Air Quality Alert Leaves Two FILA Easter Bowl 14s Finalists Undecided; Top Seeds Advance to 12s Finals; Second Round Incomplete in 16s and 18s; Blanch Beats Maloney at Calabasas $25K

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Indian Wells CA--

The weather this month in Indian Wells has gone from cool and damp during the second week of the BNP Paribas Open to 100 degrees Tuesday at the FILA Easter Bowl and Wednesday brought a new condition to contend with in the form of blowing dust.

Just after 12:30 p.m., play was suspended at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden site, with the air quality reaching hazardous levels for "extended or intense" physical activities. Each court stopped at their next changeover, so unlike a rain delay, there were no game scores to keep track of, just games and who was serving. The 12s semifinals were completed before the suspension of play, as all were in straight sets, but the noon semifinals for the 14s were in the first sets at the first suspension. Play resumed a little less than hour later, and two of the 14s semifinals were completed in the 45 minutes before the second, and final suspension came, with the two others to be finished Thursday.

The top seeds in the 12s advanced to the final, with Lucy Dupere defeating unseeded Cataleya Brown 6-1, 6-2 and No. 5 seed Kareena Cross beating No. 3 seed Violetta Mamina 6-1, 6-3.  Dupere has been dominating opponents this week, having dropped only 11 games in her five victories. A finalist at the USTA Winter Nationals, Dupere will again meet Cross at a level 1, with Dupere winning their quarterfinal match in San Antonio 7-6(5), 7-6(5). 

"I lost to her at Winters 6-7, 6-7, so it was very close, so I hope redeem myself," said Cross, who won the back draw after that loss, beating Mamina 6-0, 6-0 to finish fifth at the Winter Nationals. 

Cross, who has worked with the late Robert Lansdorp and is now coached by Alexandra Stevenson, will be playing in her first Level 1 final, but she managed to avoid thinking about that possibility in the second set.

"I just focus on one point at a time, so I didn't really think about the finals, getting to the finals, I was just focused on each point," said Cross, who has played Mamina on several occasions, and wasn't bothered by the emotional reactions on the other side of the net.  "I play a lot of emotional players, and I think everyone is emotional, including me sometimes, I have to admit. But I'm kind of used to it."

In the boys 12s semifinals, top seed James Borchand, who reached the singles semifinals last year and won the doubles title, has advanced one step further this year, beating No. 9 seed Haris Shahbaz 6-2, 6-0. Borchand will face No. 3 seed Udham Singh, who won the closest match in the 12s, beating No. 2 seed Evan Fan 6-4, 6-4.

Singh, who lost in the first round at last year's Easter Bowl, was down a break with Fan serving at 4-3 in the second set, broke back at love, then saved a break point in a three-deuce game to take the lead. Fan went up 40-0 serving at 4-5, but couldn't close out the game, with Singh converting his third match point after three deuces.

"I think whenever the match was slightly tighter, I played pretty well," said the left-handed Singh, who is from Northern California but is currently training at the Dent Tennis Academy in Texas. "I locked in and didn't make as many errors. But I think when I had my chances early on in the sets I missed them, made too many errors."

Singh said he wasn't sure how he'd perform in this tournament. "I wasn't really expecting much, we were making some changes to my game, so we were just here really for practice," said Singh, who will be playing in his first Level 1 final. "It's nice to get deep in the tournament."

For a Desert Sun article on Borchard and Nikol Davletshina, who lost Tuesday, click here.

The third top seed playing for an Easter Bowl title is Rafael Pawar, who defeated No. 6 seed Zesen Wang 6-3, 6-2. Pawar will play the winner of the suspended semifinal between No. 8 seed Arjun Krishnan and unseeded Adrian Sharma, with Krishnan having taken the first set in that semifinal.

No. 3 seed Allison Wang, who won the 14s Clay Court title last summer, advanced to the final with a 6-0, 6-3 win over No. 9 seed Molly Widlansky. She will play the winner of the suspended semifinal between No. 9 seed Abigail Haile and No. 6 seed Daniela del Mastro. Haile saved two set points in the first set tiebreaker at 5-6 and 6-7, converting her first set point with a forehand winner. Del Mastro won the first game of the second set when play was suspended. 

In the boys 18s, top seed Shaan Patel needed over two hours, but got past Drew Hedgecoe 6-3, 6-4, with three top eight seeds losing in the incomplete second round.  Rishvanth Krishna defeated No. 5 seed Blake Anderson 6-3, 6-1; Benjamin Berger beat No. 6 seed Nicholas Patrick 6-3 ,6-1 and Tyler Lee defeated No. 7 seed Andre Alcantara 6-3, 0-6, 6-4.  

Girls 18s top seed Thara Gowda received a walkover from Katie Spencer, while No. 2 seed JoAnna Kennedy was in top form with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Teresa Tran.  2024 Easter Bowl 16s champion Bella Payne advanced to the third round with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Maya Chen.

The boys 16s third round will feature a rematch of the 2024 boys 14s semifinal, in which Izyan Ahmad defeated Safir Azam 6-4, 6-2. Azam, the No. 1 seed this year in the 16s, defeated Peyton Barrett 6-0, 6-4, while wild card Ahmad, who is unseeded, beat No. 9 seed Gurjot Singh 6-2, 6-1.

No. 2 seed Alexander Suhanitski and Erik Schinnerer are at 4-all in the third set in a to-be-completed second round match.

All of the doubles on the schedule, including the 12s and 14s semifinals were canceled.

The air quality alert is in place through Friday at midnight, so there is no guarantee that Thursday's play will be continuous.

Check the USTA tournament website for match times.

At the men's $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Calabasas California, two young wild cards lost their first round matches today, with Noah Johnston losing to Johannus Monday(Tennessee) of Great Britain 7-5, 6-2 and Alex Frusina(Auburn) falling to No. 8 seed Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) 6-0, 6-2.

Darwin Blanch, back in the United States for the Miami Open qualifying, traveled to the West Coast for this event, and beat No. 5 seed Patrick Maloney(Michigan) 6-1, 6-0.

