Special from
The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press
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Keshav Muthuvel has played mostly on hard courts in his native California, but he adjusted in masterful fashion to win the Boys' 16 USTA National Clay Court Championships' singles title.
Keshav Kuthuvel won the singles title
"I think I adapted pretty well to the surface," he said, and the results make it seem like an understatement.
Muthuvel, a 5-Star rising junior from Pleasanton didn't lose a set in his seven matches at the Delray Beach Tennis Center in southeastern Florida. Seeded third, he completed his surge with a 6-2, 6-2 victory July 13 over No. 4 seed Mason Vaughan of Austin, Texas.
"It was a big change from California to Florida, but I felt more comfortable toward the end of the tournament," he said. "My groundstrokes held up pretty well the whole tournament, being able to play consistently throughout. ...
"I like to be using the serve and placing the next ball and getting ahead of the point. I'm more of a guy who likes to play long rallies and use my chances."
His maturity helped him survive a rocky opening match against Advay Singh of Frisco, Texas, which Muthuvel won 7-5, 6-3.
"I was down two set points but told myself mentally to just keep fighting for every point, giving it my all."
In a trend-defying pattern, Muthuvel won each match in more lopsided fashion than the last until he encountered Cristobal Plasencia Robles of Boca Raton, Florida, one of the No. 17 seeds, in a semifinal. That 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6) triumph, in which he erased a 5-3 first-set deficit, was Muthuvel's most harrowing of the week.
