Thursday 7th December 2006
Urszula and Sorana bumped out of singles
by Annie Paton
Playing two straight weeks of competitive tennis may have taken it's toll as Eddie Herr finalists, Urszula Radwanska (POL) and Sorana Cirstea (ROM) exit the 60th Orange Bowl Championship in early morning matches at Crandon Park.

Eddie Herr girl's 18 winner, Urszula Radwanska (7), who celebrates her 16th birthday today, fell to the Russian 11th seed, Anastasia Pivovarova while the Eddie Herr finalist, Sorana Cirstea (5) could not hold off Nikola Hofmanova (9) of Austria. The relentless heat and humidity may have contributed to their malady, however both faced very determined opponents who refused to give up.

Although intense towards the end, Anastasia played a deliberate, methodical match to win 6-2; 6-2, cutting down on unforced errors and remaining composed, despite her opponent voicing her frustrations in her native Polish. "I focus on my game today and didn't focus on what she is doing," said Anastasia, whose one and only time she played Urszula was last week at Eddie Herr semifinals, when she lost to her 6-1; 6-2. "I made too many errors that time so my tactics today were to keep the ball in the court. Nobody knows who is going to win, so I was just playing from the first point. I can play different shots so it depends on my opponent. I can hit the ball and play aggressive, but today I was more passive."

Nikola, who lost to Urszula in the Eddie Herr quarterfinals last week, played just as compelling by upending Sorana today, coming back from behind in both sets. At 2-5 down she won five straight games for the first set and in the second set she came back from 1-4. "I put everything in my head and I started to play my game," said the Austrian, who won 7-5; 7-5. "She was angry and she started to hit the ball as hard as she can, but I wanted to make the point and not wait for her mistake."

Urszula ended her 16th birthday on a brighter note by winning in doubles with Sorana, and advancing to the girl's 18 semifinals.

Meantime the match that had everyone gathering around first thing this morning, between Eddie Herr winner, Nicolas Santos (1) and unseeded Vladimir Zinyakov (RUS), failed to live up to expectation. Vladimir, clearly still ill from the stomach bug he picked up two days ago, had moments of brilliance but he could not out steady the Brazilian backboard. His erratic play prevented him for forging ahead of the top seed, who constantly pumps himself up shouting words of encouragement.

Nicolas will now play in the quarterfinals against American qualifier, Brennan Boyajian, who stopped fellow qualifier, Pedro Zerbini (BRA).

US Open finalist, Peter Polansky of Canada edged 14th seed, Rupesh Roy, 5-7; 6-2; 6-0, in a match that started very tight, with the Indian needing a bunch of set points to capture the first set. "I was serving to stay in and take it to a tie breaker," said Peter, drained from the exhausting battle. "I had a couple of game points but he ended up breaking me to make it 7-5, but in the second set I loosened up and started serving really well. I think he was getting a bit tired and he didn't want to be out here too long. It's like a 1000 degrees out here."

It's true it feels like summertime in Florida. The Gnats and Mosquitoes are out in full force in the swampy Key Biscayne, and as Peter continued to say, "you have to move fast to avoid being bitten."

Madison Brengle (12) (USA) who trained in Florida these past couple of months, had no such problem with the heat when she romped to victory over Ksenia Pervak (RUS) 6-2; 6-1. "I am so happy the way I played today," said Madison, who moved her opponent so well she started cramping in the second set.

Julia Cohen (4) and Reka Zsilinszka (10) are the other two American girls through to the quarterfinal round. Reka was all excited after her straight set thrashing of Katerina Vankova (6) (CZE). "I have lost in the first round for the past four years," said the bubbly American. "I have never won a round ever. I said to myself 'there is no way I am going to lose in the first round five years in a row', so now it's officially uncursed."

Finally, Eddie Herr boy's 16 winner, Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) upset the number one seed, Cesar Ramirez (MEX) in a fiercely contested exchange in the boy's 16 quarterfinals. The match swung back and forth as the 5th seeded Bulgarian lead a set and 4-2, before the Mexican fought back to level. Grigor wrapped it up in two of the most exciting tiebreak sets, with both players displaying some of the most brilliant tennis of these championships.

The hotheaded Mexican showed disappointment afterwards by groaning out loud and then he stomped his foot through his racquet. He smashed it to bits on the pathway before calmly walking past the bin and depositing all the broken parts.

"I have known him for three years," said Grigor, walking bare foot back to the clubhouse because his feet hurt. "He is a good player and he has a lot of endurance on the court so it makes it a little tougher here. It should have been the final but there is another good guy in the draw from Argentina, he beat me one time, so I expect if I play well tomorrow the final will be between me and Guido Pella. I hope so."


The matches start tomorrow at 10:00 am for the 18s quarterfinals, followed not before 11:30 am by the 16s semifinals.

Urszula Radwanska


Nikola Hofmanova


Vladimir Zinyakov


Peter Polansky


Cesar Ramirez