Top-seeded Ellery Mendell and No. 3 Alyson Shannon took different paths to the Girls’ 18s semifinals at the 58th Annual Easter Bowl Presented by adidas on Friday, but the two future NCAA Division I players could be headed for an epic finals showdown if they continue their strong play.
Mendell, from Watkinsville, Ga., and a future Ohio State Buckeye, turned on the heat in the scorching desert during the second set against unseeded Amy Lee from Beverly Hills to advance, 6-3, 6-0, while Shannon, who will play for the University of Tennessee, survived three match points against last year’s 16s champion Amira Kockinis ultimately prevailing, 1-6, 6-3, 11-9.
“It’s definitely been a little toasty out, but I’m managing it and it’s getting easier each round,” said Mendell, with her grandparents back home watching as she was playing for the first time on the YouTube streaming court 2 with commentating from RadioTennis.com’s Ken Thomas.
The 16-year-old high school junior Mendell is playing her fifth Easter Bowl, and fourth in Indian Wells as one of the few left in the draw who played the 2021 event in San Diego due to Covid-19.
Shannon halted Kockinis’ nine-match Easter Bowl winning streak in dramatic fashion as she came back to survive three match points down 9-6 in the third-set super tiebreaker and was reminded by ZooTennis.com blogger Colette Lewis that she double-faulted down 8-6.
“I really did that? Down 6-9 I just thought, do everything you can, you know?” Shannon said. “I had a little bit of doubt for a second and felt a little bit down, but me and my coach always talk about ‘I can and I will’ so during those points I saw she wasn’t going for the big shots and she was playing the game that I like. So, I was just hoping to take advantage of that.”
Shannon next faces unseeded Yilin Chen from San Diego, who she suffered a tough loss to in their only meeting but promised to “play her a lot differently tomorrow.”
In the Girls’ 16s, unseeded Caroline Coan from Elmhust, Ill., continued her impressive run to the semifinals as she upset he second top 8 seed this week beating No. 8 Molly Widlansky, 10-7 in a third-set breaker. She will next face Sylvana Jalbert from Mount Airy, Md.
The 15-year-old Jalbert beat No. 9 beat Kasia Chen from Colorado in straight sets and said after the match that the heat got to her during her 6-4, 6-2 win. “This was by far the toughest match I’ve had,” Jalbert said. “She was playing so consistent and making more balls. In the second set she was being less consistent.”
This is the fourth Easter Bowl for Jalbert, who said she’s never been past the Round of 16. In the other semi, No. 4 Shristi Selvan will take on wild card Tanvi Pandey from Tustin, Calif., as she beat fellow Orange County neighbor Mingyue Deng from Irvine, 7-6 (3), 6-0, to advance.
Another 16s wild card on the boys’ side, Anay Kulkarney from Arizona, also advanced and he will next face No. 6 Ivan Rybak from Florida is the semifinals. In the other semifinal, it will be top-seeded Eli Kaminski from Virginia against No. 3 Piotr Gradzki from New York.
In the Boys’ 18s, top-seeded Alexander Suhanitski from New Rochelle, N.Y., advanced to the semis with his fourth straight set-set win and will next face unseeded Peter Jorniak from Arcadia, Calif. In the other semi it will be Irvine’s Rishvanth Krishna taking on No. 9 David Wu of San Diego. Wu upset No. 2 Omar Rhazali from Stamford, Conn., 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.
Easter Bowl matches will once again be live-streamed on www.EasterBowl.com with Radio Tennis’ Ken Thomas on the call. Click this link to catch all the action: https://youtube.com/@easterbowl?si=Dd0rI53GlLu8Ot2y. The Easter Bowl Tournament Director is Indian Wells Tennis Garden Director of Tennis Jai Nettimi. To keep up with all the Easter Bowl news, visit the website at www.easterbowl.com.