CoreTennis Blog & Articles

On a day when former Easter Bowl champion Andy Roddick (boys’ 16s in 1998) clinched America’s Davis Cup quarterfinal against France, the Easter Bowl came to a close in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

BOYS’ 16S FINAL
Jack Sock of Lincoln, Neb., won a thrilling three-set final against No. 2 seeded Clay Thompson of Venice, Calif., 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) in the boys’ 16s final at the USTA Spring Nationals event.

Last year in the same 16s final--the third and final main draw match of the day--unseeded Lawrence Formentera also needed a third-set tiebreaker to beat No. 1 seed James “Bo” Seal of Chattanooga, Tenn.

Thompson, who stands 6 feet, 5 inches tall, played an aggressive serve and volley game, impressing the crowd with his play in the second set. Amazingly, Thompson was involved in another third-set tiebreaker after his singles match as he and partner Nelson Vick of Grafton, Wisc., took the doubles gold. The top seeds beat Warren Hardie, Laguna Niguel, Calif., and Casey MacMaster, Fort Collins, Colo., 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3).

GIRLS’ 16S FINAL
In an all-California final, Ellen Tsay of Pleasanton in the Bay Area, captured her second gold ball in singles beating Los Angeles’ Sarah Lee in the girls’ 16s final, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Tsay had to come back from down a set in the first and also battled back after being down 4-2 in the third. The left-handed Tsay waiting played a patient, conservative game against Lee, who said she lost her focus midway through the match.

BOYS’ 18S ITF FINAL
It has been quite a two weeks for Chase Buchanan of New Albany, Ohio. He made the semifinals at Carson two weeks ago, knocking off top-seeded Alexei Grigorov of Russia in convincing fashion, 6-2, 6-4. On Sunday in the boys’ 18s ITF final at the Easter Bowl he rolled Alex Llompart, of Carolina, Puerto Rico in one of the most lopsided finals in recent memory, 6-1, 6-0.

Buchanan said he plans to play a couple of USTA Futures events in Florida before heading off to Europe for another tournament in Belgium before the French Open and Wimbledon juniors.

Llompart said he also plans to travel to Europe in the coming weeks to compete in three junior tournaments in Italy.

BOYS’ 14S FINAL
Top-seeded Michael Rinaldi of Palm City, Fla., the nephew of former WTA tennis professional Kathy Rinaldi, became the new boys' 14s Easter Bowl champion after defeating John Richmond, 6-3, 6-2 in the finals.

“It's feels great to win a tournament of this magnitude,” said Rinaldi, who said his aunt played the Easter Bowl. “I started bad but settled in and pulled it together for the win.”

MORE DOUBLES WINNERS
Boys 18s ITF: Denis Lin and Kyle McMorrow of Thousand Oaks, Calif., beat Llompart, Carolina, Puerto Rico /Jose Sierra-Short, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, 7-6 (1), 2-6, 1-0 (7).

Girls' 16s: Amelia Herring, Carlsbad, Calif. and Tsay (6), Pleasanton, Calif., def. Alexandra Clay, Grayson, Ga. / Whitney Kay (5), Alpharetta, Ga., 6-3, 5-7, 6-3

NOT USED TO THE CLAY
Girls’ 18s winner Melanie Oudin, the No. 2-ranked ITF junior in the world, said she plans on playing a clay tune-up before the French Open juniors. “I’ve never played on clay in my life,” said Oudin. “It should be interesting.”

GOOD SPORTS
The USTA sportsmanship awards went to the following players: Boys’ 16: Evan Song; girls’ 16s: Ellen Tsay; boys’ 14s: John Richmond; girls’ 14s: Kyle McPhillips.

Boys’ 18s winner Jack Sock won the American Airlines Award. Sock will receive an American Airlines round-trip ticket anywhere American flies. Aeriel Ellis won the $300 Babolat award.

RANCHO LAS PALMAS, Calif. – The final day concluded Sunday at the Easter Bowl. A look at Saturday’s semifinals and Sunday’s finals:

OUDIN CAPTURES EASTER BOWL 18s
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif.—All there was left for Melanie Oudin to do was jump in the pool. After two weeks of amazing tennis without one day off, Oudin did just that, making a big splash in the pool just like she has on court, beating unseeded Lauren Embree, 6- 7 (1), 6-1, 6-3, in the girls' 18s final at the ITF Easter Bowl Junior Spring Nationals Saturday at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage.

