By Steve Pratt

(April 17, 2010) It’s been three years, but Lauren Davis has finally made it back to an Easter Bowl final.
 
The top-seeded Davis, 16, of Gates Mills, Ohio, defeated No. 4 seed Robin Anderson, 6-1, 6-3, to advance to the finals of the girls’ 18s ITF division at the 43rd annual Easter Bowl Spring National Championships.
 
Davis, currently ranked No. 41 in the ITF junior world rankings, will face Krista Hardebeck in Saturday’s second final on Stadium Court at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort after she beat Monica Turewicz, 6-3, 6-1. Hardebeck is on an 11-match winning streak in 11 days after winning the Carson ITF International Spring Championships on Sunday.
 
Davis felt she was on her game in her straight-set victory. “I executed my game plan and didn’t miss too many shots,” Davis said. “I attacked her, ran her and hit in the corners and it worked well.”
 
Davis, who lost to Lauren Herring in the girls’ 14s final in 2007, believes the experience will help this time around in the finals.
 
“At 13, I was just excited to be in the final. Now, I hate losing and I want to win the championship,” Davis said.
 
It took some time, but Southern California’s Alexios Halebian of Glendale advanced to the semifinals of the boys’ 18s ITF event with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 7 seed Shane Vinsant. Halebian, who struggled in his three previous Easter Bowls, feels he is on the right track heading into the semifinal match on Saturday against Bjorn Fratangelo, who defeated No. 12 seed Emmett Egger, 6-3, 6-1.
 
“I’ve been playing really well, not missing a lot of my shots and I’m doing a decent job switching up the pace,” Halebian said. “I feel good heading into the weekend.”
Halebian is hoping to get some revenge against Fratangelo after falling to him twice in previous tournaments.
 
“He (Fratangelo) has a huge forehand, a pretty big serve and does a good job of keeping the ball in play,” Halebian said. “It’s going to be a tough match but I feel I’m prepared.”
 
Nick Chappell of Indianapolis, fought off a tough three-setter to defeat UCLA-bound Clay Thompson, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
 
After struggling in the second set against the 6-foot-4 Thompson’s serve, Chappell nearly lost the first game of the third set, falling behind 15-40 on serve before holding after an unforced error from Thompson. From there he settled down and breezed through to set up a semifinal matchup against Evan Song of Las Vegas, who took a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Michael Zhu of Princeton, N.J..
 
“I played better after that first game in the third set and I think he got tired at the end,” Chappell said.
 
Thompson has good reason to be tired. He won the Claremont ITF Boys’ 18s title two weeks ago and advanced to the finals in Carson last week.
 
In the girls’ 14s singles final slated for 1 p.m., top-seeded Gabrielle Andrews of Pomona, Calif., will take on No. 4 seeded Kimberly Yee of Las Vegas, Nevada. Andrews had little trouble against Peggy Porter, the No, 5 seeded player from Dallas, Texas, 6-1, 6-0, “I was in control the entire match,” she said. “I was trying to hit the angles because I know she doesn’t move that well.”
 
Yee, a semifinalist in the 14s last year with a fourth-place finish, said she outdid herself going one round farther this year. “I’m very excited to be in the final,” said Yee, who beat Taylor Townsend of Stockbridge, Ga., 7-6 (3), 6-3.
 
In the boys’ 14s final, 12-year-old Stefan Kozlov, the No, 4 seed from Pembroke Pines, Fla., will play No, 11 Jordan Belga of Elk Grove Village, Ill, in the days’ first final at 9:30 a.m. Kozlov has impressed the Easter Bowl crowds all week with his steady play and steely resolve. The boys’ 12s Eddie Herr champion, Kozlov has his eye on that gold ball. He was also inquiring about the age of the ball kids scheduled for stadium court. “Are the ball kids going to be older than me?” he asked.
 
 Belga holds an affinity for Roger Federer and is clothed in all the latest R-Fed Nike clothing.
 
