Kalieva and Li claim maiden Grade A titles at historic Banana Bowl

As the historic Banana Bowl marked its 50th anniversary, Elvina Kalieva of the United States and China’s Li Hanwen departed Brazil celebrating the maiden Grade A titles of their career.

Kalieva, who was seeded No. 8 in Criciuma, had never previously progressed beyond the quarter-final of a Grade A event, but advanced to the final of the girls’ draw without dropping a set.

Only in the final, against unseeded Spaniard Leyre Romero Gormaz, was a third set required, with the duo trading 6-1 scorelines before Kalieva administered a knockout blow.

Daianne Hayashida, Leyla Fiorella Britez Risso, Matilde Paoletti, Julia Garcia and Sabina Zeynalova were earlier left trailing in Kalieva’s wake as the 16-year-old sealed a first title since the Grade 4 event at South Carolina in November 2018.

Li, who reached the second round of the boys’ draw at January’s Australian Open, was in a similar position to Kalieva having made little impact at Grade A level previously.

But the 17-year-old made light of past results and bulldozed his way to the final where he overcame top seed and home favourite Natan Rodrigues, who was forced to retire after the first set. Li was leading 6-4 at the time.

Li went one better than Kalieva and navigated the entire tournament without conceding a set, defeating Valentino de Pellegrin, Matheus Costa Paiva, Luka Petrovic, Bruno Kuzuhara and Roman Andres Burruchaga along the way.

The boys’ doubles title, meanwhile, was claimed by Italy’s Luciano Darderi and Gustavo Heide of Brazil, who defeated American Dali Blanch and Venezuela’s Lorenzo Claverie in the final.

In the girls’ doubles, Argentina’s Ana Geller and Guillermina Grant of Uruguay were crowned champions after dispatching Ecuador’s Mell Elizabeth Reasco Gonzalez and Solana Sierra of Argentina.