|
|
| 14 Dec 2002 | |
| Top Four Boys Seeds Advance to Semifinals |
Friday the 13th didn’t bring misfortune to the top four seeds in boys’ 18s at the Burger King International Championships held at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida.
All four advanced to the semifinals.
No. 3 Brian Baker of the United States held off a strong showing by No. 7 Florin Mergea of Romania, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, for the right to face No. 1 Marcos Baghadatis on Saturday.
“I served poorly in the first set, but then I got some momentum early in the second and it carried through,” said Baker, who improved to 3-0 against Mergea this year. “I got a lot of free points on my serve, making it a lot easier to hold serve and letting me hit a little more freely on the return games.”
Baghadatis defeated No. 9 Horia Flores of Mexico in straight sets to extend his winning streak here to nine matches. He won the inaugural USTA International Winter Championships last week with a straight-sets win over sixteen-year-old Jose Luis Muguruza of Aruba in the final.
Muguruza opted to play in the 16-and-under event this week. He is seeded second behind France’s Gael Monfils, who he will face in the title match on Saturday. Both players won two matches on Friday to advance to the final.
“He played good,” said Muguruza, of his quarterfinal opponent Robert Cameron, the last American in either the boys’ or girls’ 16s events. “We were both nervous at the beginning. I was pretty tired couldn’t run for all the shots. I tried to hit a lot more winners and get to the net to finish the points fasts.”
Muguruza jumped to a career-high No. 42 in the ITF World Junior Rankings after last week’s run, but feels more pressure in the younger division where no ranking points are at stake. “In the 18s there is no pressure because you are playing kids two years older than you, but in the 16s I feel a lot of pressure to win because everyone wants to beat me.”
The other boys’ 18s semifinal will pit No. 2 seed Lamine Ouahab of Algeria against No. 4 Mathieu Montcourt of France.
In girls’ 18s, Ally Baker, who lives and trains in Key Biscayne, upset No. 3 seed Jarmila Gajdosova, 6-2, 6-0.
“The last couple of matches I was focusing on just feeling well, and trying to win, get off the court and go home and get some rest,” said Baker, who has battled asthma attacks and laryngitis since last week. “ Today, I felt like I could actually play and it felt like a normal match out there.”
Baker will face No. 1 Vera Douchevina, the reigning Wimbledon girls’ singles champion, in the semifinals. Douchevina eliminated unseeded Carly Gullickson of the United States in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.
“I have played (Baker) in doubles,” said Douchevina, who was upset by eventual champion Jamea Jackson in the semifinals last week. “It should be a good match. I’ll have to play without mistakes. She has good serve, so I must have good return.”
No. 2 Anna-Lena Groenefeld defeated Evguenia Linetskaya in the quarterfinals here for the second week in a row and will face No. 5 Anna Bastrikova of Russia in the semifinals. Last year, Bastrikova lost in the semifinals to Vera Zvoroneva, who went on to become the first player to successfully defend the Orange Bowl 18s title since 1975. Zvoroneva finished her rookie season on the WTA Tour Ranked No. 45 in the world.
^ Back to Top
|
