TEMPLETON, September 27, 2024 (by Steve Pratt)
Two Toronto, Canada, natives won close 6-4 third-set matches, and a third just missed out on advancing to the quarterfinals as American Katrina Scott got past Toronto-born Katherine Sebov, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in a matchup of unseeded players on Thursday at the EPIC Central Coast Tennis Classic.
The No. 2 seeded Rebecca Marino eked past wild card Anastasiya Lopata, 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-4, and 19-year-old qualifier Cadence Brace made it two from the north into the final eight as she upset No. 4 seeded American Kayla Day, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, in the women’s $60,000 ITF World Tennis Tour event taking place at the Templeton Tennis Ranch.
Brace is a freshman at LSU and two weeks ago arrived on the Baton Rouge campus ranked No. 450 in the world. While her Tiger teammates are competing this week at the ITA All-American tournament in Cary, N.C., Brace decided she wanted to take a shot at some professional events this fall.
Brace is being coached this week by LSU assistant coach Chris Simpson, who said there will be plenty of college action for Brace starting in January. The No. 2 seed in the qualifying event, Brace won her third straight match Thursday in her first trip to Templeton.
A pair of Grand Slam junior champions from 2016 were in action in the singles draw with one moving on. Unseeded Usue Arconada – who won the Wimbledon Junior Girls’ doubles title eight years ago – upset No. 7 seeded and fellow American Louisa Chirico, 6-2, 6-4.
Santa Barbara’s Day – who won the 2016 US Open Junior Girls’ singles title – made a valiant comeback in the second set down 0-3 to win 6-4, but couldn’t hold off Brace, who seemed to pick up her aggressive play as the match went deep into the third set with Brace moving on to the quarterfinals.
Day was the hometown favorite growing up 100 miles south of Templeton. On Wednesday she told the local KSBY TV station that there’s something special about playing in Templeton. “It definitely feels like my home tournament,” Day said. “I have a bunch of friends and family that come out and watch my matches, so really just feels like a bit more calm, homey to me than most others.”
In the closest match of the day, Iryna Shymanovich from Belarus beat American Sophie Chang, 6-7 (9), 6-1, 6-4, in one of three singles matches that went the distance. Both 27 years old, Chang beat Shymanovich just two months ago in Evansville, Ind., on her way to winning the singles title.
Coming into the match having won six straight, including the San Rafael ITF World Tennis Tour W35 title last Sunday, former UCLA star Robin Anderson was hoping to keep her winning streak alive against the tough No. 1 seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico. But it was not to be as Zarazua dominated Anderson in all phases of the game beating her 6-1, 6-0.
It wasn’t the biggest margin of victory on the day as American Elli Mandlik, looking to get back into top form after three and a half months off because of injury, swept aside qualifier Stefania Rogozinska Dzik from Poland, 6-0, 6-0.
Play gets underway on Friday at 12 noon with the singles quarterfinals, followed by the doubles semifinals. The singles semifinals are slated for Saturday with both the singles and doubles finals taking place on Sunday.
The tournament is part of the ITF World Tennis Tour/USTA Pro Circuit. The event is open to the public; tickets start at $25 and are available at: www.centralcoasttennisclassic.com, where you can also find news and updates on the tournament.