Temperatures crept into the mid-90s and the players were allowed extra time to cool down before the third set. After the match, Oudin jumped in the nearby swimming pool to cool off and celebrate. And how was she going to do that? "I'm going to have ice cream," Oudin said. "I'm really good about not having deserts when I play tournaments and I've been playing for two weeks."

What was Embree’s staegey?” "I was dying out there after that first set," Embree said. "She likes pace so my game plan was to mix it up a little. She's also really good on the run so I was trying not to hit the ball wide. Obviously, she figured it out in the second set."

Oudin felt like she didn't play well in the first set and that unseeded Embree was dictating the points."I was missing a lot and had to just calm down and be way more patient."

Oudin on the heat: "I think the heat definitely was a factor today. She's definitely more used to it than I am. We actually had snow in Georgia in March."

Oudin will next play a USTA $75,000 Pro Challenger event in Dothan, Ala.

JUST LIKE SERENA
Sachia Vickery plays a lot like her favorite player, Serena Williams. Some of that may be because she worked with Serena’s father Richard Williams when she 8 years old. Vickery, unseeded and the youngest player in the draw, beat top-seeded Kyle McPhillips in the finals Sunday, 6-3, 6-4.

“I like (Novak) Djokovic and (Jelena) Jackovic, but Serena’s my favoriate becaue she’s always smiling but Serena’s my favorite,” said Vickery, who lives in Miramar, Fla., outside Miami, but for the last two months has been training at the IMG Nick Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, Fla. She beat No. 3 seed Julie Vrabel from Centreville, Va., 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the final.

DENNIS RALSTON IN ATTENDANCE
Dennis Ralston, one of the greatest American players in junior tennis, he won the boys’ 18s and 15s nationals, was on hand watching several top players. The former USC All-America said he remembered winning the nationals 18s and 15s and that the junior tennis experience was responsible for launching his professional career.

BLOG CENTRAL
Lauren Embree is blogging each day from the USTA.com site. Embree still hasn’t decided which school she will attend but is considering Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech and UCLA.

GIRLS’ 14 FINAL
The youngest player in the tournament, Sachia Vickery, a 12-year-old from Miramar, Fla., upset No. 1 seed Kyle McPhillips, 6-3, 6-4, to win the girls’ 14 title.

McPhillips has looked liked the strongest player throughout the event. Her first serve let her down Saturday. “My first serve was really off,” she said. “My second serve was fine but I couldn’t get my first serve in.”

Vickery went up 4-0 in the second set but then McPhillips battled back to 4-4. “I played so well in the first set, so smooth,” said Vickery. “Then I started thinking about what I was about to do. Was I going to win the Easter Bowl? Or be a finalist? I had to take a minute and think about what I was doing. Was I going to frame the next ball?”

There was one thing for certain from the Easter Bowl crowd who enjoyed the final: This won’t be the last time you hear from Vickery or McPhillips.

GIRLS 16S SEMIFINALS
Ellen Tsay of Pleasanton, Calif., has several gold balls, but not one from the Easter Bowl where her best result was third place. That could change today when she meets No. 12 seed Sarah Lee from Los Angeles in the girls’ 16s final. Tsay, who beat Jennifer Kellner of Smithtown, N.Y., 6-3, 6-2, has beaten Lee all three times they have played.

She wasn’t interested in watching the end of Lee’s third set win Saturday, a three-set victory over Mary Anne MacFarlane of Ogden, Utah, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. “I actually don’t scout,” she said. “I just try and think about what I want to do and go out and do it,” she said.

Lee, who lives in the Larchmont area near Hollywood and is coached by her father and Craig Cignarelli. “I think I’m going to have to be patient and wait for the right shots,” said Lee, who has won a bronze ball before and is seeking her first gold. “I’ve got the bronze and now I know I have at least a silver. The gold ball would be nice.”

