Another busy day of action on Thursday around the grounds of the USTA National Campus saw all main draws of the 2019 USTA National Winter Championships, part of the USTA adidas Junior Championship Series, reach their final round by the conclusion of match play.

Highlighting the day were two semifinal victories by siblings Ben and Emma Shelton (Gainesville, Fla.) in 18s singles action, setting them both up with the opportunity to claim their first USTA Gold Ball. Additionally, Logan Zapp (Fleming Island, Fla.) and Katie Codd (Carlsbad, Calif.) have the chance to sweep the singles and doubles titles in the boys’ 18s and girls’ 16s, respectively.

Still a round behind going in to Thursday, the 16s singles draws started the morning at the quarterfinal stage. All four quarterfinal matchups ended in straight sets on the boys’ side, including another comprehensive effort from No. 3 Michael Zheng (Montville, N.J.) in the form of his 6-2, 6-3 defeat of unseeded Yannik Rahman (Miami). That set him up with a semifinal clash against fifth-seeded Kurt Miller (Los Gatos, Calif.), who made life much easier on himself after consecutive three set matches by holding off No. 16 Eric Li (Skillman, N.J. 7-5, 6-3.

Zheng immediately found himself locked in a battle for the first time of the week with Miller across the net from him; however, he still managed to claim the opening frame by a slim 7-5 margin. A tight second set slipping away would end up coming back to haunt Zheng, as Miller came through six games to four to force a decisive third, where he prevailed 6-3.

Reaching the boys’ 16s championship tilt from the top half of the draw was No. 6 Ethan Quinn (Fresno, Calif.). He toughed out a tight 6-4, 7-5 victory versus No. 17 Masato Perera (Santa Barbara, Calif.) in the quarterfinals to advance to the final four; his opponent there was another No. 17 seed Michael Ross (Charleston, S.C.), who ended the run of Vignesh Gogineni (Mason, Ohio) by a 6-3, 6-4 margin. Quinn quickly grabbed control in his matchup with Ross by racing through set one 6-2 before hanging on for the 6-2, 6-4 triumph.

Three of the four girls’ 16s quarterfinal singles contests were also closed out in straight sets. The one that was not featured unseeded Eileen Wang (Buffalo, N.Y.) continue her impressive march through the draw with a back-and-forth 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 win against No. 17 Gavriella Smith (New Orleans); it was the fourth straight upset of a seeded foe by Wang.

Awaiting her was an in-form 17th seed Lucinda Gatsiounis (Studio City, Calif.), who had given away a mere six games in her last three matches after dismissing No. 10 Tomi Main (Seaside, Calif.) in the quarterfinals. The first set between Wang and Gatsiounis would last more than one hour, and even the tiebreak was extended, but in the end Gatsiounis would prove too strong. She claimed the tiebreak 10 points to eight and went on to close out the match 7-6(8), 6-3.

The other semifinal pitted No. 2 Katie Codd and fifth-seeded Stephanie Yakoff (Fort Lee, N.J.) against each other following solid quarterfinal victories; Codd bested No. 8 Ann Guerry (Atlanta) 6-4, 6-0 while Yakoff breezed past fourth seed Kida Ferrari (Fairhope, Ala.) 6-0, 6-1. A strong start for Codd led to her taking the early 6-3 lead, only to have Yakoff turn the tables in the second frame by the same margin. In a tightly-contested, dramatic decisive third set, Codd emerged the victor 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

Thursday was a quick day on and off the court for Zapp and Shelton in the boys’ 18s singles division. Top-seeded Zapp needed a few games to find his groove against No. 12 Keshav Chopra (Marietta, Ga.), but once he did it was a one-sided 6-2, 6-3 affair in his favor. Meanwhile, eight seed Shelton carried over his high level of play his displayed in the second and third sets of his quarterfinal win to dominate No. 4 Benjamin Koch (Abbeville, La.) 6-2, 6-1.