FILA Easter Bowl 16s Begins with Harding's Ouster of Top Seed; Auburn Teammates Assist in Pettingell's Win Over No. 2 Seed in 18s; Semifinals Set in 12s and 14s as Desert Heat Continues; Calabasas $25K Qualifying Complete, Monday Aims for Second Straight Title

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Indian Wells, CA--

Temperatures peaking at 100 degrees Tuesday at the FILA Easter Bowl would normally dominate the conversation at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, but big upsets at the start of the 16s and 18s tournament took center stage, with the girls 16s losing No. 1 seed Anna Bugaienko and, in the boys 18s, No. 2 seed Drew Fishback bowing out.

Bugaienko lost to wild card Ciara Harding 7-6(3), 6-2, with Harding coming into the Easter Bowl after a successful week at the ITF J300 North American Regional Championships in San Diego, where she qualified, and won a round before falling to top seed and Australian Open finalist Kristina Penickova 6-2, 7-6(3).

"I had a great week last week, great experience and a lot of matches, so I think it was definitely an advantage," said the 15-year-old from Florida. "I got a wild card, because recently I've just been playing ITFs, so I just wanted to come here, not put any pressure on myself and just play my game."

Harding said she was not disappointed to see that she had drawn the No. 1 seed. 

"I knew my opponent, I've known her a few years, we've played doubles together before," Harding said. "So I knew it was going to be a great match, it was going to be a battle, good competition, so I was actually excited to come in and play."

Harding fought back from 5-3 down in the opening set, but said she found her game in the tiebreaker and took control from there. 

"I knew if I could just stay in the points, aggressive but still consistent, I knew I could get back into the match and getback into the set," Harding said. "By the tiebreaker I was going for everything, attacking with my forehand. In the second set, I felt a lot better with my game and I had a high first serve percentage in the second set."

After getting an insurance break to go up 5-2 in the second, Harding eliminated any drama by getting all four of her first serves in. Bugaienko didn't get three of them back in play, and Harding's forehand forced an error, and ideal way to close out a match against the No. 1 seed.

"That was a great game," said Harding, who felt no pressure in that moment. "I was just going to compete and play my game, so there was nothing to be nervous about, I guess."

Harding will face Yui Watanbe in the second round Wednesday.

After dropping the first set today against Boning Wang, boys 16s top seed Safir Azam was having flashbacks to last year's Easter Bowl 14s, where, also as the No. 1 seed, he had to save match points in the first round.

It wasn't quite that dramatic today, but he did need to work hard to post a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory.

"I never seem to get the first round win in straights," said the 15-year-old from Washington, who reached the semifinals in 2024. "Last year, the same thing happened, I lost the first set and came back. This time I didn't face any match points, last year I saved four. After losing that first set, I kind of had that deja vu, and I didn't want to be in that position again."

Azam travels to Orlando regularly to train with the USTA, so he said he is accustomed to the heat. 

"The conditions are a lot worse than this," said Azam, who has won the last two USTA Level 1 Boys 16s titles with the Indoors in November and the Winter Nationals in January. "It's the same heat, with humidity, so this is definitely easier when you have that experience with Orlando."

As for being a No. seed 1, which he has a lot of experience with, Azam doesn't care for it.

"It's not fun, everyone's out to beat you, I hate being No. 1," said Azam, who faces Peyton Barrett Wednesday. "I just want to stay low profile. I'd prefer to be unseeded."

The top seeds in the 18s had no trouble in their first round matches, with Shaan Patel, the 18s Winter National champion,  defeating Troy Kudrjavtsev 6-1, 6-1 and Thara Gowda beating Jariahlyn Rhoades 6-3, 6-2.

But the upset of day in the boys 18s came on remote Practice Court 19, with Max Pettingell defeated No. 2 seed Drew Fishback 6-1, 7-5.

Fishback struggled with his game in the opening set, but took a 3-1 lead in the second only to watch the Auburn redshirt freshman come back to take six of the last eight games. 

Pettingell, who reached the Clay Court quarterfinals last summer, joined Auburn last fall, and he credits the last six months of training there as a key to his improvement.

"I'm really happy with the training I'm getting there," said the 18-year-old from Sarasota Florida. "We all get along really well there, everyone just wants to improve and get better. It's great to have a group of guys like your family to be the best that you can and it's really improved my level."

Pettingell didn't hold back in the rallies, even when trailing 1-3 in the third, as Fishback began staying in points longer and eliminating his unforced errors. But with not much match play to draw on, Pettingell had to keep believing that the style he had been practicing would prevail in the end.

"I was moving forward, hitting some big balls, just trying to play that college style that my teammates inspire me to play," Pettingell said.

Getting his first serve in was also a strategy he executed perfectly in the later stages of the second set.

"I was trying to make every first serve that I could, I was probably serving upwards of 80 percent," Pettingell said. "I just tried to be bold, be brave and take it to him. And to all the juniors out there, your coaches aren't lying when they tell you to make first serves. It's a massive part of the game and it's really under-appreciated."

After Fishback had held at love to stay in the match serving at 4-5, he couldn't duplicate that in his next service game, with the unforced errors that he eliminated in the second set reappearing at the worst possible time and he was broken at love. 

Pettingell will face Brayden Tallakson in the second round Wednesday. 

2024 Girls 16s Easter Bowl champion Bella Payne extended her winning streak with a 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 5 seed Chloe Qin, and  No. 3 seed Carrie-Anne Hoo was beaten by Amy Lee 6-4, 6-3.

The 12s singles semifinals are set for 10 a.m. Wednesday, with the 14s scheduled for noon. Temperatures expected to be slightly cooler Wednesday, although still in the mid-90s. Below are the results of the today's quarterfinals.

B12s

James Borchard[1] d. William McGugin[5] 7-6(1), 6-4

Haris Shahbaz[9] d. Keita Iida[9] 6-3, 6-4

Udham Singh[3] d. Chris Deng[7] 6-2, 6-0 

Evan Fan[2] d. Keita Iwata[6] 1-6, 6-1, 6-0

B14s

Rafael Pawar[1] d. Dylan Meineke[5] 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(4)

Zesen Wang[6] d. Carter Jauffret[9] 7-6(6), 6-2

Arjun Krishnan[8] d. Indra Vergne 6-1, 3-6, 6-3

Adrian Sharma d. Joshua Dolinksy[7] 6-2, 7-5

G12s

Lucy Dupere[1] d. Alisa Shifrin 6-0, 6-0

Cataleya Brown d. Skylar Mandell 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-5

Violetta Mamina[3] d. Inie Toli[8] 6-4, 6-4

Kareena Cross[5] d. Gabrielle Alexa Villegas[2] 7-6(2), 6-1

G14s

Molly Widlansky[9] d. Emery Combs[9] 6-2, 6-2

Allison Wang[3] d. London Evans[7] 6-1, 6-4

Abigail Haile[9] d. Nikol Davletshina 6-3, 2-6, 6-3

Daniela del Mastro[6] d, Olivia Lin[2] 6-2, 6-2

The USTA Pro Circuit remains in California this week, with qualifying complete at the $25,000 men's tournament in Calabasas.