BOYS’ 18s SEMIFINALS
The last time Chase Buchanan of New Albany, Ohio, played his roommate and training partner, things didn’t go so well. Buchanan, who lost to Jarmere Jenkins in the semifinals at Carson, had a better result in Saturday’s semifinal, downing Frank Carleton of Naples, Fla., 6-3, 6-4. Like he did with Jenkins in Carson, Buchanan and Carleton warmed up together before the match.

Buchanan got up early 5-0 in the first set then “went to sleep for three games” before closing Carleton out on his serve. In the second set Carleton led 3-1 before Buchanan stormed back to take the match. “I’ve been making a lot of quarters and semis so it’s great to finally get to the final,” said Buchanan, who will play Alex Llompart of Puerto Rico in the final.

Llompart, who lost in the first round here last year, needed two tiebreakers to down Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) in his semifinal. He said he considered not coming to this year’s tournament because of his inconsistent play. Llompart, who’s ITF ranking has fallen in the 180s, wants to qualify for the French and Wimbledon juniors. The 200 ITF points awarded to the winner may just be enough to get him there.

GIRLS’ 16S SEMIFINALS
Ellen Tsay of Pleasanton, Calif., has several gold balls, but not one from the Easter Bowl where her best result was third place. That could change today when she meets No. 12 seed Sarah Lee from Los Angeles in the girls’ 16s final. Tsay, who beat Jennifer Kellner of Smithtown, N.Y., 6-3, 6-2, has beaten Lee all three times they have played.

She wasn’t interested in watching the end of Lee’s third set win Saturday, a three-set victory over Mary Anne MacFarlane of Ogden, Utah, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. “I actually don’t scout,” she said. “I just try and think about what I want to do and go out and do it,” she said.

Lee, who lives in the Larchmont area near Hollywood and is coached by her father and Craig Cignarelli. “I think I’m going to have to be patient and wait for the right shots,” said Lee, who has won a bronze ball before and is seeking her first gold. “I’ve got the bronze and now I know I have at least a silver. The gold ball would be nice.”

BOYS’ 18s SEMIFINALS
The last time Chase Buchanan of New Albany, Ohio, played his roommate and training partner, things didn’t go so well. Buchanan, who lost to Jarmere Jenkins in the semifinals at Carson, had a better result in Saturday’s semifinal, downing Frank Carleton of Naples, Fla., 6-3, 6-4. Like he did with Jenkins in Carson, Buchanan and Carleton warmed up together before the match.

Buchanan got up early 5-0 in the first set then “went to sleep for three games” before closing Carleton out on his serve. In the second set Carleton led 3-1 before Buchanan stormed back to take the match. “I’ve been making a lot of quarters and semis so it’s great to finally get to the final,” said Buchanan, who will play Alex Llompart of Puerto Rico in the final.

Llompart, who lost in the first round here last year, needed two tiebreakers to down Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) in his semifinal. He said he considered not coming to this year’s tournament because of his inconsistent play. Llompart, who’s ITF ranking has fallen in the 180s, wants to qualify for the French and Wimbledon juniors. The 200 ITF points awarded to the winner may just be enough to get him there.

BOYS’ 16s SEMIFINALS
The finalists in the boys’ 16s came off the court at the same time and entered the press room at the same time, as well, to be interviewed by the media. But neither player had much of a scouting report on the other as they have never played each other.

Clay Thompson of Venice, Calif., the No. 2 seed, meets No. 8 Jack Sock, of Lincoln, Neb., in today’s final. “He’s played great all week,” said Sock of Thompson. “Its should be a good match.”

RANCHO LAS PALMAS, Calif. – Three finals take place Saturday, the second-to-the-last day at the Easter Bowl Spring Nationals being played at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort.

GIRLS’ 18s ITF FINAL
Unseeded Lauren Embree of Marco Island, Fla., will try and knock off the tournament’s top player, 16-year-old Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga. “The last time we played she beat me pretty easily,” said Embree. “I’m going to have to play well to beat her.”

Oudin ended 15-year-old Christina McHale’s strong run to the semifinals, advancing to the girls’ 18s final, 6-4, 6-2. Embree, meanwhile, had her hands full against unseeded Aeriel Ellis of Hayward, Calif., 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4.

It should be an entertaining final. The pick here is Oudin in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.

