Down 6-1 in Third Set Tiebreaker, Kotseva Advances to Second Round at ITF J300 San Diego; Carroll Claims J60 in El Salvador; Vanderbilt Defeats No. 2 Texas A&M; Miami Open Main Draw Begins Tuesday

©Colette Lewis 2025--

San Diego CA--

First round matches more dramatic than today's contest between Raya Kotseva and Calla McGill are rare, with both players saving match points before Kosteva came from 6-1 down in the third set tiebreaker to claim a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(9) win on the opening day of the ITF J300 North American Regional Championships at the Barnes Tennis Center.

"I had four match points at 5-3," said the 14-year-old from Las Vegas, "and she had seven or eight. That was a roller coaster."

McGill, a 17-year-old from Virginia, lost two points on one shot up 6-1 in the tiebreaker. She called a shot from Kotseva wide on the far sideline but was overruled by a roving umpire, then was assessed a point penalty, making the score 6-3. McGill had her best chance at getting out the match at 6-5 in the tiebreaker but she hit a sitter forehand well long, she earned two more at 7-6 and 8-7, but Kotseva cracked a backhand winner for 8-all, then forced an error to earn her first match point since the four she had at 5-3. McGill saved that one when Kotseva sent a first serve return long, but that was the last point she would win, with an unforced forehand error giving Kotseva her sixth match point. Her second serve was good enough, with McGills return hitting the tape and dropping back on her side to end the three-hour battle.

"When I was down 6-1, I was just like, everybody's watching, I might as well give it my all on the last point, whenever that is," Kotseva said. "I hit the winner, she got the point penalty and I thought 'maybe this will go my way now.' I hit a few good shots, she missed a winner at 6-5; I was kind of lucky."

Kotseva and McGill had played before, two years ago at a USTA Level 3, and that had gone to a match tiebreaker in lieu of a third set, which Kotseva won.

"She's an amazing player, it's always tough to play against her," Kosteva said. "She's very joyful on the court, fights until the last point too. She's just awesome."

It didn't get much easier for Kotseva in her first round doubles match later in the day, when she and Lucie Oyebog defeated Carrie-Anne Hoo and Kaya Moe 7-6(4), 0-6, 13-11.

In the boys doubles, Andrew Johnson and Nischal Spurling, a mere 24 hours removed from playing together in the final of the ITF J300 in Indian Wells, found themselves across the net from each other in the first round. It was Spurling and his partner Ford McCollum who advanced to the second round, beating Johnson and Gray Kelley 6-1, 7-6(5).

The seeds begin play on Tuesday, with boys No. 1 and Australian Open finalist Benjamin Willwerth facing qualifier Andre Alcantara, while girls No. 1 and Australian Open finalist Kristina Penickova plays qualifier Ciara Harding.

The second round of both singles and doubles are scheduled for Tuesday.

In addition to the titles for Julieta Pareja and Jagger Leach at Indian Wells last week, there was one other ITF Junior Circuit singles title for an American, with 16-year-old Jerald Carroll claiming the J60 title in El Salvador. The third-seeded Carroll, who won back-to-back J30s in Mexico last month, defeated No. 6 seed Nicolas Rivera Paz of Mexico 6-1, 6-4 in the final. 

With the Indian Wells J300 finals, I missed the big upset yesterday in women's Division I tennis, with No. 16 Vanderbilt defeated No. 2 and defending NCAA champion Texas A&M 5-2. The Aggies took the doubles point, but lost the top three singles spots, with Mary Stoiana losing to Celia-Belle Mohr, Nicole Khirin falling to Valeria Ray and Mia Kupres losing to Bridget Stammel. Sophia Webster and Amy Stevens closed out their match simultaneously at lines 5 and 6 to clinch for the Commodores.

See the Vanderbilt website for a complete recap.

The Miami Open women's main draw begins Tuesday after qualifying concluded today. Three Americans advanced to the main draw: Bernada Pera, Claire Liu and Taylor Townsend. 

Tuesday's order of play, which also contains the men's final round of qualifying, is here.  Tristan Boyer(Stanford), Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA), Ethan Quinn(Georgia), Brandon Holt(USC) and 2022 Kalamazoo 16s champion Darwin Blanch are all through to the final round of qualifying. Blanch, a wild card, defeated ATP No. 119 Taro Daniel of Japan 6-7(8), 6-0, 6-3, his best win by ranking.

Leach Sweeps Titles at FILA International Championships ITF J300 Indian Wells, Pareja Claims Girls Singles Championship; San Diego J300 Begins Monday, with Willwerth, Penickova Top Seeds; ASU Takes UTR Collegiate Title; McNeil Wins ITF W15 in Montreal

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Indian Wells CA--

 

FILA International ITF J300 champions Jagger Leach and Julieta Pareja, who have played all three editions of event, know they'll be back to Indian Wells Tennis Garden for a fourth straight year next March, having earned wild cards into the the men's and women's qualifying draws at the BNP Paribas Open in today's finals.

Ideal weather for a second straight day, with light winds and sunny skies, gave the juniors an opportunity to show the crowds arriving early for the men's and women's final their best tennis, with top seed Leach beating No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy 7-5, 6-2 in their first meeting and No. 5 seed Pareja continuing her dominance this week with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over qualifier Alexis Nguyen.

