Over 1,200 of the best tennis players from California, Nevada, Texas, Utah and as far away as New York and Alaska came to the Southland last weekend for the start of the 64th annual Fullerton Junior Open. Some of the greatest players in the history of the sport, like Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Lindsay Davenport, Mike and Bob Bryan and Venus and Serena Williams, have all played and won this tournament. Nearly 50 players who live in Pacific Palisades and or train at the Palisades Tennis Center participated in the tournament and 10 have made it through to the second weekend. In the boys 10s, seventh-seeded Ben Goldberg and ninth-seeded Harry Cohen, both Marquez students, continued their hot streaks with two straight set wins in both rounds and have moved on to the round of 16. In the same age division, Lucas Bellamy. Roscoe Bellamy, Christian Gambale and Stanley Morris each advanced to the second round. In the boys 12s, top-seeded Michael Genender started with a tough 7-6, 7-5 win in the first round over Kent Mukai from Rolling Hills, then breezed through the next two rounds to solidify his place in the round of 16. Palisadian Jackson Kogan advanced to the second round. Robbie Bellamy, the No. 17 seed, was the lone PTC player to reach the round of 16 in the boys 14s. After an easy first round, he won his next three matches in third-set tiebreakers, two of them by 10-8 scores. Bellamy beat Micah Lyle of San Diego, Addison Appleby of Dayton Ohio and eighth-seeded Thomas Pecor from Texas. Also in the boys 14s, top-seeded Alex Giannini, Bellamy’s doubles partner, won is first round match over Tyler Lu of Irvine, 6-4, 6-3, then had to default due to illness. Blake Anthony, the No. 17 seed, lost a third-set tiebreaker to Arcadia’s Albert Chen in the second round. In the boys 16s, 17th-seeded Brett Alchorn advanced to the second weekend along with fellow PTC trainees Seth Stolar and Deiton Baughman. Alchorn posted straight set wins in the first two rounds, then knocked off eighth-seeded Justin Agbayani of Yorba Linda, 6-3, 6-4. Agbayani sometimes trains at the PTC as well. Meanwhile, Stolar did not drop a set in eliminating 15th-seeded Jon Lo of La Jolla, Richard Chang of Santa Barbara and Alex Majadian of Mission Viejo. Max Licona lost in the first round, Brandon Clark and Sam Farani and reached the second round and ninth-seeded Oliver Thornton (who plays singles at Palisades High) and 17th-seeded Connor Treacy each made the third round. Lastly, new PTC standout Baughman, currently the best 12-year-old in America, won four rounds in the boys 16s, losing only one set along the way, to 17th-seeded Horea Porutiu of Rancho Palos Verdes. In the boys 18s, Palisades High player Justin Atlan advanced to the fourth round, beating eighth-seeded Warren Hardie of Laguna Niguel along the way. On the girls’ side, three local players are still in the draw. In the 10s, top-seeded Mimi Levine has not dropped a game in her first two rounds while No. 8 seed Grace Danco has only lost five games through two matches. Playing up a division in the girls 12s, nine-year-old Mary Profit outlasted Estelle Wong of San Diego by the thinnest of margins, 7-6, 0-6, 7-6, in the first round, then beat Palisadian Giulia Mcdonnelinietodelris. Sophie Bendetti reached the third round before falling to Emily Maxfield of Murrieta, 6-3, 6-4, and ninth-seeded Ilana Olyenik also reached the third round. The tournament continues this weekend when the 10 remaining players from the PTC will look to win their respective age divisions.
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