Pepperdine is well represented in the draw, with freshmen David Fix and Lasse Poertner and junior Maxi Homberg qualifying today, and sophomore Edward Winter already in the main draw on his own ranking. Winter defeated No. 2 seed Charlie Broom (Dartmouth, Baylor) of Great Britain 7-6(4), 7-6(4) in the first round today.

Darwin Blanch is the draw on his ranking, with wild cards going to Noah Johnston, Ian Mayew, Auburn freshman Alex Frusina and Ryan Nuno(Azusa Pacific). Americans qualifying today are Ron Hohmann(LSU, Michigan State) and Keshav Chopra(Georgia Tech).

Bakersfield $25K champion Johannes Monday(Tennessee) of Great Britain is the top seed.

In last week's ITF Junior Circuit results for Americans, Maxwell Exsted won the doubles title at the J300 in Spain with partner Karim Bennani of Morocco. The No. 3 seeds defeated No. 2 seeds Niels McDonald and Jamie Mackenzie of Germany 1-6, 6-4, 10-8 in the final. 

At the J30 in Puerto Rico, 15-year-old Rowan Qalbani swept the titles, with the No. 8 seed defeating No. 3 seed Rodrigo Guijarro Martin of Spain 6-3, 6-4 in the singles final. He partners with Nick Mertgens of Germany for the doubles title, with the top seeds beating the eighth-seeded American team of David Bvunzawabaya and Pedro Vargas 6-1, 6-3 in the championship match.

Combs Saves Match Points, Ousts Top Seed Cleary to Reach FILA Easter Bowl 14s Quarterfinals; All Four No. 4 Seeds Lose in Third Round as Desert Heat Approaches 100 Degrees

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Indian Wells CA--

By the time Boys 12s top seed James Borchard took the court at 12:30 p.m. for his third round match against Jungmin Lee, the temperature at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden was already 95 degrees. With cloudless skies and almost no wind, spectators were seeking any shade they could find, officials were suggesting ice bags from the trainers when players checked in for their matches, and three-hour matches were the norm, with everyone moving slower to conserve energy.  Borchard limited his time on court, with a relatively quick 6-2, 6-1 victory, but when the 14s took the courts around 2:30 p.m. the temperature had risen to 97, where it stayed the remainder of the afternoon.

Three of the girls 14s matches didn't finish until 6 p.m. or later, at which time the first Easter Bowl No. 1 seed was eliminated when No. 9 seed Emery Combs beat Madeline Cleary 7-5, 1-6, 7-5.

The match was a classic example of an exceptional defender playing an aggressive attacker and Cleary came exceedingly close to counterpunching her way to a victory. Down 2-0 in the third set, Cleary won five straight games, with Combs struggling with her first serve and Cleary's defense. Down 0-30 in her 2-5 service game after a double fault, Combs found her form, winning the next six points. Cleary, who had made no unforced errors in the five previous games, donated a couple when trying to serve out the match to go down 15-40. She got the game back to deuce but Combs forehand came through for her in the next two points, forcing an error and putting away a short ball to get back on serve.

Combs still had to hold serve to extend the match and Cleary applied pressure with some great defense to earn two match points at 15-40.  After struggling with her first serve throughout the set, Combs made two big first serves at the most opportune time, with Cleary unable to get either one back in play. Closing out the game with a backhand winner, Combs had the momentum and Cleary began to feel the pressure, double faulting and making a rare unforced error on the way to being broken at love. 

After an ace to go up 30-15, Combs double faulted, but she hit consecutive forehand winners, to complete the comeback.

A flushed Combs admitted that the heat was different from what she is used to in South Carolina, but that wasn't the reason she was playing to finish points quickly.

"That's just how I play," said the 2025 Les Petits As semifinalist, who was playing her first competitive tournament since she suffered an injury in France at the end of January. "I'm a very aggressive player looking to come in. When I was down, just prayed, told myself I have the game to win and she has all the pressure, and that really helped me at that point."

Combs also thought their contrasting paths to the third round might have made a difference at the end. Cleary had not lost a game in her first two matches, while Combs had to come from a set down both days.

"The injury could have had something to do with that, but the first two girls that I played, I was nervous, first of all, and they brought their best games," Combs said. "They played great tennis and there wasn't much I could do. I just had to stay calm and fight through it. She hasn't dealt with that in this tournament and in the third set I definitely had an advantage. I'm used to it, I just played two third sets already."

Combs will face No. 9 seed Molly Widlansky, who had the shortest girls 14s third round match of the day, beating No. 9 seed Ania Zabost 6-1, 6-3.

USTA Winter Nationals 14s champion London Evans, seeded No. 7, won a marathon match with unseeded Alicia Londono, before escaping with a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(6) victory. She will face No. 3 seed Allison Wang, who also was pushed to the limit before getting past No. 9 seed Anya Arora 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, in a match that was moved to Stadium Court 4. The heat lengthened matches to the point where three courts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden that had been reserved for practice were added to get main draw matches on court.

All four No. 4 seeds were eliminated from the main draw today, all in straight sets. No. 9 seed Abigail Haile beat girls 14s No. 4 Anna Scott Laney 7-6(4), 6-2 and in the boys 12s, Haris Shahbaz, a No. 9 seed, defeated No. 4 Jason Ye 6-2, 6-3. In the boys 14s, Carter Jauffret, a No. 9 seed, beat Mason Menyhart 6-3, 7-5, and in the girls 12s, unseeded Cataleya Brown defeated Danielle Han 6-3, 6-1.

