of San Jose on Sunday reached the girls 12 singles and doubles finals in the USTA National Winter Championships in Tucson, Ariz.
   Ovrootsky, seeded No. 1, dominated No. 10 Nikita Vishwase of Phoenix 6-2, 6-0 to set up a match against No. 2 Matilyn Wang of Scottsdale, Ariz., for the title.
    No. 4 seeds Ovrootsky and Anushka Khune of Palo Alto in the San Francisco Bay Area defeated No. 2 Vishwase and Wang 7-5, 7-5 and will play No. 8 Katherine Hui of San Diego and Emmie Moore of Salt Lake City.
   Also in Tucson, No. 2 seed Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara lost to No. 3 Matthew Robinson of Wynnewood, Pa., 6-1, 7-5 in the boys 14 semifinals.
   No. 2 seeds Allura Zamarripa and Maribella Zamarripa of St. Helena in the Napa area fell to No. 3 Kailey Evans of Ennis, Texas, and Katherine Petty of Dallas 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in the girls 14 semis.
   Rain wiped out play in the 18s and 16s in Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix. Scheduled to play in the singles semis today at 9 a.m. MST are No. 16 seed Jenson Brooksby of Carmichael in the Sacramento region in the boys 18s, unseeded Marcus McDaniel of Vacaville (between Sacramento and San Francisco) in the boys 16s and No. 7 Sara Choy of Palo Alto in the girls 18s. The finals are scheduled for noon.
   McDaniel will take on No. 1 seed Brandon Nakashima of San Diego. Choy won the 16s last year.
   In today's girls 18 doubles final, No. 3 seeds Carolyn Campana of Hillsborough in the Bay Area and Ivana Corley of Albuquerque, N.M., are set to meet No. 5 Jessica Aragon of Plano, Texas, and Emilee Duong of Placentia in the Los Angeles area at 9 a.m.
   There is a zero percent chance of rain today in Scottsdale and Tucson. according to weather.com.