Checking Results on the ITF Junior Circuit; ATP Delray Beach Qualifying Saturday

It's been pretty quiet in junior tennis since the Australian Open, but American juniors have been competing in Mexico and South America the past few weeks.

At the Grade 4 in Mexico City last week, Camila Fuentes won the girls singles and doubles titles. Although the ITF previously listed the 15-year-old as representing Mexico, and the Tennis Recruiting Network still does, she is now appearing in draws with USA next to her name. Her ITF profile shows she has played primarily in Central America and Mexico in the past year. She did win a USTA National Open in the 14s back in July of 2010 in El Paso. This is a long-winded way of saying that I am not familiar with her, but I look forward to seeing her play, perhaps at the Easter Bowl, this year.

At the Grade 2 in Bolivia last week, Hugo Dellien won the title in his home country to put his singles record in ITF juniors at 29-2 this year. He has won four of the six tournaments he has entered this year, and lost in the semifinals and finals of the other two. And that's just in singles. He has also won the doubles title in four of the five tournaments he's competed in. Last week, Dellien and Boris Arias, also of Bolivia, were the No. 2 seeds, but they didn't lose a set in the tournament, and in the final took out top seeds Connor Farren and Daniel McCall of the United States 6-3, 7-5. The best U.S. showing in singles was Roberto Cid, who reached the boys semifinals, losing to Dellien.

The U.S. did claim a doubles championship in Bolivia however, as Dhanielly Quevedo of the U.S. teamed with Lina Gjorcheska of Macedonia to win the girls title. Quevedo and Gjorcheska, the No. 3 seeds, beat top seeds Giovanna Manifacio of Mexico and Stephanie Nauta of the U.S. 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-6. The girls singles title went to 14-year-old Ilka Csoregi of Romania, the 16th seed, who defeated Gjorcheska 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the final. It was Csoregi's second straight Grade 2 win--she also won the Inka Bowl the previous week--and her ITF ranking has risen to 81. She is also in the draw this week in Chile, for the Grade 2 there.

Americans playing in Chile are: Connor Farren, Robert Livi, Dan McCall, Luis Elizondo, Jennifer Brady, Quevedo, Blair Shankle, June Lee and Natalia Maynetto.

In Jalisco Mexico's Grade 4 this week, Americans Annie Mulholland and Julia Elbaba are the top two seeds in the girls draw. Richard Del Nunzio, Karim Arem, and Alex Fennell are seeded Americans in the boys draw.

For complete draws, see the ITF Junior website.

The qualifying for next week's ATP tournament in Delray Beach begins Saturday, and in this update from the Florida section, it names Jack Sock, Eric Hechtman, who played for the University of Miami, and Stefano Ianni of Italy as the three wild cards. Although he is not mentioned, I understand that Bjorn Fratangelo, who won last year's 18s Clay Courts (Sock won it in 2009), is also in the qualifying via the wild card that is given to the Clay Court champion.

Also check out my brief article included in the above update on Jeff Dadamo and Austin Krajicek of Texas A&M, which appeared in a recent Florida edition of TennisLife.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, ITF Junior Circuit, Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, Jeff Dadamo, Austin Krajicek, Texas A & M, Colette Lewis