News & Features

by Colette Lewis, 2 April 2025

Special from Zoo Tennis

INDIAN WELL, Calif. — The desert heat and air quality made for challenging conditions at last week's FILA Easter Bowl, with 14s champions Arjun Krishnan and Daniela del Mastro earning their titles with two victories on the final day, while 12s top seeds Lucy Dupere and James Borchard both competed for over three hours to secure their singles gold balls, before returning for two more matches in doubles.

Krishnan and del Mastro were required to complete their semifinal matches early Thursday morning, after dangerous air quality readings from dust and wind had sent them to bed Wednesday night wondering if they would be playing for a gold or bronze ball.

The eighth-seeded Krishnan, who led unseeded Adrian Sharma 6-3, 2-2 when their semifinal match was suspended, earned his place in the final by taking the second set 6-4, then carried that form to the championship match, beating top seed Rafael Pawar 7-6(5), 6-4 to earn his first gold ball.

"There were maybe nerves going to bed, more than usual," said the 14-year-old from San Jose, California. "But I knew I was playing good from yesterday and I just moved it on to today."

Krishnan lost an early break in the first set, but played the better tiebreaker, although he missed an easy volley at 6-4 that would have shaken many players. Krishnan didn't let it affect him on the next point however, bombing an ace past Pawar, one of many unreturnable serves Krishnan showcased on important points.

"I really think my mental game has strengthened," said Krishnan, who lost in the first round of the Easter Bowl last year, after winning the 12s back draw to finish fifth in 2023. "I'm pretty calm throughout the points. And my serves are really big and I utilize my weapons as much as possible."

Krishnan, who trains with his father and John Thomas (JT) Gaviano at the Saratoga Country Club, counts his forehand as one of those weapons, with Pawar agreeing there wasn't much he could do to counteract that shot.

"He played on fire today," said Pawar, who had completed his 6-3, 6-2 semifinal win over No. 6 seed and doubles partner Zesen Wang before play was suspended Wednesday. "I was just trying to stay in the rallies, keep with it, but it was too good by him today."

Serving at 2-3 in the second set, Krishnan saved a break point, then broke the 14-year-old from New Jersey in the next game.

"He served a monster serve there, so that was a tough one," said Pawar, who received the boys 14s USTA sportsmanship award prior to the match.

"I was pretty down, with a loss of focus, loss of energy," Krishnan said of that 2-3 service game. "I'm pretty happy that I bounced back, used my routines between points, hit a big serve and played good points right after."

Krishnan couldn't convert his two match points with Pawar serving at 3-5, but he earned a third in the next game, and with another unreturned serve, was an Easter Bowl champion.

"It's an honor, I know a lot of greats have won this tournament, so I'm pretty happy to have won it as well," said Krishnan, who will turn 15 in June and has his sights set on playing the 16s Nationals in August. "Kalamazoo becomes my priority from now on."

Girls 14s champion del Mastro had an even more challenging start to the day than Krishnan, trailing No. 9 seed Abigail Haile by a set before play began at 8 a.m. Thursday. Despite that deficit, she remained upbeat, rebounding for a 6-7(9), 6-2, 7-5 victory to reach the final.

Riding that momentum, del Mastro went up 5-2 in the first set of the championship match with No. 3 seed Allison Wang, the only top-four seed to make the semifinals after the early exit of No. 1 seed Madeline Cleary and del Mastro's quarterfinal win over No. 2 seed Olivia Lin. Del Mastro was unable to close out the set serving at 5-2, 5-4 and 6-5, but found her form to dominate the tiebreaker. And once her serving picked up, del Mastro was able to close out Wang 7-6(2), 6-4 to claim her second singles gold ball.

"My serve was a little off to start," said the 13-year-old from the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove, who felt more excited than fatigued when facing a championship match just 90 minutes later. "I was not really making my first serves and she's a very good returner of seconds. And then I started making my first serves and taking advantage of that in the points."

"I think in the critical moments she could hit a winner down the line or cross," said Wang, a 14-year-old San Jose resident. "Her first serve was really good, hard for me to return."

Wang, who finished her 6-0, 6-3 semifinal win over No. 9 seed Molly Widlansky on Wednesday before play was suspended for the day, revealed that she had strained her neck prior to the match. "I didn't play my best, but it's just another day for me."

Del Mastro, who trains with Toby Boyer at On the Rise Tennis Academy and at Deciding Point Tennis, said she found the heat and conditions in the desert difficult at the outset, but made the adjustments necessary.

"I struggled the first couple of matches," said del Mastro, the 2023-24 USTA Winter Nationals 12s champion. "But then toward the end of the tournament, it was not as hot as the first couple of days."

While the 14s were still determining their finalists, the 12s were deciding their champions, having finished their semifinal matches before play was suspended on Wednesday. Borchard had beaten Haris Shahbaz, a No. 9 seed, 6-2, 6-0 while Dupere had dispatched unseeded Cataleya Brown 6-1, 6-2.

Borchard, a semifinalist last year, saw his 4-0 lead in the third set disappear, but won the final two games to secure a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 victory in the final over No. 3 seed Udham Singh.

Singh, who had beaten No. 2 seed Evan Fan 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals, was up 30-0 serving at 4-5 in the final set, but the 12-year-old left-hander from Sunnyvale, California netted a forehand to go down 30-40, giving Borchard his first match point.

