Wet day decides quarterfinal matchups for boys
Many of the junior tennis players competing in this year’s USTA National Clay Court Championships were hoping for relief from the South Florida sun.
On the fifth day of the tournament, they got it.
Rain pelted players competing in the Boys 18s portion of the tournament at Seven Bridges Tennis Center in Delray Beach on Thursday. About half of the matches at Seven Bridges— which featured the tournament’s No. 3 seed, No. 9 seed and No. 5 seed — were stopped in the first set and postponed until officials found dryer courts.
Once the players were relocated and they were able to finish their matches, the quarterfinals match-ups were set.
Boca’s Axel Nefve, the only South Florida player left in the winner’s bracket, defeated unseeded Oren Vesser 6-4, 6-1. Nefve, a 16-year-old who moved to Boca last year after living in Chicago and France, won his match in two sets for the fourth consecutive day.
On Friday, Nefve will play Nevin Arimilli, who earned a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against No. 33 seed Michael Sun on Thursday.
Meanwhile, No. 3 seed Robert Maciag defeated Hayden Cassone in a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory. Maciag advanced to play the winner of the match between sixthseeded Carson Haskins and No. 13 seed Mason Beiler.
No. 8 seed and Illinois commit Mac Kiger soundly defeated ninth-seeded Stanford-commit Timothy Sah 6-3, 6-1. Kiger will face unseeded William Grant, who defeated Joseph Brailovsky 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, in the quarterfinals.
Lastly, unseeded Ryan Goetz will play No. 2 seed Harris Walker in the quarterfinals after both defeated their Thursday opponents. Goetz beat seed Blake Croyder 6-0, 6-3, and Walker defeated unseeded Antoine Sanchez 7-6, 6-4.
Only two matches in the Round of 16 in the Boys 16s draw went to three sets, and bothwere upsets. No. 11seed Marcus McDaniel defeated third-seeded Leighton Allen 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, while the No. 33-seed Luis A. Iriarte Bastidas beat No. 16 seed Maxwell Giddens. McDaniel will play Bastidas on Friday to determine who advances to the semifinals.
The three other quarterfinal matches will feature No. 7 seed Alex Lee, the highest remaining seed in the tournament, against 15th-seeded Spencer Whitaker, No. 14 seed Garrett Johns against No. 12 seed Ronald Hohmann, and No. 8 seed Jacob Bullard against Matthew Segura.
All matches are scheduled to be played at the Delray Beach Tennis Center today, starting at 8:30 a.m. Admission is free. For match times and location updates, visit tennislink.usta.com.
Only two matches in the Round of 16 in the Boys 16s draw went to three sets, and both were upsets.