Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Boca Raton’s Blake achieves upset over No. 3 seed in 16s
PLANTATION — Before the world’s two top-ranked juniors gave a glimpse at the future of tennis, before South Florida’s best hope in the Metropolia Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships departed in tears, another fresh face on the rise made the most of her moment Wednesday on the Stadium Court.
A long moment it was, as Boca Raton’s Angelica Blake spent more than three hours in an arduous upset of No. 3 seed Kacie Harvey to advance to the quarterfinals of Girls’ 16s with a 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3 win at Veltri Tennis Center.
By contrast, Amanda Anisimova, the No. 2 seed in Girls’ 18s who like Blake trains under Nick Saviano and followed her match on Stadium Court, couldn’t overcome early adversity and fell to unseeded Daniela Vismane 6-4, 7-6 (2). Anisimova, of Hallandale Beach, is ranked fifth in the world by the ITF.
Blake, who won the Class 2A high school state championship in No. 1 singles as a freshman at American Heritage-Delray last spring, came into this week ranked at 907. But she’ll be moving up rapidly if she continues to display the skills, poise and mental toughness she mustered in dispatching Harvey after letting an opportunity to close out the match in straight sets slip away.
“It’s pretty tough knowing that you didn’t close out that set, that you could have easily been off the court faster,” Blake said. “My body language wasn’t great after I lost those last couple games in the second [set]. But early in the third I started cramping, and I was like, you know what, just go for it. Be aggressive, use her service game as an advantage, and I think that’s what helped me today.”
Harvey, from Massachusetts, certainly provided openings with 30 double faults and by getting only 47 percent of her first serves in — Blake had only six double faults and put 75 percent of her first serves in play.
After trailing 3-0 in the second set, Blake broke Harvey’s serve three consecutive times on the way to a tie at 4-4. But she was unable to hold her own serve in a drawn-out game that went to deuce four times before Harvey prevailed and then served out the set.
Blake’s upset bid was wavering as she fell behind 2-0 in the third.
“I think I just mentally said, you have nothing to lose, go for it. Just run for everything. And I fought to the very last point,” Blake said.
“Being able to get to the Orange Bowl [quarterfinals] against a very good player is really exciting.”
Blake remained at courtside to watch as Anisimova attempted to advance out of the second round in the upper division. But the French Open Junior finalist was unable to muster the usual all-around command of her game or rise above adversity.
Trailing 4-3 in the opening set, Anisimova took a medical timeout for treatment by a trainer for pain in her lower back. She didn’t appear hampered during the remainder of the match, but her game was ailing.
“My back was hurting first set. I was able to get through it,” she said. “I just didn’t play well.”
Anisimova’s serve was problematic as she had 10 double-faults and got only 44 percent of first serves in. There were way too many unforced errors and shots that just missed against a very disciplined player who made few mistakes.
Vismane, of Latvia, is ranked 50th by ITF and has two tournament wins (Hungary and Spain) in the past few months.