The seeded players in the boys 18 singles took the court for the first time Saturday in second round action.

Top seed Brian Baker of Nashville, TN advanced to the third round by defeating unseeded Ashwat Sarohia 6-4, 6-1. Baker appeared to struggle early. Down 3-4 in the first set and facing break point at 30-40, Baker hit an inside-out backhand winner deep in the corner. The momentum of the match shifted after that point, as Baker held serve, broke Sarohia in the next game, and held again to close the set out 6-4. Baker carried the momentum through the second set, winning 6-1.

Second seed Prakash Amritraj of Encino, CA won his first match 6-2, 6-1 over Bradley Hunter of Atlanta, GA. Amritraj had control of the match from the beginning, and he kept his Hunter off balance with his powerful serves. 3rd seed Rajeev Ram looked solid early in his second round win over Jirou Nakajima of Bradenton, FL, taking the first set 6-3. Nakajima had control early in the second set, as a loose volley error by Ram gave Nakajima an early break. Ram was able to regroup and pull out the second set win, 6-4. 5th seed Lester Cook of Sherman Oaks, CA faced the toughest match of the top seeds, narrowly defeating Robbye Poole of Ridgeland, MS 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 . Cook held serve for a 6-5 in the third set and quickly took the first three points on Poole's serve to give himself three match points. Poole fought all three match points off before Cook's well-disguised forehand lob gave him his fourth match point. He converted this one with a lethal on-the-run forehand passing shot.

Not all the seeded players were able to avoid upsets. Among the seeded players to fall were 17th seed Pramod Dabir of Saratoga, CA, 19th seed Derrick Bauer of Marina Del Rey, CA, 25th seed Colin Purcell of Louisville, KY, and 27th seed Patrick Buchanan of Fullerton, CA. But the biggest upset of the day was Andre Iriarte's 6-4, 6-4 victory over 14th seed Denis Zivkovic (Surfside, FL). Iriarte is from Rockville, MD.

On Sunday, the top seeds in the Boys 16s singles take the courts for their first matches in the tournament's second round. Seeded players received a first round bye. There are no 18s singles matches on Sunday.

Source: Matt