Tiafoe has advanced at Easter Bowl
Day 4 of the ASICS Easter Bowl featured a flurry of matches with over 50 matches in four different age divisions involving JTCC players, in both singles and doubles.
In boys’ 18s singles, No. 1 Francis Tiafoe secured his third straight sets victory in a row, winning 6-1, 7-6(2) over Jean Thirouin. He now faces No. 7 Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals, the marquee match-up of Day 5. Unseeded Aron Hiltzik is also through to the quarterfinals with 7-5, 6-4 upset of No. 8 Kalman Boyd. Hiltzik is one of four unseeded players left in the tournament and plays William Blumberg today.
In girls’ 18s singles, No. 2 Usue Arconada was upset 4-6, 6-7(5) by unseeded Andie Daniell. After having two semifinalists in last week’s International Spring Championships, JTCC has no 18s representative in the girls’ quarterfinals at Indian Wells.
In 18s doubles, No. 1 Jordi Arconada is through to the semifinals with partner Daniel Kerznerman after a 7-5, 7-6(3) win over Eduardo Nava and Nathan Ponwith. In girls, unseeded Alex Letzt continues an impressive run with partner Erin Larner and is through to the semifinals with an 0-6, 7-6(5), 10-6 upset of the No. 4 doubles team. They face a fellow unseeded team in the semifinals, which will yield a surprise finalist.
For the 12s, 14s, and 16s divisions, double duty was not enough for them on their first day of play. Many players had to play their first round singles and doubles matches, as well as second round singles matches if they had won earlier in the day. With three matches to play in 90 degree heat, this was no easy task.
In 16s, No. 1 Evan Zhu was upset in the first round, while Sebastian Arcila, Caleb Chakravarthi, and Maxwell Mendelsohn suffered similar first round defeats. Unseeded Patrick Kypson, a finalist at last week’s International Spring Championships, is in to the third round after upsetting No. 8 Jason Lui in the first round and beating fellow JTCC player Dennis Afanasev in the second.
In 16s girls, No. 13 Nadia Gizdova and No. 15 Jada Robinson both won their first round matches, only to lose later in the day in their second round matches.
In 14s, Team JTCC fared very well, with No. 7 RJ Fresen, No. 16 William Woodall, and unseeded Andrew Fenty all winning twice to advance to the third round. On the girls’ side, Mackenzie Clark was equally impressive, upsetting No. 12 Anna Brylin to make the third round.
Finally, in the first year of 12s play at the Easter Bowl, JTCC had early success with No. 12 Shawn Berdia and Benjamin Kittay both winning in the first round before they fell in their second round matchups.
Results of JTCC players in 18s are below. To find more information about the 18s tournament, including draws and the daily order of play, visit the tournament website. For the 12s, 14s, and 16s results, including doubles, visit here.
| Singles | |
| (1) Francis Tiafoe (USA) d. Jean Thirouin (USA) | 6-1; 7-6(2) |
| (13) Robert Levine (USA) d. (4) Jordi Arconada (ARG) | 6-3; 6-4 |
| Aron Hiltzik (USA) d. (8) Kalman Boyd (USA) | 7-5; 6-4 |
| Andie Daniell (USA) d. (2) Usue Arconada (USA) | 6-4; 7-6(5) |
| Doubles | |
| (1) Arconada (ARG)/Kerznerman (USA) d. Nava (USA)/Ponwith (USA) | 7-5; 7-6(3) |
| Lebedev (USA)/Wasserman (USA) d. (5) Zlobinsky (USA)/Mateas (USA) | 6-3; 3-6; 10-8 |
| (3) Fritz (USA)/Kodali (USA) d. (8) Hiltzik (USA)/Smith (USA) | 7-6(1); 6-7(4); 10-6 |
| Letzt (USA)/Larner (USA) d. (4) Gordon (USA)/Higuchi (USA) | 0-6; 7-6(5); 10-6 |
All ACES 