Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Photo by Cynthia Lum

Playing one of your best friends in singles is never easy, especially if you have to come back later in the day and play doubles with them.

But it’s what the unseeded Carson Branstine from the City of Orange, Calif., was faced with Tuesday on Day 2 at the 12th Annual USTA International Spring Championships, an ITF Level 1 tournament being played at StubHub Center in Carson.

Branstine handled it calmly and collectively, eliminating No. 8 seed Taylor Johnson of Redondo Beach, Calif., 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3, in singles, and coming back later in the day to team with Johnson to beat their first-round opponents needing a super-tiebreaker, 4-6, 7-5, 10-6.

“She’s such a good friend so it was hard,” said the unseeded Branstine, who had several match points she let get away in the second-set tiebreaker. “I was trying not to think about it. I got a little bit relaxed. She’s one of the best players out there and I knew she would keep fighting. In the second set I definitely fell off with my level of play.”

Earlier this year, Branstine qualified for a $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures event in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., and then fell to pro player Asia Muhammad in the first round of the main draw of her first pro event.

Just 15 years old and now part of a growing number of players entered in the Carson tournament who were born in the 2000s, Branstine just last week won the 18s singles at the ITF Grade 4 Newport Beach Bowl where she won five of seven three-set matches, including the final where she beat American Ann Li 7-6 (1) in the third.

The tournament was played at the Tennis Club at Newport Beach where she trains with the Grand Slam Tennis Institute.

Last month, Branstine was invited by the USTA to play in an exhibition match against fellow junior and another good friend Tyra Hurricane Black at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event was an opening match presented by HEAD Penn Racquet Sports as part of World Tennis Day and was a warm-up act for the annual BNP Paribas Showdown featuring Gael Monfils, and world No. 4 Stan Wawrinka, as well as former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and 21-time Major Champion Serena Williams.

“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” Branstine said. “I played in front of 8 or 10,000 people. It was pretty cool. I wasn’t that nervous because I figured they came to watch me.”

The boys Newport Beach winner wasn’t as fortunate in his first-round match on Tuesday as Keenan Mayo of Roseville, Calif., fell to Alafia Ayeni of San Diego, 6-3, 6-2.

Late Monday night, No. 7-seeded 18s player Zeke Clark from Tulsa, Okla., finished up his first round close to 10 p.m. with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Brian Shi of Jericho, N.Y.

Clark is currently a senior at Riverfield Country Day School in Tulsa and trains at the Trent Tucker Tennis Academy. He is set to play on scholarship next fall at the University of Illinois.

“These are two tournaments you look forward to all year, Carson and the ASICS Easter Bowl,” said Clark, who played in the main draw juniors at the Australian Open in January. “Having that experience, you want to do that again. Hopefully I can do that and do well here and get my ranking up there to get into the French Open and Wimbledon. If I don’t, then I’ll play qualies.”

Clark is currently ranked No. 66 in the world ITF rankings. “A few good weeks and maybe we can make that happen,” he added.

In the Girls’ 16s, Eryn Cayetano of Corona, Calif., who trains with the RAMP Tennis Academy at StubHub, felt right at home with her huge 6-4, 6-1, upset over top-seeded Kacie Harvey in the second round.

Complete first-round singles results from Monday and Tuesday:

