Unseeded Redshirt Freshmen Reach USTA Pro Circuit Semifinals; Vidmanova's ITF Win Streak Ends in Granby W75; Spizzirri and Holmgren Meet in Granby Challenger Semifinals; Leach Withdraws from Kalamazoo

The run of 15-year-old Michael Antonius ended today at USTA M15 in Rochester New York, with last week's USTA Clay Courts 18s champion losing to Ohio State rising senior Alexander Bernard, the No. 5 seed, 6-4, 6-3.

Rhiannon Potkey spoke to Antonius for the Tennis Recruiting Network article about the boys 18s Clays final, and he reiterated that he was playing the 16s in Kalamazoo next month, although that was before he had become the first boy born in 2010 to earn an ATP point this week. The girls 18s Clays article, featuring comments from champion Nicole Weng, is here. Links to the 12s, 14s and 16s recaps are here.

In Rochester, Bernard will face No. 3 seed Blu Baker of Great Britain in the top half semifinal Saturday, with Baker beating No. 6 seed Benjamin George(Western Michigan) of Canada 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Unseeded Ryan Dickerson(Duke, Baylor) defeated wild card Alexander Razeghi(Stanford) 6-2, 6-4 to set up the bottom half semifinal against Andrew Delgado. Wild card Delgado, a redshirt freshman at Wake Forest last year, defeated Liam Krall(SMU) 6-2, 6-1.

The 20-year-old Delgado had never won more than one match in a Pro Circuit event until this week. Dickerson, 28, is competing in his second Pro Circuit semifinal, with the first coming a few months ago in Vero Beach. 

Another redshirt freshman, Hoyoung Roh of Korea, through to the semifinals of the M25 in Louisville Kentucky. The unseeded 19-year-old, who did not play at Vanderbilt last season, defeated No. 3 seed Aidan McHugh of Great Britain 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2 in today's quarterfinals. He will play unseeded Matthew Thomson(Wake Forest), who beat qualifier Kelly Giese(Lubbock Christian) 6-3, 6-0. 

Columbia rising senior Nicolas Kotzen is through to his second Pro Circuit semifinal after defeating No. 4 seed Bruno Kuzuhara 6-3, 7-6(4) today. Kotzen faces qualifier Vignesh Gogineni, a Yale rising senior, who ended the winning streak of Stanford's Samir Banerjee with a 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(1) upset.

It's rare for an M25 not to have any seeds in the singles semifinals, but that's the case for Louisville this week. Kotzen is also through to the doubles semifinals, with partner DK Suresh of Wake Forest. Both the doubles semifinals and finals are scheduled for Saturday.

While seeds went out early in Louisville, they have thrived at the ATP Challenger 75 in Granby Canada, with Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 6 advancing to the semifinals with wins today.

Top seed Eliot Spizzirri(Texas) defeated No. 7 seed James Trotter(Ohio State) of Japan 6-4, 6-0 to reach the ninth Challenger semifinal of his pro career, which began 14 months ago. 

He will play No. 6 seed August Holmgren of Denmark, the 2022 NCAA singles finalist while at San Diego, who reached the third round of Wimbledon two weeks ago as a qualifier. Holmgren defeated Yuta Shimizu of Japan 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

The bottom half semifinal is a rematch of the Calgary Challenger 75 final last week, with No. 3 seed and Calgary champion Liam Draxl(Kentucky) of Canada facing No. 2 seed Alexander Blockx of Belgium. Draxl beat Alexis Galarneau of Canada 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, while Blockx eliminated No. 5 seed Sho Shimabukuro of Japan 6-2, 6-3. 

The women are also in Granby, for a ITF women's World Tennis Tour W75. One of Saturday's semifinals will feature two qualifiers, Fiona Crawley(North Carolina) and Haley Giavara(Cal). 

Crawley, who beat No. 3 seed Clervie Ngounoue in the first round, defeated qualifier Alexandra Vagramov(UCLA) of Canada 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Vagramov had ended the ITF women's winning streak of 2024 NCAA champion Dasha Vidmanova of the Czech Republic in the second round, beating the recent Georgia graduate 7-5, 7-6(6) last night. Vidmanova, who won a W35, and W75 and a W100 since the end of May, lost to eventual champion Caty McNally in the first round of the WTA 125 in Newport last week, but had a 16-match winning streak on the ITF Circuit before the Vagramov loss.

Top seed Talia Gibson of Australia will face the winner of tonight's match between Cadence Brace(LSU) of Canada and Katrina Scott. 

The first significant withdrawal from the USTA National 18s in Kalamazoo came today, with Jagger Leach unable to play here, for the second year in a row, due to injury. Leach reached the semifinals of the 16s in 2023, but that is the only memory of Kalamazoo he will have.

Fifteen-year-old Antonius Reaches Quarterfinals at USTA Pro Circuit M15 in Rochester; Banerjee Extends Winning Streaks at M25 in Rainy Louisville; Godsick, Fakih and Center Win Opening Matches at World University Games; Brantmeier's Suit Against NCAA Proceeds

Fifteen-year-old Michael Antonius has been featured regularly here this week, first for his USTA National Clay Courts 18s singles title and then in the discussion regarding his entry into Kalamazoo, where he applied to compete in the 16s, but wasn't directly accepted.

On Wednesday, at the USTA Pro Circuit M15 in Rochester New York, Antonius earned his first ATP point when top seed Leo Vithoontien(Carelton) of Japan retired trailing Antonius 6-3, 4-1. Today Antonius reached the quarterfinals, advancing when qualifier Kian Vakili(Penn) retired trailing 7-6(2), 5-2.  

Antonius, who turned 15 in January, is the first player born in 2010 to earn an ATP point and will play for more against No. 5 seed and Ohio State rising senior Alexander Bernard. Bernard beat qualifer Nathan Cox(Vanderbilt) 6-2, 6-2 in the second round today. Two rising college sophomores, Stanford's Alexander Razeghi, and Wake Forest's Andrew Delgado, have made good use of their wild cards by advancing to Friday's quarterfinals.

