By Steve Pratt, special to USTA.com
 
CARSON, Calif. – A spot in the USTA Carson International Spring International girls’ 18s quarterfinals wasn’t the only thing at stake for Southern Californian rivals Gabby Andrews and Christina Makarova on Thursday.
 
Bragging rights for supremacy as the nation’s – and arguably one of the world’s – top 14-year-old girl tennis players was also on the line. Finally, after a marathon four-hour, 15-minute match in windy conditions at the ITF Grade I event being played at the Home Depot Center, Pomona’s Andrews was victorious over San Diego’s Makarova, recording a 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (4)  win in what could be billed as the match of the tournament.
 
Asked what she was thinking before the start of the third set, Andrews said, "I know I shouldn’t say this, but I was actually thinking that if I lose this set then I should just quit tennis for good. That’s how bad I wanted to win."
 
As harsh as that sounds, Andrews was determined to get the victory on this day, later saying that her "fighting spirit" was what ultimately pulled her through.
 
After an approximately two-hour break, Andrews then teamed with Taylor Townsend to win their doubles match against Samantha Crawford and Alexandra Kiick, 6-1, 6-3.
 
Andrews will play wild-card Samantha Crawford in a quarterfinal match on Friday. Crawford, 15, of Acworth, Ga., is playing in her first ITF Grade 1 tournament. She had a nice win over No. 5 seed Ellen Allgurin of Sweden, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
 
"She was hitting a lot of winners and was going down the line, but with the wind I was able to give the ball a little more spin," Crawford said.
 
In the upper half of the 18s draw, No. 3-seeded Madison Keys (3) beat Mexico’s Alejandra Cisneros Gomez, 6-3, 6-2, to make it an all-American final eight.
 
This is Keys’ third trip to California this year, as she played in a $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Rancho Mirage as well as qualifying for the Indian Wells tournament. In the first round at Indian Wells, she beat experienced Japanese player Junri Namigata, ranked 108 in the world. Keys currently holds down a No. 421 WTA world ranking.
 
"This is one of my first junior tournaments in awhile, so it’s a little different having all the pressure on me, whereas when I’m playing in the pros, there’s no pressure," said Keys, who will also play in the Easter Bowl next week.
 
In the boys’ 18s, the two top-seeded players moved on with straight-set wins, while in the boys’ 16s, the top two seeds fell, as Nikko Madregallejo, the No. 6 seed from Duarte, Calif., beat top-seeded Luca Corinteli of Alexandria, Va., 7-6 (3), 6-3, and Ciro Riccardi of Los Angeles downed No. 2 Spencer Papa of Edmond, Okla., 6-4, 7-5.
 
In the other boys’ 16s matches, No. 14 Noah Rubin of Rockville Centre, N.Y., beat Stefan Kozlov of Pembroke Pines, Fla., 6-4, 6-4, and No. Stephen Watson of Orlando, Fla., got past No. 13 Martin Redlicki of Harthorn Woods, Ill., 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (6).
 
In the girls’ 16s, Long Beach’s Kiah Generette, Ojai’s Yuki Chiang, Las Vegas’ Kimberly Yee and
Marie Norris of Burdett, Kan., all won quarterfinal matches on Friday.
 
For more information on the tournament, including scores and draws, log onto the website at www.usta.com/isc.
 
THURSDAY’S SINGLES RESULTS:
Note: All players from United States unless if noted.

Boys’ 18s Round of 16
Bjorn Fratangelo (1)  def.  Richard Del Nunzio, 6-1, 6-0
Mitchell Krueger (6)  def.  Mitchell Polnet  6-1, 6-0, Ret (inj)
Shane Vinsant (4)  def.  Austin Smith,  7-6 (4), 7-6 (10)
Mac Styslinger (10)  def. Marco Nunez (7), Mexico, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-2
Yoshihito Nishioka, Japan, def.  Trey Strobel, 7-6 (8), 6-1
Patrik Fabian (13), Slovakia,  def. Alexios Halebian (3), 6-2, 6-3
Marcos Giron  def.  Emmett Egger (11), 6-2, 6-2 
Nikola Milojevic (2), Serbia,  def.  Dennis Mkrtchian, 6-4, 6-3
 