Boys’ 18 Singles (Round of 64)
Ulises Blanch (Deerfield Beach, FL)  def.  Tristan McCormick (Berwyn, PA)  4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Patrick Kypson (Greenville, NC)  def.  Nicolas Mejia (Aventura, FL)  7-6(5, 6-2
Luke Hammond (White Plains, NY)  def.  Arnav Dhingra (Darnestown, MD)  6-3, 6-4
Joshua Peck (Armstrong, BC)  def.  Ryan Goetz (Greenlawn, NY)  7-6(3), 6-2
Liam Caruana (Austin, TX)  def.  Trey Hilderbrand (San Antonio, TX)  6-3, 6-3
Danny Thomas (Pickerington, OH)  def.  Sangeet Sridhar (Glendale, AZ)  6-2, 4-6, 6-2
Nathan Perrone (Bluffton, SC)  def.  Drew Baird (Holly Springs, NC)  6-1, 6-3
Brandon Holt (Rolling Hills, CA)  def.  Harrison Brown (Hilton Head Island, SC)  6-1, 6-1
Nathan Ponwith (Scottsdale, AZ)  def.  Jason Legall (Palm Coast, FL)  6-4, 6-1
Sean Hill (Berkeley, CA)  def.  Sebastian Mermersky (Washington, DC)  6-3, 6-4
Alafia Ayeni (San Diego, CA)  def.  Keenan Mayo (Roseville, CA)  6-3, 6-2
Brian Cernoch (North Bethesda, MD)  def.  Andres Andrade (Bradenton, FL)  6-0, 3-6, 6-3
Oliver Crawford (Spartanburg, SC)  def.  Ching Lam (White Plains, NY)  7-5, 6-2
Jenson Brooksby (Carmichael, CA)  def.  Gui Gomes (Newport Beach, CA)  2-6, 6-3, 3-0
Kyrylo Tsygura (North Potomac, MD)  def.  Jorge Nunez (Kissimmee, FL)  6-4, 6-4
Vasil Kirkov (Tampa, FL)  def.  Mac Kiger (Katonah, NY)  6-3, 6-4
Duarte Vale (White Plains, NY)  def.  Sean Sculley (Hilton Head Island, SC)  2-6, 7-5, 6-2
Jacob Brumm (Rancho Santa Fe, CA)  def.  Alexander Donski (Philadelphia, PA)  1-6, 6-4, 6-2
Maxwell Mendelsohn (Little Rock, AR)  def.  Mwendwa Mbithi (Deerfield Beach, FL)  6-4, 1-6, 7-5
Alexandre Rotsaert (Boca Raton, FL)  def.  Ray Ho (White Plains, NY)  6-2, 6-2
Trent Bryde (Suwanee, GA)  def.  Morgan Dill (Coral Gables, FL)  7-6(3), 6-1
Andrew Fenty (Washington, DC)  def.  Ming Sou (White Plains, NY)  6-3, 6-1
Juan Alejandro Hernandez Serrano (Clearwater, FL)  def.  Austen Huang (Elk Grove, CA)  6-3, 6-2
Sam Riffice (Granite Bay, CA)  def.  Jake Van Emburgh (Belleair Beach, FL)  6-3, 6-3
Zeke Clark (Tulsa, Okla.)  def.  Brian Shi (Jericho, NY)  6-4, 6-2
Caleb Chakravarthi (Irvine, CA)  def.  Jorge Ortegon (Cedar Creek, TX)  7 6(2), 6-3, 6-4
Sam Turchetta (Pound Ridge, NY)  def.  Matthew Story (White Plains, NY)  7-5, 6-3
Sebastian Arcila (Silver Spring, MD)  def.  Matthew Gamble (Webster, NY)  6-1, 6-2
Connor Hance (Torrance, CA)  def.  Carlos Divar (White Plains, NY)  6-3, 7-6(6)
Gianni Ross (Boca Raton, FL)  def.  Kevin Ma (San Ramon, CA)  6-3, 6-2
Sebastian Korda (Bradenton, FL)  def.  Sergio Hernandez (Doral, FL)  6-4, 6-2
William Blumberg (Greenwich, CT)  def.  Robert Loeb (Hilton Head, SC)  6-1, 6-1

