Doral teen Valeria Ray among Orange Bowl International Tennis champions
Like everything else in sports this year, the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships were impacted by COVID-19 and concluded over the weekend with unexpected results.
Three of the four singles champions in Boys and Girls 16s and 18s were unseeded. The lone exception was Boys 16s winner Jonah Braswell of Sarasota, who was the No. 15 seed. Because of the pandemic, the draws were reduced, no fans were allowed, and some players did not travel to the tournament, held at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation.
Among the interesting storylines: Girls’ 16s champion Valeria Ray is from Doral. Nicholas Godsick, son of tennis agent Tony Godsick and T.V. commentator Mary Joe Fernandez, won the boys’ 16s doubles title. Girls’ 18s champion Ashlyn Krueger of Highland Village, Texas, became the first girl to win back-to-back 16s and 18s titles since Bianca Andreescu in 2014-15.
“Since I was 11 years old and played in my first Orange Bowl, I always dreamed of winning this big tournament,” said Ray. “I come from Doral, a small town in Miami where everyone knows everyone, so to be playing these international girls and winning on home soil made it extra special.
“If I’m being honest, I never thought I’d win it because there are so many good players. I came in without much confidence, but after I won the first match and then the second, I was like `Oh, maybe I do have a chance.’ It meant the world to finally lift that trophy.”
Krueger, a 16-year-old main-draw wild card, defeated No. 7 seed Jana Kolodynska of Belarus, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday. Arthur Fils, an unseeded French player, shocked the tournament’s No. 1 seed Peter Fajta of Hungary, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, to win the boys’ 18s singles title.
On Saturday, Fajta partnered with Zsombor Velcz to win the boys’ 18s doubles title.
The girls’ 18s doubles final was an all-American affair, with Reese Brantmeier (Whitewater, Wisc.) and Kimmi Hance (Torrance, Calif.) knocking off Elise Wagle (Niskayuna, N.Y.) and Katja Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) in a match that came down to a tiebreak.
The 16s division wrapped up on Friday with Americans sweeping all four titles. Godsick (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and Ethan Quinn (Fresno, Calif.) won the boys’ doubles final, while Vivian Miller (Sullivan’s Island, S.C.) and Maddy Zampardo (Grosse Pinte Farms, Mich.) won the girls’ doubles.
