©Colette Lewis 2008--
Tulsa, OK--
The opening day of the ITF Pan-American action was barely two hours old when the first huge upset was recorded as 14-year-old Canadian Edward Nguyen came back to defeat No. 1 seed Tennys Sandgren 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Sandgren had not played since the U.S. Open junior championships, giving his aching knees a rest, but at the start of the match, played under overcast skies, he seemed to show no signs of rust, handily taking the opening set. But Nguyen's confidence grew, and the reigning Les Petit As champion began to believe he could pull off the upset.
"In the beginning I was kind of tight, I was missing some easy shots here and there, but in the second and third I got it together," said Nguyen, who had lost his only other ITF Grade 1 match 6-0, 6-0 as a wild card in August's Canadian Open.
"I was trying to be more consistent, open up the court and try to get into the net as much as possible."
The boys draw featured several outstanding or unfortunate first round encounters, depending on your point of view, and one of them, between No. 11 seed Denis Kudla and unseeded Nathan Pasha, certainly lived up to its billing. After splitting sets, with Kudla taking the first 6-4 and Pasha the second 7-5, the third was decided when Pasha was broken serving at 3-4. At 30-all Kudla didn't hit an overhead cleanly, but it found the court and when Pasha'a backhand sailed long on the next point, the match was on Kudla's racquet. The U.S.A's No. 1 Junior Davis Cup player, who clinched the title last month in Mexico, showed no sign of nerves in the final game, taking it at love to move into the second round.
In another highly competitive match, Sean Berman saved three match points in a third set tiebreaker to down Dennis Novikov 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(6). Novikov was up 6-3 but fell victim to his own unforced errors as Berman won the final five points of the match.
In addition to Sandgren, seeded boys losing Monday were No. 14 seed Jose Gerard Meza Paniaqua of Mexico, who was defeated by Aaron May 7-5, 2-6, 7-5, and No. 16 seed Frank Carleton, who lost to Salvador Lopez of Mexico 6-3, 6-3.
The girls first round, which wasn't completed until after 8 p.m. Monday evening, featured one major upset, with 13-year-old Breaunna Addison eliminating No. 4 seed Nicole Smith of Canada. There were many lengthy rallies in the contest, but it was the less experienced Addison who fought through for a 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory.
Another 13-year-old that battled into the second round was Madison Keys, who took a 7-6(1), 2-6, 6-4 decision from Jasmine Minor. The third of the 13-year-old Americans to win, Sachia Vickery, had a much easier time of it, taking out Andrea Tabachnik of Mexico 6-0, 6-1 despite giving up nearly a foot in height to the 16-year-old.
Aside from Smith, the only other girls seed to fall was No. 11 Marianne Jodion of Canada, who lost to Monica Turewicz 6-1, 6-2.
(If no country is given, please assume that the player named is from the U.S.).
With rain in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, the first round of doubles was also scheduled for Monday evening.
For complete results, visit the TennisLink site.
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