Top seeds fall in girls 18s at Eddie Herr International Tennis Tournament

The girls 18s field is wide open at the Eddie Herr Invitational after the top two seeds both fell Wednesday at IMG Academy. Germany’s Irina Cantos Siemers stunned Chinese top-seed Xiyu Wang 2-0 (6-3, 7-6) in the second round and the United States’ Sofia Sewing rallied past Slovenian No. 2-seed Kaja Juvan 2-1 (6-7, 6-3, 6-4) to reach the Round of 16. The pair of upsets leaves No. 3-seed Ellie Douglas, an American who won after Anastaisa Iamachkine retired during the second set Wednesday, as the top player remaining in the girls field.

Douglas, a high school junior from Texas, will play fellow American Nicole Mossmer on Thursday at 8 a.m.

Top seeds handled themselves better in the boys 18s draw, where IMG’s Miomir Kecmanovic cruised into the third round with a 2-0 (6-1, 6-1) win against Great Britain’s Max Stewart. Kecmanovic, who is originally from Serbia, is the top player in the boys field. No. 2-seed Benjamin Sigouin from Canada also advanced with a 2-0 (6-4, 6-1) win against Argentina’s Sebastian Baez.

Another American, Sarasota’s Abbey Siegel, will have a chance at another upset in the girls 16s draw Thursday. The local standout will get a crack at South Korea’s Eun Ji Oh at 10 a.m. with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.

In the girls 14s, top-seed Qinwen Zheng of China advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 (6-4, 6-3) win against the United States’ Kylie Collins, the No. 11 seed. Zheng will play in the quarters Thursday at 10 a.m. against another American, No. 5-seed Gianna Pielet.

Bulgaria’s Katernia Dimitrova, the No. 1 seed in the girls 12s, fell in the first round earlier this week, opening for No. 3-seed Katerina Scott to make a run toward the championship round. The American will face Bulgaria’s Denislava Glushkova at 10 a.m. on Thursday in the quarterfinals.

The only top-seeded American is in the boys 12s, where Victor Lilov has reached the quarterfinals. He will face fellow American Jackson Armistead, the No. 5 seed, in the quarterfinals Thursday at 10 a.m.

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 8:07 PM with the headline "Top seeds fall in girls 18s at Eddie Herr International Tennis Tournament."