Boys 14s No. 2 seed Aayush Vartak lost to unseeded Adrian Sharma 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

Indra Vergne in final game under the lights

One third round match went so late that the lights were turned on Practice Court 8 for the conclusion of the boys 14s contest between Om Chitale and Indra Vergne. As the crowd gathered, standing five deep behind the court as the FILA player party DJ provided musical accompaniment, Vergne emerged with a 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 win, breaking in the last game of the four-hour and 20-minute match (which did include breaks between the first and second sets (5 min for heat) and second and third sets (standard USTA rules).

The boys 14s and girls 12s quarterfinals will be played at Palm Valley Country Club Tuesday, with the girls 14s and boys 12s at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The 16 and 18s begin play Tuesday, with the temperatures expected to exceed 100 degrees. See my post from Sunday for a list of seeds.

Draws and all results from Monday are available at the USTA tournament site.

FILA Easter Bowl quarterfinals Tuesday:

B12s (Indian Wells)

James Borchard[1] v William McGugin[5]

Haris Shahbaz[9] v Keita Iida[9]

Chris Deng[7] v Udham Singh[3]

Evan Fan[2] v Keita Iwata[6]

B14s (Palm Valley CC)

Rafael Pawar[1] v Dylan Meineke[5]

Carter Jauffret[9] v Zesen Wang[6]

Arjun Krishnan[8] v Indra Vergne

Joshua Dolinksy[7] v Adrian Sharma

G12s (Palm Valley CC)

Lucy Dupere[1] v Alisa Shifrin

Cataleya Brown v Skylar Mandell

Inie Toli[8] v Violetta Mamina[3]

Kareena Cross[5] v Gabrielle Alexa Villegas[2]

G14s (Indian Wells)

Emery Combs[9] v Molly Widlansky[9]

Allison Wang[3] v London Evans[7]

Nikol Davletshina v Abigail Haile[9]

Daniela del Mastro[6] v Olivia Lin[2]

FILA Easter Bowl Boys 14 Top Seed Pawar Takes Charge To Advance in Three Sets, 2024 12s Champion Davletshina Returns Seeking 14s Title; Monday Claims Bakersfield $25K Title; Challenger Title for Nava, Osuigwe Wins W50; Eala Shocks Keys at Miami Open

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Indian Wells CA--

Upsets have been few at the FILA Easter Bowl, with the top four seeds in the 12s and 14s divisions advancing to Monday's round of 16 matches at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden (Boys 14s No. 3 seed Gadin Arun withdrew). But Rafael Pawar, the No. 1 seed in the boys 14s draw, needed three sets to advance over wild card Johan Lee Sunday afternoon when the temperatures had topped out in the mid-90s.

Pawar, who hadn't dropped a game in the first round, found himself down a set when Lee took the tiebreaker 8-6. But the eighth grader from New Jersey made the adjustments he needed and cruised through the final two sets 6-1, 6-0.

"I definitely started attacking more," said Pawar, who is moving to Florida to train next month. "I was hitting a lot of shots off my back foot. He was getting a lot of balls back and doing a really good job of pushing me back. I tried to attack on a lot of balls but he was hitting with a lot of depth and spin countering my game in the first set, but I changed the way I was playing."

Pawar is making his Easter Bowl debut this year, and has never been the No. 1 seed at a USTA Level 1 tournament until this week. 

"It feels great," Pawar said of his position at the top of the draw. "There's definitely some nerves, but I try to push through them and get the dub."

Pawar cited a couple of reasons for not making the trip to Indian Wells in the youngest age division.                                      

"In the 12s, I don't think my ranking was high enough to get in," Pawar said, agreeing that he had improved a lot in the last two years. "Also, I live on the East Coast, so it's a far tournament, across the country."

Pawar will face unseeded Louden Muha in Monday's round of 16.

While Pawar is competing in his first Easter Bowl, 11-year-old Nikol Davletshina is already playing in her third, winning the 12s title last year as a 10-year-old. 

Davletshina added the IMG Academy and Junior Orange Bowl 12s titles to her resume last December, but turned her focus to the 18s division the past two months, winning two Level 5s in Florida, with that jump in divisions part of the reason she isn't seeded this week.

"I was a little bit surprised not be seeded, but not really," said the left-hander from Lake Worth. "I only played 14s a little bit. But some of the seeds, I was very surprised by them."

Davletshina is attempting to complete the back-to-back championships that Raya Kotseva, last week's ITF J300 San Diego finalist, won in the 12s and 14s in 2023 and 2024, although Davletshina is more than a year younger. 

"I'll try to do that, but there's some tough matches, and next match I play a tough opponent," Davletshina said. 

That will be Soo-Ah Byun, who advanced to the third round when Teaghan Jou An Keys retired at 2-6, 7-5.

Top seed Madeline Cleary has yet to lose a game, blanking her first two opponents, but she will be tested Monday, when she faces No. 9 seed Emery Combs. Combs, who reached the Les Petits As semifinals in January, is returning to competition this week after suffering an injury in that semifinal. Although she needed comebacks in each of her wins this weekend, beating Karissa Chang 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 today, Combs will be a formidable test for Cleary.

In the 12s, boys top seed James Borchard defeated Sushant Pothula 6-2, 6-4 to set up a third round match with Jungmin Lee and girls top seed Lucy Dupere beat Summer Yang 6-2, 6-2 to earn a meeting with No. 9 seed Daniella Yogumyan.

The 16s and 18s don't begin until Tuesday, but the draws are now up at the USTA tournament site, with the seeds listed below.

