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Sunday, March 31, 2013

Austin vs. Hibi Highlights Monday's First Round Action at ITF Grade 1 International Spring Championships


©Colette Lewis 2013--
Carson, CA--

The qualifying is complete and the draws are up for Monday's start at the ITF Grade 1 International Spring Championships here in Carson.

There's no question which match I'll be covering. Brooke Austin and Mayo Hibi, two of the most accomplished and experienced, yet unseeded, players in the draw, are scheduled to meet on the Home Depot Center's stadium court, court 4, after two 16s matches.  The Irvine-based Hibi, ranked 374 on the WTA's computers, is playing in her first junior event of the year. She reached the quarterfinals at the ISC last year, losing to eventual champion Allie Kiick.  Austin, with a 541 WTA ranking, was a finalist two weeks ago at the USTA 18s Spring Nationals. 

Although it is not on Monday's schedule, there's another blockbuster first rounder in the boys draw, with No. 2 seed Stefan Kozlov drawn to face wild card Ernesto Escobedo, who has the best ATP ranking--967--in the field.

Another match I'll be watching closely Monday will be Francis Tiafoe, the 16s finalist last year, against wild card Walker Duncan.

The top seeds in the 16s are William Blumberg for the boys and Ally Miller-Krasilnikov for the girls.

For Monday's order of play, today's qualifying results and the draws, see the tournament website.


1 comments:

College fan said...

Way to go Mallory Burdette! Top 100 in the world (99) and making it through qualifying at yet another quality event, Charleston this time.