Leach missed out on two break point opportunities in the first game, and two more in Kennedy's second service game, but he converted the third for a 2-1 lead. After two easy holds, Leach faced his first adversity of the match in his fourth service game, with Kennedy converting his fourth break point with a passing shot winner, then holding for a 5-4 lead. Leach held and then broke at 30-40 with a return winner, and served out the 44-minute 7-5 set.

"The first set was really tight and I came up with some of my best tennis in the big moments," said the 17-year-old son of Lindsay Davenport and Jon Leach. "At 5-all I hit probably my best return of the match on break point."

Leach also came up with difficult backhand overhead volley on set point, after approaching the net at 6-5, 40-30.

Leach also got the first break in the second set, at 2-all, and went on to consolidate, but the next game was the key to his straight-sets victory.  Kennedy fought off five break points, but Leach showed no impatience or frustration and converted the sixth for the insurance break.

Closing out the championship on his first match point finally allowed Leach to consider that qualifying wild card next year.

"I never try to set result-oriented goals, because it's not something I can control," Leach said. "That's something I've been working on recently is to detach from the result. All my goals were oriented around being a good competitor, do what I could, and I accomplished those goals. It was nice this week that it came with a win; it made it even sweeter."

Kennedy was disappointed with his own level of play, acknowledging that Leach handled the occasion better and may have been physically fresher.

"He played really well today, definitely deserved the win today, he was the better player," said the 16-year-old Kennedy, who also reached the final last year. "He definitely handled the pressure better than me today. I was feeling the nerves early on and the legs weren't as feeling well as they did the previous matches."

Kennedy and Leach will both be heading to the USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Bakersfield California next week, where they will be underdogs, not favorites as they were this week in Indian Wells.

"It will definitely be a different kind of pressure I'll be feeling next week compared to this week," said Kennedy, who has two ATP points with first round winners at two Pro Circuit tournaments. "This week people look at the draw and expect me to make a deep run or win it. Next week it's just more seeing how my game is against the pros, a test, another learning type of week."

Leach is full of confidence after this week's five straight-sets victories, but knows it may not translate into success next week.

"It's polar opposites," said Leach, who had committed to TCU for this fall. "I go from No. 1 seed to needing a wild card to get into the tournament. I'm going in feeling good, with a lot of matches, so hopefully I can carry this momentum into next week as well."

In the girls final that followed on Stadium 3, which featured all the trappings of a BNP Paribas match with a DJ, ball kids and and MC, Pareja started out dictating play and never really allowed Nguyen an opportunity to derail her fast start.

Losing only three points on serve in her first three service games, Pareja took a 4-1 lead, as Nguyen, usually not prone to unforced errors, was having trouble staying in the rallies. 

Pareja finally faced a difficult service game in her attempt to serve out the set at 5-1, saving two break points before Nguyen donated another unforced error for the set.

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Nguyen started with a hold to open the second set, but she was broken in her next service game. Her chances to get back level came quickly with Pareja going down 0-40 serving at 2-1, but Pareja won the next five points, then broke at love to take control of set.

"I just went point by point," said Pareja, a 16-year-old Californian. "That was a really important game."

Nguyen agreed.

"I had a chance there, it could have been a closer match," said the 17-year-old Californian Nguyen, who was playing her ninth match in nine days. "That was a big game. She played really well today, she played a great match.  My ball was just sitting too much and she was able to take advantage of it. She made sure to stay on it the entire match."

Although the finish line was in sight when she got her fifth break of the match for a 5-2 lead in the second set, Pareja refused to envision a title.

"I don't like to look ahead," said Pareja, who trains with Adam Peterson and Agustin Velotti in Carlsbad California. "I know if you look ahead, it can come back at you, so I just like to go point by point and see where that takes me."

That discipline has led her to another women's qualifying wild card at the BNP Paribas Open next March, a prize she had kept from thinking about until after the match.

"I forgot about it," said Pareja, who lost to Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-4 in this year's qualifying tournament. "But I'm super happy."

With her second ITF J300 title of the year, both coming without the loss of a set, Pareja now has secured a place in the Roland Garros and Wimbledon junior championships, which she has yet to play. 

"I'm so excited to play French and Wimbledon," said Pareja, who is also expecting to play the J500 in Milan and some women's Pro Circuit tournaments on clay in preparation for Roland Garros.

Like Pareja, Nguyen is skipping next week's J300 in San Diego for some much needed rest.

"I'll go back and practice for maybe two weeks," said Nguyen, who is coached by Joe Gilbert at the JMG Academy in Sacramento. "Then we'll look for some $15ks or $35Ks to play."

Both doubles champions were playing their first tournament as a team this week, with No. 2 seeds Thea Frodin and Leena Friedman defeating unseeded Maria Aytoyan and Sabrina Lin 6-1, 7-6(9) and Noah Johnston and Leach, also seeded No. 2, beating No. 8 seeds Andrew Johnson and Nischal Spurling 6-3, 6-2.

Frodin and Friedman breezed through the first set, but found the second set much tougher going.

"It was a combination," said Frodin, a 16-year-old Californian. "They raised their level a lot and we started being a little more passive. But towards the end, we just told ourselves to give it our all and we brought it out in the end."

Friedman and Frodin felt comfortable with each other from the beginning and didn't drop a set in their four victories despite their inexperience as a team.

"I feel our communication got better and better as the week went on," said Friedman, a 17-year-old New Yorker. "We really knew how to bring the energy out of each other, and keep fighting. And it was a lot of fun to play together too."

