His spectacular run through the Boys’ 14-and-under draw completed – without dropping a set, no less – the only thing left for Michael Chervenkov to do was to hop on his phone and start searching for the best steakhouse in town.
The No. 2 seeded Chervenkov from Canton Ga., deserves that first bite of steak and will no doubt savor every moment of it after making a deal with his family that the choice of restaurant would be all his if he were to come out on top on finals day for the 14s and 12s at the 58th Annual Easter Bowl Presented by adidas on Thursday
“Definitely going to go somewhere for dinner,” said Chervenkov, when asked what he planned to do to celebrate the win. “I like a nice steakhouse. And it’s my choice.”
In a battle between the top two seeds, Chervenkov’s 7-6 (2), 6-3 win over No. 1 Ishaan Marla from Mason, Ohio, was a hard-fought battle that saw Chervenkov roll off seven straight points to win the first-set tiebreaker after losing the first two points. Serving up 5-3, but down 0-40 in the second set, Chervenkov got it back to deuce before closing out the match and earning his first USTA Gold Ball at a USTA National Level 1 event.
Chervenkov now leads the head-to-head 2-1 between the two players, and didn’t show a lot of emotion on court the entire match. “Whenever I’m playing, I don’t want to show my opponent I’m tired and just keep on grinding.”
Chervenkov recalled last year being up 6-2, 4-0 and losing in the Round of 16 at the Easter Bowl and a bunch of “tough losses here. Finally, to come out with the win is really special.”
Sunnyvale’s Pranav Vignesh beat No. 3 seed Nathan Lee of Tustin, 7-6 (4), 6-3, to take home the Bronze ball.
In the Girls’ 14s, top-seed Nadia Poznick from Ann Arbor, Mich., defeated No. 9 Violetta Mamina from Henderson, Nev., for her third career Gold ball, 7-6 (2), 6-0, while Isabelle Nguyen from San Gabriel, Calif., took home the Bronze.
In the Girls’ 12s final, top-seeded Chloe Anthony of Lakeville, Mass., beat No. 4 Lindy Zhou from Glendale, 6-3, 6-3. “I just stayed confident and knew I could do it,” said Anthony, who won her first ball of any kind. Just 11 years old, Zhou said she played the Easter Bowl last year at 10 and lost in the second round. “I fell like I’m playing a little more consistent because last year I was ripping balls to the back of the fence,” she said.
In the third-place match, Cordelia Skye from West Hollywood, Calif., beat Valentina Singh Carvajal, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, for the Bronze ball.
In the Boys’ 12s, No. 1 seeded Dmitriy Flyam from Hallandale Beach, Fla., beat No. 9 Milan Nair of Alpharetta, Ga., 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. It was the second straight USTA Nationals win for Flyam, who won the Winternationals. Flyam said he’s been working with a sport psychologist who encouraged him to switch his racket from the right hand to his left to “flush away” any negative energy after missing a shot.
In the third-place match Jesse Goldman from Paradise Valley took home the Bronze ball after Thomas Gamble from Newport Beach, Calif., was forced to retire down 5-2 in the first set because of a strained calf.
Boys’ 12s doubles finalists taking home Gold and Silver balls included Miguel Valencia and Nair beating New York’s Yifan Nie and SoCal’s Thomas Gamble, 6-1, 6-3. In the Boys’ 14s doubles final, Wyatt Markham and Max Smith won the Gold ball over Evaan Mohan and Nathan Lee in one of day’s tightest matches, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (2).
In the Girls’ 12s doubles final, Grace Malhotra from Rolling Hills Estates was a big winner taking the Gold ball for her doubles title with Las Vegas’ Ayenxavia Calugay as the No. 3 seeds got past Alara Buyukuncu from Irvine and New York’s Catherine Chan, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. In the Girls’ 14s doubles final, No. 2 seed Natalia Martinez and Reese Ellingson toppled the No. 3 team of Ava Chu and Gwyneth Britton, 6-4, 6-2.
The boys’ and girls’ 16s and 18s quarterfinals were set on Thursday.
In the Girls’ 18s, top-seeded Ellery Mendell from Watkinsville, Ga., who will play for Ohio State, advanced but will not be joined by No. 2 Calla McGill from Alexandria, Va., as she was upset by Yilin Chen from San Diego, 6-0, 6-3. No. 9 Armira Kockinis from La Habra Heights pulled out a tight upset over No. 5 Lauren Nolan from Texas with last year’s Girls’ 16s champ winning, 10-7 in a third-set super tiebreaker. She faces another seeded Texan in Friday’s quarterfinal going up against No. 3 seeded Alyson Shannon from Plano.
In the Boys’ 18s, top-seeded Alexander Suhanitski from New Rochelle, N.Y., advanced, as did No. 2 Omar Rhazali from Stamford, Conn. He will have his hands full in the quarters against San Diego’s David Wu.
In the Girls’ 16s, No. 9 seeded Enya Hamilton took out No. 5 Olivia Lin to reach the quarterfinals. In an all-SoCal matchup of unseeded players, Tanvi Pandey from Tustin takes on Mingyue Deng from Irvine. The No. 1 seeded Sylvana Jalbert from Mount Airy, Md., continued to roll and will next face Kasia Chen from Colorado.
The Boys’ 16s will also feature a matchup of two unseeded quarterfinalists as Oregon’s Alexander Totoian will face Arizona’s Anay Kulkarni. Top-seeded Eli Kaminski from Virginia cruised, as did No. 3 Piotr Gradzki from New York.
SPORTSMANSHIP WINNERS
Boys’ 14s: Michael Chervenkov, Canton Ga.
Girls’ 14s: Violetta Mamina, Henderson, Nev.
Boys’ 12s: Jaden Joyner, Tarzana, Calif.
Girls’ 12s: Cordelia Skye, West Hollywood, Calif.
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.