Local teen Max Exsted makes quick work of first-round opponent at Junior Orange Bowl
Rising teen star Max Exsted already has his own website and logo for hats and T-shirts, not to mention clothing and racket deals.
Wearing his green hat with the letters: M-A-X intertwined in a triangle, the top-seeded Exsted coasted past Tim Vaisman of Israel, 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the second round of the 60th Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships on Wednesday afternoon at Crandon Park Tennis Center.
Exsted, who possesses a sweet, step-away, powerful forehand and a sophisticated serve-and-volley attack, has collected so many USTA gold, silver and bronze balls and trophies that his father, Chris, says his son often leaves them behind at the tournament. In all, he has 12 championship balls, six golds, five silvers and a bronze. Many were acquired this year as the nation’s second-ranked 14-year-old and several came in doubles titles with his partner Maximus Dussault, the eighth seed here, from Stuart, including the doubles title at the recently concluded Level 2 Eddie Herr International Championships in Bradenton.
“We’re the M-and-M [boys],’’ said Exsted, who has mostly relocated from his home in Savage, Minnesota, with father Chris and mother Jodi, to nearby Miramar to train with private coach Courtney Scott as well as his USTA development coach Jon Glover at the USTA national campus in Orlando. Scott is a former hitting partner for Delray Beach’s rising WTA star Coco Gauff before coaching Exsted.
Decked out in all yellow, Exsted, who admitted that he, “hates to lose any point,’’ more than he loves to win, displayed that when he angrily blew the 5-0 game only to win the last seven games.
“I’m very fast, can make a lot of balls and feel like I can hit any shot,’’ Exsted said.
However, he does shake off losses in a similar way that tennis icon Roger Federer is able to. Two weeks ago, Exsted lost a tough three-set final to Russian Timofey Derepasko — the second seed here — only to join his U.S. teammates in Orlando last week to lead the 14s’ squad to a victory in the coed America’s Cup over South America, Central America and Canada.
Exsted said the recent U.S. Open women’s final that pitted a pair of 18-year-olds, with Emma Raducanu (now 19) over Leylah Fernandez — who was in a photo shoot in the Stadium Court at Crandon — inspired him to achieve his dream earlier than expected. Just five years ago Raducanu finished third in the Junior Orange Bowl 14s.
“I want to go straight to the pros, be No. 1 and win Grand Slams, especially, the U.S. Open,’’ said Exsted, a solid, 5-7, 140-pounder. “Those young kids definitely inspired me 100 percent to keep on going, just to get bigger and stronger.” His father Chris, who takes notes on his phone after every point in his son’s matches, has two older children, who both played college tennis (Alex, 22, at Northern Colorado, and Isabelle, 19, at North Carolina Central), but: “Max is my star.” Chris Exsted also added that winning at this level isn’t everything.
“This is important; the next one is important; they’re all important, but they’re all not important,” he said.
South Florida participants Rafael Ferreira of Boca Raton coasted past Gianluca Mondini, 6-1, 6-0; while Noah Miremberg of Sunny Isles got past Finn Sulugiuc with the same score. Fourth-seeded Nicolas Patrick of Coal Valley, Illinois, who’s ranked first in the nation by Tennis Recruiting, blitzed Markus Valtson of Estonia, 6-2, 6-0.
In the Girls’ 14s, top-seeded Iva Jovic of Torrance, California, downed Carrington Brown, 6-1, 6-3 and Marcella Roversi of Doral pulled out a three-setter over Katherine Zhang. Delray Beach’s Monika Ekstrand dispatched Reese Calvo of Hallandale, 6-3, 6-0.
Rain delayed all matches at all three sites by at least three hours, and another afternoon shower ended play on the hard courts at Crandon Park and Biltmore at about 4 p.m., for anyone who had a 2 p.m. match or later. Play continued on the clay at Salvadore Park.
Earlier Wednesday, a couple of tennis greats watched their respective sons win their first-round matches. Lleyton Hewitt, who was the youngest man to reach No. 1 when he was 20 years old, and his Aussie actress wife Bec Cartwright watched unseeded Cruz Hewitt, 13, feature his dad’s pinpoint, flat groundstrokes and his fiery spirit in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Minato Koido of Bradenton via Hong Kong.
A few hours later, Lindsay Davenport, a year-ending No. 1 in the world four times and three-time Grand Slam champion, didn’t have to wait too long as her son Jagger, the 17th seed, won 6-0. His opponent, Bercel Sandor Takacs, No. 1 in the Hungary 12s, retired with a sprained ankle sustained in the second game of the match after a nasty fall.
“He has a huge serve and also a big forehand,’’ Takacs said said of the 6-2 Leach.