Gordon reaches girls 18 semis in Spring tourney

Michaela Gordon poses at the $25,000 Redding
Challenger, where she reached the quarterfinals,
last September. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Third-seeded Michaela Gordon of Saratoga has reached the girls 18 semifinals at the prestigious USTA International Spring Championships in Carson.
   Gordon, the 29th-ranked junior in the world at age 15, advanced with a 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over sixth-seeded Katherine Sebov of Canada on Friday.
   Gordon will meet second-seeded Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla., in the semis. The 16-year-old Kenin, the No. 22 junior in the world and Orange Bowl girls 18 champion last December, beat unseeded Emma Higuchi of Los Angeles 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
   Gordon is 1-0 against Kenin, having won 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica in January en route to the title. Like the USTA International Spring Championships, the Coffee Bowl was played on hardcourts.
   Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Gordon and Raquel Pedraza of Claremont reached the girls 18 doubles final in Carson with a 2-6, 6-0 [10-7] triumph over the fifth-seeded Higuchi and Sebov.
   Gordon and Pedraza will face unseeded Caroline Dolehide of Hinsdale, Ill., and Ena Shibahara of Rancho Palos Verdes for the title.