Harrison Adams Upset No. 3 Seed Robin Kern on Day 1 of the Orange Bowl

BY Andrew Labovitz
Special to USTA.com

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PLANTATION, Fla. – For the past 13 years, the world’s best junior tennis players have annually gathered at the purple hard courts of the Crandon Park Tennis Center in Key Biscayne, Fla., to compete in the prestigious Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships. But this year, the USTA opted to shift the event – now in its 65th year – back to its roots, moving the event to green clay courts for the first time since 1998. Though clay is sometimes considered to be the least preferred surface of American professionals, a number of American juniors recorded quality wins on the event’s opening day at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation, Fla.

The Americans were led by wild card Harrison Adams, a 17-year-old from New Braunfels, Texas, who recorded the day’s biggest upset, taking down No. 3 seed and 2011 Wimbledon boys’ quarterfinalist Robin Kern of Germany, 6-0, 6-7 (6), 6-2. Adams, who recently spent a week training with top American Ryan Harrison, credited those practice sessions for his service returns today, as he was repeatedly able to return Kern’s massive serves. Adams fared much better on his own service games, as he did not face a single break point en route to the victory. 

"I wanted to get off to a good start against such a great player," said Adams, "but I played well and made a lot of returns to make him play, which I think surprised him. And I was serving really well today, which was obviously a big key."

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