Unseeded players capture top divisions at Van der Meer Jr. Classic

Hilton Head Island’s Tommaso Rossin and Olga Zavarotnaya knocked off top seeds on the way to winning the top divisions at last weekend’s Van der Meer Academy Junior Classic.

Rossin prevailed in the Boys 18s competition, upending top seed Ryohei Arai in the quarterfinals before beating Hilton Head Island’s Will Danzell 7-5, 6-3 in a championship match of unseeded players on Sunday.

Zavarotnaya captured the Girls 18s crown with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over top seed Madison Dillon (Hilton Head Island) in the final.

Three other area players won championships in all-Lowcountry finals. Bluffton’s Robert Hagen won the Boys 14s over Davis Phillips (Bluffton), Bluffton’s Michaela Hegarty captured the Girls 14s over Rebecca Stepleman (Hilton Head Island) and Brooke Shafer won the Girls 12s in an all-Hilton Head final over Sierra Seabra-Taylor.

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Sculley’s extended stay: Hilton Head Island’s Sean Sculley and Duke teammate Nick Stachowiak knocked off the top seeds in their run to last week’s quarterfinals at Flushing Meadow, N.Y.

After getting into the draw as a wild card, Sculley and Stachowiak were drawn in the opening round against top seeds Ulises Blanch and Yosuke Watanuki. The Duke duo stunned the favorites 6-4 in the opening set, lost the second but prevailed 10-8 in a third-set tiebreaker.

Sculley/Stachowiak also went to tiebreakers in each of their next two matches, beating Youssef Hossam/Ergi Kirkin 12-10 to reach the quarterfinals before falling to Japan’s Toru Horie/Yuta Shimizu in a 10-2 tiebreaker.

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Unseeded players capture top divisions at Van der Meer Jr. Classic."