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| 15 Dec 2001 | |
| Barcelona Buddies Monaco, Kuznetsova Advance To BURGER KING Orange Bowl Finals |
Somewhere in Spain, Emilio Sanchez is smiling.
Two of his pupils, Juan Monaco, 17, of Argentina and Svetlana Kuznetsova, 16, of Russia, advanced to the 18-and-under boys’ and girls’ singles finals, respectively, at the 55th Annual BURGER KING Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships at Key Biscayne’s Tennis Center at Crandon Park.
Sanchez, the older brother of four-time Grand Slam singles champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, runs a junior tennis academy in Barcelona. He was the Boys’ 18s runner-up to Sweden’s Kent Carlsson in the 1983 Orange Bowl.
Making his debut on the International Tennis Federation’s World Junior Ranking Circuit this week, Monaco ended the hopes of Miami’s Alex Bogomolov’s with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win in a semifinal battle between two unseeded players.
"I wanted to play the Orange Bowl because it’s such a great tournament," said Monaco, who got into the event based on his professional ranking. "It means a lot for me to do well here."
Following the singles victory, Monaco teamed with countryman Maximo Gonzalez in the Boys’ 18s doubles final, losing to Germans Philipp Petzschner and Simon Stadler, 6-3, 7-6 (6).
Monaco will face Sweden’s Robin Soderling, a straight-sets winner over Mexico’s Santiago Gonzalez, in the Sunday’s singles final. Soderling, the No. 5 seed, is attempting to become Sweden’s first Orange Bowl champion since Carlsson. Soderling won the only previous match against Monaco -- at a European Tennis Association clay court 16s event in Milan last year.
The Boys’ 18s final will follow the Girls’ 18s final between Kuznetsova and defending champion Vera Zvonareva, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Stadium Court. The winner of the Orange Bowl Boys’ and Girls’ 18s singles titles receive a wild card entry in the 2002 Ericsson Open.
Seeded second, Kuznetsova defeated No. 4 Marion Bartoli, the 2001 Orange Bowl Girls’ 16s champion, 6-3, 6-4. Kuznetsova leveled the head-to-head series against Bartoli to 2-2 and avenged her loss to Bartoli in the girls’ singles final at the US Open this summer.
The victory should have secured the year-end International Tennis Federation World Junior Ranking for Kuznetsova.
"It’s been difficult this week for me. I worked hard all year to get to the top and the last two weeks have been the hardest," said Kuznetsova, who claimed the No. 1 ranking on Monday. "Second is the same as last place. I didn’t want to lose the chance to finish the year ranked No. 1."
Zvonareva, the No. 8 seed, rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the second set to defeat unseeded Anna Bastrikova 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals. The Russians have been the class of the Girls’ 18s field after Kuznetsova, Zvonareva and Bastrikova captured the ITF Connolly Continental Cup, the junior version of Fed Cup, last week.
The Orange Bowl Girls’ 18s final also featured two Russian girls in 1998 when Elena Dementieva defeated Nadejda Petrova for the title.
Zvonareva could become the first player to repeat as an Orange Bowl 18s singles champion since Lynn Epstein won her second title in 1975.
Players with multiple 18s singles titles at the BURGER KING Orange Bowl
Girls
Player, Country
Titles
Lynn Epstein, United States
1974-75
Donna Ganz, United States
1971-72
Chris Evert, United States
1969-70
Peaches Barkowitz, United States
1963-66
Karol Fageros, United States
1952-53
Boys
Player, Country
Titles
Billy Martin, United States
1973-74
Harold Solomon, United States
1969-70
Mike Green, United States
1953, 55
In the Girls’ 16s, Whitney Deason of Houston posted a rare sweep the Orange Bowl Girls’ 16s singles and doubles titles. Deason upset No. 2 seed Delia Sesciorenau of Romania, 6-3, 6-3, in the final to become the first American to win the event since 1993.
"I played really well this week," said Deason, who captured the first major singles title of her career. "This past year, I’ve reached the finals of three tournaments and lost them all. I vowed that I didn’t want that to happen again. (USA Tennis National Coach) Mervyn Webster helped me a lot with my game plan today.
Deason then teamed with Caitlin Collins of Lawrence, Kan., to defeat Lolita Frangulyan of Bradenton, Fla., and Varvara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan in the doubles final, 6-3, 7-5.
Romania’s Florida Mergea, who turned back Key Biscayne’s Brendan Evans in the semifinals, captured the Boys’ 16s title with a straight-sets win over Peter Steinberger of Germany.
55th Annual BURGER KING Orange Bowl International Junior Tennis Championships
Tennis Center at Crandon Park
Key Biscayne, Fla.
December 9-16
Results -- Saturday, December 15
Boys’ 18s Semifinal
Robin Soderling (5), Sweden, d. Santiago Gonzalez (11), Mexico, 6-3, 6-3
Juan Monaco, Argentina, d. Alex Bogomolov, Miami, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Girls’ 18s Singles Semifinal
Vera Zvonareva (8), Russia, d. Anna Bastrikova, Russia, 6-2, 7-5
Svetlana Kuznetsova (2), Russia, d.: Marion Bartoli (4), France, 6-3, 6-4
Girls’ 16s Singles Final
Whitney Deason (16), Houston, vs. Delia Sesciorenau (2), Romania, 6-3, 6-3
Boys’ 16s Singles Final
Floria Mergea (6), Romania, d. Peter Steinberger, Germany, 6-1, 7-6 (2)
Boys’ 18s Doubles Final
Philipp Petzschner and Simon Stadler (6), Germany, d. Maximo Gonzalez and Juan Monaco, Argentina, 6-3, 7-6 (6)
Girls’ 18s Doubles Final
Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Germany, and Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic, d. Jelena Jankovic, Yugoslavia, and Matea Mezak (1), Croatia, d. 6-4, 6-1.
Boys’ 16s Doubles Final
Bastian Koch and Marcel Zimmerman (6), Germany, d. Bernhard Dustov and Christian Kern, Austria, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2
Girls’ 16s Doubles Final
Caitlin Collins, Lawrence, Kan., and Whitney Deason (4), Houston, d. Lolita Frangulyan, Bradenton, Fla., and Varvara Lepchenko, Uzbekistan, 6-3, 7-5
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