Andrew Johnson claims 14s title at FILA Easter Bowl, joins other Thursday winners
None of the men’s players at the BNP Paribas Open made it through the main draw earlier this month without losing at least a set. But on Thursday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, 14-year-old Southern California native Andrew Johnson did just that at the FILA Easter Bowl.
The eighth grader from Rancho Palos Verdes completed a dream week at Indian Wells, claiming the title in the boys’ 14s on the very same courts where the pros practiced during the annual Masters 1000 tournament. Johnson, the second seed in the draw, topped fourth-seed Izyan Ahmed, 6-0, 6-2, to win his sixth match without dropping a set.
For the week, Johnson, an eighth grader who will begin attending Palos Verdes High School this summer, won 73 of the 88 games he played, winning four sets 6-0 and five sets 6-1.
“It’s a big one for me,” Johnson said of his Easter Bowl title. “It’s going to boost my confidence and I’m going to keep going.”
The Fila Easter Bowl will continue Friday and into the weekend, with the semifinals and finals for the 16s and 18s. The 14s and 12s wrapped up Thursday.
Johnson won the first set Thursday in just 18 minutes, and the match in 50 minutes. He barely spoke during the entire match — to himself or his opponent.
He said that his mom, a former junior tennis player, is the one who has mentored him the most. She said that she’s helped nurture his game, helping him develop into an all-around player who can crush balls from the baseline just as well as he can deliver winners from closer to the net, like the player he watched the most — Italy’s Jannik Sinner.
Johnson said that he came to the BNP Paribas Open this year for a day and caught a Daniil Medvedev match. Two weeks later, he won arguably the biggest title of his junior career.
“This feels really good,” Johnson said. “It means a lot to win this.”
Other finals
Jiarui Zhang won the boys' 12s on Thursday, defeating Nathan Lee, 6-2, 7-5. Zhang was the second seed in the draw.
In the girls' 14s final, Hannah Ayrault, the ninth seed, upset top-seeded Reiley Rhodes, 6-2, 6-3. In the girls' 12s final, top-seeded Nikol Davletshina topped ninth-seeded Tanvi Pandey, 6-3, 6-1.
Singles and doubles play in the 16s and 18s continues at 10:30 a.m. on Friday.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: FILA Easter Bowl finals results for 14s, 12s at Indian Wells