GIRLS’ 14s USTA FINAL
Sachia Vickery certainly doesn’t play like a 12-year-old. Vickery is from Miramar, Fla., outside Miami, and was coached for one year by her favorite player Serena Williams’ father, Richard Williams. She has spent the past two months at the IMG Nick Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

Before the tournament started the 12-year-old getting most of the attention was Madison Keys from Boca Raton, Fla., as the up-and-comer to watch, but Vickery quietly kept winning, beating the No. 3 seed Julie Vrabel from Centreville, Va., 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinals to advance to the final where she’ll face top-seeded Kyle McPhillips, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Ronit Yurovsky of New Kensington, Pa.

The pick: McPhillips, 6-3, 6-3.

BOYS’ 14s USTA FINAL
In the boys’ 14s final that will follow the singles, top-seeded Michael Rinaldi of Palm City, Fla., will play No. 5 John Richmond, Pawley’s Island, Fla. Rinaldi is quiet and unassuming off the court but plays an aggressive, attacking game with reckless abandon on it.

This one is tough to pick. At first look, one would think Rinaldi would be fresher because he had such an easy time in his semifinal win (6-1, 6-3) over No. 6 seeded Reo Asami of Irvine, Calif. Richmond, on the other hand, was taken to three sets in his semifinal victory (3-6, 7-6, 6-1) against unseeded Austin Smith. But Rinaldi is also the only player left in the singles still playing doubles. He and partner Trey Strobel advanced to today’s final with a three-set win (5-7, 7-5, 6-3).

Let’s go with Richmond in the upset, 7-5, 6-4.

NAME DROPPING
Boys’ 18s semifinalist Tennys Sandgren, the No. 3 seed from Gallatin, Tenn., easily has the best name in the tournament. He’s hoping he has the best game when he faces No.13 Alex Llampart of Carolina, Puerto Rico, in today’s semifinals. Sandgren won the first set over No. 8 Evan King of Chicago before King was forced to pull out of a tournament for the second straight week because of an injury to his shoulder.

Sandgren felt for King and wanted to keep playing. “I’m happy to be in the semis but it’s wasn’t a whole lot of fun,” he said. He beat Llampart in the second round last week at the Carson ITF. The other semifinalists are: No. 16 Frank Carleton, Naples, Fla. vs. No. 4 Chase Buchanan, New Albany, Ohio.

GIRLS 16s SEMIFINALISTS
The girls’ 16s semifinals are: Sarah Lee (12), Los Angeles; Ellen Tsay (2), Pleasanton, Calif., Mary Anne MacFarlane, Ogden, Utah; and Jennifer Kellner (8), Smithtown, N.Y.

BOYS 16s SEMIFINALISTS
Joshua Tchan (6), Woodland Hills, Calif., Clay Thompson (2), Venice, Calif., Jack Sock (8), Lincoln, Neb.; and Mitchell Frank (14), Annandale, Va.

WWW.JUNIORTENNIS.COM
Forthe 10th straight year, the junior web site www.juniortennis.com is providing full on-site coverage of the event. One different aspect of this year’s coverage is they are posting player interviews. The interviews are being conducted by their coaches, fellow players or friends. Annie Paton and Barbara Frongello are the reporters, updating the site and shooting photographs each day. Paton said this is the only U.S. Nationals event the site provides on-site coverage for. They also concentrate on ITF junior individual and team events in Europe and other top-level Tennis Europe junior events.

CALLING ALL SPONSORS
Tournament director Seena Hamilton will be awarding several sponsor scholarships at the conclusion of the tournament. One of the sponsors, Laurel Springs Academy, is an Independent study program. When the tournament opened, Laurel Springs had 79 players taking part in their education program, including boys’ 18s seeded player Evan King and girls’ 18s seeded player Lauren McHale. Other scholarships will be awarded by tennis academy Gorin Academy. American Airlines will be giving a round-trip airline ticket for a player to use for national tournament travel and Babolat is giving a player a $300 scholarship.

Rancho Mirage, Calif. – The 41st annual USTA Easter Bowl Spring Nationals continue at Rancho Las Palmas Resort. A quick look at what’s been happening.

