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| 11 Dec 2002 | |
| Baker, Young Advance in Boys' 18; Golovin, Jackson Upset in Girls' 18s at Burger King Orange Bowl |
Americans Brian Baker and Sukhwa Young set up a third round meeting with each other in the Burger King Orange Bowl International Championships boys’ 18s held after posting straight-sets wins on Tuesday.
Seeded third, Baker defeated Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic, 7-6 (2), 6-2, to advance to the third round of the boys’ 18s for the second consecutive year. A senior at Hillwood High School in Nashville, Tennessee, Baker is coming off of a third round loss at the inaugural USTA International Winter Championships last week. He preparations for the Orange Bowl have been hampered by a lingering chest cold and studies for his pending English IV and U.S. History finals.
"My game is not where I want it to be, but I keep getting better with every match," said Baker, 17, who lost to the eventual champion, Robin Soderling, here last year. "I've beaten all of the top guys here a some point, so I like my chances if I keep improving my level of play."
Young is making the most of the wild card entry the USTA gave him into the main draw. The 17-year-old Alaska native who now lives and trains in Wesley Chapel, Fla., upset No. 15 seed Marcel Zimmerman of Germany in the first round and easily handled qualifier Andreas Iriate of the U.S., 6-1, 6-2, on Tuesday.
Young is ranked No. 144 in the ITF World Junior Rankings; Baker is No. 11.
In the girls’ 18s, the top two seeds easily advanced to the third round. No. 1 Vera Douchevina of Russia, the reigning Wimbledon girls’ singles champion, defeated lucky loser Maryori Franco of Colombia, 6-4, 6-3. She will face reigning Junior Orange Bowl girls’ 14s champion Shahar Peer of Israel next.
Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany, the No. 2 seed, advanced when Marina Tavares retired in their match, trailing 6-1, 3-0. Groenefeld is coming off of a runner-up finish at the USTA International Winter Championships to American Jamea Jackson.
The much-anticipated meeting between Jackson and France’s Tatiana Golovin fell by the wayside when both players were upset in the second round. Their third round encounter would have been a rematch of the USTA International Winter Championship quarterfinals. Ranked No. 10 in the world, Golovin was overpowered by Austria’s Daniela Kix, 6-2, 6-0.
“This is my last junior tournament, so I tried to go out there and relax,” said eighteen-year-old Kix, who lost in the second round here last year when she was a career-high No. 25 in the world junior rankings. She is currently No. 87 in the world among juniors and ranked No. 483 on the WTA Tour.
Jackson, playing her eighth match in nine days, lost to Kristina Czafikova, 7-5, 6-1.
Only one major upset was recorded in the 16s division on Tuesday as qualifier Karina Porushkevich of Los Angeles upset No. 4 Margot Torre of Italy in the second round, 7-6 (10), 4-6, 6-1.
Photographs by Susan Mullane
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