In a lefty vs. lefty battle, the eighth seed Alex Halebian ousted second seed Michael Redlicki, 6-4, 7-6(7) in Thursday’s boys 18s quarterfinals. Halebian fought back from down 6-3, then 7-6 in the tiebreak to advance to Saturday’s semifinals against sixth seed Jared Hiltzik. “It was huge,” Halebian said of the tiebreak comeback. “I played well the first set then I was doing really good until I got down an early break. I thought it was gonna go three unless I got it together really quick. I played a couple good games, then the tiebreaker I kinda fell behind early. I was kinda playing from behind the whole time.” Looking ahead to facing Hiltzik, Halebian said: “I’ve been watching him play. He looks like he’s been winning pretty handily. He battles hard and doesn’t miss too many balls. I’ve just gotta play the same way I’ve been playing and hopefully it will pay off.” Hiltzik defeated 30th seed Shane Vinsant, 6-4, 6-2. Hiltzik lost to Vinsant last week after winning the first set, but losing the next two. “It wasn’t a good ending to it,” Hiltzik said. “In this match, second set, I just got that out of my mind and said, you know what, you’re just going to leave a lot on the table and I hated that feeling last week, so I’m not having that feeling again, and I just went for it.”

Source: USTA Nationals Staff