By Steve Pratt, special to USTA.com
 
CARSON, Calif. – Marcos Giron wasn’t happy when he saw the name Dennis Novikov above his on the boys’ 18s draw sheet before the start of the seventh annual USTA International Spring Championships. Novikov surely was equally distressed when he saw Giron’s name right below his.
 
Playing in front of his future college coach Billy Martin of UCLA, the unseeded 17-year-old Giron took down the No. 5-seeded Novikov, 6-4, 7-5, on Monday during the first day of main-draw play at the Home Depot Center.
 
It was the seventh consecutive victory for Giron, who was coming off six big wins at the ITF Grade 4 tournament at Claremont last weekend, including the tournament final, where he beat David Doehring in straight sets. 
 
Giron, of nearby Thousand Oaks, Calif., led the No. 37 ITF world-ranked Novikov 4-0 in the second set before the Boca Raton resident roared back to take a 5-4 lead, finally beginning to adjust to the windy conditions.
 
"Hopefully I’ll keep it going," Giron said. "He just really stepped up his game, and I was finally able to play better down 4-5."
 
On playing in front of Martin, Giron said, "I was excited to see him here. I always seem to play better when he’s watching. I was happy to see him."
 
In the boys’ 16s, top-seeded Luca Corinteli got through to the second round with no problems, as he beat Dylan Brown, 6-1, 6-2. No. 2-seeded Spencer Papa also had an easy time against Christopher Lees, 6-4, 6-2.
 
In a highly anticipated matchup between two of the world’s top players at their age, Stefan Kozlov, 13, defeated 14-year-old Henrik Wiersholm, 6-2, 6-2, in a boys’ 16s match. Kozlov beat Wiersholm in the semifinals of the Winter National 14s and also beat him in the finals of the AEGON Teen Tennis tournament in England just a few weeks later.
 
In the girls’ 18s, top-seeded Victoria Duval beat Ha-Young Ji of Korea, 6-1, 7-5, in her first-round match. In the girls’ 16s, top-seeded Katrine Steffensen downed Conner Calabro, 6-4, 6-1
 
For more information on the tournament, including scores and draws, log onto the website at www.usta.com/isc.
 
MONDAY’S FIREST-ROUND SINGLES RESULTS:

Note: All players from United States unless noted.

Boys’ 18s
Shane Vinsant (4) def. Hunter Harrington 6-2, 7-6(2)
Kai-Wen Lai, Taipei, def. John Richmond 6-1, 6-4
Dennis Mkrtchian def. Anthony Delcore 6-4, 6-4
Trey Strobel def. Luis Garcia, Panama, 6-3, 6-0
David Doehring def. Edgar Lopez, Mexico, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Mitchell Polnet def. Jorge Brian Panta Herreros (9), Peru, 6-0, 7-5
Michael Redlicki def. Justin To, Hong Kong, 6-2, 6-1
Mate Cutura, Croatia, def. Karim Arem 6-0, 6-0
Lucas Gomez, Mexico, def. William Kwok (14) 4-0 Ret (inj)
Mac Styslinger (10) def. Alex Fennell 6-1, 6-4
Tyler Gardiner def. Boris Arias, Bolivia, 6-1, 7-6(5)
Emmett Egger (11) def. Andrew Ochotta, Canada, 6-2, 6-1
Jack Busby, Great Britain, def. Spencer Simon 7-6(3), 1-6, 7-6(2)
Gregory Scott def. Juan Pablo Murra (15), Mexico, 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(7)
Nikola Milojevic (2), Serbia, def. Andrew Adams 6-4, 6-4
Marlu Van Vuuren, South Africa, def. Robert Livi 6-3, 6-2
Marcos Giron def. Dennis Novikov (5) 6-4, 7-5
Thai Kwiatkowski def. Morgan Mays 6-3, 6-3
Patrik Fabian (13), Slovakia, def. Rickey Baylon 6-2, 6-1
Jermey Efferding def. Michael Rinaldi, (12) 6-4, 6-2
Yoshihito Nishioka, Japan, def. Austin Siegel 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Mikhail Vaks, Russia, def. Jordan Daigle 6-3, 6-4
Marco Nunez (7), Mexico, def. Nicholas Naumann 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
 