CARSON BOYS’ 18S, GIRLS’ 16S CHAMPS UPENDED
Frank Carleton of Naples, Fla., upset top-seeded Bradley Klahn of Poway, Calif., to move into the ITF boys’ 18s quarterfinals. Klahn, in the ITF world top 20 rankings, is coming off a win Sunday at the USTA Spring Internationals in Carson. Meanwhile, Girls’ 16s Carson champ Gabrielle DeSimone of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., was ousted by Belinda Niu of Portland, Ore., 6-4, 6-1, in the 16s Round of 16.

THAT NAME SOUNDS FAMILIAR
Michael Rinaldi of Palm City, Fla., the top seed in the boys’ 14s, will play in Friday’s semifinals. His aunt is Kathy Rinaldi, who had a successful career on the WTA tour. He beat Jason Brown of Deerfield, Ill., 6-1, 1-6, 6-0.

THE OTHER THREE IN THE BOYS’ 14S SEMIS ARE…
Reo Asami (6), Irvine, Calif.; Austin Smith, Cumming, Ga., and John Richmond (5), Pawleys Island, S.C.

GOING THE DISTANCE
There were three matches that ended in three-set tiebreakers on Wednesday. The biggest came from big-serving Michael Elortegui of San Diego in the boys’ 16s. Elortegui, banging serves in the 110s, beat No. 1 seed Nelson Vick of Grafton, Wisc., 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the match of the day.

VICK NOT THE ONLY TOP 16S PLAYER TO FALL
Last year’s 14s finalist Lauren Davis of Gates Mills, Ohio, upset No. 1 seeded Kate Fuller of Suwanee, Ga., 6-4, 6-4, in the third round.

LET DOWN
A day after the upset, Davis fell to No. 12 seed Sarah Lee of Los Angeles, 6-4, 6-3, in the Round of 16.

‘HEY, I KNOW YOU’
Girls’ 16s No. 4 seed Samantha Critser of Mountain View, Calif., felt she knew something about Round of 16 opponent Whitney Richie’s game. “I played doubles against her last night,” Critser said. “We won 7-6 in the third so I kind knew a little about her.” Critser won the match, 6-0, 6-2.

SEARCHING FOR TOP PLAYERS
Critser is from Mountain View, Calif., home base of Internet search engine leader Google. “We get free Internet service for living there,” she said.

VIRGINIA CONNECTION
Two players from the state of Virginia are alive in the boys’ 16s Round of 16: Justin Shane of Falls Church and Mitchell Frank of Annandale. Julie Vrable of Centreville, Va., the No. 3 seed, beat Madison Keys of Boca Raton, Fla., in the girls’ 14s quarterfinals.

IT’S GETTING HOT
Temperatures rose into the mid-90s Thursday. Trainers had to be called onto court to assist players’ cramping. Mary Anne MacFarlane of Ogden, Utah, said this is one of her first outdoor tournaments of the year. “It’s a little hot out there, but it doesn’t bother me. I ran track to I’m used to running a lot.”

BAGEL CITY
For the first time in four rounds, girls’ 14s No. 1 seed Kyle McPhillips, of Willoughby, Ohio, didn’t record a shutout in her match. McPhillips beat Breaunna Addison of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-2, 6-4. Before the quarterfinal, McPhillips had dropped just seven games in four matches and had five 6-0 set scores. “It’s getting harder but I’m just playing better each round,” she said.

PLAYER PARTY
Tournament director and founder Seena Hamilton was overheard saying one of the reasons the Easter Bowl has been voted junior players’ favorite tournament is the hospitality. “We’re at a resort so the atmosphere is better than other tournaments,” she said. Hamilton hired a DJ to play music at the player-only party Tuesday night across the street from the resort at the River Amphitheater. According to one chaperon, however, none of the players got up the courage to dance.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – The Easter Bowl continues at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort this week. CoreTennis.net takes a closer look at one of the most prestigious United States junior tournaments.

WHAT IS THE EASTER BOWL
The Easter Bowl is a Grade B1 ITF Junior National Championship for the boys’ and girls’ in the 18-and-under divisions and a USTA junior national championship for boys’ and girls’ in the 16s and 14s, meaning gold, silver and bronze balls are handed out for first, second and third place. One of the reasons the players love this event is that there is no other tournament where all three age divisions, boys and girls, play at one site. The best of the best play the 18s as this gives the players another chance to earn valuable ITF points, which are ultimately used to determine who gets into the junior Grand Slams.