Rain in Louisville Kentucky, the site of this week's USTA Pro Circuit M25, kept the second round of singles from being completed, but Stanford rising senior Samir Banerjee did manage to continue his winning streaks. The 21-year-old from New Jersey, who won the singles and doubles titles last week at the M25 in Dallas, is through to the quarterfinals in both draws. The No. 8 seed defeated Tyler Bowers, a rising junior at Illinois 6-0, 5-7, 6-1 in singles and partnered with Bruno Kuzuhara for a victory in the first round of doubles. 

Banerjee will play qualifier Vignesh Gogineni, a rising senior at Yale, who beat DK Suresh(Wake Forest) of India 7-6(2), 6-0. 

There are no USTA women's Pro Circuit events this week.

The World University Games are underway in Germany, with the tennis portion of the event beginning with preliminary round of 128 and several round of 64 matches for men, while round of 64 matches were on the schedule for women.

Nico Godsick of Stanford defeated Camilo Gonzalez Torres of Colombia 6-2, 6-1 to advance, with SMU's Trevor Svajda, seeded fifth, having a bye.

In addition to Svajda, Great Britain's Toby Samuel[12](South Carolina), Japan's Jay Friend[13] (Arizona) and Switerland's Dylan Dietrich[15](Virginia) are D-I collegians who are seeded. Australia's Derek Pham[16](Oklahoma State) lost to Great Britain's Jamie Connel 6-2, 6-1.

The American women competing in singles are UCLA rising sophomore Kate Fakih and Olivia Center, both of whom won their preliminary, round of 16 matches today. Fakih defeated Lilitha Sithenkosi Ndungane of South Africa by the popular score of 6-2, 6-1, while Center defeated Australia's Lily Taylor(Arizona State) 6-3, 7-6(5). Fakih will play Texas rising sophomore Eszter Meri of Slovakia, the No. 11 seed, next, with Center set to play No. 2 seed Alevtina Ibragimova of Russia, who is 326 in the WTA rankings. 

Fakih and Center, the 2024 NCAA doubles finalists, aren't seeded, but could contend for the doubles title, although they play the No. 1 seeds if they advance to the second round. Godsick and Jerry Barton(SMU) are the men's doubles team from the United States.

In addition to Meri, seeded Division I collegians are Kenya's Angella Okutoyi[9](Auburn), Great Britain's Esther Adeshina[10](Tennessee) and Germany's Gina Dittmann[13](NC State).

The tennis schedule extends to Saturday July 26. Mixed doubles will start Sunday.

Live scoring is available here. Draws are here.

The 2029 World University Games, which are held every two years, will be in Raleigh North Carolina.

There was news on Tuesday regarding the lawsuit UNC's Reese Brantmeier filed  against the NCAA. WRAL in Raleigh North Carolina reported the judge in case saying it was "Highly likely the Court will grant the motion for class certification" in Brantmeier's challenge of the NCAA's prohibition from accepting prize money earned at pro events. A looming class action suit might prompt the NCAA to look more favorably on a settlement than they have demonstrated so far.

My Thoughts on Innovations and Traditions at 2025 Wimbledon

I'm not sure what it was about this year's Wimbledon that is prompting me to do an abridged, Jon Wertheim-style Parting Shots post, other than the urge to document some observations that will only recede with time. Wimbledon and the US Open are the two majors I attend every year as credentialed media, so my inclination is to weigh one against the other, which isn't easy, nor very productive, as they have little in common save for the fact the best players in the world compete for titles on their courts.

So, in entirely random impressions that have popped into my head this afternoon, here we go:

The crowd for the boys doubles final on Court One

Court One for Junior Finals

I will always marvel at the number of fans who watch junior tennis (and legends, wheelchair, mixed, etc.) at Wimbledon. AELTC sells tickets for Court One on the final weekend, with junior and wheelchair finals the most likely matches to be played there if the weather is good, which it was this year. The 12,345 seats were sold out Sunday, and although there were obviously empty seats, particularly those located in the sun, I would estimate the crowds at 8,000 to 10,000 for the three junior finals played there on Saturday and Sunday. With Oliver Bonding from Great Britain in the boys doubles final Saturday, the audience had a rooting interest, and I can confidently state that it was the biggest crowd for a boys doubles match I have ever seen, anywhere. Even if the outcome wasn't what they had hoped, the fans were polite and appreciative of the efforts of Alan Wazny of Poland and Oskari Paldanius of Finland in saving match points to take their second consecutive junior slam doubles title.

The Court One net ready for action

Let Serves

This year's decision by Wimbledon to align with the other three junior slams to not replay serves that clip the net if they land in the box was not popular with the fans in attendance. If I had a pound for every spectator who said 'I heard a let, didn't you hear a let?' or something similarly incredulous on how the umpire could miss it, I would have easily earned enough to pay for my Uber to Heathrow. I have long since made my peace with that 2018 ITF junior rule, which has not been adopted on any pro level tournament, although college men and women also uniformly play let serves. I will say I saw many more lets on serves than normal, which I am told is a function of the generally looser nets at Wimbledon.

An ELC Close Call display

Electronic Line Calling

I asked nearly every junior I talked to over the nine days about the innovation, which is new to Wimbledon this year and installed on every court. In past years the Challenge System was occasionally available for juniors depending if a pro match was scheduled on that court, but it was random and in a sense, unfair.

I would say 90% of the juniors, most of whom had had several chances to play with the system at the US Open and Australian Open, liked it, and felt it kept them more focused on their match and the next point, rather than the possibility that the line umpires had made a mistake that could be overruled by the chair. Hannah Klugman expressed regret at the loss of the umpires for ambient reasons but accepted, as did all the other juniors I spoke to about, that it was more accurate than humans. There was one exception to that, with Alan Wazny of Poland saying that the "machine" makes as many mistakes as the humans.