Boys’ 16s
Yancy Dennis def. Bryan Chen 6-0, 6-1
Eduardo Nava def. Nikolas Ramadan 7-6(1), 6-4
Stefan Kozlov def. Henrik Wiersholm 6-2, 6-2
Gregory Garcia (11) def. Aidan Jiang 6-0, 6-3
Noah Rubin (14) def. Kentaro Mizushima, Japan, 6-3, 6-1
Oliver Landert def. Steven Chen 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
Justin Butsch (8) def. Joshua Yablon 7-5, 7-5
JC Aragone (12) def. Drew Dawson 6-0, 6-2
William Griffith def. Kei Ezaka, Japan, 6-1, 6-3
Spencer Papa (2) def. Christopher Lees 6-4, 6-2
Luca Corinteli (1) def. Dylan Brown 6-1, 6-2
William Chiu def. Ryan Rosen 7-5, 6-0
Daniel Kerznerman (7) def. Riley Smith 6-3, 6-0
Deiton Baughman def. Strong Kirchheimer 6-2, 6-3
Javier Restrepo def. Robbie Bellamy, (16) 7-6(2), 6-2
Masayoshi Ono, Japan, def. Alex Giannini 6-2, 7-5
Jake De Vries def. Luke Mountain 6-0, 6-0
Tyler Lu def.  Nicholas Crystal 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2
Jake Klein def. Teague Hamilton 6-3, 7-6(4)
Taylor Cramer def. Spencer Rhoads 6-2, 6-3
Nikko Madregallejo (6)  def. Jay Leelavanich 6-3, 6-1
George Goldhoff (3) def. Joshua Kim 6-0, 6-1
Martin Redlicki (13) def. Grant Riechmann 6-1, 7-5

Girls’ 18s
Christina Makarova (4) def. Desirae Krawczyk 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
Lauren Herring (6) def. Mia King 6-4, 6-2
Grace Min (2) def. Alanna Wolff 6-4, 6-2
Ashley Dai (13) def. Chanelle Van Nguyen 6-1, 6-1
Catherine Harrison def. Wendy Zhang, Canada, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1
Marcela Zacarias (12), Mexico, def. Riko Shimizu 6-1, 6-0
Skylar Morton def. Luicelena Perez Motolongo, Venezuela, 6-1, 6-1
Sabrina Santamaria def. Monica Turewicz (7) 6-1, 6-3
Natalia Maynetto def. Georgina Sellyn, Great Britain, 7-6(4), 6-1
Madison Keys (3) def. Skylar Kuykendall 6-4, 6-0
Nadia Echeverria Alam def.  Analorena Belmar, Mexico, 6-3, 6-0
Gabrielle Andrews def. Jennifer Brady (16) 6-3, 6-3
Victoria Duval (1) def. Ha-Young Ji, Korea, 6-1, 7-5
June Lee def. Makenzie Craft 6-2, 6-3
Kyle McPhillips def. Hannah King (11) 6-2, 6-2
Alexandra Kiick def. Blair Shankle 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2
Samantha Crawford def. Julia Elbaba (10) 6-0, 6-2
Johnnise Renaud def. Fausthyara Pietersz 6-4, 6-4
 
Girls’ 16s
Kareena Manji def. Camille Deleon 7-5, 6-1
Caroline Doyle (14) def. Andie Daniell 6-4, 6-4
Julia O'Loughlin (3) def. Margo Pletcher 6-2, 6-1
Alyza Benotto (15) def. Taylor LeFridge 6-2, 6-2
Madison Clarke def. Emily Cox 6-2, 6-3
Cindy Nguyen def. Cassidy Spearman 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(5)
Natalie Da Silveira, Brazil, def. Adi Milstein, (2) 7-6(2), 6-4
Alexis Rae Valenzuela def. Andrea Kevakian 6-2, 6-2
Nicolette Tran (4) def. Victoria Robertson 6-0, 6-0
Stephanie Hazell def. Constance Branstine 6-3, 6-4
Yuki Chiang def. Jessica Ho 6-1, 6-2
Hadley Berg def. Elizabeth Mulville 7-5, 6-2
Shannon Hudson (11) def. Alexis Pereira 6-4, 6-3
Jada Hart def. Ashley Chao 6-3, 6-3
Kellyn Abbanat def. Rebecca Ho 6-2, 6-4
Katrine Steffensen (1) def. Conner Calabro 6-4, 6-1
Kimberly Yee (9) def. Kenadi Hance 6-2, 6-1
Kiah Generette def. Monica Robinson 6-4, 6-2
Sivan Krems (10) def. Amber Park 6-2, 6-0
Francis Dean def. Mayci Jones (16) 6-2 Ret (inj)
Yuki Asami def. Ally Miller-Krasilnikov (6)  6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Elizabeth Profit def. Kaitlyn McCarthy 6-2, 6-2
Caroline Turner def. Basia Kopecka 6-0, 6-4
Mary Closs def. Dominique Dulski 6-3, 6-1
Megan McCray def. Brooke Withrow, (7) 6-0, 6-1
Dasha Ivanova (12) def. Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer 6-3, 6-3
Lauren Marker (13) def. Maral Tavitian 6-2, 6-4
Gabriella Umoquit def. Alexandra Solovyev 6-1, 6-4
Maia Magill def. Minami Lam 6-1, 6-3
Marie Norris (8) def. Kaiulani Boyer 6-2, 6-2
Maria Smith (5) def. Alison Ho 6-1, 6-1
Jwany Sherif def. Fiorella Coria, Argentina, 6-2, 6-0