Qualifier Liv Hovde wins 2021 Easter Bowl girls' 18s singles title

On Sunday, Kalieva fought off Hovde’s aggressive style of play to take the first set. 

Kalieva paid Hovde the ultimate compliment in defeat. “I just love the way she plays,” Kalieva said. “She played really good, obviously. I think she just played more aggressively, and I think that is why she won. Both of her shots, forehand and backhand, are just as good. She hits a lot of winners and she’s aggressive.

“I didn’t play the right game style against her. I was hitting the ball down the middle and I think I should have made her run more and hit it deeper.” 

Hovde served for the second set at 5-3, and Kalieva erased a set point in the ninth game. “I went up 6-5 and had to stay determined and just go for it,” said Hovde, playing in her second Easter Bowl. “I hit my serve really big. It’s a big part of my game.”

Kalieva, originally from Staten Island, N.Y., is currently living with her grandparents in Florida, while her parents have relocated just north of San Diego up the Interstate 5 to Los Angeles to support older brother Arthur Kaliyev, a 19-year-old highly touted prospect in the Los Angeles Kings hockey organization. 

In February, Kaliyev got the call up to the big club for his first NHL game and scored a goal against the rival Anaheim Ducks.

Kalieva said the siblings have a regular brother-sister relationship. “We talk on the phone and he tells me about his hockey, and I tell him about my tennis,” she said. 

Kalieva is looking to playing the junior Grand Slams at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open, and said she is “50-50 for college right now.”

Hovde said California has become her favorite place to play and she’s looking forward to coming back to the same site at Barnes Tennis Center in August for the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s Nationals, where a wild card spot into the main draw of the US Open will be on the line. 

“For now, I’m just going to go back home and rest, and then get back on it,” Hovde said. “I’m going to just chill.”

Spoken just like a Californian.

Final results from the Easter Bowl girls' competitions are below. Complete draws are available here: Boys’ & Girls’ 18s; Boys’ & Girls’ 12s, 14s, & 16s.

Easter Bowl USTA National Spring Championships - Girls’ 18s

San Diego, March 30 – April 4, 2021

Singles: Liv Hovde (McKinney, Texas) d. (3) Elvina Kalieva (Staten Island, N.Y.), 4-6, 7-5, 6-1

Doubles: (2) Qavia Lopez (Delray Beach, Fla.) / Valencia Xu (Livingston, N.J.) d. (6) Sarah Hamner (Boca Raton, Fla.) / Ashlyn Krueger (Highland Village, Texas), 5-7, 6-4, [10-8]

Easter Bowl USTA National Spring Championships – Girls’ 16s

San Diego, March 30 – April 4, 2021

Singles: Theadora Rabman (Port Washington, N.Y.) d. (4) Tatum Evans (McLean, Va.), 6-2, 6-1

Doubles: (1) Natalie Block (Plantation, Fla.) / Evans d. Vivian Miller (Sullivan’s Island, S.C.) / Lexington Reed (Orlando, Fla.), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Easter Bowl USTA National Spring Championships – Girls’ 14s

San Diego, March 25 – 30, 2021

Singles: Iva Jovic (Torrance, Calif.) d. (9) Elena Zhao (San Diego), 6-0, 6-2

Doubles: (1) Katie Rolls (Plymouth, Mich.) / Amber Yin (Ballwin, Mo.) d. Olivia Benton (Rosedale, N.Y.) / Christasha McNeil (Lindenhurst, N.Y.), 6-0, 6-3

Easter Bowl USTA National Spring Championships - Girls’ 12s

San Diego, March 25 – 30, 2021

Singles: (4) Shannon Lam (Highland Park, N.J.) d. (9) Thea Frodin (Woodland Hills, Calif.), 6-3, 6-0

Doubles: (2) Abigail Gordon (Boca Raton, Fla.) / Marcella Roversi (Doral, Fla.) d. (1) Isabelle DeLuccia (Livingston, N.J.) / Kayla Moore (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 7-6(4), 6-7(1), [10-8]