Leach had reached the doubles final here in Indian Wells in all three of its editions, winning the title with Joseph Oyebog in 2023 and falling in the final last year. But despite that track record, it was Leach who was scrambling for a partner.

"I had to convince him," said Leach, who no doubt knew Johnston had six doubles titles at the J200 and J300 level on his resume. "After he won (the J300 Porto Alegre) Brazil, I asked him."

Leach said they needed some time to acclimate to each other.

"It took us a few matches," Leach said. "The first few matches, the level was suspect." "There were a couple of battles the first few rounds," Johnston added. "But we started playing better in the bigger moments and the more tennis we played together, the better we got."

Leach cited Johnston's energy and volleys as a key to their success, while Johnston appreciated his partner's "125 mph serve. It's really nice to put away the volleys after that. And he brings so much positive energy, it helps me relax on court."

Johnston retired from his singles semifinal match against Leach on Saturday, but he said he is feeling better and is playing San Diego.

"I've been getting a lot of treatment," said Johnston, a 17-year-old from South Carolina. "The trainers here, Jacob and TD, have been helping me out a lot, so I'll be ready to go."

Qualifying for ITF J300 San Diego North American Regional Championships concluded today, with first round matches scheduled for Monday. The seeds, listed below, will not play until Tuesday in the 48-player draws.

ITF J300 San Diego seeds

(USA unless indicated otherwise)

Boys

1. Benjamin Willwerth

2. Noah Johnston

3. Ryan Cozad

4. Maximus Dussault

5. Jack Satterfield

6. Jack Secord

7. Ronit Karki

8. Lachlan Gaskell

9. Gavin Goode

10. Matisse Farzam

11. Nischal Spurling

12. Roshan Santhosh

13. Yubel Ubri

14. Simon Caldwell

15. Jacob Olar

16. Andrew Johnson

Girls

1. Kristina Penickova

2. Annika Penickova

3 (withdrew)

4. Leena Friedman

5. Capucine Jauffret

6. Aspen Schuman

7. Claire An

8. Ava Rodriguez

9. Ishika Ashar

10. Nancy Lee

11. Kore Montoya

12. Anita Tu

13. Shannon Lam

14. Maria Aytoyan

15. Ligaya Murray

16. Welles Newman

17. Kenzie Nguyen

Wild cards:

William Kleege

David Wu

Adrien Abarca

Tianmei Wang

Elena Zhao

Caroline Zhao

Daniela Del Mastro

Sarah Ye

Yilin Chen

Arizona State claimed the title today at the UTR Collegiate Championships, with the Sun Devils defeating Baylor 4-3 in a four-hour and 45-minute dual match that started before the junior finals and was still going after all four junior titles had been awarded. 

Christasha McNeil won the title at the ITF women's World Tennis Tour W15 in Montreal Canada, defeating top seed Emily Appleton 6-4, 6-4 in today's final. The 18-year-old from New York beat the No. 3, No. 2 and No. 1 seeds in succession to capture her first professional title. 

Kennedy Reaches Second Straight ITF J300 Indian Wells Final, Leach Playing for Two Titles Sunday; Qualifier Nguyen and No. 5 Seed Pareja Advance to Girls Final; Baylor vs Arizona State in UTR College Championships Final; McNeil Makes W15 Final in Canada

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Indian Wells CA--

In a week with almost no upsets in the boys draw of the ITF J300 FILA International Championships, it's fitting that the final will come down to the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, with top seed Jagger Leach and second seed Jack Kennedy earning semifinal wins in distinctly different scenarios.

Kennedy, who lost to wild card Rudy Quan in the final last year as the No. 10 seed, defeated friend and training partner Keaton Hance 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, with temperatures in the low 70s and no wind provding ideal conditions for long and competitive points.

Kennedy, who reached the Kalamazoo 18s final last August, acknowledged he is in a much different position this year than when he was the underdog in 2024.

"This year it's a little different, obviously not being the youngest guy in the tournament, I've got a little more pressure," said the ITF world junior No. 7, who turns 17 in June. "But kudos to me and my team with all the work we've put in for my ranking, seeing that No. 2 on the scoreboard, that looks nice."

Hance has also seen his ranking rise dramatically this winter, with a 23-5 record in J300 and J500s, including his first J300 title in Colombia. But Hance and Kennedy had not played competitively in nearly two years, which made today's meeting full of intrigue.

"The pressure level is a little bit higher, playing your friend, but it's actually a cool thing, going out with your friend, killing each other until our legs are torn apart," Kennedy said. "He's had a great tournament and he's got a lot of momentum from the beginning of this year; he didn't really play a lot last year due to injury, so I'm glad to see him back out there and competing at a high level."

Kennedy has gone three sets in three of his four matches this week, losing the second set all three times.

"The guys were playing really well and playing freely, and they had no pressure to lose," Kennedy said. "But I was staying the course. Me and my coach (Greg Lumpkin) always say just stay with them and you'll get your chances."

Leach has his own finals history with this three-year-old tournament, taking the doubles title in 2023 with Joseph Oyebog; this year he will play for both the singles and doubles title after No. 4 seed Noah Johnston, Leach's doubles partner, retired trailing 5-2 in the first set.

"Yesterday in the doubles he was ok and I was ready for a really tough match," said Leach, who will turn 18 in June. "In the second or third game, he took a weird step and then I saw him limping back to get the balls, but I'm not really sure what happened."

