INDIAN WELLS, March 26, 2026 (by Steve Pratt)
The seeds fell hard in the Boys’ 16-and-under division at the 58th Annual Easter Bowl Presented by adidas on Wednesday as the No. 2, 4 and 5s exited the draw against two unseeded players from Florida and another from Southern California.
Mikaeel Alibaig from Wesley Chapel, Fla., had the upset of the day in his convincing 6-2, 6-1 win over Bradenton’s Lennart Hammargren. Daniil Berezin from Boca Raton, Fla., upset the No. 5 seed Gadin Arun from Paradise Valley, Ariz., and Adrian Sharma from Porter Ranch, Calif., had upset on the mind against No. 4 Ethan Turunen from Maple Grove, Minn., taking him out in similar straight-set fashion, 6-3, 6-3.
As if losing the No. 2 seed in the boys’ 16s wasn’t enough on the second day of play for the older divisions, the numero dos seed in the Girls’ 16s was also knocked out as Heidi Polasek from Chapel Hill, N.C., pulled off the shocker beating Vanessa Kruse from St. Augustine, Fla., 7-6, 6-3. The No. 1 seeded Sylvana Jalbert from Mount Airy, Md., wasn’t having any of the upset talk as she rolled into the third round with a 6-0, 6-0 win on Wednesday and has given up just one game total in her two matches.
Also, in the girls’ 16s unseeded Caroline Coan from Elmhurst, Ill, upset the No. 3 Avita Beitler from Scandia, Minn., 10-6 in a third-set super breaker.
In the Girls’ 18s, top-seeded Ellery Mendell from Watkinsville, Ga., who will play for Ohio State, and Calla McGill from Alexandria, Va., who is headed to play at the University of Virginia, both won in straight sets.
In the Boys’ 18s, Peter Jorniak from Arcadia, Calif., took out No. 5 Yashwin Krishnakumar from NorCal in a third-set super breaker, 10-7, in yet another upset on the day.
The finals are set for the Boys’ 14s and 12s with the semifinals completed with full third sets played Wednesday.
In the Boys’ 14s, it will be a matchup of the top two seeds as No. 1 Ishaan Marla from Mason, Ohio, takes on No. 2 Michael Chervenkov from Canton Ga. Marla wore down No. 3 lefty Nathan Lee from Tustin, Calif., in a first-set tiebreak (7-4) that lasted just over 90 minutes. Marla trains indoors and said arriving on Sunday and practicing on Monday was the first time he’s played outdoors this year.
“Because of the time difference I’ve been getting up at like 4 am,” Marla said. “So my coach and I have been hitting at 5 a.m.”
Marla credited his coach of more than two years, Sam Shrivastava, with his improved play. He won the USTA National 12s Hardcourts in the summer of 2024 and won the 14s Indoors last fall. “There’s no way I’d be anywhere near the level I’m at without him as my coach,” Marla said.
In the Girls’ 14s, top-seed Nadia Poznick from Ann Arbor, Mich., will face No. 9 Violetta Mamina from Henderson, Nev., in the final at 11 a.m. Poznick won her semifinal in straight sets against Nicole Alexandrovich and Mamina needed three sets and more than three hours to beat Isabelle Nguyen from San Gabriel, Calif., 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
In the Girls’ 12s, top-seeded Chloe Anthony of Lakeville, Mass., and Glendale’s No. 4 Lindy Zhou left little doubt who should be in the 8.a.m. final with Anothy beating Valentina Singh Carvajal of Morristown, N.J., 6-1, 6-1, and in the other semi, Zhou got past No. 9 Cordelia Skye of West Hollywood, 6-0, 6-1.
In the Boys’ 12s, No. 1 seeded Dmitriy Flyam from Hallandale Beach, Fla., will take on No. 9 Milan Nair of Alpharetta, Ga., in the 8 a.m. final. Flyam, who had not dropped more than two games in a set in his previous three matches, was tested against No. 3 Thomas Gamble of Newport Beach. Flyam dropped the first set, 6-4, but finally found his fluid groundstrokes and outlasted Gamble, 6-0, 6-2. Nair also needed three sets to be Jesse Goldman of Paradise Valley, Ariz., 7-6 (5), 0-6, 6-2.
One of the nation’s largest and most prestigious junior tennis tournaments, the Easter Bowl includes 18s, 16s, 14s and 12s for both boys and girls with gold, silver and bronze balls handed out for top finishers in all eight singles and doubles divisions.
Easter Bowl matches will once again be live-streamed on www.EasterBowl.com