"I think line umpires are better, Wazny said. "Here and there are mistakes, but the system also makes mistakes, you can see that. Maybe not a lot of mistakes but visible mistakes. It doesn't really matter, but I think the line umpires are better for the tradition."

The sole junior sponsored by Vuori

Clothing deals

Junior players come by their sponsors in a variety of ways. Girls finalist Julieta Pareja has an NIL deal with IMG, which means she retains her collegiate eligibility, and is now wearing ON, which has a tiny number of juniors; I saw only Julia Stusek of Germany and 14U player Keri Hong of Korea wearing the brand last week.

But even more rare was a junior wearing Vuori, the athletic and lifestyle brand. The company, based, coincidentally in Pareja's hometown of Carlsbad California, sponsors Marcos Giron, Tristan Boyer and Desirae Krawczyk, Southern Californians all. Their only junior is Australian Open boys finalist Benjamin Willwerth, who came about his sponsorship via a fortuitous mistake. In Australia, Willwerth, sponsored by Wilson, intended to wear that company's hat, but was told the logo did not comply with apparel regulations. USTA National Coach Mario Rincon came up with a Vuori hat that did pass muster.

"USTA Coach Mario was wearing a Vuori hat and he just gave it to me and it was the only hat I could wear there," Willwerth said. "I started using that and used it the entire tournament and after the tournament we started talking with them, and I got sponsored by Vuori. I love them. I had heard about them before, but never through tennis. Gym people wear it, but I think they're going to start to do more sports, more tennis."

Kathy Rinaldi and Kent Kinnear watching a junior match

USTA presence at Wimbledon

It was heartening to see so many coaches from the USTA at Wimbledon this year after so much talk about the budgetary constraints that were keeping Player Development from traveling. In addition to National Coaches Mario Rincon and Jose Caballeros for the boys, Thierry Champion and Georgi Rumenov for the girls and Celeste Frey for the 14Us, head of women's tennis Kathy Rinaldi and head of men's tennis Kent Kinnear were trekking back and forth from Court One and Centre Court to the outside courts, for long stretches of time, offering encouragement and support to the juniors and 14s.

I also met Tracy Davies, who was recently announced as the USTA's General Manager of USA Tennis, a newly created position. The conversation was not extensive but I was impressed with her openness and knowledge of the junior space; I heard none of the corporate-speak that becomes a habit for longtime executives in administration.

Rain early in the week can be handled without stress with nine days to work with

The schedule

In addition to the scheduling of junior matches on the show courts, even early in the tournament, the advantage Wimbledon has over the US Open is the schedule. When play on middle Sunday began, in 2022, Wimbledon did not shorten the junior event, but continued to play first round matches on Saturday. This gives them extra leeway in case of rain, and allows a day off from singles early in the week for both boys and girls if weather allows it. This makes for less tension and allows me to see more matches because they are not on all at once.

In contrast, the US Open (and Roland Garros) complete the 64-player draws in seven days, which makes for many more matches early and adds considerable tension if there is heat and rain as was the case in New York in both 2022 and 2023. In 2022 finalist Lucie Havlickova of the Czech Republic had to play a singles semifinal and two doubles matches the day before the final, and was likely unable to recover mentally and physically from all that tennis the day before. I can't fathom why the USTA decided to end the Junior Championships on the second Saturday, rather than Sunday, as it was pre-pandemic, but Wimbledon undoubtedly has the better schedule for fans, players, media and staff.

Talking British juniors with Radio Wimbledon host 

Marcus Buckland

The Media Pavilion
A new, badly needed media center debuted in 2022 and it is now my favorite place to watch Show Court 18 matches, from above and behind. The interview rooms, the Media Theatre and the balcony outside are huge improvements over the cramped quarters on the ground level previously in use.

I enjoy my two Radio Wimbledon segments every year, where I get to talk about the juniors with other media commentators and well-prepared hosts. I know most people in the United States aren't up at 5:30 a.m. to catch them, but I hope those tuning in on site via the Amex radios might be inspired to see check out some of the top juniors during the day, not just the British ones.

The Gardens

Probably nothing is more commented on by a first-time visitor to Wimbledon than the flowers, the thousands of purple and red and white petunias, the hydrangeas, the veronica, the allium all arranged as if in a floral shop or English garden. Even in the crush of 40,000 plus spectators trying to get from one court to another, it adds welcome serenity to any scene.

Notes on Kalamazoo and San Diego Entries; Young Out at Oklahoma State; Clarke Wins J200 in Mexico; Newman Goes Back-to-Back at J100s

The acceptances for the USTA Nationals 16s and 18s Championships have been posted, with the Kalamazoo lists here, and the San Diego lists here.

Jack Kennedy, last year's finalist in the Kalamazoo 18s is at the top of the boys 18s list and Easter Bowl 18s champion Bella Payne is at the top spot in the girls 18s list. Julieta Pareja, who is now the ITF junior No. 1 and Monika Ekstrand, who is up to 353 in the WTA rankings after all her success on the USTA Pro Circuit, are among the favorites for the title.

Stanford incoming freshman Alyssa Ahn, who went 15-6 during the SoCal Pro Circuit, is the 45th alternate in the 18s, will need a wild card, as will current ITF Top 100 player Kori Montoya, who was not in the Top 100 at the time of the National Standing List used for the Nationals acceptances, which is May 1. Elizabeth Ionescu and Katie Rolls are not showing in the acceptances, nor are Annika Penickova and Zaire Clarke, who are recovering from injuries. Valerie Glozman, who already has a main draw US Open wild card after winning last month's USTA Collegiate Playoff, didn't enter.

Some notable names in the 16s field are Easter Bowl champion Daniela Del Mastro, Lani Chang and Welles Newman, the later two having won ITF Junior Circuit titles last week.