Girls’ 18 Singles (Round of 64)
Amanda Anisimova (Hallandale Beach, FL)  def.  Paris Corley (Grants, NM)  6-4, 6-1
Jessica Livianu (Brooklyn, NY)  def.  Nidhi Surpaneni (White Plains, NY)  6-3, 6-2
Hanna Chang (Fontana, CA)  def.  Kamilla Kokeladze (Plantation, FL)  6-2, 6-3
Ellie Douglas (McKinney, TX)  def.  Alexa Noel (Summit, NJ)  6-3, 1-6, 6-2
Jade Lewis (Hilton Head Island, SC)  def.  Mimi Levine (Santa Monica, CA)  6-1, 6-1
Camille Favero (Sacramento, CA)  def.  Nicole  Lynn Anderson (College Park, MD)  6-1, 6-3
Whitney Osuigwe (Bradenton, FL)  def.  Alana Smith (Fort Washington, MD)  6-2, 7-6(3)
Carson Branstine (Orange, CA)  def.  Taylor Johnson (Redondo Beach, CA)  6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3
Maria Mateas (Braintree, MA)  def.  Malkia Menguene (Washington, DC)  6-3, 6-4
Sara Choy (Palo Alto, CA)  def.  Alexandra Angyalosy (Boca Raton, FL)  6-4, 6-1
Margaryta Bilokin (New Canaan, CT)  def.  Naomi Cheong (Las Vegas, NV)  6-1, 6-4
Abigail Desiatnikov (Atlanta, GA)  def.  Zoe Spence (Chicago, IL)  6-0, 6-4
Raquel Pedraza (Claremont, CA)  def.  Kelly Chen (Cerritos, CA)  6-4, 6-3
Emma Higuchi (Los Angeles, CA)  def.  Salma Ewing (Long Beach, CA)  6-3, 7-6(6)
Layne Sleeth (Wesley Chapel, FL)  def.  Nicole Conard (Boca Raton, FL)  6-4, 6-1
Claire Liu (Thousand Oaks, CA)  def.  Chiara Lommer (Skokie, IL)  7 5, 6 2
Morgan Coppoc (Tulsa, OK)  def.  Safiya Carrington (South Hadley, MA)  7-6(3), 7-6(2), 6-3
Dalayna Hewitt (Pepper Pike, OH)  def.  Nicole Mossmer (La Jolla, CA)  6-3, 6-4
Rosie Johanson (Abbotsford, BC)  def.  Abigail Forbes (Raleigh, NC)  6-2, 7-5
Alexandra Sanford (Westerville, OH)  def.  Ashley Lahey (Hawthorne, CA)  5-7, 6-3, 7-5
Helen Altick (Monroe, LA)  def.  Maria Kozyreva (Granite Bay, CA)  6-2, 6-4
Sofia Sewing (Doral, FL)  def.  Sabina Dadaciu (Stuart, FL)  7-5, 6-4
Meible Chi (Weston, FL)  def.  Kariann Pierre Louis (Miami, FL)  6-4, 6-2
Kylie McKenzie (Anthem, AZ)  def.  Emma Decoste (Stuart, FL)  5-7, 6-2, 6-1
Michaela Gordon (Saratoga, CA)  def.  Vanessa Wong (White Plains, NY)  6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Melissa Plambeck (Bradenton, FL)  def.  Jimena Rodriguez Benito (Miami, FL)  3-6, 7-5, 6-1
Elysia Bolton (Cold Spring Harbor, NY)  def.  Nadia Gizdova (Columbia, MD)  4-6, 6-2, 6-1
Hurricane Tyra Black (Boca Raton, FL)  def.  Ryan Peus (Palos Verdes Estates, CA)  5-7, 6-1, 6-1
Ann Li (Devon, PA)  def.  Victoria Emma (Naples, FL)  6-1, 6-3
Chiraz Bechri (White Plains, NY)  def.  Jada Robinson (Reisterstown, MD)  6-2, 6-3
Ena Shibahara (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA)  def.  Amanda Meyer (Delray Beach, FL)  6-2, 6-1
Kayla Day (Santa Barbara, CA)  def.  Sydney Van Alphen (Laguna Beach, CA)  6-1, 6-1

