Marcos Giron would like to make it a hat trick of wins over Dennis Novikov when the two meet in the boys 18s quarterfinals. The two have already met twice this year, at the Carson and Easter Bowl, with Giron winning both. On Wednesday, Giron, the fourth seed from Thousand Oaks, Calif., advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Hunter Reese (21), Kennesaw, Ga., in a match interrupted for one hour 10 minutes by a cloudburst. Novikov (5), Boca Raton, Fla., defeated Dane Webb (16), Richardson, Texas, 6-1, 6-3 in a match that ended just before the rain. Giron knew that Reese had a marathon match on Tuesday, winning 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(5) over Gordon Watson (12), Naples, Fla. “I knew he was gonna be a little stiff coming out, so I took advantage early on, broke him, and played well,” Giron said. “I took care of my serves later on. He threatened me later in the set, but then early on in the second set, I broke him first game, up 2-0. Then he ended up breaking me back, so I was a little nervous. “Then it started pouring. He definitely started playing a little better. You could tell he was looser and moving better.” During the delay, Giron said he took it easy, talked to his coach, drank a lot and kept moving so he wouldn’t stiffen up. After the break, “the first game he held at love, and then I ended up holding my next serve at love, also, and I just kinda from there was really feeling it. I was just accelerating on everything and my shots were going in “Tough for him, but I’m happy with the way I played.” Other early winners were Mac Styslinger (9), Birmingham, Ala., over Dennis Mkrtchian, Reseda, Calif., 6-3, 6-2 in 18s and Noah Rubin (3), over Grant Solomon (14), Dallas, Texas, 6-3, 6-2, in 16s.

Source: USTA Nationals Staff