Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Unseeded players display moxie in Orange Bowl upsets
PLANTATION — Sangeet Sridhar fought off four set points. Five times, the pivotal game in his epic struggle with Benjamin Sigouin was knotted at deuce.
Sigouin, seeded third in Boys 18s at the Metropolia Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships, would prevail in that protracted game to take the second set and tie the match Tuesday. But the effort took a toll.
The Canadian, ranked as the No. 11 junior in the world, didn’t win another game as unheralded Sridhar, from Scottsdale, Ariz., swept through the final set for a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-0 upset.
“I just fought with every point, made him really work for that second set,” said Sridhar, who had to win three qualifying matches to get into the main draw of the prestigious junior tournament. “I think when the third set started I was ready to play again. I think the score showed that I was able to bring the heat to him, especially early in the third set.”
Sigouin, who let the umpire know early in the second set that he wasn’t feeling well, needed a medical time out due to dizziness and lightheadedness after Sridhar won the first game of the third set.
While Sridhar elevated his game on the sizzling second day at windy Frank Veltri Tennis Center, frustration boiled over for his opponent. Sigouin was assessed a penalty point after slamming his racket down on the changeover with Sridhar leading 3-0 in the third. He then failed to win a point on his serve, doublefaulting for the break as the match slipped away.
The 6-foot-4 Sigouin has a cannon serve, but he had trouble getting the first one in all day. And when he did, Sridhar kept returning with uncanny efficiency.
“I think I moved really well in the match, competed really hard, and I think more than anything I returned really well throughout the match,” said Sridhar, whose poise and shot-making belied his ITF ranking of 287.
“I think those qualifying matches were great for me to get some matches in, and I’m ready now to keep going further. It’s not just about one win,” Sridhar said.
Sridhar’s win wasn’t the only notable upset Tuesday, which began with Israel’s Roi Ginat knocking off the No. 1 seed in Boys 16s, Yeongseok Jeong of Korea 6-3, 6-4.
It illustrates the depth of talent assembled at the Orange Bowl event, one of the world’s top junior tournaments.
That was evident in another U.S.-Canada showdown. This time the unseeded victor was Layne Sleeth, from Toronto, who rallied from big deficits in consecutive sets for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 conquest of Texan Ellie Douglas.
Douglas, seeded No. 10 in Girls 18s and ranked 19th by ITF,
couldn’t get past the stoic persistence of Sleeth, a compact player who doesn’t overpower but simply returns everything thrown her way.
Douglas seemed on the verge of closing out the match up 4-2 in the second before errant serves and unforced errors cost her the next four games.
“I can’t play today,” Douglas said with disgust after putting a forehand into the net early in the third.
What she couldn’t do was maintain consistency. After forging a 4-1 advantage in the third, it deserted her again.
Sleeth, whose dispassionate expression never changes, kept picking off points patiently while Douglas wrestled with frustration.
“That’s my style. I don’t like to show my emotions,” Sleeth said. “It helps when you see that frustration. I just told myself to keep fighting.”
It took some coaxing to get a smile out of her afterward, but Sleeth acknowledged that it was one of her biggest wins. “She’s ranked [19th] in the world,” she said of Douglas. “My ranking is 180. It’s just motivating.”