Quarterfinal day at the 2024 Copa del Café featured 8 singles and 4 doubles matches starting at 11am. By the end of the night only 4 boys and 4 girls were alive in singles and the 2 doubles draws had defined semifinalists as well.
In the boys draw Ian MAYEW continued his assault on the draw. Ranked only 269 and in from the Qualy, the talented American eliminated 105 ranked Kase SCHINNERER in straight sets. Despite the rankings, MAYEW`s WTN rating of 11.4 is stronger than SCHINNERER`s 12.2, so perhaps this was not such an upset after all. In the other match in the top half of the draw Maximus DASSAULT of USA ranked 123 dispatched fellow American Dominick MOSEJCZUK ranked 234 and a wild card by a score of 6-3, 6-2. WTN ratings for the semifinal matchup are MAYEW 11.4, DASSAULT 13.8.
In the bottom half of the draw 106 ranked Matisse FARZAM of USA eliminated the popular Qualifier Yubel UBRI ranked 193. UBRI, an American of Dominican descent, delighted the fans the night before by upsetting Guatemalan Rafael BOTRAN, but Thursday night he just appeared to run out of gas as the lopsided score of 6-0, 6-2 would indicate. Rounding out the draw at the bottom, second seed Miguel TOBON of Colombia ranked 69 bested the talented 116th ranked Russian Dmitri BESSONOV in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. WTN ratings for this semifinal are FARZAM 11.5, TOBON 12.2.
In the top half of the Girls Draw no. 1 seed Kaitlyn ROLLS ranked 63 easily defeated her skilled opponent Jeline VANDROMME of Belgium in straight sets 6-4, 6-0. Kaitlyn has “rolled” over her opponents, not dropping a set during the tournament, and easily put away VANDROMME who had the best WTN rating in the draw of 12.1. The WTN rating for ROLLS is inferior at 14.8; go figure. The other semifinal spot in the top half of the draw was taken by American 7th seed Shannon LAM ranked 112. LAM won in 3 sets, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 over 88 ranked Margot PHANTALA of France, winning 12 of the last 14 games. LAM`s WTN rating is 13.1, better tan ROLLS.
In the bottom half of the draw unseeded and 137th ranked Kristina PENICKOVA of USA eliminated 3rd seed Monika EKSTRAND ranked 85 in straight sets 6-0, 7-6. Kristina is a skilled player with WTN of 13.1, the best of the remaining players along with LAM. The last semifinal berth has been taken by another unseeded player, Thea FRODIN of USA ranked 123. Thea defeated the difficult Naomi XU of Canada who frustrates players with slow balls that kick high, making returning with pace difficult. Thea is a strong player and was able to subdue the Canadian in 3 sets, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4. PENICKOVA and FRODIN as unseeded players have drawn little attention so far, but both are strong and capable. The WTN matchup here is PENICKOVA 13.1 vs. FRODIN 14.7.
To the semifinals!
