Top-seeded Lindsey Jones of Ramstein follows through on a backhand during her first-round victory, 6-2, 6-0 over Holly Martin of Patch, during Thursday’s first day play at the DODDS-Europe high school tennis championships at Wiesbaden-Nordenstadt, Germany. The tournament will run through Saturday. (Rusty Ryan / S&S)
WIESBADEN-NORDENSTADT, Germany — With the exception of girls No. 4 Molly Martin of Lakenheath, all the seeded singles players reached Friday’s quarterfinals after Thursday’s first-day matches in the DODDS-Europe tennis championships.
Three of the top four seeds reached the quarterfinals with 6-0, 6-0 victories: No. 1 boy Nick Garcia and No. 2 girl Chelsea Cotter of Heidelberg and No. 2 boy Sean Stokstad of Ramstein.
No. 1 girl Lindsey Jones surrendered two games to Patch freshman Holly Martin in a less-than-stressful 6-2, 6-0 victory, but those two games provided the moral victory of the tournament. Patch’s Martin picked up a racket for the first time this summer, according to her coach, Walter Fritz.
"She was my No. 9 at the start of the season," Fritz said as the precocious Martin waded in fearlessly against the top seed. "She was going to go out for cross country, but a couple of her friends were out for tennis, so she chose that."
Martin, who advanced to No. 1 over the course of the Panthers’ season, said heredity played a part in her decision.
"My mom and my dad play," she said, "and tennis is a lifetime sport."
Martin said she was surprised to have progressed so far so fast. "I didn’t even expect to make the varsity," she said. "I played a lot after practice."
That other Martin, No. 4-seeded Molly of Lakenheath, opened with a 6-1, 6-2 conquest of Danielle Wells of Ankara, but fell to Carmen Fuccillo of the American Overseas School of Rome 7-5, 6-4 in the second round.
Jones’ victory over Patch’s Martin ensured that all four Ramstein entries reached the quarterfinals. In addition to Jones and Stokstad, Ramstein’s top-seeded boys doubles team of Clay Marquardt and Brian Kelley advanced with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Armin Alarilla and Jeff Holt of Wiesbaden, and the Royals’ fifth-seeded girls duo of Katie Snell and Meagen Kirts won twice. Snell and Kirts downed teams from International School of Brussels and Marymount International School of Rome as Ramstein took a commanding position in the team race.
Garcia’s victory over Joseph Kim of Ansbach kept intact the two-time defending champion’s season-long streak of 6-0, 6-0 victories. But some love victories, apparently, are more dominating than others.
"I was playing better today," Garcia said after helping keep all three Heidelberg Nos. 1 and 2 alive in the quarterfinals
After enduring a day-long wait, Heidelberg’s top-seeded girls, Andrea Wheatcroft and Nikki Ecenrode, claimed a 6-4, 6-2 victory over the AFNORTH duo of Elie Katzenson and Stephanie Seitz.
Play resumes at 8 a.m. Friday, with quarterfinal and semifinal matches scheduled on a busy day of tennis. The tournament, being conducted at the Vitis Tennis Centrum here and other area sites, concludes at the Vitis center on Saturday morning.
