Four of the eight girls playing in the quarterfinals of today’s USTA Girls’ 16s & 18s National Championships being played at the Barnes Tennis Center are from Southern California.
Pepperdine sophomore Ashley Lahey continued her strong for a possible gold ball and direct main entry wild card into the US Open with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Lakewood’s Salma Ewing.
Claire Liu of Thousand Oaks, Ashley Kratzer of Newport Beach and Kelly Chen of Cerritos were also straight-set winners.
Top-seeded Usue Arconada, who has been playing primarily on the USTA Pro Circuit this year, fell 6-4, 6-3 to 10th seeded Ann Li of Devon, Pa., in an early-morning Round of 16 match on Court 1.
After Arconada took a 4-2 first-set lead, Li rallied to win four straight games to secure the set in exactly one hour. In the second set, Li (pictured) capitalized on two doubles faults in the eighth game to break serve and take a 5-3 lead. She then held serve in the next game to wrap up the victory, which took one hour and 45 minutes.
Li, who reached the Wimbledon Girls’ singles final last month, advances to Friday’s quarterfinals, where she will meet 33rd seed Kelly Chen of Cerritos, Calif., at 9:30 a.m. (PDT).
For complete tournament results, please go to HERE.
For the latest updated tournament draws, please go HERE.
Friday’s matches on Stadium Court at the Barnes Tennis Center are available on live streaming. To view matches, go to: www.ustagirlsnationals.com.
Tennis Channel will broadcast the Girls’ 16s singles final and both Girls’ 18s singles semifinals on Saturday, Aug. 12, and the Girls’ 18s singles final on Sunday, Aug. 13.
This weekend’s Tennis Channel coverage of the USTA Girls’ 16s & 18s National Championships in San Diego will be as follows:
Saturday, Aug. 12 – Girls’ 16s singles final and both Girls’ 18s semifinals 2:30-8:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. -5:30 p.m. PT) immediately following the Rogers Cup from Canada.
Sunday, Aug. 13 – Girls’ 18s singles final 4-6 p.m. ET (1-3 p.m. PT) immediately following the Rogers Cup and Western & Southern first round.
Over 400 girls aged 16 and 18 and under are competing for the title of National Champion, as well as a wild card entry into the Women’s Singles main draw of the US Open (for the 18s Champion) and a wild card into the US Open Junior Championships (for the 16s Champion). The 18s Doubles Champions will also receive a wild card into the US Open Women’s Doubles main draw.
The Girls’ 16s event concludes with the singles and doubles finals on Saturday Aug. 12. The Girls’ 18s tournament will conclude with the 18s singles championship on Sunday, Aug. 13. Both divisions feature 256-player singles draws with the top 32 players receiving a first-round bye. There will also be 128-team doubles draws with the top 16 teams getting first-round byes.
The starting times for each day this weekend will be as follows:
9 a.m. – Friday, August 11 and Saturday, August 12
10 a.m. – Sunday, August 13
Admission and on-site parking at the Barnes Tennis Center is free each day of the tournament.
USTA Girls’ 16s & 18s Nationals
Barnes Tennis Center, San Diego
Thursday’s Results
Girls’ 18s Singles Round of 16
Ann Li (10), Devon, Pa., def. Usue Arconada (1), Rio Piedras, P.R., 6-4, 6-3
Claire Liu (2), Thousand Oaks, Calif., def. Abigail Forbes (15), Raleigh, N.C., 6-2, 6-2
Ashley Kratzer (3), Newport Beach, Calif., def. Elysia Bolton (13), Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 6-4, 6-0
Ashley Lahey (5), Hawthorne, Calif., def. Salma Ewing (33), Lakewood, Calif., 6-1, 6-4
Michaela Gordon (6), Saratoga, Calif., def. Elvina Kalieva, Pembroke Pines, Fla., 6-1, 6-2
Whitney Osuigwe (8), Bradenton, Fla., def. Katie Volynets (17), Walnut Creek, Calif., 7-5, 7-6 (3)
Kelly Chen (33), Cerritos, Calif., def. Ellie Douglas (11), McKinney, Texas, 7-6 (4), 6-0
Caty Mcnally (12), Cincinnati, def. Maria Mateas (4), Braintree, Mass., 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
Girls’ 16s Singles Quarterfinals
Nikki Redelijk (14), Windermere, Fla., def. Fiona Crawley (1), San Antonio, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
Angelica Blake (9), Boca Raton, Fla., def. Emma Navarro (3), Charleston, S.C., 6-1, 6-2
Connie Ma, Dublin, Calif., def. Lauren Stein (8), Paradise Valley, Ariz., 6-3, 6-4
Sedona Gallagher (4), Henderson, Nev., def. Maggie Cubitt (33), Spartanburg, S.C., 6-2, 7-5