Chattanooga’s Will Reynolds advanced to the finals of the USTA Tennessee Junior Qualifier Wednesday after a tough semifinal match he never got to finish.

David Henry of Signal Mountain pulled out of the 18s semifinal against Reynolds due to illness and will not play in today’s third-place match. The withdrawal puts Reynolds in the championship match against Franklin’s Ian Chadwell this morning at Baylor School.

The tournament will send about 15 singles players from the main and consolation draws to the Southern Championships later this month.

Knoxville’s Brandon Fickey, the top seed, won the boys’ 16 championship Wednesday by default, after second-seeded Forest Edwards of Franklin withdrew from Thursday’s final due to injury. Today, Tarah Garner of Signal Mountain will face Knoxville’s Guinn Garcia for third place in the 18s competition. Henry’s withdrawal from the tournament leaves Knoxville’s Taylor Patrick in third place.

Henry outlasted Reynolds in their match’s first set 7-6(2), but Reynolds came back to win the second set, 6-3. Henry withdrew from the match during the break before the third set. He also pulled out of a doubles match with Roger Briggs later in the day.

Henry, who graduated from McCallie recently, defeated Reynolds, a senior at Chattanooga Christian, when their respective schools played in a dual match during the high school tennis season.

“David and I have gone back and forth, and he beat me in a school match, but this was a much better one,” Reynolds said. “We were both playing a lot better and thankfully, David wasn’t serving as big. After losing the tiebreaker in the first set, I started attacking more and hitting my forehand better.”

In the consolation draw, Katie Thornton of Chattanooga earned a spot in the 16s final after beating Franklin’s Alex Crofford 7-6(1), 6-1 in a quarterfinal and defeating Elizabethton’s Jessica Brumit, 6-2, 7-5, in a semifinal later in the day. Thornton faces Maggie Leavell of Memphis today.

“Both girls I played today were consistent and good players,” Thornton said. “They stayed out there as long as they could, and I really pulled it out for both of them.”

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