While the eight divisional No. 1 seeds all moved on to the quarterfinals on the opening day of the 2018 USTA Florida August Level 5 Championships, numerous other seeded competitors were not as fortunate on Saturday. Four of the draws saw at least half of their seeds be knocked out, highlighted by the girls’ 18s, where only three seeds are still alive in the main draw.

The boys’ 12s division is the only one where the eight seeds make up the quarterfinal matchups. Those eight individuals won a combined 14 sets by a score of 6-0, while only No. 2 seed Asror Ismoilov (Delray Beach) was pushed to three sets on the day, out lasting Max Goldemberg (Miami Beach) 6-3, 5-7, 10-7 in the opening round. It was mostly smooth sailing for the boys’ 14s seeds as well, with one major exception. After an easy win to start the weekend, No. 1 Facundo Olmedo (Doral) came up just short versus Daniel Berenblit (Palm Coast) in the second round, falling 2-6, 6-4, 10-7.

For both the boys’ 16s and 18s competitions, half of the seeds were sent to the consolation draw on Saturday. That included No. 2 seed Ozzor (Daytona Beach) and No. 4 seed Daniel Blackman (Orlando) in the 16s; Ozzor lost to Phillip McMurray (Bradenton) 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 in the first round while Blackman was edged out 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 by Andrei Leonov (Tampa) in the second round. No. 5 Sam Frizelle (Lutz) and No. 7 Justin Braverman (Naples) also failed to advance to the quarterfinals. Among the 18s seeds to stumble were third seed Chase Martin (Tampa), after he was forced to retire despite leading Evan Dean (Boca Raton) 6-2, 5-6 in their round of 16 contest, and fourth seed Maks Silagy (Bradenton), who slipped up versus Aryaan Sen (Sunrise) 6-4, 6-3. No. 7 Sean Buechele (Miami Beach) and No. 8 Sebastien Flores (Orlando) both dropped their opening round matchups as well.

Looking at the girls’ 12s, six of the eight seeds remain in the hunt for the title. Mariana Cabrera (Orlando) was able to tough out a 6-4, 0-6, 10-3 victory over fifth seed Nicole Krinickas (Hallandale Beach) in the second round. Maria Araoz-Gosn (Parkland) took down No. 7 Indi Patel (Alva) 6-2, 7-5 in the first round, only to be bested by Alex Ackman (Winter Garden) 6-0, 6-3 in the second round. The only seed to even lose a set in the girls’ 14s was No. 7 Selena Bird (Miramar), who was on the losing end of an extended 6-4, 1-6, 10-7 battle with Sraiyasri Rajendran (Tampa) to begin the day.

It was a mass exodus of seeds in the girls’ 16s and 18s. Exactly half of the 16s were upset throughout the two rounds of play, including No. 3 Katarina Neff (Bradenton), No. 4 Valeria Centeno (Hialeah), No. 5 Gabriela Rondon (Hallandale Beach), and No. 6 Noor Carrington (Port Saint Lucie). Included in that was an unlucky break for Neff, who withdrew from the event despite earning a win in her first match on Saturday, plus Rondon seeing a set advantage slip away only to lose by the slimmest of margins to Tatiana Ziff (North Palm Beach) 4-6, 6-2, 11-9.

No. 1 Stephanie Sanchez (Hollywood), No. 2 Nyjah Head (Orlando) and No. 6 Bin Zheng (Miami) are the only seeds left in the 18s going into Sunday, with none of the three players giving away a set. Head and Zheng will meet each other in the quarterfinals, meaning at most two seeds will make up the semifinal pairings in the draw.

Action continues Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. For more information on the 2018 USTA Florida August Level 5 Championships, click here.