A good first serve saved it, and Singh earned a game point, but Borchard countered that with an aggressive forehand in the corner. A fortunate net cord winner gave Borchard another match point, which he converted with an angled forehand winner.

"I came out super nervous, I was really, really tight," said the 11-year-old from Thousand Oaks, California. "I managed to pull off the first set. In the third set, I got up 4-0 and he came back; he played really good. He's just so good, because his forehand, he just rips it, and it usually goes in. I had to work really hard to get his shots back. His backhand–he doesn't miss much and he hits in the corners very well."

Borchard said fatigue was also a reason Singh was able to rebound.

"I got very tired after I went up 4-0," said Borchard, who is coached by his father Quinn, the head pro at Sunset Hills Country Club. "I wasn't really feeling good, because I think I drank too much water, but I managed to pull it off. It feels great, because this is one of my favorite tournaments. It makes you feel like a pro, because you're playing at Indian Wells and it's just very fun."

Dupere, the top seed, trailed No. 5 seed Kareena Cross 3-1 in the third set before taking the last five games to earn a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory, earning the gold ball that had eluded her at the Winter Nationals earlier this year.

"It feels really good because the last one hurt a lot," said the diminutive left-hander from North Carolina, who just turned 12. "I had the first set there, but this time I really fought through. I wanted it really badly, I came for it, and I got it."

Dupere lost more games in the final than she had in her five previous matches combined, 14 to 11, and she gave credit to Cross for fighting back after trailing 5-1 in the first set.

"She was dictating the points; she has a really good forehand," said Dupere. "She played really well overall, her serve was really good and she did a great job of making me work the point. But in those last few games, I just believed more in myself and played smarter, going for a few bigger targets."

Dupere was quick to credit her coaches Max Desmars, Calin Mateas, Meghan Coomes and Richard Ashby with helping her add a second gold ball to the one she earned in doubles at the Winter Nationals earlier this year.

"I go down to the USTA occasionally, so thank you so much to coach Lori (Riffice) for everything," said Dupere, who wanted to note the help she received from the recently retired USTA National Coach. "I want to thank all my coaches for everything they've done to help me grow so much."

DOUBLES

Due to the suspension of matches Wednesday, both the doubles semifinals and finals were played Thursday, with Borchard picking up his second gold ball of the day, adding a third USTA level 1 doubles title to those he won at the Easter Bowl last spring, and the National 12s last summer. Borchard and Fan, seeded No. 3, defeated No. 5 seeds Keita Iida and Mateo Vicens 6-1, 7-5.

Cross, the silver ball winner in 12s singles, earned her first gold ball with partner Gabrielle Alexa Villegas. Unseeded, Cross and Villegas defeated No. 3 seeds Nicole Blanco and Inie Toli 6-4, 7-6(7) in the final.

In the 14s, the girls doubles title went to No. 5 seeds Cleary and Anya Arora, who defeated No. 2 seeds Olivia de Los Reyes and Emery Combs 7-6(2), 6-4 in the championship match.

The unseeded team of Siddhant Dua and Indra Vergne defeated the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 seeds to reach the final, downing No. 4 seeds Karan Shanker and Trishiv Premanand 6-3, 6-1 in the championship match.

THIRD PLACE AND CONSOLATION RESULTS:

B14s third place:

Zesen Wang[6] d. Adrian Sharma 3-0 retired, injury

B14s consolation final:

Louden Muha d. Carter Jauffret[9] 6-4, 6-4

B14s doubles third place:

Rafael Pawar and Zesen Wang[2] d. Mason Fekete and Smyan Vijay[5] 6-3, 6-3

G14s third place:

Molly Widlansky[9] d. Abigail Haile[9] 3-1, retired, injury

G14s consolation final:

Emery Combs[9] d. Daniella Sales 6-3, 6-1

G14s doubles third place:

Soo-Ah Byun and Isha Manchala d. London Evans and Ava Chua[5] walkover, injury

B12s third place:

Evan Fan[2] d. Haris Shahbaz[9] 4-6, 6-2, 6-2

B12s consolation final:

Olie Rosa Hall[8] d. Pranav Madamanchi 6-2, 6-0

B12s doubles third place:

Udham Singh and William McGugin[1] d. Gabriel Marino and Jason Ye[2] walkover, injury

G12s third place:

Cataleya Brown d. Violetta Mamina[2] default, no show

G12s consolation final:

Skylar Mandell d. Mila Mikoczi Spivey[6] 6-2, 6-2

G12s doubles third place:

Mila Mikoczi Spivey and Lucy Dupere[2] d. Summer Yang and Cataleya Brown 6-3, 7-5

Sportsmanship Award winners:

Boys’ 14s: Rafael Pawar, Boca Raton FL

Boys’ 12s: Samuel Hartley, Charlottesville VA

Girls’ 14s: Emery Combs, Conway SC

Girls’ 12s: Ayenxavia Calugay, Las Vegas NV

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About Colette Lewis

Colette Lewis has covered topflight U.S. and international junior events as a freelance journalist for over a decade. Her work has appeared in Tennis magazine, the Tennis Championships magazine and the US Open program. Lewis is active on Twitter, and she writes a weekly column right here at TennisRecruiting.net. She was named Junior Tennis Champion for 2016 by Tennis Industry Magazine.

Lewis, based out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has seen every National Championship final played since 1977, and her work on the tournament's ustaboys.com website led her to establish ZooTennis, where she comments on junior and college tennis daily.