Sands Reaches Third Round at Easter Bowl ITF Championships

After leading Palisades High to the National All-American Championship and winning the CIF singles division at the Ojai Tournament as a junior last year, Palisadian Jake Sands is making his mark on the USTA Pro Circuit.

Sands earned a wildcard into the 64-player main draw of the Boys’ 18 singles at the Adidas Easter Bowl ITF Championships last week in Indian Wells. The 18s is an ITF Grade B1 and USTA Level 1 event.

In his first match, Sands upset sixth-seeded Emilio Nava, 6-3, 6-4, then he beat  Niroop Vallabhaneni, 6-4, 6-0, in the second round before losing to 11th-seeded Brandon Brandon Nakashima, 6-3, 6-3, in the third round.

Sands, who signed with USC in November, was ranked as high as No. 1 in Southern California and No. 3 in the nation in the 16-and-unders. In the 18s he wasNo. 11 in the nation and second in SoCal. His brother RJ is a freshman at Penn and his father Howard was a four-time All-American at Harvard.