Kim and Neuman Capture Girls' 14U Flight Titles at Longfellow Open

The Girls' 14 & Under singles draw at the Level 5 Longfellow Open was split into two flights — Blue and Red — with eight players competing in each over January 24-25 at Longfellow New Hampshire Tennis & Swim Club in Nashua, NH. The tournament featured electronic line calling throughout. Emma Kim claimed the Blue Flight title as the No. 3 seed, while top seed Kaia Neuman rolled through the Red Flight.

Blue Flight: Kim Upsets Top Seed Chartrand in Final

No. 3 seed Emma Kim won the Blue Flight title, defeating top-seeded Cathryn Chartrand 4-1, 5-3 in the final. Kim was dominant throughout Sunday's play, having also dispatched No. 2 seed Kayra Agar 4-0, 5-3 in the semifinals. Her quarterfinal win over Klara Cimala was equally convincing at 6-1, 6-0.

Chartrand had cruised through her half of the draw, beating Pradnya Kokan 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and No. 4 seed Dahlia Neuman 4-1, 4-0 in the semifinals. But she had no answer for Kim in the final.

The closest match in the Blue Flight quarterfinals came between Dahlia Neuman [4] and Julia McDevitt, with Neuman needing a first-set tiebreak before closing it out 7-6(5), 6-2.

Red Flight: Kaia Neuman Cruises to Title

Top seed Kaia Neuman was the class of the Red Flight, never dropping more than two games in any set she completed. Neuman defeated No. 4 seed Neha Veeranna 6-2, 6-1 in the final to claim the title.

Neuman opened with a 6-2, 6-0 quarterfinal win over Nasreen Yadollahpour and followed it up with a 4-0, 4-2 semifinal win over Quinn Murray, who had upset No. 3 seed Madison Baiter 6-1, 6-3 in the quarters.

The most dramatic match of the Red Flight came in the quarterfinals, where No. 2 seed Leyah Etre survived a three-set battle against Raathey Rajarajan. Etre dropped the first set in a tiebreak 6-7(8), fought back to take the second 6-4, then sealed it in a match tiebreak 10-7. However, Etre withdrew before her semifinal, sending Veeranna through to the final via walkover.

Blue Flight — Full Results

Quarterfinals

Chartrand [1] d. Kokan, 6-1, 6-1

Neuman, Dahlia [4] d. McDevitt, 7-6(5), 6-2

Kim [3] d. Cimala, 6-1, 6-0

Agar [2] d. Vadlamani, 6-3, 6-0

Semifinals

Chartrand [1] d. Neuman, Dahlia [4], 4-1, 4-0

Kim [3] d. Agar [2], 4-0, 5-3

Final

Kim [3] d. Chartrand [1], 4-1, 5-3

Red Flight — Full Results

Quarterfinals

Neuman, Kaia [1] d. Yadollahpour, 6-2, 6-0

Murray d. Baiter [3], 6-1, 6-3

Veeranna [4] d. Kumar, 6-3, 6-2

Etre [2] d. Rajarajan, 6-7(8), 6-4, [10-7]

Semifinals

Neuman, Kaia [1] d. Murray, 4-0, 4-2

Veeranna [4] adv. via walkover (Etre [2] WD)

Final

Neuman, Kaia [1] d. Veeranna [4], 6-2, 6-1