IMG Academy’s Kecmanovic cruises to Eddie Herr tennis semifinals

Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic, the top seed in the boys 18s division, is on to the semifinals of the Eddie Herr International Championships after another straight-sets win Friday at IMG Academy.

The IMG student toppled Argentinian and No. 6 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 6-4, 6-0, to reach Saturday’s semifinals. Kecmanovic has yet to drop a set at the Eddie Herr Championships and will face Turkey’s Ergi Kirkin, the No. 12 seed, in the semifinals at 9 a.m. in Bradenton on Court 1.

At the same time, the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds will meet in the other semifinal on Court 3. Canada’s Benjamin Sigouin, the No. 2 seed, squares off against Estonia’s Kenneth Raisma after both earned a pair of straight-sets victories Friday. Sigouin took down Great Britain’s Finn Bass, 6-3, 6-3, and Raisma topped the United States’ Lukas Greif, 6-1, 6-4.

Kecmanovic and Sigouin will also play for the doubles championship at 11:30 against Americans Govind Nanda and Alexandra Rotsaert.

Chaos continues to reign in the girls 18s with another of the top remaining seeds falling in the quarterfinals. Germany’s Irina Cantos Siemers rallied for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against No. 9 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine to set up a semifinal matchup with Russia’s Varvara Gracheva on Saturday. As the No. 6 seed, Gracheva is the top remaining player in the field.

Siemers is one of two unseeded players in the final four as the United States’ Carson Branstine continued her improbable run to the semifinals with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 win against No. 16 seed Astrid Wanja Brune Olsen of Norway. Branstine will face Argentina’s Maria Lourdes Carle, the No. 12 seed, in Saturday’s other semifinal.

The girls doubles championship will also be held Saturday at 9 a.m. Croatia’s Lea Boskovic and Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan team up to face Mexico’s Maria Jose Portillo Ramirez and the United States’ Sofia Sewing.

Semifinalists were determined in all but one of the younger age divisions Thursday, so only the girls 16s were in action Friday. No. 9 seed Emma Navarro advanced to face fellow American Victoria Hu, the No. 4 seed, in one semifinal. No. 3 seed Margaryta Bilokin of Ukraine will meet American Katie Volynets, the No. 7 seed, in the other.

This story was originally published December 2, 2016 at 9:39 PM with the headline "IMG Academy’s Kecmanovic cruises to Eddie Herr tennis semifinals."