Zootennis


Schedule a training visit to the prestigious Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, MD by clicking on the banner above

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Anisimova and Sewing Reach Grade A Porto Alegre Girls Final, Bryde Advances to Boys Championship Match; Semifinals Set at Men's D-I Team Indoor; Goetz Sweeps ITF Grade 4 Titles in Mexico

ITF Junior Circuit in South America has been good to US girls the past several weeks, with Amanda Meyer winning the Grade 1 in Ecuador and Whitney Osuigwe claiming two Grade 1 titles in Paraguay and Brazil the last three weeks.  On Sunday, an American will win the Grade A in Porto Alegre Brazil, with top seed and 2016 finalist Amanda Anisimova taking on No. 7 seed Sofia Sewing.

Anisimova, who lost to Usue Arconada in last year's final, has returned to the final without much drama.  She defeated No. 6 seed Maria Osorio Serrano of Colombia, who won the Grade 1 in her home country before the US girls began their recent run, 6-3, 6-4.  Sewing got by unseeded Elysia Bolton 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 to reach the biggest final of her career.


No. 8 seed Trent Bryde will represent the US boys in the final, after he defeated No. 3 seed Vasil Kirkov 6-4, 5-7, 6-0.  He will face unseeded Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi of Argentina, who defeated No. 7 seed Oliver Crawford 6-1, 6-1.

Both Sewing and Bryde have already collected one winner's trophy, claiming the doubles titles in Porto Alegre.  Bryde and Alafia Ayeni won via walkover in the final, while Sewing and her frequent partner Maria Jose Portillo Ramirez of Mexico, seeded second, defeated No. 3 seeds Fernanda Labrana of Chile and Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil 7-5, 6-2.

Streaming of the singles finals will be available at the tournament website.

The semifinals are set at the ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor in Charlottesville after two tense battles and two easy victories.  No. 3 seed Ohio State rolled over No. 11 seed Oklahoma State 4-0 in less than two hours, while their semifinal opponent, No. 2 seed Wake Forest, needed more than three hours to subdue No. 10 seed Texas 4-3, with  Alan Gadjiev defeating Rodrigo Banzer 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 at line 6 to clinch the victory.

No. 5 seed and defending champion North Carolina got past No. 4 Cal 4-2, recovering from dropping the doubles point to get singles wins from lines 3, 4, 5, and 6. Ronnie Schneider did not finish his match with Florian Lakat at line 1, but he won the point of the tournament, (and maybe the entire dual match season). It can be viewed at FloTennis (just a brief advertisement preceding the clip, which does not require a subscription to see).

North Carolina will face host Virginia in a rematch of last year's memorable final, after the Cavaliers cruised past No. 8 UCLA 4-0 this evening in less than two hours.

For more on today's matches, see College Tennis Today.

At the ITF Grade 4 in Mexico this week, unseeded Ryan Goetz swept the singles and doubles titles. The 17-year-old New Yorker didn't drop a set in singles, beating No. 6 seed Marcelo Sepulveda Garza of Mexico 7-6(5), 6-2 in the final.  Goetz and Canadian Liam Draxl won their second straight doubles title, with the unseeded pair beating No. 2 seeds Sepulveda Garza and Guillermo Castaneda of Mexico 7-6(3), 6-4.

Rain in Arizona today has delayed the semifinals of both the $25K in Surprise and the ATP Challenger in Tempe until Sunday.

At the $15,000 Orlando Futures, top seed Michael Linzer of Austria defeated No. 4 seed Christian Lindell of Sweden 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the final with unseeded Facundo Arguello of Argentina. Arguello ended the run of 18-year-old qualifier Genaro Olivieri of Argentina with a 6-2, 6-3 win.

0 comments: