Saturday was a tough day for the locals in the 12-and-under USTA National Open at the Champions Club. Luke Plaisted of Hixson was the only one of the 11 area players to make it out of the first round.
Plaisted blanked Clark Bilinovich of Clinton, Ohio, 6-0, 6-0 on Saturday morning but was on the losing end of a lopsided match, 6-1, 6-1, in the afternoon against No. 4 seed Noah Makarome of Wesley Chapel, Fla., who reached the round of 16 in the event last year.
This morning, Plaisted will begin play in the consolation bracket, which is where the rest of the locals (except for Landie McBrayer, who withdrew from the tournament) were after the first round.
Of the area players who lost their opening match, none advanced to the second consolation round. Most, however, will be back in action this afternoon in doubles.
Top seed Abhin Sharma of Alpharetta, Ga. — ranked No. 1 in the South and No. 7 in the nation — cruised through his first two rounds, as did most of the seeded players. Of the 16 seeds in the boys’ draw, all but four advanced to the round of 16.
Chloe Michele Ouellet-Pizer of Chapel Hill, N.C., the girls’ top seed, lost a total of three games in her first two rounds. Thirteen of the 16 seeded girls won both of their matches Saturday.
One who didn’t was No. 5 seed Nicole Johnston. Grace Koscielski pulled off the biggest upset of the day, beating Johnston in a match that featured major momentum swings. Johnston won the first set 6-0, Koscielski took the second 6-2 and in the third-set tiebreaker Koscielski prevailed 14-12.