HOW IT ALL STARTED
In 1968 New York’s Seena Hamilton’s son was a top-ranked junior in the Eastern Section 12s. Hamilton wondered why all the top kids had to travel to California and Florida for the big events. “I asked a friend how I could get the best players to come to New York and he said ‘Start your own tournament.’ I didn’t even know how to read a draw sheet,” said Hamilton, who was working in the hotel and resort industry at the time. She flew the top players to New York, including Jimmy Connors who lost to Harold Solomon in the first event 40 years ago. Over the years it’s been played in Florida, Arizona and now California. “Someone once called us the only traveling tennis road show out there,” said Hamilton.

PLAYERS WHO HAVE WON
You will hear Hamilton say that every U.S. player who has gone onto greatness with the exception of the Williams sisters has played the Easter Bowl. Other winners include John McEnroe (1976), Tracy Austin (1976), Pam Shriver (1977), Jeff Tarango (1985), Jennifer Capriati (1988), Andy Roddick (1998), Ashley Harkleroad (1998), Robby Ginepri (2000), and Sam Querrey (2004).

The list of players who have not won it but played is just as impressive: Patrick McEnroe (18s quarterfinals), Andre Agassi (1984 14s semifinals), Michael Chang (1986 16s finals), Pete Sampras (1987 18s semifinals), Lindsay Davenport (1991 18s semifinals).

THE BEST BOYS PLAYER IN THE TOURNAMENT
Stanford-bound Bradley Klahn of Poway, Calif., broke in the ITF world top 20 this week by virtue of his win at the ITF Spring Internationals in Carson, Calif., last week. The lefthanded Klahn beat Chris Cha of Overland Park, Kan., in his first round Tuesday, 6-3, 6-2.

THE BEST GIRLS PLAYER IN THE TOURNAMENT
Melanie Oudin, a 16-year-old from Marietta, Ga., is also coming off a win at Carson. She moved up to No. 2 in the world in ITF juniors. She turned professional in February and is currently No. 270 in the WTA rankings, having been given a main draw wild card into the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells (won a round) and the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., (lost first round).

Oudin beat Alexandria Walters of  Newport Beach, Calif., in a second-round match, 6-3, 7-5, Tuesday. “It was an off day for me,” she said. “Just too many errors. She had nothing to lose and played well.” Oudin said preparing for a junior event is different than playing in the pros. “In the pros I'm the one who has nothing to lose. It's like going from the underdog to the top dog so the approach is different.”

Both Oudin and Klahn are expected to make some noise during the junior summer circuit, including French and Wimbledon juniors.

MOST INTENSE MATCH AFTER TWO ROUNDS
Christina McHale of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., beat Jacqueline Cako of Brier, Wash., in the second round. Cako, coming off a loss to Oudin in the Carson final, and McHale went back and forth before McHale pulled out the win, 7-5, 7-6 (3).

OTHER NO. 1s MOVING ON
Besides Klahn and Oudin in the 18s: Nelson Vick, Grafton, Wisc., in the boys’ 16s (defeated Kevin Moore, Overland Park, Kan., 6-2, 6-4); Kate Fuller, of Suwanee, Ga., in the girls’ 16 (defeated Natalie Blosser, McLean, Va., 6-2, 6-0); Michael Rinaldi of Palm City, Fla., in the boys’ 14s (defeated Tim Kopinski, Palos Hills, Ill., 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4); Kyle McPhillips, Willoughby, Ohio, in the girls’ 14s (defeated Kelsey Laurente, Miramar, Fla., 6-2, 6-0).

BIGGEST UPSET
In the boys’ 18s first round, No. 2 Jarmere Jenkins of College Park, Ga., fell to Gabriel Flores of Bradenton, Fla., 6-2, 6-4. Jenkins, who lost to Klahn in the Carson final last weekend, hurt his shoulder early on but refused to quit. Trainer Brian Horner later reported it to be a rotator cuff tear. “It was still a tough match,” Flores said. “I knew there was something wrong with him but he was still fast. He gets to balls that normally would be winners against other players.”

