Nicolas Mejia upsets No. 2 seed Samuel Bensoussan at Mardy Fish Tennis Championships

Nicolas Mejia of Colombia is showing signs that he could perhaps become one of the next great South American tennis stars.

The 18-year-old from Bogota advanced into the quarterfinals of the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championship USTA Pro Circuit event Thursday with a dramatic 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 upset win over No. 2 seed and No. 418 world-ranked Samuel Bensoussan of France.

Mejia, the No. 7 ranked junior player in the world, showed the poise of a veteran by adjusting to the ups and downs of the turbulent match. He blasted Bensoussan off the court in an easy first set without losing a game and appeared headed to a relatively easy victory.

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Bensoussan, however, did not relent. After the Frenchman won the second set, Mejia trailed 3-1 in the final set, but rallied to win four games in a row and served for the match at 5-4. Bensoussan stayed alive in the match with the service break to tie the final set at 5-5, but was broken the very next game, and Mejia did not falter on his second opportunity to serve out the match.

“It was a great battle,” Mejia said. “I knew it was not going to be easy. When you win the first set, no matter what the score is, it is just a set and you have to start again in the next set.”

By reaching at least the quarterfinals here in Vero Beach, Meija will return to the ATP World Tour rankings which will help him earn direct entries into other Futures and Challenger level tournaments in professional tennis. In Vero Beach, he had to win four qualifying matches to enter the main draw of the tournament. He still will be playing high-level international junior events for the rest of this year, including at the French Open, where he reached the quarterfinals last year, and Wimbledon and the U.S. Open before embarking on a full-time professional career.

Another South American, Eduardo Agustin Torre of Argentina, advanced to the quarterfinals in similar but more dramatic fashion. He held on after winning a “bagel” first set but needed a final-set tiebreaker to defeat Jordi Arconada of Argentina 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (4). Torre trailed 3-0 in the final-set tiebreaker before winning seven of the last eight points of the match.

“It was a tough match,” said Torre’s coach, Luciano Cabeiro. “He knows that Jordi is a tough rival.”

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The win for Torre puts him into the quarterfinals and continues a relative hot streak on the Futures circuit that has seen him win 17 of his last 23 matches. During Torre’s run, he has reached two semifinals and three quarterfinals at Futures events in the United States, Chile and Turkey.

“South Americans play a high level at these tournaments, the clay tournaments,” Torre said through his coach of the success of South Americans this week on the Grand Harbor clay.

Arconada had a great run of wins this week in Vero Beach, winning five matches, four in qualifying plus his first-round win that earned him an ATP world ranking point. The Texas A&M senior rushed to the airport following the loss to join his college teammates in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for their opener in the Southeastern Conference tennis tournament.

Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera of Chile, the No. 1 seed in this week’s event, also advanced to the quarterfinals as he defeated New Braunfels, Texas native Harrison Adams, 6-4, 6-4.

Barrios Vera, 20, is also on a hot streak, as he has won 18 of his last 21 matches, including making three finals in Futures events in Greece and winning one title just last week in Orange Park, just outside of Jacksonville. He also won a Futures event earlier this year in Weston without dropping a set.

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Junior Ore of Miami, a former standout at Texas A&M, also advanced into the quarterfinals in a final-set tiebreaker, outlasting Argentina’s Santiago Rodriguez Taerna 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) in 3 hours, 15 minutes.

Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, the No. 8 seed, also won a nail-biting quarterfinal match, outlasting 17-year-old Nick Hardt of the Dominican Republic 7-6 (2), 1-6, 7-5.

“It was kind of a weird match as there was a lot of change in momentum,” Tabilo said. “It was a struggle. It was a great match to win and pull through.”

Friday’s quarterfinal matches start at 1 p.m. with featured matches also at 5 and 7 p.m. For more information, go to www.TennisVeroBeach.com.

Results from April 26

Second Round Singles

(1) Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera, Chile d. Harrison Adams, United States 6-4, 6-4

Junior Alexander Ore, United States d. (6) Santiago Fa Rodriguez Taverna, Argentina 1-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(4)

Ricardo Rodriguez, Venezuela d. (3)(Q) Matias Zukas, Argentina 7-5, 6-1

Eduardo Agustin Torre, Argentina d. (Q) Jordi Arconada, United States 6-0, 3-6, 7-6(4)

(8) Alejandro Tabilo, Chile d. (Q) Nick Hardt, Dominican Republic 7-6(2), 1-6, 7-5

(4) Strong Kirchheimer, United States d. (Q) Juan Alejandro Hernandez Serrano, Mexico 4-6, 6-3, 6-1

(5) Juan Benitez, Colombia d. (Q) Ryan Goetz, United States 6-4 7-5

(Q) Nicolas Mejia, Colombia d. (2) Samuel Bensoussan, France 6-0, 4-6, 7-5

Quarterfinal Doubles

(1) Hunter Johnson, United States/Yates Johnson, United States d. (WC) Tim Kopinski, United States/Tam Trinh, United States 6-4, 6-4

(4) Junior Alexander Ore, United States/Miles Seemann, United States vs. (WC) Boris Kozlov, United States/Karl Poling, United States 7-6(6), 6-3

Ricardo Rodriguez, Venezuela/Eduardo Agustin Torre, Argentina d. Julian Bradley, Ireland/Isaiah Strode, United States 3-6, 6-3, 10-7

(2) Harrison Adams, United States/Nick Chappell, United States d. Samuel Bensoussan, France/Santiago Fa Rodriguez Taverna, Argentina 6-3, 6-0

Schedule for April 27

Stadium

1 p.m. Ricardo Rodriguez, Venezuela vs. Eduardo Agustin Torre, Argentina Not Before 2 p.m. (4) Strong Kirchheimer, United States vs. (8) Alejandro Tabilo, Chile Not Before 7 p.m. (5) Juan Benitez, Colombia vs. (Q) Nicolas Mejia, Colombia

Grandstand

2:30 p.m. (1) Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera, Chile vs. Junior Alexander Ore, United States After Rest, Time TBA (2) Harrison Adams, United States/Nick Chappell, United States vs. Rodrigo Rodriguez, Venezuela/Eduardo Agustin Torre, Argentina After Rest, Time TBA (1) Hunter Johnson, United States/Yates Johnson, United States vs. (4) Junior Alexander Ore, United States/Miles Seemann, United States