Natasha Subhash and Caty McNally of the US finished runners-up in the junior girls championship at the Grade A Campeonato Internacional Juvenil de Tenis de Porto Alegre, in Brazil.
Natasha Subhash and Caty McNally of the US finished runners-up in the junior girls championship at the Grade A Campeonato Internacional Juvenil de Tenis de Porto Alegre, in Brazil.
NEW YORK (Diya TV) – Indian-American tennis sensation Natasha Subhash, who was introduced formally to the world tennis stage during her performance at the 2015 U.S. Open, continues to make consistent progress in the junior girls’ circuit.
After two successful showings in South American tournaments this month, the 14-year-old Subhash has found herself sitting comfortably in the No. 61 combined ranking (singles and doubles) in junior girls. All of this leaves Subhash with a likely chance of appearing in the qualifying rounds of the upcoming French Open and Wimbledon. With the impressive level she is showing so far, with a few more tennis lessons, she could climb even higher in the rankings!
She traveled to South America as a part of the U.S. team, and posted respectful results in both tournaments she appeared in. The Grade 1 Banana Bowl in Sao Palo and the Grade A Campeonato Internacional Juvenil de Tenis de Porto Alegre, in Brazil.
Subhash with other players, in Brazil.
After entering unseeded in both tournaments, Subhash reached the girls’ single quarter-finals and the girls’ doubles semi-finals at the Banana Bowl, and the girls’ singles semi-finals and the girls doubles final in the Porto Alegre tournament. Partnered with Caty McNally during the doubles segment of both tournaments, the two played on red clay courts.
Subhash dueled out a pair of upsets – she defeated the No. 15 seed, Thaisa Grana Pedretti of Brazil, in straight sets during the Porto Alegre tournament. She then dispatched of the No. 9 seed, Lara Escauriza of Paraguay, in the quarterfinals. The two have become familiar with each other’s game – Escauriza defeated Subhash in three hard fought sets during the Sao Palo tournament.
“I really felt the heat, but managed to play a good match and feel very happy to move forward in the tournament,” Subhash said, after she beat Pedretti.
She ultimately fell in three sets to the eventual champion and top seeded Usue Maitane Arconada, an American born in Argentina. The final was 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. With the victory, Arcondada became the first girl in more than a decade to successfully defend a Porto Alegre title – Russian Alisa Kleybanova won back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004.
Subhash has been restricted because of her age in the number of tournaments she’s allowed to play in, but will take part in one more tournament before the next two Grand Slam tournaments begin – the Easter Bowl in Indian Wells, Calif., which begins in April. The majority of the top seeded girls will also participate in the same tournament, from which the top-53 seeds will get into the main draw of the junior girls in the French Open, which commences from May 22. Wimbledon will begin last week of June.
