Locals in Action at NTC for 2014 USTA National Indoor Championships
The USTA National Indoor Championships got underway at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows on Friday, as a number of men and women took to the courts. The championships consisted of five fields; men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles, and we begin the week with the round of 16 set in each draw.
Men’s Singles
We entered Monday afternoon with a batch of quarterfinal matches to be played.
In the round of 16, the top-seed Mark Oljaca of Bradenton, Fla. came back from a set down to defeat Shawn Hadavi of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) to advance to the quarterfinals.
Oljaca will meet Alexander Steinroeder for a spot in the semis. The Holliston, Mass. native notched a 7-5, 6-3 straight set win over Southampton’s Hleb Maslau.
As we move down the draw, Josh Mactaggart of New York, N.Y. continued his excellent play on Monday morning, beating Karyn Small of Phoenixville, Pa. 6-4, 6-0. Mactaggart has yet to drop a set in the tournament and will look to continue that streak when he meets Alexander Van Cott in the quarters. Van Cott, a Unadilla, N.Y. native, beat the Bronx’s Courtney Murphy 7-5, 6-1.
Sixth-seeded Max Schnur of Richmond, Va. will meet Lido Beach’s Eric Rubin in the next round. The 13th-seeded Rubin knocked off Smithtown’s Derek Difazio 6-2, 6-1, while Schnur beat Morris Plains, N.J. Maximilian Schmidt 6-2, 6-3.
The bottom fourth of the draw will pit second-seeded Aidan Talcott of Sea Cliff, N.Y. against 31st seeded Dejon Bivens of Charlotte, N.C. Bivens defeated Ilia Shatashvili in the round of 16 while Talcott took care of Lido Beach’s Matthew Barry.
Women’s Singles
The quarterfinal matches in the women’s singles draw took place on Monday afternoon. Top-seeded Rima Asatrian of Florham Park, N.J. rolled past Kelly Williford of Basking Ridge, N.J. 6-3, 6-2 to move into the final four. She will take on the winner of Haddonfield, N.J.’s Taylor Ng and Ellyse Hamlin of Fairfield, Conn.
In the other semifinal match, fourth-seeded Arianna Rodriguez of the Bronx will take on Garden City’s Alexa Graham.
Rodriguez knocked off Ann Li of Devon, Pa. 6-3, 6-4 in her quarterfinal match on Monday afternoon and has yet to drop a set in the tournament. Graham, the number two seed, outlasted Franklin Square’s Aleksandra Mally 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 to advance Monday.
Men’s Doubles
The round of 16 matches will get underway on Tuesday morning as the double tandems look to make their way into the quarterfinals. Jonathan Bonnet of Oceanside, N.Y. and his partner Andrew Chan of Mineola, N.Y. were able to advance already on Monday as the top-seeded pair of Justin Natale and Ilia Shatashvili withdrew. Bonnet and Chan now await the winner of another quarterfinal bout.
Sayville’s Tyler Hoffman and Melville’s Brandon Stone reached the quarters after their opponents withdrew due to sickness. Robert Ferrante of Yorktown Heights and Michael Mattelson of Bedford Hills will do battle with Matthew Dean and Robert Power, with the winner taking on Hoffman and Stone for a spot in the semifinals.
Women’s Doubles
The semifinals of the women’s doubles tournament are set and ready to take place on Tuesday afternoon. The top-seeded duo of Rima Asatrian of Florham Park, N.J. and Kelly Williford of Basking Ridge, N.J. are in the quarters but have yet to a play a match. After receiving a first-round bye, their quarterfinal opponent had to withdraw from an injury.
They will meet Brooklyn’s Elizabeth Tsvetkov and Fresh Meadows’ Sabrina Xiong for a spot in the tournament’s final. Tsvetkov and Xiong knocked off Long Islander’s Hannah Camhi and Aimee Manfredo in the quarters.
The other semifinal match will feature Rachel Lim of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. and Lilian Poling of West Point, N.Y. taking on the second-seeded pair of Taylor Ng of Haddonfield, N.J. and Ariana Rodriguez of the Bronx.
Mixed Doubles
The 64-team field in the mixed doubles field has been cut down to 16 as we enter Monday evening. Click here to see the results of the mixed doubles bracket, the round of 16 matches begin tonight at 5:30 p.m. EST.
