Tournament Feature
Blumberg, Kenin Take ISC Grade 1 Titles; Crawford, Subhash Claim 16s Championships
by
Colette Lewis, 10 April 2015
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A week of beautiful Southern California weather ended on a high note for four US players, who left the StubHub Center in Carson with International Spring Championship titles.
Top seed
William Blumberg and No. 2 seed
Sonya Kenin earned their first ITF Grade 1 titles with victories over international opponents, while
Oliver Crawford and
Natasha Subhash took the 16s singles championships in all-American finals.
As the top seed, Blumberg arrived in Carson fresh from his first ITF Grade A final in Brazil, acknowledging he would need time to adjust to the hard courts. Adjust he did, winning all six matches in straight sets, including a 6-2, 6-4 victory in the final over No. 2 seed Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia.
Four of the top five boys seeds reached the quarterfinals, but there were also three unseeded players posting outstanding results: Kalman Boyd, qualifier Johnathan Small and wild card Jake Van Emburgh. Only Boyd reached the semifinals, but he fell to Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-3, while Blumberg defeated doubles partner and No. 5 seed Nathan Ponwith 6-2, 6-3.
In the Easter Sunday final, played in cool and breezy conditions, Blumberg took a quick 4-0 lead on the 15-year-old Serb, who had trouble finding his usual consistency in the opening games of the match.
When Blumberg took a 2-0 lead in the second set, it appeared he might run away with the match, but Kecmanovic broke, only to commit yet another unforced error to get broken for the fifth time in the match. Blumberg held for 4-1, but Kecmanovic managed to hold in the next game to keep within striking distance at 4-2.
The seventh game was the longest of the match, with six deuces, and when it was over, Blumberg had failed to convert on six game points, with Kecmanovic playing his most aggressive tennis during that stretch. He then followed with a hold to make it 4-4, and when Blumberg went down 0-40 in the next game, a third set, and a huge momentum swing for Kecmanovic, loomed.