2023 16s champion Cooper Woestendick is coming back to Kalamazoo after a semester at TCU, where he competed for the Horned Frogs in the ITA Indoor and NCAA team finals. Two junior slam singles finalists, Benjamin Willwerth(Australia) and Ronit Karki(Wimbledon) have entered, as has 2022 16s champion Darwin Blanch, now 410 in the ATP rankings.

Notable players entered, but not accepted are Sklar Phillips, Ford McCollum, Jacob Olar, Grand Rapids' Simon Caldwell, Josephy Oyebog Jr., Virginia rising sophomore Roy Horovitz and Ilija Palavestra.

Wild cards will fill the last six places open in each division, with those meetings upcoming.

One of the boys 16s favorite will need a wild card: the newly crowned USTA National Clay Courts 18s champion Michael Antonius, currently No. 70 in the ITF junior rankings. The 15-year-old Antonius, the only player born in 2010 in the ITF Top 100, is the 21st alternate in the 16s.

Andrew Johnson, who earned his first ATP point earlier this month during the SoCal Pro Series, Safir Azam and Easter Bowl champion Marcel Latak are all playing in the 16s division.

As I posted two weeks ago, the NCAA sanctioned Oklahoma State for major recruiting violations in its women's program, and last week, word began circulating that Director of Tennis and women's head coach Chris Young had been fired. There has not been anything official on the Oklahoma State website about all this, but apparently the athletic department sent a release to local news outlets confirming Young is out.  John Parsons at the No Ad No Problem podcast put out two episodes last week with a thorough look at the violations and on the impact this will have on Division I tennis going forward.

I was unable to follow all the ITF Junior Circuit results of Americans the last two weeks due to Wimbledon, but I'll try to an abridged version tonight, concentrating on the J100s and J200s.

Unseeded 15-year-old Chukwumelije Clarke of Texas won her biggest title at the J200 in Monterrey Mexico two weeks ago, beating qualifier Olivia Allegre 6-3, 6-1 in the all-USA final. The 200 points briefly moved Clarke into the ITF Top 100, but the points from her previous best win at a J100 in the Dominican Republic dropped this week and she fell to 116. Top seeds Isabelle DeLuccia and Anita Tu won the doubles title in another all-USA contest, beating unseeded Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann and Scarlett Fagan 7-5, 7-5.

The unseeded pair of Gray Kelley and Tanishk Konduri won the boys doubles in Mexico, beating top seeds Volodmyr Gurenko of Canada and Jakub Smejcky of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5.

Konduri went from the J200 in Mexico two weeks ago to a J100 in Vancouver Canada last week, with the 16-year-old from Northern California picking up his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title in another all-USA final. Konduri, seeded No. 4, defeated No. 2 seed Mason Taube 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-5 in the final. Konduri and Justin Lin, who were unseeded, reached the doubles final, dropping a 7-6(3), 7-6(8) decision to No. 3 seeds Enoch Lin and Brayden Woo of Canada. Top seeds Kaya Moe and Karlin Shock claimed the girls doubles title in Vancouver, beating Aleksandra Barmicheva of Russia and Yi-Ching Huang of Taiwan 6-2, 6-7(5), 10-5.

At the J100 in the Dominican Republic last week, 15-year-old Safir Azam of Washington won his first ITF Junior Circuit title without dropping a set. The No. 12 seed defeated No. 6 seed and doubles partner Theo Hegarty 6-3, 6-4 in the all-USA final. Azam and Hegarty, the No. 3 seeds in doubles, lost in the final to No. 4 seeds Jerrid Gaines Jr of the United States and Alvaro Perez of the Dominican Republic 6-3, 6-4.

Fourteen-year-old Lani Chang swept the girls titles in Santa Domingo, with the No. 4 seed beating No. 3 seed and doubles partner Brooke Wallman 6-3, 6-3. Chang, the daughter of Hall of Fame player Michael Chang, is up to a career-high 190 in the ITF junior rankings after her biggest title. 

Wallman and Chang, the top seeds, took the doubles title with a 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 win over Ha Eum Lee of Korea and American Yael Saffar, the No. 2 seeds.

Fifteen-year-old Welles Newman is playing on the South American clay this summer, and she collected titles at back-to-back J100s. Two weeks ago in Brazil, the No. 1-seeded Newman defeated No. 2 seed Ana Cruz of Brazil 6-3, 6-2 in the final. She also won the doubles title, Zoe Doldan of Paraguay, with the unseeded pair beating another unseeded team in Camila Markus of Argentina and Alicia Reichel of Brazil 6-0, 6-2 in the final. 

Last week in Colombia, Newman, the No. 3 seed. defeated No. 7 seed Sena Yoon 6-4, 6-1 in the singles final. She and Great Britain's Clarice Ouvarova, who were unseeded, lost in the doubles finals to No. 1 seeds Leticia Bazan and Daniela Gonzales of Peru 6-4, 2-6, 10-8. 

Links to the lower-graded ITF Junior Circuit tournaments with an American singles winner are provided below.

J60 Armenia: qualifier Thomas Laukys, singles and doubles

J60 Orlando USA: Nicholas Mekhael

J60 Corfu Greece: Matias Reyniak

J60 Preveza Greece: Matias Reyniak

J30 Aruba: Sitara Agarwal

J30 Aruba: Leyla Kilgour, singles and doubles

USTA National Clay Courts Championships Finals Results; Pareja and Ivanov Rise to ITF Junior No. 1 Spots; Wang Wins SoCal Pro Series Finale; Latest USTA Men's US Open Wild Card Challenge Rankings

I know I have a lot of tennis on the USTA Pro Circuit and ITF Junior Circuit to catch up on after covering the Wimbledon Junior Championships the past nine days, and I'll try to get to as much of that as I can in the next several days.

When Wimbledon moved a week later in the calendar, I was also not able to pay as much attention as I would like to the USTA National Clay Courts, but Tennis Recruiting Network will have their traditional recaps beginning with the 12s division Tuesday. 

Below are the results of the 16 Clay Court finals; click on the heading for a link to the draws. I'm not sure what happened in the boys 18s doubles final.

Boys 18s Delray Beach FL

Singles:
Michael Antonius[1] d. Benjamin Saltman[9]

Doubles:
Joseph Nau and Yashwin Krishmakumar[6] v Sawyer Severance and Sutton Severance 6-4, 1-0 incomplete

B16s Delray Beach FL

Singles:

Keshav Muthuvel[3] d. Mason Vaughan[4] 6-2, 6-2

Doubles:

Griffin Goode and Mason Vaughan[6] d. Ryan Corcora and Kahven Singh[2] 6-2, 6-3

Boys 14s Dothan AL

Singles:

Joshua Dolinsky[4] d. Alexander Anderson[7] 6-3. 6-1

Doubles:

Joshua Dolinsky and Kensho Ford[7] d. Joaquin Hernandez and Trishiv Premanand[8] 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3

Boys 12s Lake Nona FL

Singles:

Jason Ye[7] d. William McGugin[3] 6-7(4) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles:

Olie Rosa Hall and Pranav Madamanchi[6] d. Evan Fan and William McGugin[1] 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

G18s Mount Pleasant SC

Singles: 

Nicole Weng[2] Janae Preston[7] 6-4, 6-7(0), 6-1

Doubles:

Lillian Santos and Jordyn Hazelitt[10] d. Francie Pate and Carlota Moreno[15] 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3

Girls 16s Huntsville AL

Singles:

Olivia de Los Reyes d. Sylvana Jalbert[2] 6-2, 6-2

Doubles:

Enya Hamilton and Autumn Xu[5] d. Sadira Ouyang and Elle Groslimond[15] 7-5, 6-3

G14s Plantation FL

Singles:

Nikol Davletshina[8] d. Juliana Diianni[13] 6-2, 1-6, 6-2

Doubles:

London Evans and Zoe Young[2] d. Reena Alavalapati and Eugenia Alvarez[4]  7-5, 6-1

G12s Greensboro NC

Singles:

Violetta Li[17] d. Danielle Han[2] 6-2, 6-0

Doubles:

Violetta Li and Emma Li[7] d. Mikalya Noel and Jacqueline Feehan[6] 7-5, 2-6, 6-0

Sixteen-year-old Julieta Pareja moved to No. 1 in the latest ITF Junior girls rankings after advancing to the singles and doubles finals at Wimbledon. There is a new No. 1 in the boys rankings too, with Wimbledon champion Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria moving to the top spot.

Rising Stanford freshman Tianmei Wang won her first Pro Circuit title in the seventh and final week of the SoCal Pro Series, beating top seed Kayla Day 6-4, 6-3 in the championship match of the W15  Sunday at San Diego State.  Below is the recap from Damian Secore, which features comments from Day on Julieta Pareja and her recent run on the grass.

 

Tianmei Wang Defeats Kayla Day in Women's Singles Final to Earn First Pro Championship

in the 2025 SoCal Pro Series' Concluding Event at San Diego State

 

Australian Dane Sweeny Captures Men's Singles Title in Three-Set Comeback Over San Diegan Keegan Smith;

UCLA Teammates Rudy Quan and Emon van Loben Sels Win Men's Doubles Championship to Record Their First Pro Titles

 

July 13, 2025 – Tianmei Wang is exactly the type of player USTA Southern California had in mind when it created the SoCal Pro Series and launched its spring/summer collection of $15,000-purse tournaments on the ITF World Tennis Tour and USTA Pro Circuit in May 2022. 

 

The Stanford-bound San Marino resident who just graduated from San Marino High School a little over a month ago has never played an ITF professional tournament outside of Southern California, as Wang said it would be too hard on her and her family to travel while she is attending school.

 

Of the 10 ITF pro events Wang has played, the last nine have come on the SoCal Pro Series, with her first appearance coming in a first-round defeat in Lakewood in 2023. It remains the only time she has lost in the first round and, on Sunday at the 2025 SoCal Pro Series finale at San Diego State University’s Aztec Tennis Center, her commitment and dedication to the circuit paid her the ultimate dividend.

 

Wang, 18, closed out her fifth SoCal Pro Series tournament in the past seven weeks by earning her first ever professional title in a 6-4, 6-3 victory over top-seeded Kayla Day, of Santa Barbara, in the women's singles final. Wang reached the SoCal Pro Series' singles semifinals in Week 3 at the University of San Diego and in Week 5 at Lakewood Tennis Center, losing to the eventual champion in both of those events. The SoCal Pro Series gods smiled down on her this weekend.

 

"It means so much that I came out on top out of so many great opponents," said Wang, who was supported in Sunday's crowd by her father, Xuesong, and was warmed up before Sunday's match by her future Stanford teammate and close friend, Alyssa Ahn, who lost to Day, 3-6, 3-6, in Saturday's semifinals. "This is one of my bigger tournaments that I have won. I lost in the semifinals of USD (in Week 3) and I was so mad at myself because I really wanted to play Alyssa in that final. It was (going to be), like, a win-win because it's all Cardinal. And then I was like, 'You know what, I will make it into the final of another one. I promised myself. I remember I told myself that. But I didn't really believe until it happened.

 

"Without the SoCal Pro Series, it wouldn't have given me so many opportunities to get better. It has meant so much to me because over the summer there's not a lot of tournaments that I can play. It's really amazing that USTA SoCal put together so many good tournaments with so many good players so I can train for these right after school ends. I think my game has advanced over the past seven weeks. Just knowing you have so many more opportunities and so many more matches really gets you excited on trying to improve on your game. It's nice to have tournaments right near where you live."

 

Wang overcame a 0-4 deficit in the first set and was down a break at 0-2 in the second set before she made some tactical adjustments and found her rhythm in staging her furious rallies in each set.

 

"I physically feel fine," said Wang, who played her last four SoCal Pro Series events with shin splints on her right leg. "I ran track on my high school team. It was a lot of conditioning I did for my high school, so I feel like I was pretty prepared. I feel like I was running well, moving well and getting up to short balls well. I was trying to take the ball a lot earlier. She (Day) wasn't moving that well. I think I was moving her well around the court.

 

"I'm just, overall, really happy with how I played this week. Especially with the nerves. I haven't been on this stage. I haven't been playing that many pro tournaments before because I go to school. I'm really happy with how I handled myself, especially when it got tight towards the end and I was really going for my shots. I'm really proud of myself."

 

Wang wound up eliminating the tournament's top three seeds, upending No. 2 seed Ukrainian Anita Sahdiieva, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, in Friday's quarterfinals and ousting University of Texas-bound No. 3 seed Christasha McNeil, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, in Saturday's semifinals after falling behind 1-4 in the first set. Wang does not plan to play any more Futures events in the next two months before moving to Stanford. She plans to take the next few weeks to rest, recover and train for the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships in San Diego in August and has hopes of playing in the US Open Junior Championships.

 

Wang gained 15 WTA world ranking points and a $2,352 prize, while Day received 10 WTA world ranking points and a $1,470 runner-up share.

 

A five-time ITF singles champion, Day (No. 463 WTA ranking) held a career-best WTA ranking of No. 84 in April 2024. She reached the third round of the French Open in 2023. In 2024, Day competed in the main draw at the Australian Open and French Open and the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, among other WTA events, and also in the qualifying stages at Wimbledon and the US Open.

 

This week's SoCal Pro Series finale was a step in the right direction on Day's hardcourt pathway leading up to US Open qualifying in late August. Day, 25, wrapped up her eighth tournament of 2025 — all since the end of April — as she continues to progress in her recovery and match fitness from December surgery to repair a pinched nerve in her right ankle that forced her out of tournament action for nearly seven months.

 

Day cruised through the previous four rounds of the tournament, not having dropped more than three games in any set. Wang, however, was a different opponent altogether, and it was Wang who was dictating more of the points as she got comfortable with the pace of the rallies and the match went on.

 

Said Day: "I think she started reading my balls better and catching up to my pace a little bit. I think my level dropped a little bit. She was returning my serve really well, so I give her credit. As the match went on, unfortunately, she was definitely moving me more than I was moving her, which was the biggest problem, I think. And I was struggling with my movement today because I have some pretty bad blisters on my feet. It's kind of a bad combination.

 

"I'm really happy to be able to play five matches in a row — I haven't been able to do that — so it's definitely a good stepping stone. I'm sure in a couple hours I'll be looking back and feeling much happier. To win four matches in a row is definitely a confidence booster. No matter how small a big tournament, being in a final is a good feeling. I'm pretty upset right now. I feel like when you get so close, it stings a little bit more, but it's also a good thing."

 

Day's protected ranking assures her of participation in the few Challenger events she has scheduled this summer, beginning with a 100-level event in Evansville, Ind. in a week, and in US Open qualifying.

 

Of note, Day lost to Carlsbad resident Julieta Pareja, 6-7(5), 4-6, in the first round of last year’s US Open qualifying. That match was played roughly two months after Pareja became the SoCal Pro Series’ youngest singles champion, at age 15, when she won last year’s event at Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club.

 

While Day finished as a SoCal Pro Series runner-up, Pareja finished runner-up in singles and doubles at Wimbledon’s Junior Championships on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Pareja partnered in doubles with fellow 16-year-old Thea Frodin, a Woodland Hills resident who played in two SoCal Pro Series events over the past month.

 

Day remembers her tight match against Pareja at Flushing Meadows last August, and Pareja left an impression on her.

 

“She’s great. A young up-and-comer, and she played really well,” Day said of Pareja. “I’ve seen she’s had some really good results, so I’m happy for her. I saw she won the (Wimbledon) warm-up event (J300 Roehampton) as well. And she did well at a WTA (WTA 250 in Bogota, Colombia) earlier this year; she made the semis.”

 

In Sunday's men’s singles final, San Diego native Keegan Smith, a 2017 Point Loma High School and 2021 UCLA graduate, faded after a fast start in losing, 6-1, 3-6, 2-6, to No. 2 seed Dane Sweeny, of Australia, on Saturday afternoon. Sweeny, 24, won a round of qualifying at January's Australian Open and won his eighth ITF singles crown on Sunday. His previous seven Futures wins came within Australia in 2022 and 2023.

 

Smith (No. 497 ATP ranking), 27, was aiming to win the first and last singles tournaments of the 2025 SoCal Pro Series. He beat University of San Diego graduate student Savriyan Danilov in Week 1 at Barnes Tennis Center, and he put himself in position to play for a fourth ITF singles title after knocking off Topanga resident and recent UC Santa Barbara graduate Gianluca Brunkow, 6-3, 6-4, in Saturday's semifinals.

 

Playing with a bone bruise and some inflammation in his right foot during his 2025 SoCal Pro Series stint, which limited him to playing only three of the seven tournaments, Smith initially did not sign up to play in this concluding tournament but changed his mind after accepting a wild card offer from USTA Southern California. 

 

"I had only practiced a few days — I took three weeks off. I was pretty happy with how I did. I was right there in that second set to win it," Smith said. "The first set, I was just trusting it and going for it. I felt like maybe I got a little more tentative. I started grinding a little bit and that's not really my game, and that plays into him, for sure. I think, over time, he's going to win that. I got a little tired, started missing first serves. The first set, I was hitting my spots seamlessly. Little nerves, a little fatigue, all that stuff kind of plays in. He started getting his mojo. I think he's in better shape than me right now, too, and he's probably a little bit better than me from the back."

 

Smith will take another week at home in San Diego for recovery and family time before heading to Europe to play events for the majority of the remainder of the summer. He said he would be open to returning to play on the circuit next year even if by then he is playing at a Challenger Tour level, which is his hope.

 

"I got a lot of points, a lot of confidence, a lot of good matches," Smith said of his 2025 SoCal Pro Series experience. "It was cool that I just got to stay at home and see my family. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoy tennis and hopefully I can keep working hard and staying focused and can make it to the next level one day."

 

Sweeny (No. 575 ATP ranking) reached the SoCal Pro Series final for the second consecutive week after registering a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 semifinal win over Ladera Ranch resident and UCLA returning junior Spencer Johnson.

 

Sweeny collected 15 ATP singles ranking points and a $2,160 winner’s prize. Smith received eight ATP ranking points and a $1,272 check as runner-up.

 

All four participants in Saturday's men's doubles final sought their first ITF men's professional championship, and it was UCLA returning sophomore and No. 1 player Rudy Quan, of Thousand Oaks and Bruins teammate Emon van Loben Sels triumphantly tallying a 6-4, 6-3 victory over twins and San Diego residents Jayson and Michael Blando, graduates of Rancho Bernardo High School and the University of Utah.

 

Quan and van Loben Sels earned 15 ATP doubles ranking points each and split a $930 champion’s prize, while the Blando brothers collected eight ATP doubles ranking points each and split a $540 check.

 

Saturday's women's doubles final saw Sahdiieva collect her fourth SoCal Pro Series doubles crown of 2025, and her second with partner Kylie Collins, in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over former University of Arizona teammates Midori Castillo-Meza, a 21-year-old Tijuana, Mexico native, and Brandelyn Fulgenzi.

 

Overall, it was the ninth ITF Futures doubles win for Sahdiieva and the fifth for Collins. Sahdiieva and Collins tallied 15 WTA doubles ranking points each and split a $955 winner’s check. Meza and Fulgenzi received 10 WTA doubles ranking points each and split a $515 runner-up prize.

 

 

Match of the Week

Men’s Singles, Quarterfinals – Gianluca Brunkow d. Kyle Kang, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2

Topanga resident Brunkow, who finished his career as UC Santa Barbara's No. 1 player during the 2024-25 NCAA season and was named an All-Big West First Team selection in singles and doubles, smoothly segued to play in his third USTA Pro Circuit and SoCal Pro Series main draw. He achieved his first ATP ranking point and advanced to his first pro semifinal in the same week after outlasting Fullerton native Kang, who returns to Stanford for his junior year in September after having won his first ITF pro singles crown the week before (Week 6) on the SoCal Pro Series at Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates. The 2025 SoCal Pro Series served up breakthrough moments for both Southern Californians.

The second week of the USTA's men's US Open Wild Card Challenge saw Stanford rising senior Samir Banerjee move to the top of the race, with Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M), after his title at the M25 in Dallas. 

 

US Open Wild Card Challenge Standings Update

 

Orlando, Fla., July 14, 2025 – Former Wimbledon junior champion and current Stanford star Samir Banerjee joined Patrick Kypson in the co-lead of the men's US Open Wild Card Challenge after a Week 2 that saw Banerjee win his second pro singles title, at the USTA Pro Circuit M25 in Dallas. Dallas finalist Alex Rybakov, a former junior and TCU standout, rose to No. 3 by reaching the final. The current men's standings after Week 2 of 6: 

 

Men's Standings:

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

 

T1. Patrick Kypson (218) -- 25

T1. Samir Banerjee (637) -- 25

3. Alex Rybakov (343) -- 20
4. Michael Zheng (455) -- 18
T5. Darwin Blanch (410) -- 16

T5. Adhithya Ganesan (575) -- 16

 

The men's wild card will go to the American with the highest cumulative total of ATP singles ranking points earned from their best four results over six weeks. The Men's Challenge counts outdoor and indoor hard-court events at the M25-level and above around the world. 

 

The Women's Challenge begins with events the Week of July 21. The women's wild card will go to the American with the highest cumulative total of WTA singles ranking points earned from their best two results over three weeks. The Women's Challenge counts outdoor and indoor hard-court events at the W35-level and above around the world. 

 

For both the men and the women, results from the first two rounds of the Cincinnati Open will be included if those rounds are completed by the end of the day on Monday, August 11. If all second round matches are not completed by that deadline, then only first-round results will be considered.

 

Both main draw and qualifying points earned count toward each player’s Challenge total.

 

Americans who otherwise earn direct entry into the US Open are not eligible, including those who can enter with a protected ranking. Should the player with the highest number of Challenge points earn direct entry into the US Open, the wild card will go to the next eligible American in the Challenge points standings. In the event of a tie, the player with the best ATP or best WTA singles ranking on Monday, August 11, will earn the wild card.

Wimbledon Champions Dinner Beckons Boys Winner Ivanov, Girls Doubles Champions Penickova and Valdmannova

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Wimbledon--

Ivan Ivanov admitted that the legendary Wimbledon Champions dinner had crossed his mind in the past few days as he made his way through the Wimbledon boys singles field without dropping a set.

The 16-year-old from Bulgaria assured himself that honor with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over Ronit Karki, ending the impressive run of the American qualifier in front of near capacity audience on Court One.

If the longtime student at the Rafael Nadal Academy was nervous, he showed absolutely no sign of it, making 15 of 16 first serves in his first three service games to take a 4-1 lead.

"I knew my serve is going well," said Ivanov, who did not lose a set in his six victories, winning all four of the tiebreakers he played. "I wanted it to go well very badly, so I could have position on the court. I was feeling my serve very well today, probably my best weapon."

Ivanov inevitably did come down from that lofty percentage, ending with a first serve percentage of 65, but he was still able to control the court with his depth and pace, hitting 22 winners and making only 15 unforced errors.

Karki was able to adjust after saving two break points to keep from falling behind 4-0, but he never got any closer than deuce in any Ivanov service game, who did not a face break point in the match. In the second set, Ivanov used his potent forehand to break for a 3-1 lead and kept that break in the second and last deuce game of the match on his serve with an ace--in by the smallest of margins on the Electronic Line Calling replay--that gave him a game point. Karki made an unforced forehand error, and that proved to be the last of the match's drama, as much as the ever growing crowd, arriving on site for the men's final, were hoping otherwise.

Karki held in his next two service games, forcing Ivanov to serve out the match. Ivanov finally showed he was not immune to pressure, missing his first serve on the first four points, but he did not double fault and Karki did not take advantage of his opportunities, making an unforced error on a second serve return to give Ivanov two match points. 

Karki made a good return on the first, forcing an error from Ivanov, but a devious backhand on the sideline in the next rally ended it, with Ivanov collapsing on the baseline, flat on his back, arms extended, to celebrate the first Wimbledon title for a Bulgarian since Grigor Dimitrov won here in 2008.

Karki felt he handled the occasion as well, credited Ivanov for his commitment to playing aggressively throughout the match.

"I think handled my nerves pretty well, stayed calm the whole match, didn't get too down on myself," said the 17-year-old from New Jersey. "But he definitely played a great match. I felt the pressure from him from the first point, going for shots and that ended up paying off. He took more risks, and on that second match point I thought he'd play a low-risk ball, keep the rally going, but he played with a lot of balls today, and that shot  just reflects it."

Karki, playing his eighth match of the tournament, said he felt fine physically, and while he appreciated the day off Saturday, would have had no problem playing the final then.

"Honestly I felt I could have played a match yesterday, I felt good," Karki said. "I was recovering pretty good the whole week, physically I felt great yesterday, but I felt even better today."

Karki's next tournament is the USTA Nationals in Kalamazoo, less than three weeks away, and he has gained added confidence in his game from his results this week. 

"It just gives me more confidence that I can play at a very high level," Karki said. "Obviously it's a little different, playing on grass and all, but it's more about the competing. I had a lot of matches where I was kind of behind and found a way to figure it out and not panic, so I think from that perspective, it will help me a lot to grow as a player and as a competitor."

Ivanov also was able to zero in on the mental strides he made since he lost in the semifinals at Roland Garros last month.

"My discipline, that's something that I'm really working on," said Ivanov, who will attempt to win back-to-back junior slam titles in New York, as Dimitrov did in 2008. "My way of being on the court from the beginning to the end. And not disconnecting at any point is something that I had been working on. I think that's what I did better in London, than in Paris."

After taking longer than normal to fall asleep last night in anticipation of the final, Ivanov can now relax and address another problem that is not related to playing in a first junior slam final on Wimbledon's Court One: how he'll find formal wear for the Champions Dinner.

"Well right now we're dealing with it," Ivanov said. "I didn't expect I'm going to win. So that's a good problem to have."

If Ivanov didn't expect to be attending the Champions Dinner, the girls doubles champions were even more surprised to be in that position, with Kristina Penickova of the United States and Vendula Valdmannova of the Czech Republic both scrambling for partners prior to teaming up at last week's J300 in Roehampton.

Although the No. 8 seeds lost in the quarterfinals there, and dropped their opening set in the first round at Wimbledon, they emerged as champions with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 5 seeds Thea Frodin and Julieta Pareja of the United States.

"I think that first set was even necessary to lose," said Penickova, who won the Australian Open girls title in January with twin sister Annika, who is out with an injury. "They [first round opponents] definitely had an interesting game, so it took a little bit to adjust, but once we got to the third set, once we adjusted, I think we got a pretty good rhythm."

Valdmannova, whose initial partner, 2024 Orange Bowl champion Tereza Krejcova, also withdrew with an injury, was delighted to have a slam champion available when she was seeking a new partner.

"I was just like, hey, are we playing doubles?" Penickova said. "And I said sure," Valdmannova said. "And here we are."

After dropping that first set, Valdmannova and Penickova won their next three match 7-6, 6-2, and acknowledged they were ready for those tight moments.

"I've had a lot of tiebreakers in doubles," Penickova said. "In those situations, you just say, here we go, there's nothing to lose in the end, so you just kind of go for it." "She knows what to do," Valdmannova said. "She's the boss."

In the final, they avoided a tiebreaker by saving all five break points they faced while converting three out of five in the 59-minute final on Show Court 12.

After several enthusiastic hugs to celebrate on court, Penickova and Valdmannova turned their attention to the perks of a Wimbledon title.

"We get to pick out dresses," Penickova said, with Wimbledon supplying many options for the champions to choose from. "They have hairdressers and makeup," Valdmannova said, with a mixture of excitement and anticipation in her voice.

For Penickova, it was novel to play alongside someone other than her sister, but her comfortable level with Valdmannova was evident throughout the week.

"It's definitely different," Penickova said. "But I think we understand each other really well, obviously, because we both speak Czech, so I think that really, really helps, and we've known each other for a while now. Obviously I miss playing with my sister, but it's also amazing playing with her."

The 14 and under champions were crowned today, also on Show Court 12, with Mortiz Freitag of Austria and Sakino Miyazawa of Japan claiming the titles.

Freitag defeated Rafael Pagonis 4-6, 6-1, 10-4, while Sakino Miyazawa of Japan also came from behind, beating Sofia Bielinska of Ukraine 3-6 7-5, 10-5.

I'll have more on the 14s finals in an article for Tennis Recruiting Network later this month, but in my conversation with Freitag after his match and before the men's final, he revealed that his favorite pro player was Jannik Sinner, who beat two-time defending champion Carlos Alcarez 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to close out the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.

"It is Jannik Sinner," the 13-year-old, who bears a definite resemblance to the ATP World No. 1. "I like the way he is playing and I'm also a little bit like him. I hope he's winning today."

The American trio closed out their tournament today with group consolation finals, with Tristan Ascenzo defeating Yu Ting Wu of China 6-4, 7-6(4) and Carol Shao beating Emery Combs 6-3, 6-3 in an all-USA contest.

All the boys results are here; the girls results are here.