place, Tiafoe is next in 8th, and Mmoh rounds them out in 9th. Back to the action, Kozlov started off the match in front up 4-1, but after fending off 2 set points Francis Tiafoe came back to take the first set 7-6. After a bathroom break, Kozlov came back strong to take the 2nd set quickly 6-0. After another bathroom break by Kozlov, the 3rd set started off with him getting a point penalty after taking too long with the break. I am personally not a fan of these type of point penalties. After all, if you have to go, you have to go. Anyways, this was a possible momentum shift as Tiafoe got a fast start and didn't look back. Francis Tiafoe won the match 7-6, 0-6, 6-3 and is now the youngest Orange Bowl champion at 15 years old. Tiafoe has now won 2 out of the last 3 big ITF tournaments
Francis Tiafoe via @TheJTCC
in America, winning this tournament and the ITF Pan American Championships. A big win and a big week by Tiafoe, served some disappointment from the Kozlov side of things. Kozlov cited to ZooTennis that he was out of shape and the whole week took a toll on him. He vows that he will come back for the Australian Open in better shape. Tiafoe, will be foregoing the Australian stretch in January to play in the USA ITF Futures swing in Florida (as of now). This tournament didn't have as many surprised as Eddie Herr, as 14 of the 16 seeds made it to the round of 16. One of the players who was the exception to the seeds advancing was 6'8" American Reilly Opelka, who also reached the round of 16 at Eddie Herr after qualifying.
In the doubles, the 2nd seeded team of Lucas Miedler (AUT) and Filippo Baldi (ITA) won for the second straight week, as they beat the top seeds Andrey Rublev (RUS) and Alexander Zverev (GER) 6-3, 6-7, 10-8. Miedler and Baldi have only played 3 tournaments together now, but have won all 3 tournaments. These tournaments were the Orange Bowl, Eddie Herr and the European Summer Junior Championships.
15 year old Sofia Kenin of the US was the highest American finisher in the girls 18 singles bracket. Her run to the semifinals ended with a 6-2, 7-6 loss to 2nd seeded Ivana Jorovic of Croatia. Jorovic then lost to top seed Varvara Flink of Russia 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in the finals. Tornado Alicia Black, the highest seeded American, lost in the quarterfinal round.
In the Girls 18 Doubles, Black didn't go home without a title as she and Naiktha Bains (AUS) won the doubles final 6-0, 6-1 over the American team of Sofia Kenin and Kaitlyn McCarthy.
Following a tournament in which Sameer Kumar (USA) knocked off the top player in the Junior world (Zverev) at Eddie Herr, Kumar played in the 16's division this week. Kumar still played big tennis as he advanced to the semifinals, but lost to top seeded Yunseong Chung of Korea 6-1, 6-3. In the other semifinal, it was another Korea-American match up as 2nd seeded Chan-Yeong Oh defeated American wildcard Eduardo Nava 6-3, 7-5. In the final, Chung took the title as he defeated Oh 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Chung and Oh teamed up for doubles as well, and won the title after defeating Genesen (USA) and Kwon (KOR) (who was Chung's partner last week when they won Eddie Herr) 6-1, 6-4.
In the girls 16 singles, American Alexis Nelson was one win short of winning another title for the Americans, as she lost in the final 6-0, 1-6, 6-4 to Canadian Charlotte Robillard-Millette. In the doubles, the American Wildcard team of Brienne Minor and Jaclyn Switkes won the championship match defeating the 3rd seeded team of Robillard-Millette and Vanessa Wong (CAN) 6-3, 7-6.
For full draws and info on the Orange Bowl, go to: http://orangebowltennis.ids-sports.com/Default.aspx
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