Martinez rallies after rain delay to make semis
Violeta Martinez awakened Sunday just one game from finding herself eliminated from the Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships. Instead, by day’s end, the Floridian found herself one step from the Girls 14-andunder final.
Saved by the rain stoppage that cut short Saturday’s play, Martinez turned the tables on No.1 seed YaYi Yang upon Sunday’s resumption — winning two quick games on the way to a secondset tiebreaker and closing out a 1-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-4 triumph to reach the quarterfinals.
Coming back less than two hours later, Martinez punched her ticket to the semifinals with a 6-1, 7-5 win over unseeded Qavia Lopez.
“I said if I was going to lose, I should have lost before the rain came,” the diminutive Martinez said when her day was complete. “I decided that was a sign for me to win.”
It was part of a chaotic day in the Girls 14s that also saw No. 2 seed Eleana Yu and No.3 Katja Wiersholm ousted from the bracket. The lone survivor among the top eight seeds was No. 4 Melisa Ercan of Turkey, who takes on Martinez in one semifinal.
Things were a little more orderly in the other three age groups, with at least two of the top three seeds in each bracket moving into the semifinals. That includes all three No.1 seeds.
The Boys 14s have each of their top three seeds still playing, though No.3 Coleman Wong of Hong Kong survived a close call. He battled back from a first-set loss against unseeded Sebastian Gorzny, eventually surviving a third-set tiebreaker.
Gorzny (Irvine, California) had a match-point opportunity after his forehand hit the tape and hopped over for a 6-5 advantage. Wong, though, responded with a crosscourt forehand to even the count and won the next two points to complete a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) victory.
Top seed Victor Lilov again overcame a slow start, winning a first-set tiebreaker on the way to a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 triuimph over Constantinos Koshis of Cyprus. No.2 Bruno Kuzuhara (Coconut Creek) was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Croatia’s Mili Poljicak that took longer than the score would indicate.
The next-to-last game was a marathon in itself, reaching deuce at least eight times as Kuzuhara futilely tried to end it.
“I had five chances to close out the match, but the guy served well and wound up getting the game,” said Kuzuhara, who took care of business in the ensuing game. “He’s a tough opponent. He didn’t let down and fought to the end.”
Top seed Rudy Quan (Sacramento, California) continued his march through the Boys 12s with a 6-0, 6-0 dusting of Thailand’s Thanaphat Boosarawongse. No.2 Alexander Razeghi wasn’t so fortunate, as Phoenix’s Kaylan Bigun won his second three-set marathon in three days — with the last two sets decided in tiebreakers.
In the Girls 12s, top seed Clervie Ngounoue (Washington, D.C.) and No. 2 Brooklyn Olson (Bradenton) each won twice after seeing their Round of 16 matches suspended Saturday. No.3 Valeria Kargina of Latvia fell short in her quarterfinal, though, beaten by qualifier Hayu Kinoshita of Japan.
Martinez had almost no margin for error Sunday morning, trailing Taiwan’s Yang 5-3 after dropping the first set.
Her approach: Pretend the second set didn’t really happen.
“I told myself let’s get onto the court and just don’t think about the score,” she said. “Just give it your all.”
Get complete results at JrOrangeBowl.org/tennis, then clicking on USTA link.