![]() Emma tells me that’s anything is possible,’’ she said.įor sixth-seeded Brit Hannah Klugman her attempt to add to her trophy case came to an end Sunday when she went down 6-3, 6-4 to a stronger, older, second-seeded Rositsa Dencheva from Bulgaria. “The amazing tennis pros from Canada are inspiring us. “It’s my first Junior Orange Bowl so this is exciting.”ĭong, said another Emma, Raducanu, the teenager who finished third in this tournament five years ago and won the US Open last summer, is living her dream. “My club closed down so we can’t really find a place to play,’’ said Dong, who’s currently playing in Tennis Canada in British Columbia. 1 in Canada in the 12s and 14s.ĭong said she’s having trouble finding a facility to train at in Vancouver, after her club closed. “I wanted to redeem myself,’’ Jovic smiled.Ĭostalas, from Malvern, Pa., will get to return home earlier to her three dogs, Wiggly, Bells and Kamona because she was forced to retire at 4-4 to winner Emma Dong, the ninth seed from Vancouver, where she was ranked No. Jovic said she’s extra motivated because when she played the Junior Orange Bowl 12s two years ago, she lost in the first-round of qualifying. The footwork for sure helps me move around the court and there’s a lot of running in soccer.” “Soccer was so much fun for me and took away a lot of pressure from me to have something else. That gave me more motivation to start working harder and I started winning more tournaments. “After the lockdown I wasn’t really playing tennis because everything was closed. I usually stay solid throughout the whole match until they break down,’’ said Jovic, who trains at the Jack Kramer Club in Los Angeles. ![]() “I know I can’t beat everyone with power and first strikes. The late-bloomer decided to focus on tennis instead of soccer during the pandemic. Jovic hasn’t given up more than three games in any set in her five matches. Jovic, whose parents are Serbian from Torrance, Calif., reeled off the next three games to secure the match. I made sure I kept moving my feet so I wouldn’t get cold.” “I had a good rhythm going and I was winning. “It was tough to stay concentrated,’’ said Jovic, 14, who won the Easter Bowl 14s in April. Jovic was up a set and 3-3 when the fall occurred. She has won three Gold balls in National tournaments.Īnother quarterfinalist Nina Costalas also trains at the Gomez academy, but she had a tough-luck afternoon when chasing a wide backhand she pulled a hamstring muscle and fell on the adjacent court which held up the quarterfinal match between top seed Iva Jovic and No. 1 in Michigan but now trains full-time with the Gomez Tennis Academy in Naples. Rolls, who split matches with Lam in a couple of tournaments this year, is No. “She can hit any shot she likes, hard, topspin, slice, drop shots,’’ Arzamasov said. Lam’s Ukrainian coach Edgar Arzamasov said she is a versatile all-court player. “She can really run and was getting so many of my drop shots.” Thankfully, she made some unforced errors at ad-out, when she missed an second serve into the net,’’ Lam said. “I was up 5-1 in the first set but she came back 5-4. ![]() Lam said her key to victory was her consistency. “Piano helped me because I have a rhythm on the court during a rally, so it helps me think about the tempo, and swimming helped me my shoulders,’’ said Lam, who’s 13 and earlier this year won the Level 1 Easter Bowl 12s title. Lam, who lives and trains in New Brunswick, N.J., at the IA Tennis Academy, said that playing piano and swimming helped her tennis game. “She was at Carnegie Hall and winning competitions,’’ said May Lam, a native of China.īut Mom was all smiles after the fourth-seeded Lam outdueled 7th-seed Katie Rolls, 6-4, 6-4 in a rain-delayed match on the hard courts at the Biltmore Tennis Center Sunday afternoon to advance to the semifinals of the Junior Orange Bowl International Championships. Much to her mother May Lam’s chagrin, she chose tennis strokes over the breaststroke and key strokes. She had to choose between three loves: competing in the swimming pool, on the stage at Carnegie Hall or on the tennis courts in East Brunswick, N.J. CORAL GABLES - Shannon Lam had to make some big decisions in the past few years.
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