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In last week’s report from the 2012 Easter Bowl, a rain delay had cancelled the matches for the day. This week’s report continues from the following day, where the tournament had to play “catch up” with the missed matches.

There was so much great tennis, that I could not have possibly covered it all and still conducted my duties, as the emcee for the awards presentations. However, I was able to pack extra highlights and interviews into a longer-than-average report:

Here are the scores for the matches that I featured:

BOY’S 18 SINGLES QUARTERFINAL
Thai Kwiatkowski d. Ronnie Schneider 6-3, 2-6, 7-5

BOY’S 18 SINGLES SEMIFINAL
Alexios Halebian d. Thai Kwiatkowski 6-3, 6-3
Halebian felt he was able to get the monkey off his back after finally reaching the finals, for the first time, after five appearances in the tournament.

“I was hitting my forehand really well which I don’t do every single day,” Halebian said. “I was serving really well for the most part and I felt I played at a high level throughout the match.”

After losing the first set a couple times in his matches earlier in the week, Halebian felt his confidence grow after jumping to an early lead. “I broke him early and went up 2-0 and that was huge for me,” Halebian said. “I didn’t want to get too excited, but I felt if I continue doing what I’m doing I’ll be ok.”

Next up, Halebian will face Mackenzie McDonald for the first time. “I’m happy with the way I’ve been playing and hopefully I’m destined to win it. It’s a good feeling being in the finals and hopefully I play well again,” Halebian said.

GIRL’S 14 SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Emma Higuchi d. Catherine Bellis 6-4, 6-4
After Higuchi won the first set, Bellis broke Higuchi to go up 4-3, but Higuchi quickly responded with a break of her own before closing out the match to pick up her second gold ball in singles.

Higuchi, who balances both regular school and tennis, felt all the preparation she put in helped her win the title. “I feel great,” Higuchi said. “All the practice and hard work finally paid off so it feels good.”

The 14-year-old admitted she was a little nervous in the beginning playing in a final played on stadium court, but said it’s something she would like to get used to.

“I was kind of shaky at first but I just focused on getting the balls in,” Higuchi said. “Sometimes I think ahead too much but I just focused on my game and took one point at a time and it worked out.”

Both players had to adjust their game during the match due to high winds. “It was difficult for both of us in the wind but overall she played well and it was a good match,” Higuchi said.

Bellis was pleased with the way she played throughout the week and said it was a cool experience to reach the finals.

“I had a lot of fun this week,” Bellis said. “Emma played awesome and was aggressive and moved forward very well.”

GIRL’S 18 SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Taylor Townsend d. Brooke Austin 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
“I just have to take them one at a time today,” said Townsend, of Stockbridge, Ga., after her two singles matches and before doubles.

Her singles final was played in gusty winds on a bright and sunny day with gorgeous snow-capped mountains as a backdrop. After giving up a 4-2 lead in the first set, Townsend felt frustrated with herself but started to relax and take control of the match.

“After that first set I calmed down and slowed the pace down because I know she likes to rush and that benefitted me,” Townsend said. “She (Austin) put a lot of pressure on me with my serve because it was so windy. I was kind of hitting off-serves, and she did a good job of stepping in on the second serves and hitting them flat directly to my backhand, which were very difficult to get to.”

After the Carson tournament last week, Townsend felt she needed to make some improvements, which she said was a huge contributor to winning the title.

“I worked on keeping the ball deep and being more disciplined with my shots and not trying to rush,” Townsend said. “Physically I felt an improvement this week and my serve was unbelievably a lot better and it allowed me to put pressure on my opponents returning-wise.”

Austin said she was trying to stay aggressive especially heading into the third set but praised Townsend for raising her level of play.

“She played really well and her serve was the difference-maker,” Austin said. “She did a good job of coming back.”

GIRL’S 18 DOUBLES SEMIFINAL
Taylor Townsend / Gabby Andrews
d. Julia Elbaba / Camila Fuentes 7-5, 6-1

GIRL’S 18 DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Samantha Crawford / Allie Kiick
d. Taylor Townsend / Gabby Andrews 3-1 ret.
After more than five hours of tennis and three victories on Saturday, Taylor Townsend just could not continue any longer.

Earlier in the day, Townsend was stretched in her semifinal in a 7-6 (0), 6-4 victory over Mayo Hibi of Irvine, Calif. The match was played first thing Saturday morning after rain washed out the event late in the day Friday.

She wasn’t done there. After an hour of rest, Townsend and doubles partner Gabby Andrews of Pomona, Calif., won their doubles semifinal in straight sets pushing Townsend over the five-hour mark for the three matches. Because of travel plans involving all players, the doubles final had to follow and could not be played on Sunday. Townsend and Andrews, the defending champions and reigning Australian Open champs, fell down 1-3 to Allie Kiick and Samantha Crawford before Townsend decided to retire from the match because of an injured foot.

It’s fun to come to these events to see the the new faces of the future of United States tennis. Plus, it’s at the price we like here at GroundsPass.net: Absolutely FREE!

Additional information in this report was provided by the Easter Bowl PR Press Aide, Steve Pratt.

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I’ll see you next time, with more tennis, . . . outside the lines!

- Marcus Tennis