The No. 1 seeds at the USTA Girls’ 16s & 18s National Championships put on solid performances to win straight set matches and advance to the next round on a cool and cloudy Aug. 8 at the Barnes Tennis Center on West Point Loma Boulevard.
Sixteen-year-old Kayla Day of Santa Barbara, the Girls’ 18s top seed, defeated Taylor Bridges of Mesa, Ariz., 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the third round where she will play unseeded Nami Otsuka of Norcross, Ga., on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
“I came out a little bit nervous, but I was able to get off to a really good start. I settled down and it was a pretty good match,” said Day, who was playing her opening singles match after receiving a first-round bye. “Every match is hard. There are so many good players in this tournament. I’m going to have to compete well and just play my game.”
In other tournament action in the Girls’ 18s division, second-seeded Usue Arconada of Rio Piedras, P.R., was nearly ousted in her opening round match, but came back to defeat Kolie Allen of Lombard, Ill., 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the third round.
Fourth-seeded Claire Liu of Thousand Oaks, Calif., who won the Wimbledon Girls’ Doubles title with Arconada in July, was upset in her first match as she fell to Kylie Moulin of Lithia, Fla., 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
Fifteen-year-old Amber O’Dell of New Milford, N.J., the top seed in the Girls’ 16s singles draw, eliminated Alexis Almy of Southborough, Mass., 6-3, 6-1 to move into the fourth round. O’Dell will play unseeded Charlotte Owensby of Boca Raton, Fla., on Tuesday.
Complete scores and results for each division of the USTA Girls’ 16s & 18s Nationals Championships may be viewed at:  tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=171037
The starting time for each day of the tournament will be:
8 a.m. – Tuesday, Aug. 9 and Wednesday, Aug. 10;
8:30 a.m. – Thursday, Aug. 11 and Friday, Aug. 12;
9:30 a.m. – Saturday, Aug. 13;
10 a.m. – Sunday, Aug. 14.