©Colette Lewis 2007--
Tulsa, OK--
It was another day of clear skies and low humidity--cool in the shade and warm in the sun. It didn't take long for the 9 a.m matches to heat up however, and I suspected the Joanna Mather-Gabriela Paz match would be an extended one when the two girls switched ends after the first game, and when I looked at my watch it was close to 9:25. The first set, won by the ninth-seeded Mather 6-2, took nearly an hour to play. The second set, won by Paz, the No. 2 seed, took equally as long, although the score was an undramatic 6-3. Even the final set, in which Paz won every game, clocked in at over 40 minutes, which I hope gives some idea of the battle every point of every game was.
Paz, who shrieks Sharapova-style, had also found herself down a set on Wednesday to Canadian Katerena Pavliets, but she showed no signs of discouragement either day. Against Mather, who matched the Venezuelan stroke for stroke in the first two sets, Paz kept her focus and her confidence and by the third set she had worn down the right-hander from Georgia, while Paz appeared capable of playing a few more sets.
That match was mirrored by the quarterfinal on adjacent court three, when Lauren McHale, the No 15 seed, also came back from a set down to defeat No. 11 seed Nicole Bartnik 4-6, 7-5, 6-0. McHale was closer to elimination than Paz, but at 5-5 in the second set McHale held and Bartnik, who appeared to be tiring in the latter stages of the second set, lost her serve at love. McHale, who continued to get every ball back in the third set, interjected some spirited "c'mons" on key points, while Bartnik was beginning to question herself and execution as the errors multiplied. Within ten seconds of the completion of the Mather-Paz match, McHale and Bartnik shook hands, and despite the third set scores, both matches were competitive to the very end. With McHale and Paz meeting in Friday afternoon's semifinals, there won't be a lot of significance in who wins the first set.
Top seed Melanie Oudin was cruising along at 6-0, 4-1 in her match against unseeded Alexandra Anghelescu of Florida, and before she knew what had happened, Oudin had dropped five straight games and was facing her first third set of the tournament. Anghelescu was assisted by Oudin's less precise play, but she also contributed to the turnaround by playing more aggressively. Oudin took the third set 6-2, but there was no question that for the first time this week, she had faced adversity and won the points she needed to win.
Oudin will face a fellow Georgian, Mallory Burdette, who was the only girl to win in straight sets. Burdette, seeded 16th, overpowered No. 6 seed Pamela Montez of Mexico 6-3, 6-3 and is the only semifinalist who has yet to drop a set in the tournament.
By comparison, the boys' quarterfinals were uneventful. Jarmere Jenkins suffered a brief scare in the first set when unseeded Evan King held several set points, but the top seed escaped with a 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory. Jenkins will face No. 3 seed Bradley Klahn, who has lost only 17 games in four matches, and today took out unseeded Jose Velasco of Bolivia 6-1, 6-3.
The other semifinal will pit unseeded Wil Spencer against No. 13 seed Chase Buchanan. Spencer topped Walker Kehrer 6-3, 6-2 and Buchanan also downed an unseeded opponent, Tennys Sandgren, by a 6-2, 6-4 score. None of the four boys semifinalists has dropped a set in the tournament.
The doubles quarterfinals did provide some surprises as the top-seeded team of Devin Britton and Jordan Cox were upended by unseeded Waylon Chin and Milos Raonic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5). The third set was a seesaw affair, with first Britton/Cox and then Chin/Raonic up a break--Chin was serving for the match at 5-3--but Raonic pounded an ace after a Britton double fault at 5-5 to give the USA/Canadian pair the win.
They will meet another unseeded team in the semifinals, as Lawrence Formentera and Denis Kudla soundly beat the third-seeded team of Alex Llompart of Puerto Rico and Julen Uriguen of Guatemala 6-4, 6-0. Formentera and Kudla had 4-0 lead in the first set before losing the next four games, then reeled off eight games in a row. The bottom half played out more to form, as No. 2 seeds Sam Garforth-Bles of Canada and Christian Saravia of Guatemala advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 8 seeds Jose Hernandez of the Dominican Republic and Velasco. Klahn and his partner Bob Van Overbeek, the fourth seeds, have completed their matches so quickly that I haven't had an opportunity to see them play, and today's 6-2, 6-1 win over No. 5 seeds Andres Bucaro and Christopher Diaz of Guatemala was easily the day's shortest contest.
The top-seeded girls team of Rebecca Marino and Oudin survived a scare, but outlasted unseeded Lauren Herring and Grace Min 4-6, 6-0, 6-3. They meet another unseeded team in the semifinals, as Laura-Alicia Aguilar of Mexico and Anghelescu upset the fourth seeded team of Bartnik and Olivia Bennett of Trinadad and Tobago 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (2).
Second seeds Krista Damico and Paz were also upset on Thursday afternoon, as the unseeded pair of Gabriela Dabrowski and Brittany Wowchuk of Canada scored a 5-7, 7-2, 6-4 win to earn a semifinal spot against the third-seeded team of Alexa Guarachi and Nicole Smith. Guarachi, of the U.S. and Smith, of Canada, defeated the No. 6 seeds Analy Guzman of Guatemala and Francesca Segarelli of the Dominican Republic 6-2, 6-3.
For complete draws, see the Tennis Link website.
TAGS:
Post Title
→Girls Provide the Drama at Pan American ITF
Post URL
→https://dancing-with-the-stars-2011.blogspot.com/2007/10/girls-provide-drama-at-pan-american-itf.html
Visit dancing-with-the-stars-2011 for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection
