Hot and humid conditions helped lead to a stunning number of upsets on the opening day of play at the 2019 USTA May National Level 2, hosted by the USTA National Campus.

In total, nine seeds on the boys’ side and seven seeds in the girls’ competition were dropped into the consolation draw.

The most surprising result of the day was turned in by Sunshine State native Santiago Giamichelle, who rallied back to outlast No. 2 seed Sam Feldman (New England) 5-7, 6-2, 1-0(5) in the second round. A trio of competitors seeded ninth also ended up on the losing end Saturday. Dylan Applegate (Intermountain) was edged out by Sebastain Dounchis (Florida) 2-6, 7-5, 10-8, while Nicholas Olomu (Florida) was beaten 6-3, 6-0 by Michael Ross (Southern). Colin Tavares (Florida) could not overcome Chase Robinson (Mid-Atlantic), falling 6-3, 6-4.

The top half was even more tumultuous, with a mere three seeds managing to advance to the round of 16. Fifth-seeded Alexander Visser (New England) came up short against Ryan Colby (Mid-Atlantic) by a 6-3, 6-4 decision to go along with unseeded Leanid Boika taking the matchup of Florida Section representatives with No. 7 Adam Duan 6-4, 6-2. No. 9 seeds Ian Rasheed (Southern), Robert Zhang (Midwest), and Pranav Suhas Nemani (Middle States) also suffered losses on the opening day; they were upended by Andrew Pereverzev (Florida), Justin Braverman (Florida), and Jose Moreno (Florida), respectively.

It would be the top half of the girls’ singles draw that also saw more attrition over the course of the day Fourth seed Vivian Miller (Midwest) and No. 5 seed Emily Callahan (Midwest) both faltered in the opening round, with Miller dropping an extended 5-7, 6-2, 10-5 contest to Blanka DeMicheli (Florida) and Callahan coming up short against Hope Moulin (Florida) 7-5, 6-1. Sunshine State competitors Lexington Reed and Valeria Ray also scored impressive wins over seeded foes Saturday; Reed battled her way past No. 9 Alexis Johnson (Norther California) 6-4, 2-6, 10-6 to go with Ray’s solid 6-4, 6-1 effort over ninth seed Abby Nugent (Midwest).

Unseeded Jasmin Makela (Florida) got her day started off in fine fashion, posting a comprehensive 6-3, 6-2 result versus No. 3 seed Sara Snyder (Caribbean). Sophia Wang (Florida) took down fellow Florida native and ninth-seeded Kassandra Di Staulo 6-4, 6-2 to close out her first day of action. Anna Babayan (Florida) managed to survive one of the longest matches of the day to earn the win over No. 9 Priya Nelson (Northern California) 7-6(5), 3-6, 10-1.

With just one round of doubles being played on Saturday, and most of the seeds receiving byes, there were few notable results turned in. Florida duo Jeremy Friedland and Zamaan Moledina did prevail in a back-and-forth matchup with the fourth-seeded Mid-Atlantic tandem of Owen Megargee and Robinson by the slimmest of margins, 8-7(7).

Play picks back up at 8:30am Sunday morning with the doubles round of 16. The doubles quarterfinals along with the singles round of 16 will also be contested over the course of Sunday’s slate.

For more information on the 2019 USTA May National Level 2, click here.