Boys 16s:

1. Safir Azam

2. Alexander Suhanitski

3. Mangus Weng

4. Maddoz Bose

5. Lixing Jiang

6. Joseph Nau

7. Mason Vaughn

8. Tristan Stratton

9. Gurjot Singh

9. Keshav Muthuvel

9. Marcel Latak

9. Rowan Qalbani

9. Sebastian Inaki Godoy

9. Ilias Bouzoubaa

9. Ryan Bedwick

9. Jesse Yang

Girls 16s:

1. Anna Bugaienko

2. Kohana Darroch

3. Carlota Moreno

4. Aarini Bhattacharya

5. Natalie Kha

6. Sophia Budacsek

7. Carolina Castro

8. Anjani Vickneswaran

9. Lyla Messler

9. Kara Garcia

9. Kalista Papadopoulos

9. Whitney Burke

9. Julia Seversen

9. Kavya Kongara

9. Sasha Miroshnichenko

9. Armira Kockinis

Boys 18s:

1. Shaan Patel

2. Drew Fishback

3. Joshua Lamm-Bocharov

4. Nav Dayal

5. Blake Anderson

6. Nicholas Patrick

7. Andre Alcantara

8. Francisco Salmain

9. Nolan Balthazor

9. James Quattro

9. Arnav Bhandari

9. David Wu

9. Winston Wooin Lee

9. Prathinav Chunduru

9. Elliot Wasserman

9. Nathan Germino

Girls 18s:

1. Thara Gowda

2. JoAnna Kennedy

3. Carrie-Anne Hoo

4. Catherine Rennard

5. Chloe Qin

6. Karlin Schock

7. Blair Gill

8. Ashley Kurizaki

9. Nadia Valdez

9. Calla McGill

9. Nicole Weng

9. Emily Deming

9. Reagan Levine

9. Addison Lanton

9. Yilin Chen

The USTA Pro Circuit's $25,000 tournament in Bakersfield California concluded today with Great Britain's Johannus Monday, the former University of Tennessee All-American winning his second $25K title of the year and the sixth since he completed his eligibility last May. The 23-year-old left-hander, seeded No. 1,  defeated No. 6 seed Alex Rybakov(TCU) 6-2, 6-4 in today's final. He is inching closer to Roland Garros qualifying, with his ATP live ranking at a career-high 253.

The doubles title also went to the top seeds, with former Georgia Tech teammates Andres Martin and Keshav Chopra defeating unseeded Ryan Dickerson(Duke, Baylor) and Ty Gentry(Oregon) 1-6, 6-1, 10-6 in the final.

Emilio Nava won his third Challenger title today at the 75 in Paraguay. The unseeded 23-year-old beat four seeds, taking out top seed Thiago Monteiro of Brazil in the final 7-5, 6-3, with his ATP live ranking moving to 204 with the title.

Whitney Osuigwe won her first women's ITF World Tennis Tour title in her third final of the year at the W50 in the Dominican Republic. The 22-year-old from Florida, seeded No. 4, defeated unseeded Ana Sofia Sanchez of Mexico 6-2, 7-5 in the final. Like Nava, Osuigwe is moving back up the rankings and now at 185, will be competing in the Roland Garros qualifying. 

With all the junior tennis I've been covering, I'm falling behind on the Miami Open, but there were several notable results today.

Wild card Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, the 2022 US Open girls champion, followed up her win over Jelena Ostapenko in the first round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Australian Open champion Madison Keys[5] today. Eala, who turns 20 in May, will play No. 10 seed Paula Badosa next.

One of the players Eala beat in her run to the US Open girls championship was Mirra Andreeva of Russia, who saw her Masters 1000 winning streak snapped today by Amanda Anisimova. Anisimova, the No. 17 seed, defeated No. 11 seed Andreeva 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-3. Anisimova and Jessica Pegula[4] are the Americans remaining in the bottom half of the women's draw, while defending champion Danielle Collins[14], Ashlyn Krueger and Coco Gauff[3] are alive in the top half. 

The top half of the men's draw plays their third round matches Monday, but there are two Americans through to the round of 16 in the bottom half: Sebastian Korda[24] and Brandon Nakashima[31].

Satterfield Claims First ITF J300 Title; Penickova Completes Title Sweep at San Diego North American Regional Championships; Top Seeds Advance in Easter Bowl 12s and 14s

©Colette Lewis 2025--
San Diego CA--

Jack Satterfield earned his first ITF J300 title and Kristina Penickova went one step further than she had last year Saturday in the finals of the ITF J300 North American Regional Championships. The fifth-seeded Satterfield defeated No. 6 seed Jack Secord 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-0, while top seed Penickova dominated unseeded Raya Kotseva 6-1, 6-1.

The week of sunshine and cool temperatures extended another day, although there was a new twist to the atmosphere at the Barnes Tennis Center Saturday morning as a host of junior players and their families, who were competing in a USTA Level 4 event for all four age divisions, provided an appreciative audience around Stadium Court.

The first set of the boys final was a riveting one, although the nerves were obvious as both competed for their first J300 title. After Secord held to open the match, the next four games were breaks of serve, with Secord surrendering his advantage when broken at love serving at 3-1. As the jitters subsided, service holds became the norm, with seven holds sending the set to a tiebreaker. 

Secord brought his best level to the tiebreaker, hitting three winners and a good first serve to go up 6-3. After 65 minutes of tennis, Satterfield missed a forehand long on Secord's first set point, but he showed no signs of being discouraged or frustrated. 

"At first we were missing some balls we usually don't miss, but at the end it got high level," said Satterfield, a 17-year-old from Northern California, who lives and trains in Florida. "In the breaker, he played too good, but I thought if I stayed steady and stayed solid, he was going to break down. I saw he was getting a little tired and I knew he had something wrong with his shin--he's been dealing with it for a couple of weeks--so I knew if I kept grinding away he'd break down, so that's why I stayed confident for the second."

Satterfield credited his first serve with his fast start in the second set, with the Vanderbilt signee taking a 4-0 lead.

"I got so many free points off my serve and my serve and plus-ones," said Satterfield, who is coached by Sukhwa Young at Eric Dobsha Tennis in Tampa. "It's such a game changer, when you're starting out 30-0 in every game you serve."

Although Satterfield was broken serving for the second set at 4-0 and 5-2, Secord was unable to put a sustained run together, with the 16-year-old left-hander from Illinois unable to hold serve in the last two sets. As the third set unfolded, Secord, who had received a walkover to the semifinals and a retirement to advance to the final, looked like the right leg injury he had been nursing all week was worsening.

"Definitely when he was sliding back and forth I could see he was a little off balance, a little shaky," said Satterfield, who played excellent defense to prolong many rallies. "My plan was to just keep moving him side to side and I knew I could go behind him or change direction, and that was working well."

Secord started the third set positively, getting Satterfield in a 0-40 hole in the opening game, but Satterfield won the next five points to hold, then immediately broke Secord, who began to struggle mightily with his forehand. 

"I tried to bring it back in the third set, but he got that first game and he had the momentum and it was tough to bounce back," said Secord, who is coached by his grandfather Steve Wild. 

