Gordon, 15, ousts No. 4 seed in Orange Bowl

Michaela Gordon of Saratoga upset fourth-seeded Anna
Kalinskaya of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the
girls 18s at the Orange Bowl. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   Having grown up in South Dakota and the San Francisco Bay Area, Michaela Gordon is not accustomed to playing on clay.
   But the 15-year-old resident of Saratoga surprised fourth-seeded Anna Kalinskaya of Russia 6-3, 6-2 today in the second round of the girls 18s at the Orange Bowl in Plantation, Fla.
   The 16-year-old Kalinskaya is the 13th-ranked junior in the world, and is Gordon 56th.
   Gordon is scheduled to face qualifier Kayla Day, a 15-year-old left-hander from Santa Barbara, today at 8 a.m. PST for a berth in the quarterfinals.
   Here is a link to my September profile of Gordon: http://norcaltennisczar.blogspot.com/2014/09/gordon-15-takes-unlikely-route-to.html
   Also advancing in the girls 18s was second-seeded CiCi Bellis, 15, of Atherton in the Bay Area. Bellis, ranked second in the world, defeated Miriam Kolodziejova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-6 (3).
   Bellis, who actually has extensive experience on clay, will play qualifier Maria Shishkina of Bradenton, Fla., not before 8:30 a.m. PST. Shishkina, a 16-year-old native of Kazakhstan, was profiled at 11 in ESPN The Magazine: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=5289995.
   In the boys 18s, second-seeded Stefan Kozlov of Pembroke Pines, Fla., beat Chien Hsun Lo of Taiwan 6-0, 6-4. Kozlov, who turned pro two years ago at 14, broke through on the men's circuit by reaching the final of the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger in October.
   Second-seeded Sam Riffice of Roseville in the Sacramento area advanced to the boys 16 quarters in the Orange Bowl with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over qualifier Brian Cernoch of North Bethesda, Md. Riffice, 15, trains at the USTA center in Boca Raton, Fla.
   Norway's Casper Ruud, the top seed in the boys 16s, lost to 14th-seeded Vasil Kirkov of Tampa, Fla., 6-4, 6-3.
   Kirkov and Riffice, the No. 2 seeds in doubles who won the boys 16 title in the Eddie Herr International Championships last week, fell to unseeded Basil Khuma of India and Christian Lakoseljac of Canada 6-4, 3-6 [10-7] in the quarterfinals.
   But brothers Dominic and Paul Barretto of Bel Tiburon in the Bay Area edged Canadians Sean Huynh and Elijah Ogilvie 4-6, 6-3 [12-10].
   In girls 18 doubles, top-seeded Bellis and Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic routed Gordon and Emma Higuchi of Los Angeles 6-1, 6-1 in the first round. Bellis and Vondrousova reached the French Open girls doubles final in June.