 Photographer: Eleanor Preston
Date: 16 Dec 2004 |  Photographer: Eleanor Preston
Date: 16 Dec 2004 |  Photographer: Eleanor Preston
Date: 16 Dec 2004 |  Photographer: Eleanor Preston
Date: 16 Dec 2004 |  Photographer: Eleanor Preston
Date: 16 Dec 2004 |  Photographer: Eleanor Preston
Date: 16 Dec 2004 |
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| 16 Dec 2004 | |
| Oulette, Chvojka to play with and against each other at Orange Bowl Thursday |
Five of the top six seeds in the boys’ draw and six of the top eight girls’ advanced to Thursday’s third round action at the 58th Orange Bowl International at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park.
Greg Oulette (USA) and Eric Chvojka (CAN) will be both opponents and teammates Thursday as the two lefthanders will face each other in the third round of the boys’ singles then team together for a quarterfinal match in doubles.
“It’s tough playing against a friend, but you get over it quickly once the match starts,” said Chvojka, who trains mostly at a private club in Brewster, N.Y. “No matter who wins, I’m sure we’ll be fine in doubles.”
The two players won decidedly different second round matches before they paired together to upset Croatia’s Marin Cilic and Franko Skugor, the No. 3 seeds, 6-1, 6-2, in doubles. Chvojka defeated Jamie Hunt (USA) in straight sets while Oulette rallied to beat another American Robert Cameron, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
“I was up 6-2, 3-1 and hesitated a little bit and started missing,” said Oulette, who recently completed his first semester of college at the University of Florida. “He got in a groove and won the second set. He was running down a lot of balls and making me hit winners. I usually do that to my opponents, so I had to adjust.”
Chvojka and Oulette met two years ago when they started playing tournaments on the ITF Junior Circuit. They played doubles together sparingly, but both have enjoyed success at the Orange Bowl. Oulette lost in the Boys’ 18s doubles final last year to Rafael Arevalo and Jaime Cuellar (ESA) after Chvojka and his partner lost to the eventual champions in the semifinals. (Arevelo is the No. 3 seed in singles this year). Oulette won the 2002 Orange Bowl 16s doubles title with a third partner.
The winner of their singles match will face either No. 2 Mihail Zverev (GER) or Matuesz Kutrovsky (POL) in the quarterfinals.
Jessica Kirkland (USA) continued her dominance in the girls’ draw advancing to the third round with the loss of just two games following her 6-0, 6-1 win over qualifier Fernanda Hermenegildo (BRA). The No. 3 seed will face Yasmin Schnack (USA) to play either California’s Alexa Glatch or No. 10 Evgenia Rodina (RUS) in the quarterfinals. Glatch, the reigning Orange Bowl 16s champion, upset No. 5 Marina Erakovic (NZL) on Wednesday.
Mary Gambale, who lost to Kirkland in the final of last week’s USTA International Winter Championships, defeated No. 11 Jennifer Lee Heinser of Miami and will face No. 2 Katerina Niculescu (ROM) on Thursday.
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