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Kozlov, Kenin win Orange Bowl tennis titles

His perfect drop shot fell softly onto the clay, well out of his opponent’s reach, and finally, in his fourth time reaching the finals here, Stefan Kozlov could celebrate.

Kozlov flung his racket and raised his arms in joy — and relief — as the Boys’ 18 singles champ at this year’s Metropolia Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship.

Kozlov, from Pembroke Pines, rallied from a set down to beat Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 Sunday at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center. He also won the doubles title with partner Michael Mmoh.

In the first singles final, Sofia Kenin, also from Pembroke Pines, defeated fellow American Ingrid Neel 6-3, 6-3 to claim the Girls’ 18 title.

In previous appearances, Kozlov lost in the finals of the 12s, 14s and 18s.

“It meant a lot,” Kozlov said. “Losing in the finals three times, losing in two slam finals this year, I’m just really relieved, to be honest, that I finally won this, and hopefully I don’t have to come back the next year.”

With a huge crowd watching, the favored local, seeded second, lost six of the final seven games in the opening set. The unseeded Tsitsipas broke Kozlov’s serve three times and impressed with precise and punishing groundstrokes.

“I was really nervous the first set,” said Kozlov, adding he was surprised by Tsitsipas’ “really legit weapons.

“A lot of things weren’t going my way,” Kozlov noted. “Credit to him — he was playing unbelievable. I went to the bathroom, changed my shirt, came back and tried to completely clear my mind and start over.”

Kozlov won the first two games of the second set and continued to gain momentum, becoming increasingly animated and vocal after critical points — something he said helped him release nervous energy. Meanwhile, Tsitsipas tired. After leading 2-1 in the final set, Tsitsipas didn’t win another game.

“I was extremely exhausted after the third set started,” Tsitsipas said. “I didn’t have any power and I couldn’t continue playing as good as I did in the first set. …I hope next year I get back to the finals and do better.”

Kenin, the No. 13 seed in the girls’ draw, beat the world’s No. 1 ranked junior player and best friend Cici Bellis in Saturday’s semifinals. Sunday, last year’s semifinalist took control by winning the final two games of the first set and four straight to start the second.

“It means a lot,” Kenin said of her victory against the fellow 16-year-old Neel. “This tournament is very prestigious. Everyone’s going to remember this one. This is my first Grade A win. It’s just incredible. I honestly didn’t even expect to get to the finals.”

Neither did Neel, an unseeded qualifier from Rochester, Minn., who has been training at IMG Academy in Bradenton the past two years. She lost in the first round of 16s last year.

After Sunday’s loss, during which she double-faulted 12 times, she said she’ll look back on this year’s run “only with the fondest memories.

“I had an amazing week here,” Neel said. “With every match, I played pretty well, and thought ‘How far can I take this?’ Pretty dang far, I guess. …I didn’t play my best tennis today, but I’ll have many more chances. So I’m not too bummed.”

Bellis and Marketa Vondrousova, from the Czech Republic, teamed to win the Girls’ 18 doubles championship, beating the pair of Miriam Kolodziejova (Czech Republic) and Tereza Mihalikova (Slovakia) Sunday 7-5, 2-6 (10-4) in a match tiebreaker in the third set. Kozlov and Mmoh beat the Korean duo of Yunseong Chung and Seong Chan Kong in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).