Johnston did play in the doubles semifinal a few hours later without any noticeable injury, with No. 2 seeds Leach and Johnston beating No. 7 seeds Simon Caldwell and Gavin Goode 7-5, 6-2.

Leach said earlier in the week that he was not going to think about next year's BNP Paribas Open qualifying wild card awarded to the junior champion until he was closer to winning it, but now has shifted that thought until after the final.

"Not yet, I'm just worried about Noah and the doubles match right now," said Leach, who will be playing in his second J300 final, having won his first last spring in Malaysia. 

Leach has not played Kennedy before, but he has traveled with most of the Americans competing here in the past couple of years. 

"It's very exciting, we've got a good group of guys coming up," said Leach, who reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in January, losing to another American, Benjamin Willwerth, who is not playing this event. "All of us Americans are pretty close, when we travel on the road, we warm up together a lot. Hopefully we can try to push the guys on tour now a few years down the road."

 

Leach said the BNP Paribas fans that gathered around Stadium 4 today and will no doubt drop in for the final on Stadium 3 at 10 a.m. Sunday add to the atmosphere at one of his favorite venues.

"It's really nice, and I appreciate the support, but I try to do the same things regardless," said Leach, who also had his mother Lindsay Davenport and father Jonathan Leach at his semifinal today. "The first grand slam or two I played it was a big difference, so it took me a little bit to adjust, but I feel like I'm getting more used to it now and am enjoying it. It's really fun to look up and see people watching and supporting."

While the boys draw has gone as expected, the girls draw has not, with three unseeded players and No. 5 Julieta Pareja advancing to the semifinals. 

Pareja defeated Adla Lopez 6-3, 6-3 for her fourth consecutive straight-sets victory; for qualifier Alexis Nguyen, her 6-3, 6-2 win over Kristina Liutova was her eighth victory since last Saturday, all in straight sets.

Pareja had not faced Lopez before, but she adjusted to the challenges the 16-year-old Floridian provided as a left-hander. 

"I had to concentrate on where my serves were going, serve placement, and second serve as well" said Pareja, a 16-year-old from Carlsbad California. "I was trying to push her to her backhand side, but opening up the court from whichever side."

Pareja acknowledges that the match she lost 6-4, 6-4 on Stadium 5 to Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic in women's qualifying two weeks ago presented challenges distinct from those she faces in junior competition.

"It is a different mindset, a different tournament I would say," said Pareja, who reached the final round of US Open women's qualifying last August. "But going into a match, I always go into any match, the same. It could be the bigger crowd, the match can be tougher. I thought I played well, it was a close match, very close, I had some opportunities. Overall it was a great experience and I'm really grateful to have had the opportunity."

Nguyen is no stranger to big stages, having won the Orange Bowl 16s in 2022, but the 17-year-old from Sacramento will be playing in her first J300 final in her sixth tournament at that level.

Nguyen said her matches this week, at least in the main draw, have not been as easy as the scores might suggest.

"For this whole tournament, the scores haven't been close, but it's been long points, long games," Nguyen said. "Percentage over time has really worked for me."

Nguyen said she feels fine physically, although she may not play the San Diego J300 next week given her nine matches this week. But she detected signs of fatigue from Liutova as the match neared its conclusion.

"Every point, even if I lost it, I could see she was tired over there, she was bent over, taking a medical, she was taking a lot time," Nguyen said. "I saw that and I was like, this is exactly what I want. So the longer the points, the better it is for me. As long as I was playing the right point I was happy with it."

Nguyen wasn't reticent about the opportunity she has Sunday to earn a qualifying wild card for next year's BNP Paribas. 

"That was the goal for this tournament," Nguyen said. "That's what we wanted."

The girls singles final will follow the boys on Court 3.

The doubles finals are also set for Sunday, beginning at 10 a.m. on Stadium 4 with unseeded Maria Aytoyan and Sabrina Lin facing No. 2 seeds Thea Frodin and Leena Friedman for the girls championship.

Aytoyan and Lin defeated unseeded Isabelle DeLuccia and Carrie-Anne Hoo 4-6, 7-5, 10-2; Frodin and Friedman beat No. 6 seeds Welles Newman and Nancy Lee 6-2, 6-1.

Leach and Johnston, the No. 2 seeds, will face No. 8 seeds Andrew Johnson and Nischal Spurling for the boys title, after Leach receives suitable rest after his 10 a.m. singles match. Johnson and Spurling defeated No. 5 seeds Ryan Cozad and Matisse Farzam 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals.

While all four titles in the juniors will go to Americans, only one player from the US will take home a championship from the BNP Paribas Open: women's doubles winner Asia Muhammad. Muhammad and partner Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands won their first title as a team, with the unseeded pair defeating unseeded Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia and Oliva Nicholls of Great Britain 6-2, 7-6(4).  For more on the final, see this article from the tournament website.

Sebastian Korda and Australian Jordan Thompson lost in the men's doubles final Saturday night to top seeds Mate Pavic of Croatia and Marcelo Arevalo(Tulsa) of El Salvador 6-3, 6-4. 

The final of the UTR College Championships Sunday will feature Baylor and Arizona State, after the Sun Devils won their semifinal contest with Princeton Saturday 4-2. Baylor had defeated Pepperdine 4-3 in Friday's semifinal. The final and the third place match between Princeton and Pepperdine will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden practice courts.

Christasha McNeil, an 18-year-old who is no long eligible for ITF junior circuit events with her October birthday, is into her first ITF W15 final this week in Montreal Canada. The unseeded McNeil, who reached a high of 48 in the ITF junior rankings and has committed to Texas for this fall, defeated No. 2 seed Sara Daavettila(UNC) 7-5, 6-1 in today's semifinal and will face top seed Emily Appleton of Great Britain in Sunday's final. 

Top Four Boys Seeds Advance to ITF J300 FILA International Semifinals, Pareja Sole Girls Seed Remaining on Chilly Day in Indian Wells; Baylor Wins 4-3 Thriller Over Pepperdine in UTR College Championships

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Indian Wells CA--

Upsets in the boys draw this week at the ITF J300 FILA International Championships have been scarce, and there were none today, as the top four seeds advanced to Saturday's semifinals. The girls draw went in the opposite direction this week, with No. 5 Julieta Pareja the only seed reaching the semifinals, which also feature qualifier Alexis Nguyen.

Pareja, who defeated No. 13 seed Nancy Lee 6-2, 6-4 in an all-USA contest on Stadium 4, feels right at home at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, having attended the BNP Paribas Open for eight years and now playing in the ITF J300 here for the third straight year.

"I love coming here to Indian Wells," said the 16-year-old from Carlsbad California. "I used to come every year, because my sister was a ball kid. I like the conditions here, they're nice.

Pareja, who lost 6-4, 6-4 to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in the first round of qualifying here earlier this month, was facing Lee for the first time. Lee, who is 15, also has fond memories of the courts at Indian Wells, winning the Easter Bowl 14s title here in 2023. But Pareja, who has a WTA ranking of 556, was able to get out of trouble when she needed to.

"I was focused on opening up the court, using my forehand to step in when I can and take time away," Pareja said. "I also focused on my first serve as well, having a high percentage."

Pareja has a chance to earn another wild card into the qualifying next year by winning the junior title Sunday, but she doesn't see her role as the favorite as much of an advantage.

"I think it's called tennis," Pareja said. "In tennis, anything can happen. You can be surprised that first day, when all the top seeds fell, but I don't worry about the seeds, I worry about who I'm playing in my next match."

That will be Adla Lopez, the 16-year-old left-hander from Florida, who defeated wild card Maggie Sohns 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. 

The other semifinal will feature the 17-year-old Nguyen, who defeated No. 14 seed Alyssa James of Jamaica 6-2, 6-2, and 15-year-old Kristina Liutova of Russia, who beat qualifier Tianmei Wang in a two-hour and two-minute match by the deceptive score of 6-1, 6-2. 

Boys top seed Jagger Leach defeated No. 10 seed Ronit Karki 6-4, 6-2 and will face doubles partner Noah Johnston, the No. 4 seed, for a place in Sunday's final. Johnston won the battle of the left-handers, beating No. 6 seed Maximus Dussault 6-4, 6-4.

Another doubles pair will meet in the bottom half semifinal, with No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy and No. 3 seed Keaton Hance both getting through in three sets.

Kennedy came from a break down in the third set to defeat No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, while Hance needed three hours to eliminate No. 7 seed Jack Satterfield 6-3 2-6, 7-5.

Hance, a 17-year-old from Torrance California, fell behind 2-0 in the third set, got the break back and then went up a break at 4-3, but Satterfield broke back immediately.  Hance had two break points with Satterfield serving at 4-all but he couldn't convert either, with Satterfield coming up with some well-executed volleys to take a 5-4 lead.

"Of course it's super frustrating when you have the chances to be able to serve for the match and not be able to take them," said Hance, who has recently verbally committed to the University of Texas for 2026. "I was just trying to stay positive, because there's always another chance if you stay positive."

Hance credited his older brother Connor, who played at UCLA, with helping him through some of the difficult moments late in the third set and providing him with a change of strategy after dropping the second set.

"He's really into it and it's really nice to have him on the sidelines," Hance said. "I don't know if you could tell, but after the second set, I was just grinding the entire time, just staying solid,  I wasn't being aggressive at all, and Connor was telling me to get in long rallies, that was the main thing."

Hance held quickly for 5-all and with Satterfield serving, Hance again had a break point he couldn't convert, but on his fourth, Satterfield missed a volley, giving Hance the opportunity to serve for the match.  Getting first serves in was key and Hance did that, building a 40-0 lead and converting his second match point, unfazed by the large crowd that had gathered around Stadium 4 after the men's doubles semifinals had concluded on Stadium 1.

"I was just trying to stay consistent, especially on these slow courts," Hance said. "It's not any good to try to go super big, and have less of a chance to make a serve, just keep it simple, not feel the pressure of doubles faulting."

Despite their similar ages and schedules, Hance and Kennedy have met only once in competition, in the final of an ITF J60 in Spain in May of 2023, which Hance won 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. 

"We've trained a lot together of course," Hance said. "Two years ago in Spain, it was a good match but obviously it's a lot different now. I'm looking forward to it; it'll be fun."

Longtime doubles partners, and top seeds this week, Kennedy and Hance lost in the quarterfinals, with No. 5 seeds Cozad and Matisse Farzam earning a 6-2, 4-6, 11-9 victory. Cozad and Farzam will play No. 8 seeds Andrew Johnson and Nischal Spurling, who beat No. 4 seeds Satterfield and Karki 7-5, 6-3.