"He played well the whole match really. He's tough; you've got to bring it every point with him and he really didn't give me a lapse mentally at all."

Secord was not offering his leg injury as a reason for his decline in level in the final two sets.

"I was struggling with some minor things, nothing crazy," Secord said. "It wasn't like I couldn't bring my level today. But props to Jack, he played pretty well."

Although he didn't play as well as he would have liked in the third set, Secord did enjoy having an audience of junior players for the finals.

"I'm glad that they got to watch," Secord said. "It's fun that people would watch me, because I've always watched the older players."

Satterfield confessed that he was motivated by the spectators, which aren't always present at junior finals.

"It was super cool, I really wanted to put on a show and play my best tennis for them," said Satterfield, who lost his only set of the week in the final. "With so many matches going on with the L4, I wanted to impress the parents and kids. Hopefully they knew this wasn't an L4 match, but something higher," Satterfield joked.

With the title Satterfield has secured entry into this summer's junior slams, a goal for nearly every American junior in this two-week Southern California hard court swing.

"That was a massive goal," said Satterfield, who reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells. "If I didn't do well in this tournament, I was going to go to a 200 in Canada to hopefully to secure Wimbledon and the French, but now I don't have to go, which I'm so happy about."

The girls final that followed took less time than the first set of the boys championship match, with Penickova at the top of her game. After expressing disappointment with her level after her 6-7(1), 6-3, 7-6(4) semifinal win over Zaire Clarke, Penickova re-calibrated for her first meeting with Kotseva.

"Definitely today was a lot better," said the 15-year-old from California, who trains in Florida with the USTA. "I was hitting the ball a lot better and I was focused a little better. In the more important moments, I came out on top."

Kotseva, playing in her first J300 final, did not have a game point in the first set until she had already had saved two set points serving at 0-5. She held that game, and had two break points in Penickova's service game, but Penickova held to take the 29-minute first set. 

Kotseva began to play better at the close of the first and to start the second but Penickova never felt threatened, even as Kotseva's level improved.

"I was just really confident in my game and that I was going to be able to stay in those rallies, outplay her a little bit," said Penickova, who stepped up her serving performance dramatically in the finals, both in first serve percentage and pace. "I was confident that I had a better game than her, was willing to stay in the point a little more, so her game wasn't going to bother me as much."

Penickova could see a little of herself a year ago in Kotseva, who at 14, was the same age as Penickova when she lost 6-3, 6-2 in the final to Iva Jovic.

"She's a great player and getting to the finals at her age is amazing," said Penickova, the 2025 Australian Open girls finalist. "Last year was definitely tough against Iva, she's insane, so I'm definitely happy to win it this time."

Kotseva admitted that Penickova's power was too much to overcome.

"Her shots, they have so much power in them it's actually very hard to change the rhythm, even get them back faster," said Kotseva, who is well-versed in that game style. "Her serve is very good and her forehand is incredible, I don't know how she does it."

Kotseva, who won the 14s Easter Bowl last year and the 12s Easter Bowl title the year before, is accustomed to big stages, and wasn't willing to blame the occasion for her slow start.

"There is nerves, but really, I was just excited to play," Kotseva said. "She started out very strong and didn't give me any time to change the rhythm, change my attitude. I could have done better, but it's ok, she played great."

Kotseva isn't sure what her schedule will be this spring and summer, but she'll return home to Las Vegas before her next event.  

Penickova is expected to be named to the USA's Junior Billie Jean King Cup team for April's Regional Qualifying in Canada, and is also planning to return to the European clay, where she reached the Roland Garros semifinals last year.

"I'll be going to Europe in April, maybe two weeks, and then definitely French and all those," Penickova said.

After a disappointing second round loss at Indian Wells two weeks ago, Penickova ended the California hard court swing on a high note, winning the doubles title with her twin sister Annika on Friday and claiming her second ITF J300 title Saturday.

The Easter Bowl 12s and 14s played their first round matches today, and are scheduled to play the second round on Sunday. Only a few top eight seeds lost, with most of the seeds eliminated in the 9-16 category.  

Boys 12s

1. James Borchard

2. Evan Fan

3. Udham Singh

4. Jason Ye

5. William McGugin

6. Keita Iwata

7. Chris Deng

8. Olie Rosa Hall (out rd 1)

9. Ayaan Bangera (out rd 1)

9. Gabriel Marino

9. Haris Shahbaz

9. Keita Iida

9. David Benedict

9. Thomas Gamble

9. Mateo Vincens

9. Pranav Madamanchi 

Girls 12s

1. Lucy Dupere

2. Gabrielle Alexa Villegas

3. Violetta Mamina

4. Danielle Han

5. Kareena Cross

6. Mila Mikoczi Spivey

7. Brielle Amey (out rd 1)

8. Inie Toll

9. Daniella Yogumyan

9. Ocie Barran (out rd 1)

9. Emma Li

9. Nicole Blanco

9. Angelina Zhang

9. Victoria Park

9. Grace Malhotra

9. Sofia Cannon

Boys 14s 

1. Rafael Pawar

2. Aayush Vartak

3. Gadin Arun

4. Mason Menyhart

5. Dylan Meineke

6. Zesen Wang

7. Joshua Dolinsky

8. Arjun Krishnan

9. Ved Vanga (out rd 1)

9. Smyan Vijay

9. Carter Jauffret

9. Manas Kondapalli

9. Asher Yuan (out rd 1)

9. Connor Feehan

9. Joseph Kim

9. Jason Eigbedion

Girls 14s

1. Madeline Cleary

2. Olivia Lin

3. Allison Wang

4. Anna Scott Laney

5. Shristi Selvan (out rd 1)

6. Daniela del Mastro

7. London Evans

8. Ania Zabost

9. Emery Combs 

9. Molly Widlansky

9. Anya Arora

9. Kathryn Cragg

9. Sofia Kedrin (out rd 1)

9. Abigail Haile

9. Tanvi Pandey

9. Natalie Frisbie

The draws, with times for Saturday, are available at the USTA tournament website.