Florida natives Zapp and Shelton are very familiar with each other, having even teamed up to play doubles together at a National Level 2 event last summer. They squared off in singles twice in 2019, each winning once, with Shelton claiming a 6-1, 6-4 win in their encounter that took place at the National Campus as part of the USTA Florida “Bobby Curtis” Junior Sectional Championships.

After very little excitement was produced in the girls’ 18s quarterfinal round on Wednesday, both semifinal matches provided more than their fair share Thursday afternoon. Top-seeded Sarah Hamner (Fort Collins, Colo.) looked to be down and out against unseeded Katherine Hui (San Diego) numerous times. After Hui grabbed the first set 6-3, Hamner rallied to sprint through the second for a 6-1 effort; however, all momentum was squarely on the side of Hui almost immediately in the final set. She held a comfortable margin through the vast majority of the frame until Hamner stormed back for 5-5. From there, Hamner gave nothing away while Hui saw numerous untimely errors creep into her game, allowing Hamner to steal the victory 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.

Fifth-seeded Shelton also started out flat as she took the court versus No. 5 Emma Staker (Sand Springs, Okla.). Down a set before she could get going, she steadied herself early in the second to keep that match alive, eventually pushing it into a final set. With everything on the line, both players battled their nerves as much as they did each other. It would be Shelton who handled the situation better in the crucial moments, winning the last two games for the 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 result.

The lone draw to have the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds navigate their way into the championship round is the boys’ 16s doubles draw. Top seeds Lucas Brown (Plano, Texas) and Aidan Kim (Milford, Mich.) have done so without the loss of a set, taking down the unseeded pairing of Quinn and Gabriele Brancatelli (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.) 7-6(2), 6-2 Thursday evening. It’s been a much tougher road for the second seeds Louis Cloud (San Antonio) and Sebastian Gorzny (Fountain Valley, Calif.); however, they’ve found a way to victory at every stage, including shaking off a disappointing first set to defeat Ross and Davis Taylor (Atlanta) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 in the semifinals.

Girls’ 16s No. 1 seeds Natalie Block (Plantation, Fla.) and Aubrey Nisbet (Wilmington, Del.) will also play for the Gold Ball on Friday. Their semifinal encounter with the fourth-seeded tandem of Whitley Pate (Daniel Island, S.C.) and Liza Tankimovich (Granada Hills, Calif.) was anything but easy, as they let the opening frame slip away in a tiebreak and found themselves just a handful of points from defeat in the second; however, they emphatically turned things around just in time to prevail 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-0. Their opponents will be the unseeded duo Codd and Main, who proved too tough in the pressure points of a 6-4, 7-6(2) win over No. 2 seeds Vivian Miller (Sullivans Island, S.C.) and Sanjana Tallamraju (Munster, Ind.).

Zapp and Chopra will be across the net from each other again on Friday after both were part of a winning team in the boys’ 18s doubles semifinals. Zapp and partner Aryan Chaudhary (Santa Clara, Calif.), the No. 3 seeds, were challenged by an unseeded duo for the second day in a row, this time needed to come back to take down Riley Odell (Plano, Texas) and Garret Skelly (The Woodlands, Texas) 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-3. For Chopra and Coy Simon (Charleston, S.C.), the No. 4 seeds, an easy first set and tight second frame both went their way in a 6-1, 7-5 score line versus the second-seeded pairing of Welsh Hotard (New Orleans) and Koch.

The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds were in action in the girls’ 18s semifinals, but both came up on the losing end of their contests Thursday afternoon. Unseeded tandem Bridget Stammel (Dallas) and Katja Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) continued their improbable run with a solid 6-3, 6-4 effort against top seeds Allie Gretkowski (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) and Carson Tanguilig (Alpharetta, Ga.); meanwhile the third-seeded team of Elizabeth Fahrmeier (Cincinnati) and Megan Heuser (Lindenhurst, Ill.) swept through second seeds Julie Fliegner (Clarkston, Mich.) and Lara Schneider (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) 6-1, 6-0.

The seventh and final day of play is slated to get underway at 9 a.m. For more information on the 2019 USTA National Winter Championships, click here.