In the bottom half semifinals, No. 2 seeds Leach and Johnston will play No. 7 seeds Gavin Goode and Simon Caldwell. Leach and Johnston defeated No. 6 seed Jacob Olar and Australia's Cruz Hewitt 7-6(5), 6-4, while Goode and Caldwell beat Jack Secord and Dussault 7-6(5), 6-4.

An unseeded team will make the girls doubles final, after Maria Aytoyan and Sabrina Lin defeated No. 7 seeds Kayla Chung and Ava Rodriguez 6-1, 4-6, 10-7 and Isabella DeLuccia and Carrie-Anne Hoo beat Chukwumelije Clarke and Ireland O'Brien 6-4, 6-3.

In the bottom half, No. 6 seeds Lee and Welles Newman will face No. 2 seeds Leena Friedman and Thea Frodin, with Lee and Newman beating unseeded Addison Yang Comiskey of Canada 6-4, 6-7(5), 11-9 and Friedman and Frodin defeating unseeded Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann and Karlin Schock 6-2, 7-5.

The doubles semifinals were on the schedule for Friday evening, but with temperatures, which hovered in the low 60s during the day, beginning to plunge as the sun set, and several players facing a third match of the day, the four semifinals will be played Saturday instead.

While there are Americans everywhere in the junior event, there only opportunity for a US champion at the BNP Paribas Open this weekend will come in doubles, after No. 5 seed Madison Keys lost to top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-0, 6-1. Sabalenka will face 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva of Russia in Sunday's women's final. 

Asia Muhammad and her partner Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands will play in the women's doubles final Saturday against Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia and Olivia Nicholls of Great Britain.  Sebastian Korda and his partner Jordan Thompson of Australia will play for the men's doubles title Saturday night, with top seed Marcelo Arevalo(Tulsa) of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia their opponents. 

The first semifinal of the UTR College Championships this morning on the Indian Wells Tennis Garden practice courts went for more than three and a half hours and finished with No. 14 Baylor defeating No. 28 Pepperdine 4-3.  The shouts, chants and cheers reverberated through the grounds as the match came down to a third set tiebreaker between Pepperdine's Maxi Homberg and Baylor's Oskar Brostrom Poulsen at line 2, with Brostrom Poulsen taking it 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(7). 

Baylor will play in Sunday's final against the winner of Saturday's 9:30 a.m. match between No. 26 Princeton and No. 45 Arizona State.

Boys Seeding Near Perfect, Girls Draw Wide Open for Friday's Quarterfinals at the FILA International Championships; Keys Reaches Semifinals at BNP Paribas Open

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Indian Wells CA--

The weather forecast for Thursday in the Coachella Valley was a dire one, but no one at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden was complaining when the predicted rain failed to materialize. Although temperatures were 20 degrees below normal and the wind, particularly in the afternoon, made it feel much colder, the ITF J300 FILA International Championships are on schedule, with the singles and doubles quarterfinals set for Friday.

The boys draw has proceeded as predicted, with the only top eight seed failing to make the quarterfinals No. 8 Jack Secord, who lost to No. 10 seed Ronit Karki 7-6(10), 6-2.  Karki will play top seed Jagger Leach, who defeated No. 15 seed Matisse Farzam 6-4, 7-6(5).

No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy, the 2024 finalist, ended the run of wild card Donald Nikolas Stoot 6-3, 6-3 and will face No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad, who beat unseeded Jacob Olar 7-6(5), 6-4.  No. 7 seed Jack Satterfield, who downed No. 12 seed Calvin Baierl 7-6(8), 6-1, will play No. 3 seed Keaton Hance, who edged unseeded Sebastian Eie of Norway 6-3, 7-6(5).  The two quarterfinalists who had the toughest third round victories, No. 6 seed Maximus Dussault and No. 4 seed Noah Johnston, will face off in the fourth quarterfinal. Dussault came back to defeat fellow left-hander Aaron Gabet of France 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, while Johnston won the final five games of the match against fellow left-hander Gavin Goode, the No. 13 seed, to earn a 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3 victory that spanned three hours and 17 minutes.

While the all-USA boys quarterfinals were expected, the girls draw has only three seeds left: No. 5 seed Julieta Pareja, No. 13 seed Nancy Lee and No. 14 seed Alyssa James of Jamaica. 

Pareja and Lee will play Friday after each picked up routine wins today, with Lee defeating unseeded Maria Aytoyan 6-2, 6-4 and Pareja beating unseeded Ireland O'Brien 6-3, 6-0.

James, who is in the opposite half, defeated Karlin Schock 6-4, 6-0 and will face qualifier Alexis Nguyen, who beat Shannon Lam 6-2, 6-2. 

Wild card Maggie Sohns took out one of the pre-tournament favorites in No. 3 seed Thea Frodin, the recent Banana Bowl J500 champion, with the 15-year-old from upstate New York crediting the coach from her mom for getting her through some of the day's worst conditions to post a 6-3, 6-2 victory.

"I think it was tricky for both of us," Sohns said. "Obviously the conditions were pretty difficult, but if it wasn't for my mom, I don't think I would have been able to make it through the match, because I was getting really frustrated with the wind. She helped me a lot, with the coaching throughout the match. She knows a lot about tennis and I really appreciate her help."

Sohns also has had the support of a young local fan who connected with her at last year's tournament.