ITF J300 Indian Wells Recap; Penickova Returns to San Diego Final via Third Set Tiebreaker, Secord and Satterfield Meet Again, Doubles Champions Crowned; Seeds for Saturday's USTA L1 Easter Bowl 12s and 14s; Leach, Svajda Fall in Bakersfield $25K

©Colette Lewis 2025--
San Diego CA--

Before starting my report on Friday's singles semifinals and doubles finals at the ITF J300 North American Regional Championships in San Diego, you can read my recap of last week's Americans' sweep of the ITF J300 FILA International Championships titles at Indian Wells. If you weren't able to follow my daily coverage, this provides an overview of the runs to the singles titles by Jagger Leach and Julieta Pareja and the doubles championships won by Leach and Noah Johnston and Leena Friedman and Thea Frodin.

On another sunny and cool day at the Barnes Tennis Center, top seed Kristina Penickova and unseeded Zaire Clarke provided the heat, with Penickova advancing to the San Diego final for the second straight year with a heart-stopping 6-7(1), 6-3, 7-6(4) victory.

The two 15-year-olds didn't hold back in any rally, with both hitting with great depth and pace. Down a set and at 3-3 in the second, Penickova, No. 3 in the ITF junior rankings, found another gear to force a third set, and went up 4-1 in the second. But Clarke, No. 171 in the ITF junior rankings, was not ready to concede, even when Penickova saved five break points to take a 5-2 lead. 

Clarke held to force Penickova to serve it out, using the change of pace of two consecutive drop shot winners to bring it to 30-all. An unforced forehand error from Clarke, and I used the term loosely, as nearly every error was the result of a lengthy rally with both girls going at full blast, gave Penickova her first match point, but she just missed a forehand. She missed out on a second match point with a netted forehand, unusually early in the point, and when Clarke bombed a backhand winner to earn a break point, Penickova showed some nerves, double faulting for 5-4.

Clarke played a confident game in a tense position holding for 5-all and had four break points in the next game, but Penickova fought off each one, with Clarke especially frustrated when her drop shot didn't clear the net on the fourth. Penickova held on her first game point, and Clarke again had to serve to stay in the match. 

Down 15-40, Clarke saved those two match points and one more, continuing to hit boldly despite the precarity of her situation. Penickova was frustrated by her inability to return Clarke's second serve, of which there were many in that game, and Clarke held to force the tiebreaker.

In the tiebreaker, Clarke missed a couple of backhands, but steadied herself to keep within range, trailing 4-2 at the change of ends. Penickova hit a good second serve for a 5-3 lead and earned three more match points, when Clarke's backhand went wide, but Clarke saved her sixth match point with a drop shot lob combination. Clarke struck a good first serve on match point No. 7, but Penickova's return was better to end the three-hour battle.

"Not my best performance, but I was happy to get through it," Penickova said. "The most important thing was that I didn't go away. She was playing really well, serving amazing, playing amazing, so I have to give that to her. I wasn't too happy with the calls from the ref, so that might have thrown me off a little, but I'm proud of myself for fighting. And to be in the finals again, it feels really good."

Penickova, who won two third set tiebreakers from a set down in her first two matches en route to the Australian Open girls final, admitted all those match points took a toll.

"I had definitely so many, so many chances, six match points, that's obviously a little tough to take," Penickova said. "But the world doesn't end, you just move on. You try to forget about it, think about it after the match, but it that moment you have to literally pretend it never happened."

Penickova had a disappointing second round loss as the top seed last week at Indian Wells, but was optimistic coming to San Diego.

"These courts are definitely faster (than Indian Wells) and I'd say it suits my game a little bit better," said Penickova, who lost in the first round of Indian Wells last year but then went on to reach the final, losing to Iva Jovic. "So even from last year, I kind of had that experience, came into this, reset, still really confident because that was just one bad match, and I knew from last year the courts were a little bit better for my game."

Penickova will face another unseeded player for the title, and one even younger than she is, after 14-year-old Raya Kostseva defeated No. 5 seed Capucine Jauffret 6-2, 6-1, a semifinal nearly two hours shorter than Penickova's. 

Kosteva, who will be playing in her first J300 final after coming from 6-1 down in a third set tiebreaker in her first round win over Calla McGill, wasn't prepared for a run like this.

"I didn't expect to go this far, at all," said the right-hander from Las Vegas, who has beaten four seeds since that first round escape, the last three in straight sets. "I beat players that I did not expect to beat that easily; I expected to go to a third set, maybe lose, maybe win, just go out there and try my best, but I'm very proud of my performance so far."

Jauffret had beaten Kotseva 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the J300 in Costa Rica in January, although she had previously posted a win over Jauffret last fall in the J300 in Houston.

"Everything was different," Kotseva said. "In Costa Rica I was not in my best form, I wasn't feeling my best, my strokes weren't there, nothing was there really. But today, I really focused and went out there and everything was perfect almost. I believed in myself in Houston, but here, I believe in myself even more, am more confident even."

Kosteva and Penickova have not played, although Kotseva lost to her twin sister Annika in the Houston quarterfinals.

The boys semifinals were completed quickly, with top seed and Australian Open finalist Ben Willwerth retiring with a hip injury trailing No. 6 seed Jack Secord 5-2 in the first set. Secord, not one hundred percent physically himself, received a walkover into the semifinals from No. 4 seed Maximus Dussault and is now in his second J300 final after today's retirement.

"It's funny, I don't know how life works, but two defaults is a little crazy," said the 16-year-old left-hander from Illinois, who is playing with a compression sleeve on his right leg. "I hurt it my match with Ronit (Karki) in Indian Wells, and I've been struggling with it a little bit. They just said to rest, not play any tennis, which is not the time I wanted to hear that."

Secord, who reached his first J300 final in Colombia in January, was not optimistic coming into San Diego.

"It's a little crazy, I was thinking about not even playing the tournament actually," Secord said. "It's a definitely a blessing that I get to be in the final, even with my leg."

Secord will play No. 5 seed Jack Satterfield, who beat No. 8 seed Lachlan Gaskell 6-4, 6-2. With their last meeting in May of 2024 decided in Satterfield's favor 6-4 in the third, a straight-sets victory wasn't what Satterfield expected.

"At the end of the second set, he definitely got pretty tired," said Satterfield, a 17-year-old from Florida. "It was a complete grind. Usually he goes a lot bigger on his forehand, and I like that because I deflect it pretty well, so I think he was trying to play a little more patient this time. It was working but I don't think he was used to it. I was moving him a lot, so I think he got pretty tired, so he kind of quit in the second."