INJURY REPORT
Besides Jenkins, Evan King, the No. 8 seed in the boys’ 18s, has also been ailing, having to retire from his match in Carson because of a bad back. He’s been resting and icing it and appeared fine during his win over Patrick Daciek of Severna Park, Md., 6-3, 6-1.

PLAYING UP IS HARD TO DO
Last year’s girls’ 14s winner Lauren Herring of Greenville, N.C., decided to play up in the 18s this week but lost her first round to Cierra Gaytan-Leach of Corona del Mar, 6-4, 6-3.

Last year’s boys’ 14s champ Emmett Egger of Issaquah, Wash., lost in the second round of the 16s to Mitchell Frank of Annandale, Va., 7-6, 6-0.

Last year’s boys’ 16s winner Lawrence Formentera of Colton, Calif., lost his first round in the 18s to Jason Smith of Davis, Calif., 6-2, 6-1.

One success story in the past champions storyline was Nicole Gibbs of Manhattan Beach, Calif. Last year’s girls’ 16s champion beat No. 12 Krista Damico of Parker, Colo., in the second round of the 18s.

BIGGEST SURPRISE
Carson ITF boys’ 16s champion Christian Harrison, New Braunfels, Texas, lost to Chidi Gabriel of Piscataway, N.J., 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, in the second round of the 16s.

SISTER POWER
Both McHale sisters won girls’ 18s matches Tuesday with Lauren beating Cako and Christina, the No. 15 seed, downing Arianna Colffer of Corona, Calif., 7-6 (4), 6-1.

DAVYDENKO BREAKS THROUGH AT SONY ERICSSON

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - Nikolay Davydenko has finally given tennis fans around the world something else to talk about besides match fixing and gambling. Following his 10 days of play on the world's biggest tennis stage outside the four Grand Slams tournaments, Davydenko can finally keep the talk to winning at a big event.

Davydenko beat Spaniard Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 30 minutes to win the final of the Sony Ericsson Open Sunday. For Nadal, who has spent the longest time at No. 2 in the world in the history of tennis, the loss meant more time as a No. 2.

"He was playing unbelievable tennis and there was nothing I could do," Nadal said after the match.

The 26-year-old Russian wasn't supposed to be in this final, even though he is highly ranked and was coming into the tournament as the No. 4 ranked player in the world. He simply flew under the radar the entire event while the international writers covering the tournament were reserving the final spot for the likes of defending champion Novak Djokovic, world No. 1 Roger Federer and America's best hope Andy Roddick.

"I had never played very well here in Miami," Davydenko said. "Now I have won my second Masters Series title and it's crazy for me."

Davydenko has been ranked in the top five for three years, but has won just two major tournaments and never advanced to a Grand Slam final. He admitted that he suffered from depression over the holidays regarding the scandal his name has been attached to.

Last August against Argentina's Martin Vassallo Arguello in the Polish Open, all bets from the online gambling exchange Betfair were suspended after 10 times the normal amount was bet following Davydenko's first-set loss. He later cited injury and had to default.

But it didn't end there. Although he has always said he is innocent, in St. Petersburg he was given a code violation warning by the chair umpire for not going all out against Croatian Marin Cilic and fined $2,000 (U.S.) by the ATP that was later removed after an appeal.

With his play in Florida, Davydenko, who became the first Russian male to play in the Sony Ericsson final in the event's 24-year history, hopes the talk surrounding him can stay to strictly tennis. He hopes talk can be about nothing else but that he is one of the world's best the way he played on final Sunday. Consider this stat: of the 15 career finals Davydenko has played, he's won 12, an 80 percent success rate.

He beat Roddick in the semifinals 7-6 (5), 6-2, for the first time in his career (5-0 going to the match with just one set loss) while Nadal was busy beating 10th-ranked Tomas Berdych in his semifinal.

Roddick unleashed his big serve in his huge upset over Federer coming up with 17 aces. The young American who announced his engagement to swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker during the tournament, was 1-15 against R-Fed and had lost the last 11 times.

Federer's loss to Roddick wasn't the only surprise of the tournament as defending champion Novak Djokovic was ousted in the second round by South African Kevin Anderson.