"Last year she actually watched me play in the doubles quarterfinals, and I guess they've been following me every since," said Sohns, who didn't return to the hotel after her first round doubles loss Wednesday night until 11:30 p.m. "I really appreciate the support, I don't get a lot of it, and I feel like that's really cool."

Sohns is happy with her win, but is trying not to look beyond her next opponent, unseeded Adla Lopez, who beat Chukwumelije Clarke 7-5, 6-2.

"I've played her twice, actually," said Sohns, who lost to Lopez in 2022 and beat her in the first round of J300 in Houston last October. "I'm expecting her to come out really strong, and hopefully I can play my best."

Lopez, who, like Sohns, will be playing in her first J300 quarterfinal, was not expecting a run like she is enjoying this week.

"Honestly, I just wanted to play good and do what my coaches were saying," said Lopez, who trains at Axis Tennis in Delray Beach Florida. "Working on my serve and not focusing on the results, but focusing on my patterns. I'm surprised but obviously very happy it's coming together."

Lopez, the younger sister of Qavia Lopez, who is currently injured and unable to compete for the University of Florida, figured out early how she wanted to play against Clarke. "In the beginning, I knew her backhand angle was really good, so whenever I hit to her backhand, I tried to make it a little bit higher, to try to make it harder to get that angle," said the 16-year-old left-hander. "That I noticed in the beginning. And she hit a really hard ball, so I tried to mix up the pace and mix up the height on the ball and it really worked."

The winners of the day's only three-set girls matches, qualifier Tianmei Wang and Kristina Liutova of Russia, will meet in the quarterfinals Friday.

It's the second straight quarterfinal at the FILA Internationals for the 15-year-old Liutova and she was overjoyed with her 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 4 seed Maya Iyengar.

"After I was in the quarterfinals last year, I was inspired to return this year," said Liutova, who has played just one W15 and this tournament so far this year. "Plus the opponent was very tough, she took me with her aggression, but I kept believing, kept responsibility for myself and got the win."

Although the match was exactly three hours in duration, Liutova said she didn't feel any fatigue.

"Honestly, this is one of the first times, when it's such a long match, such a tough match, that I didn't feel tired," Luitova said. "I just felt happy to be on court, and I wanted to keep going and of course, the win is everything for me. I gave it all out there."

With the wind swirling and gusting, frustration would have been the more expected mental state, but Liutova took it in stride.

"In the second set, or maybe it was third, I don't remember, but there was like a 20-mile-per-hour wind pushing the ball, it was landing before the service box," Liutova said. "But the most important thing was just to keep the ball in the court."

Wang is the marathon girl of the tournament, having beaten No. 6 seed Leena Friedman in four hours and 21 minutes Wednesday night, then winning her doubles match, which ended after 10 p.m.

Thursday, she defeated No. 10 seed Ava Rodriguez 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in a relatively quick two hours and 42 minutes, but again was playing late into the night Thursday in doubles. Wang and partner Addison Yang Comiskey defeated No. 4 seed Ishika Ashar and France's Dune Vaissaud 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 in a match that finished at 9:20 p.m.

The seeds in doubles finally began play Thursday, and in addition to Ashar and Vaissaud, two other top four teams were eliminated. No. 1 seeds Iyengar and Pareja lost to Aytoyan and Sabrina Lin 6-3, 6-7(1), 10-4 and Clarke and O'Brien defeated No. 3 seeds James and Capucine Jauffret 6-3, 7-6(5).

As in the singles, the boys doubles went as expected, with the top eight seeds reaching Friday's quarterfinals.

Play begins on Friday at 11 a.m. PDT, with a continuation of the unseasonably cold temperatures, no rain is expected and winds should diminish.

The only American left in contention for a BNP Paribas Open singles title is No. 5 seed Madison Keys, who reached the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over wild card Belinda Bencic of Switzerland. Keys will play top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in Friday's semifinal in a rematch of the Australian Open final. Sabalenka defeated No. 24 seed Luidmila Samsonova of Russia 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. 

Ben Shelton(Florida)[11] lost to Jack Draper[13] of Great Britain 6-4, 7-5 in the men's quarterfinals.

 

Top-Seeded Penickova Twins Upset in FILA International ITF J300 Second Round; Qualifier Wang WIns Four-Hour Battle Over No. 6 Seed Friedman; Wild Card Stoot Reaches Third Round; Shelton, Keys Advance to BNP Paribas Open Quarterfinals

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Indian Wells CA--

Twin sisters Kristina and Annika Penickova, the top two seeds at the ITF J300 FILA International Championships, were eliminated Wednesday in contrasting fashion on a partly cloudy and cool day at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. 

Kristina, the No. 1 seed, had begun her second round match with Maria Aytoyan on Tuesday, dropping the first set 6-3 and was two points from elimination before taking a second set tiebreaker 7-6(7). A three-hour rain delay eventually became a cancellation with the score 1-1 in the third set when play resumed Wednesday.

Aytoyan, a 16-year-old from the Los Angeles area, trailed 5-3 in the third set, but kept calm and focused, holding for 5-4 and then breaking Penickova at love as she attempted to serve out the match. 

Aytoyan served well in her next game and waited for the unforced errors, which had plagued Penickova throughout the match. Serving to stay in the match, Penickova double faulted twice and and made two more unforced errors, with Aytoyan just needing to stay in the last few rallies to claim a 6-3, 6-7(7), 7-5 victory.

Aytoyan wasn't sure what to expect when returning to finish the match this morning.