Secord and Satterfield played recently in the semifinals of the J300 in Colombia, with unusual circumstances leading to a win for Secord. After Satterfield had won a second set tiebreaker to force a third, he took a toilet break, and because he took a shower during that break, he was defaulted, giving Secord a 3-6, 7-6(3) victory.

Their previous major final was at the 2023 Eddie Herr, with Secord winning the 16s title with a tense 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory that featured great play from both.

"Every time we've played it's been a close third set," Satterfield said. "We were playing in Colombia and we couldn't finish the match. It was a great match and we were going into a third there, so I'm just excited to play him. Every time we have battles. And he's a great kid, so it's fun to play a good guy. I've lost two semis so far in South America, so I really wanted to get past this one. I'm excited."

The boys doubles final went the way of the newly formed team of Michael Antonius and Roshan Santhosh, with the No. 6 seeds defeating No. 5 seeds Simon Caldwell and Gavin Goode 6-4, 7-6(9).

Santhosh reached out to Antonius a few weeks ago, looking for a partner and Antonius was a quick yes.

"I thought we would be a good team," said Antonius, a 15-year-old from New York. "I've seen his hands before and they're just so smooth at the net, with his drop volleys and his lobs, they're unbelievable. We both had the shots, it was just how it would play out."

Santhosh and Antonius had survived a match tiebreaker in the semifinals, defeating unseeded Justin Riley Anson and Tyler Lee 2-6, 6-2, 10-7, so they weren't stressed when Santhosh was unable to serve out the match at 5-3. Goode was broken serving for the set at 6-5, and Santhosh pointed to that as a key to their win.

"They stepped it up, and the 6-5 game was the turning point," said Santhosh, a 16-year-old from California. "We played a solid match, but finishing it out got a bit tight at the end, the nerves and all that."

The subsequent tiebreaker was 6-6 at the second change of ends, after Antonius and Santhosh had saved a set point. They earned match points at 7-6 and 8-7, but failed to convert and Caldwell and Goode had another set point, on serve, but lost it, and after a double fault and a backhand wide, Santhosh and Antonius had claimed their first J300 title.

"Knowing we would have another chance (in a match tiebreaker) and that was their final attempt made it so we could play loose," Antonius said. "Sometimes I think it was too loose, at 5-3 maybe too casual, but it helped us in the tiebreaker to play some good shots and to stay solid."

The pair don't have any tournaments together coming up, but hope to play together again soon.

"If we're playing in the same tournament, we'll probably be playing doubles," Santhosh said. "Our schedules are different right now, but we'll definitely reach out to each other in another tournament," Antonius said.

The girls champions are undefeated as a doubles team this year, with top seeds Kristina and Annika Penickova, the Australian Open girls doubles champions winning their third title of 2025 with a 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-7 victory over No. 7 seeds Isabelle DeLuccia and Anita Tu.

The Penickovas, who now have ten ITF Junior Circuit titles together, insist they don't expect to win every event, despite adding this title to those at the J300 and junior slam in Australia in January.

"It's obviously amazing that we can play this well and keep winning, but you do expect to lose at some point," Kristina said. "You don't expect to win every tournament. It's great that we are, but..."  

"It's definitely a goal that you have for every tournament and when it's going great, it's going great," said Annika, the left-hander in the partnership. "You're not surprised by the losses, you accept them and move on, but that hasn't been the case this year so far, so that's good."

After losing the first set, the Penickovas made several adjustments.

"We were definitely more aggressive and were more active at the net," Kristina said. "I think we started reading them a bit better, adjusting a little in that sense, and started serving better as well, getting more free points with our serves. We played smarter and started to do more damage with our ground strokes as well."

Annika noted that their experience as a team goes much deeper than just matches played together.

"We just know each other really well, we're siblings, and have a little bit of like the doubles telepathy," Annika said. "We know what the other is going to do, how to they are going to react, what to anticipate, what they're going to hit, so I think that gives us a big advantage. We're just used to it."

Championship Saturday will begin with the boys final at 10 a.m. Pacific, followed by the girls final, not before noon.

The Easter Bowl begins Saturday for the 12s and 14s division at various locations in the Coachella Valley. The seeds are below; draws can be found here.

Boys 12s

1.James Borchard

2. Evan Fan

3. Udham Singh

4. Jason Ye

5. William McGugin

6. Keita Iwata

7. Chris Deng

8. Olie Rosa Hall

9. Ayaan Bangera

9. Gabriel Marino

9. Haris Shahbaz

9. Keita Iida

9. David Benedict

9. Thomas Gamble

9. Mateo Vincens

9. Pranav Madamanchi 

Girls 12s

1. Lucy Dupere

2. Gabrielle Alexa Villegas

3. Violetta Mamina

4. Danielle Han

5. Kareena Cross

6. Mila Mikoczi Spivey

7. Brielle Amey

8. Inie Toll

9. Daniella Yogumyan

9. Ocie Barran

9. Emma Li

9. Nicole Blanco

9. Angelina Zhang

9. Victoria Park

9. Grace Malhotra

9. Sofia Cannon

Boys 14s 

1. Rafael Pawar

2. Aayush Vartak

3. Gadin Arun

4. Mason Menyhart

5. Dylan Meineke

6. Zesen Wang

7. Joshua Dolinsky

8. Arjun Krishnan

9. Ved Vanga

9. Smyan Vijay

9. Carter Jauffret

9. Manas Kondapalli

9. Asher Yuan

9. Connor Feehan

9. Joseph Kim

9. Jason Eigbedion

Girls 14s

1. Madeline Cleary

2. Olivia Lin

3. Allison Wang

4. Anna Scott Laney

5. Shristi Selvan

6. Daniela del Mastro

7. London Evans

8. Ania Zabost

9. Emery Combs 

9. Molly Widlansky

9. Anya Arora

9. Kathryn Cragg

9. Sofia Kedrin

9. Abigail Haile

9. Tanvi Pandey

9. Natalie Frisbie

At the men's $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Bakersfield California, wild card Jagger Leach's winning streak came to an end in the quarterfinals, with the future TCU Horned Frog losing to former TCU All American Alex Rybakov 6-1, 7-6(3). No. 7 seed Trevor Svajda, the SMU sophomore, lost to top seed Johannus Monday(Tennessee) of Great Britain 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-1.