Federer may still be titleless in singles, but almost as surprising is that the world's  No. 1 doubles team still had not won a tournament in 2008. That all changed here as Mike and Bob finally broke through, taking their 45th career title and 11th at a Masters Series event. The pair beat fourth-seeded Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles, 6-2, 6-2, the same team that eliminated them from the Australian Open (quarterfinals).

It was the fifth time the boys from Southern California had made the finals this year. "Losing in the finals four times just makes you hungrier and hungrier," Bob Bryan said. "I think last year winning 11 titles, you wake up on the Sundays and you're like, 'Oh, here's another one.' Sometimes that can bite you in the butt. You have to take each one of these opportunities because you never know how many you're going to get."

Next up for the pair is the Davis Cup quarterfinals against France in Winston-Salem, N.C., this weekend.

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Just when you think Serena Williams is too preoccupied, too out of shape, and too tired to answer all her critics, she comes back at you at her strongest.

Could she do it? Could Williams finally slam the door shut on all the naysayers she’d been forced to deal with for the better part of 2007 when she could not win another title? It took eight match points but finally Williams was back on top of the tennis world after her fifth Sony Ericsson Open title, a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3, win over Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic.

It wasn’t pretty at times, and if you could ask one of Williams’ Wilson rackets, it was downright painful too, as Williams at one point at the end of the match lost her cool and shattered her racket (“The racket was getting on my nerves. He had to go,” she said).

Serving for the match at 40-0 Williams lost three more points before finally, according to one columnist “putting the match out of its misery” for the win, ending it emphatically with an overhead smash after two hours and 25 minutes. Williams ended the match with 51 winners but also had 52 errors.

Williams, who improved to 47-5 at this event and 14-1 on the year and is now tied with Steffi Graf with five Key Biscayne titles, went from near-perfect in the first set (a clinical 27 minutes to finish) to human in the second (she let a 5-3 lead slip away) to near-perfect in the third as she went up 5-0 (repeat of the first set). But it wasn’t over there. Jankovic just kept coming back, at one point giggling after saving a seventh championship point. But she wasn’t laughing about having to face Williams’ powerful game.

“Amazing power,” Jankovic said. “You know how I felt, to be honest? It’s like a heavyweight champion and I'm a feather champion, you know? I cannot match up against her. Just too much power for me to handle, especially on a good day, where she's playing well.”

Looking fit and focused throughout the whole tournament, Williams had to work a little bit harder than originally thought for her first-place $590,000 prize money. “I was definitely up and on my way to glory and out of there within an hour,” Williams said. “But I started making a lot of mistakes, and Jelena was playing like she had nothing to lose, and those are the most dangerous people on the court.”

But Jankovic is one of the few players who has been able to handle Williams power as she had beaten Williams in three of the last four matches they had played, including the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

In Williams’ much-anticipated quarterfinal match against world No. 1 Justine Henin, Williams had that killer look in her eyes. She was clearly out for blood. It was Henin who was Williams’ spoiler at the last three Grand Slams of 2007: French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, nothing but good times for Henin. Pure hell for Williams.

Williams admitted the 6-2, 6-0 shellacking wasn’t that easy. Williams won the final 10 games as Henin tried with all her might to find some semblance of her game but to no avail. Williams beat Henin for last year’s Key Biscayne title. “I wish this was a Grand Slam” she said. “I'm going to try to do this at a Grand Slam, and not only at this tournament.”

The top-ranked women's doubles team of Cara Black (Zimbabwe) and Lizel Huber (United States), last year’s finalist, were unable to earn their third title of the year in the final against second-seeded Ai Sugiyama (Japan) and Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) with the latter pair taking a, 7-5, 4-6, 10-3, victory.

After winning the title, Serena hung out and celebrated with several top players, including the men’s doubles winners the Bryan twins at her favorite Miami club. Her sister, Venus, meanwhile, was busy announcing she would not be playing the next stop on the WTA Tour Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, Fla., citing an undisclosed medical issue as the reason for her withdrawal. Venus would have played her sister in the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson had she not lost to Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova. The reigning Wimbledon champion, Venus was the 2002 Bausch & Lomb Championships winner.

Serena promised after the match that she’s all about winning, saying, “My whole life is dedicated to nothing but tennis.”

Can we believe her this time? Stay tuned.