Boys’ 16 Singles (Round of 64)
Jacob Bullard (Calabasas, CA)  def. Brandon Perez (Staunton, VA)  6-3, 7-6(2)
Leighton Allen (Austin, TX)  def. Holden Smith (Spring City, PA)  6-0, 6-0
Hunter Heck (New Brighton, MN)  def. William Turchetta (Pound Ridge, NY)  6-1, 6-1
Benjamin Keyser (Vienna, VA)  def. Naevin Anukornchaikul (Irvine, CA)  7-5, 6-2
Evin McDonald (Bethesda, MD)  def. Aidan Mayo (Roseville, CA)  6-2, 7-6(7)
Austin Di Giulio (Newport Beach, CA)  def. Nicholas Garcia (Hollywood, FL)  6-1, 3-6, 6-0
Stefan Dostanic (Irvine, CA)  def. Zane Khan (San Antonio, TX)  7-6(2), 4-6, 6-2
Anders Gibbons (Mercer Island, WA)  def. Jericho Grollman (Lake Mary, FL)  6-4, 6-2
Joseph Brailovsky (North Potomac, MD)  def. Omni Kumar (Irvine, CA)  6-2, 2-6, 6-4
Aditya Gupta (Irvine, CA)  def. Jeffrey Fradkin (New York, NY)  7-5, 6-1
Matthew Segura (Los Angeles, CA)  def. Jonah Wilson (Gilbert, AZ)  7-5, 6-0
Emilio Nava (Woodland Hills, CA)  def. Karapet Vardanyan (Granada Hills, CA)  3-6, 7-(9), 6-4
Alan Yim (Bellevue, WA)  def. Patrick Maloney (Oyster Bay, NY)  6-1, 6-4
Niroop Vallabhaneni (Paradise Valley, AZ) def.  Brandon Wong (Mercer Island, WA)  6-3, 6-4
Stevie Gould (Corte Madera, CA)  def. Alexander Petrov (Irvine, CA)  6-2, 6-4
Dustin Kua (Valencia, CA)  def. Kyler Jirasook (Walnut, CA)  6-0, 6-1

Girls’ 16 Singles (Round of 64)
Eryn Cayetano (Corona, CA)  def.  Zlata Bobyr (San Diego, CA)  0-6, 6-2, 6-2
Alexis Merrill (Fairfax, VA)  def.  Elizabeth Goldsmith (Chula Vista, CA)  7-5, 7-6(4)
Shelly Yaloz (Little Neck, NY)  def. Victoria Hu (Northborough, MA)  6-4, 6-4
Amy Huang (San Diego, CA)  def.  Mae Fmar Canete (Los Angeles, CA)  6-3, 7-5
Alycia Parks (Port Saint Lucie, FL)  def.  Alina Menshykova (Ojai, CA)  6-2, 6-1
Maxi Duncan (Costa Mesa, CA)  def.  Annika Bassey (Malibu, CA)  7-6(7), 6-2
Gabriella Price (Montebello, NY)  def.  Christine Inah Canete (Los Angeles, CA)  6-2, 6-2
Anna Campana (Hillsborough, CA)  def.  Avery Aude (Woodland Hills, CA)  6-4, 6-1
Emily Dush (Chula Vista, CA)  def.  Odessa Stork (Carpinteria, CA)  6-3, 6-2
Saki Oyama (Ojai, CA)  def.  Katya Hersh (Carpentersville, IL)  6-2, 6-2
Britt Pursell (Oceanside, CA)  def.  Scout Mathews (Ojai, CA)  6-3, 6-2
Olivia McIntosh Adams (Los Angeles, CA)  def.  Lauren Lemonds (Indianapolis, IN)  6-1, 6-4
Ali Despain (Murrells Inlet, SC)  def.  Mackenzie Clark (College Park, MD)  2-6, 6-0, 6-3
Dominique Stone (North Hollywood, CA)  def.  Casey Chen (Alameda, CA)  7-6(5), 6-2
Jacquie Tan (Elk Grove, CA)  def.  Casie Wooten (Torrance, CA)  7-6(3), 6-4
MariaFernanda Campos (Laredo, TX)  def.  Tara Malik (Secaucus, NJ)  7-5, 6-3

Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.