"It's tough, because you never know how the momentum can switch up after every rain delay," Aytoyan said. "I think it's more of a mental thing to overcome, and at the end of day, it's about who can forget about yesterday, and come out in the morning ready to go."

Aytoyan was clear on her strategy, rain delay or not.

"From my side, I just needed to stay consistent, like I was yesterday," Aytoyan said. "To see how it would work today, and it did work at the end. You have to have a plan, know exactly what you're going to be doing, and if that doesn't work, you have to adjust it."

Facing the top seed and 2025 Australian Open girls finalist can be daunting, but Aytoyan had played Penickova in the 12s and 14s, so knew what to expect, and was not intimidated.

"She's a great opponent to play against, with great experience," said Aytoyan, who had her coach Steve Freedman courtside offering advice throughout the two-day battle. "For me, I had nothing to lose. She did make Aussie Open final, so it's just hey, go out there play your best, move your feet. And it worked."

Aytoyan, who has just reached an ITF ranking that allows her to enter J300 events in the past four months, is trying to focus on improvement not results.

"I'm usually really positive going into tournaments, but regarding expectations, I try not to put any on me," Aytoyan said. "Just play it out, one match at a time, and do the best I can."

Aytoyan will play No. 13 seed Nancy Lee next, who resumed her postponed match with Lucy Oyebog, winning the three games played to complete a 7-6(9), 6-3 victory.

Annika Penickova did not start her scheduled match with wild card Karlin Schock before it was cancelled Tuesday, but the No. 2 seed was not able to find any form at all, with Schock taking a 6-1, 6-0 decision in just over an hour.

Schock received her wild card for winning the USTA 18s National Indoor Championships last November, and being from Wisconsin, is much more familiar with those conditions, but she played the J100 last week in Las Vegas in preparation for her ITF J300 debut.

"I saw that as a good opportunity to play some tennis outdoors before coming here," said the 16-year-old, who lost in the second round of singles and reached the doubles final in Las Vegas. "Just getting used to the wind, the elements, it helped a lot, getting some matches in, helping me gain confidence here."

Schock had beaten Penickova in the finals of a USTA 14s level 3 in South Dakota in 2022, so she knew what to expect.

"My strategy was pretty similar to when I played her last time," said Schock, whose mother, Katie Schlukebir, was an All-American at Stanford. "But I also focus on what I do well, having that propel me to go against her game, move her around and it worked out. I thought she started out fine, but when I got on top of her, she started mentally degrading and maybe pushing a little bit."

Schock will face No. 14 seed Alyssa James of Jamaica, who beat Ligaya Murray 7-5, 6-2. Murray is the only junior I've ever seen who serves right-handed, then switches the racquet to her left hand for her ground strokes.

In addition to the top two seeds, the girls draw lost eight other seeds, all of whom were playing their first matches of the tournament. Chukwumelije Clarke defeated No. 7 seed Capucine Jauffret 7-5, 6-4, qualifier Alexis Nguyen beat No. 8 seed Aspen Schuman 6-2, 6-0 and, in the match of the day/night, qualifier Tianmei Wang outlasted No. 6 seed Leena Friedman 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-5.

Wang and Friedman battled for four hours and 21 minutes, with lengthy rallies and deuce games the rule, until Wang finally pulled away in the last two games. Serving at 5-5, 15-30 Wang earned a game point, which she converted when Friedman missed a simple volley she had worked so hard to set up. She didn't win a point after that, with Wang breaking at love to snatch the victory.

Wang wasn't done for the day at 7:30 p.m., with her first doubles match, rescheduled from Tuesday, not ending until after 10 p.m. Wednesday night, but she got a win there too. She and Addison Yang Comiskey of Canada defeated Maggie Sohns and Aspen Schuman 1-6, 6-4, 10-7.

While the girls draw now features just six seeds, the boys draw has all eight of its top seeds moving through to the third round.

No. 9 seed Cruz Hewitt of Australia, son of Lleyton Hewitt, lost his match to Aaron Gabet of France 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, and No. 11 seed Lachlan Gaskell was beaten by Jacob Olar 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

Wild card Donald Nikolas Stoot also eliminated a seed, beating No. 14 seed Nischal Spurling 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Stoot, a 17-year-old left-hander from Miami, felt the pressure of proving himself worthy of a wild card initially, but that feeling dissipated after he picked up a win in the first round.

"Now I feel I didn't have much to lose, so I just went out there and swung," said Stoot, who has verbally committed to LSU. "Hitting as free as possible. First set I started a little slow, he was hitting his backhand pretty well, and he had 6-2, 5-4 30-all, so just two points away. But I just pretty much found a way for today. I was doing the right thing, and eventually it started to work."

Stoot will face No. 2 seed and 2024 finalist Jack Kennedy, who was challenged by Tyler Lee before emerging with a 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-1 win. 

Rain and wind is in the forecast for Thursday morning, with all 16 third round singles matches and 16 second round doubles matches on the schedule.

Two Americans have advanced to the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals in the men's and women's singles, with No. 11 seed Ben Shelton(Florida) defeating No. 32 seed Brandon Nakashima 7-6(6), 6-1 to set up a quarterfinal with No. 11 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain Thursday. Draper defeated No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-4.

Australian Open champion Madison Keys, seeded No. 5, defeated No. 19 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 and will play unseeded wild card Belinda Bencic of Switzerland Thursday. Bencic defeated No. 3 seed Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.