FRIDAY’S SCORES
 
Boys' 18 Singles (Quarterfinal Round)
Alexios Halebian Glendale, CA def, Shane Vinsant (7) Keller, TX 6-3, 6-2
Evan Song Henderson, NV def, Michael Zhu (11) Princeton, NJ 7-6(5), 6-3
Bjorn Fratangelo Pittsburgh, PA def, Emmett Egger (12) Issaquah, WA 6-3, 6-1
Nick Chappell (4) Indianapolis, IN def, Clay Thompson Venice, CA 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
 
Boys' 18 Doubles (Quarterfinal Round)
Anton Kovrigin / Michael Zhu def, Jamin Ball / John Lamble 6-2, 6-4
Alexios Halebian / Hunter Harrington def, Shaun Bernstein / Campbell Johnson (2) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0(7)
Mitchell Krueger / Webb Dane (1) def, Chase Curry / Jeffrey Offerdahl 6-0, 6-0
Nick Chappell / Marcos Giron (8) def, Emmett Egger / Shane Vinsant (3) 6-4, 2-6, 1-0(10)
 
Girls' 18 Singles (Semifinal Round)
Krista Hardebeck Santa Ana, CA def, Monica Turewicz (6) Saratoga, CA 6-3, 6-1
Lauren Davis (1) Gates Mills, OH def, Robin Anderson (4) Matawan, NJ 6-1, 6-3
 
Girls' 18 Doubles (Semifinal Round)
Lauren Davis / Gabriella De Simone (4) def, Courtney Dolehide / Ellen Tsay (6) 6-3, 6-2
Lauren Herring / Grace Min (1) def, Breaunna Addison / Chanelle Van Nguyen (5) 7-6(10), 7-6(3)
 
Boys' 16 Singles (Quarterfinal Round)
Nolan Paige (1) Fairfield, CT def, Jacob Jung (17) Upland, CA 6-3, 6-2
Sean Karl Brentwood, TN def, Roy Lederman (17) Golden Beach, FL 6-4, 6-4
Ross Guignon (7) Prairie Vlg, KS def, Maxx Lipman (14) Nashville, TN 6-3, 6-4
Gordon Watson (10) Naples, FL def, Kristofer Yee (13) Las Vegas, NV 7-5, 6-3
 
Boys' 16 Doubles (Semifinal Round)
Anthony Delcore / Guignon Ross (1) def, Jeff Vongman / Kristofer Yee (9) 6-0, 7-5
Matthew Alves / Hudson Barnhart (8) def, Nikko Madregallejo / Mackenzie, McDonald (4) 6-1, 6-0
 
Girls' 16 Singles (Quarterfinal Round)
Spencer Liang (7) Potomac, MD def, Alyssa Smith (4) Laguna Niguel, CA 6-2, 6-4
Kyle McPhillips (1) Willoughby, OH def, Kourtney Keegan (8) Roswell, GA 6-4, 6-0
Brooke Austin (2) Indianapolis, IN def, Mia King Hendersonville, NC 6-4, 6-1
Jennifer Brady Boca Raton, FL def, Natalia Maynetto (17) Naples, FL 6-0, 2-6, 6-2
 
Girls' 16 Doubles (Quarterfinal Round)
Nicole Flower / Madeline Lipp (4) def, Brooke Austin / Mia King 6-4, 7-6(7)
Spencer Liang / Loeb Jamie (3) def, Sarah Bessen / Erin Gebes (9) 6-0, 6-3
Kyle McPhillips / Morton Skylar (1) def, Quinn Gleason / Natalia Maynetto 6-1, 6-3
Desirae Krawczyk / Alyssa Smith (2) def, Jennifer Brady / Amanda Lin 6-4, 7-5
 
Boys' 14 Singles (Semifinal Round)
Stefan Kozlov (4) Pembroke Pines, FL def, Noah Rubin (2) Rockville Centre, NY 6-4, 7-6(2)
Jordan Belga (11) Elk Grove Village, IL def, Deiton Baughman Carson, CA 6-4, 6-2
 
Boys' 14 Doubles (Semifinal Round)
Deiton Baughman / Henrik Wiersholm def, Christian Garay / Daniel Kerznerman (1) 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(8)
Matthew Mendez / Jordan Portner (9) def, Kevin Colopy / Mac Roy (8) 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5
 
Girls' 14 Singles (Semifinal Round)
Gabrielle Andrews (1) Pomona, CA def, Peggy Porter (5) Dallas, TX 6-1, 6-0
Kimberly Yee (4) Las Vegas, NV def, Taylor Townsend Stockbridge, GA 7-6(2), 6-3
 
Girls' 14 Doubles (Final Round)
Gabrielle Andrews / Taylor Townsend (9) def, Mariana Gould / Katrine Steffensen (1) 6-2, 6-2
 
Girls' 14 Doubles (Playoff)
Shannon Hudson / Dasha Ivanova (2) def, Gabrielle Smith / Kimberly Yee (7) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
 
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