Boys’ 16s Quarterfinals
Stephen Watson (10)  def.  Martin Redlicki (13)  4-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(6)
Noah Rubin (14)  def.  Stefan Kozlov  6-4, 6-4
Ciro Riccardi  def.  Spencer Papa (2)  6-4, 7-5
Nikko Madregallejo (6)  def.  Luca Corinteli (1)  7-6(3), 6-3
 
Girls’ 18s Round of 16
Victoria Duval (1)  def.  Chalena Scholl, 6-1, 6-2 
Brooke Austin  def.  Kyle McPhillips, 6-3, 6-4 
Madison Keys (3)  def.  Alejandra Cisneros Gomez, Mexico,  6-3, 6-2
Sabrina Santamaria  def.  Marcela Zacarias (12), Mexico, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 
Gabrielle Andrews  def.  Christina Makarova (4)  6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (4)
Stephanie Nauta (9)  def.  Rio Kitagawa (8), Japan,  6-3, 0-6, 6-3
Grace Min (2)  def.  Ashley Dai (13), 6-2, 6-3
Samantha Crawford  def.  Ellen Allgurin (5), Sweden, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
 
Girls’ 16s Quarterfinals
Yuki Chiang  def.  Shannon Hudson (11)  5-7, 7-5, 6-2
Kimberly Yee (9)  def.  Nicolette Tran (4)  7-5, 6-1
Kiah Generette  def.  Lauren Marker (13)  6-2, 6-0
Marie Norris (8)  def.  Alyza Benotto (15)  7-6(4), 6-4
 
THURSDAY’S DOUBLES RESULTS:

Boys’ 18s Quarterfinals
Marco Nunez, Mexico / Alexander Petrone (5)  def.  Bjorn Fratangelo / Alexios Halebian (1)  3-6, 6-3, 1-1(9)
Mate Cutura, Croatia / Mikhail Vaks, Russia, def.  Marcos Giron /  Denis Nguyen  6-2, 7-6(4)
William Kwok / Michael Rinaldi (7)  def.  Anthony Delcore /  Austin Smith  6-1, 6-3
Mitchell Krueger / Shane Vinsant (2)  def.  Rickey Baylon / Thomas Pura  6-4, 6-4
 
Boys’ 16s Quarterfinals
Robbie Bellamy / Gregory Garcia (7)  def.  George Goldhoff /  Grant Riechmann (3)  6-3, 4-6, 1-0(7)
Eduardo Nava / Henrik Wiersholm  def.  Ciro Riccardi / Alexander Solonin  4-6, 6-4, 1-0(8)
Stefan Doehler / Tyler Lu  def.  Martin Redlicki / Spencer Rhoads  6-0, -6(5), 1-0(4)
Joseph Di Giulio / Spencer Papa (1)  def.  German Aragon /  Adrian Ortiz, Mexico, 7-6(1), 6-3
                  
Girls’ 18s Quarterfinals
Brooke Austin /  Skylar Morton (8) def. Giuliana Olmos, Mexico / Marcela Zacarias, Mexico  6-3, 6-7(4), 12-10
Gabrielle Andrews / Taylor Townsend  def.  Samantha Crawford / Alexandra Kiick  6-1, 6-3
Ellen Allgurin, Sweden / Rio Kitagawa, Japan (3),  def.  Ashley Dai / Riko Shimizu  7-6(5), 6-3
Kyle McPhillips / Chanelle Van Nguyen (7)  def.  Victoria Duval /  Stephanie Nauta (2) Ret (inj)
 
Girls’ 16s Quarterfinals
Ally Miller-Krasilnikov / Julia O'Loughlin (1)  def.  Yuki Asami /  Amber Park  6-0, 7-5
Kareena Manji / Jwany Sherif  def.  Fiorella Coria, Argentina /  Francis Dean  6-3, 6-2
Yuki Chiang / Alexis Pereira  def.  Caroline Doyle /  Katrine Steffensen (3)  7-6(5), 6-7(5), 1-0(7)
Kenadi Hance / Elizabeth Profit  def.  Hadley Berg / Mary Closs  7-5, 6-4