Black Claims First Pro Title, Giron Wins Second Futures; Spain, Russia Take Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup Championships; Freshmen Shine at Riviera All-American

Anyone who saw Tornado Alicia Black's level of play at the US Open junior championships earlier this month will not be a bit surprised to learn she earned her first professional title today at the $10,000 Pro Circuit event in Amelia Island, Florida.  Although unseeded, with no WTA ranking at all, the 15-year-old from Florida defeated No. 2 seed Alexandra Mueller, ranked 449, 4-6, 6-0, 6-0.

Mueller did get one title there however, taking the doubles with Brazil's Maria-Fernanda Alves. Mueller and Alves, the top seeds, defeated the Ellison sisters, Roxanne and Sierra, 7-5, 6-3. The Ellisons, who were unseeded, played college tennis at San Diego State.

At the $10,000 men's Futures in Laguna Niguel California, UCLA's Marcos Giron won his second singles title and third overall this month, beating University of Virginia graduate Jarmere Jenkins 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. Giron, a junior, won the Claremont Futures three weeks ago, and last week won the doubles at the Costa Mesa Futures with Mackenzie McDonald.  This week he received main draw entry via a special exemption, and his win today left his singles record in Pro Circuit events this month at 13-1. He will obviously be one of the favorites for the ITA All-American Championships, which begin on Thursday.

The doubles title in Laguna Niguel went to unseeded juniors Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan and Alan Nunez Aguilera of Mexico, who beat No. 2 seeds Keith-Patrick Crowley of South Africa and Ashwin Vijayragavan of India 6-4, 6-2.

At the two Challengers this week, Donald Young and Melanie Oudin claimed the singles titles. Young, seeded No. 8, beat No. 6 seed Matthew Ebden of Australia 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the $50,000 Napa Challenger final. It was Young's second Challenger title of the year. Bobby Reynolds and JP Smith of Australia won the doubles title in Napa, beating Steve Johnson and Tim Smyczek 6-4, 7-6(2).  Neither team was seeded.

Oudin, who was unseeded at the $50,000 Party Rock Open in Las Vegas, defeated No. 6 seed CoCo Vandeweghe 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in today's final to take her first title of 2013. Vandeweghe did rebound to take the doubles title with Tamira Paszek of Austria, beating former Michigan star Denise Muresan and former Tennessee star Caitlin Whorisky 6-4, 6-2 in the final.

At the finals of the Junior Fed Cup and Junior Davis Cup today in San Luis Potosi Mexico, top seed Russia and No. 7 seed Spain took the championships.

Russia's Darya Kasatkina and Veronika Kudermetova won their singles matches over No. 2 seed Australia's Naiktha Bains and Priscilla Hon respectively, for an insurmountable 2-0 lead.  It is Russia's fourth Junior Fed Cup title.

The third-seeded United States girls finished third, with Kaitlyn McCarthy and Katerina Stewart picking up singles wins in their match with No. 4 seed Hungary. For more on today's action, see the ITF junior website.

Spain won its fifth Junior Davis Cup title, but its first since 2004, with a 2-1 victory over No. 2 seed Korea.  Pedro Martinez Portero defeated Kukeon Kang 7-6(6), 6-3, but Seongchan Hong came back to deal Jaume Antoni Munar Clar his first loss of the week 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 to make it 1-1.  Despite the lengthy and draining loss, Munar Clar returned to the court for doubles, and he and Portero defeated Kang and Yun Seong Chung 6-3, 7-5 to claim the championship.

The US boys lost to Russia 2-0 today to finish in sixth place.  For complete scores and results, see the tournament website.

The pre-qualifying is complete at the women's ITA Riviera All-American Championships in California, with five freshmen among the eight women advancing to the qualifying round, which begins on Tuesday.  North Carolina's Jamie Loeb and Hayley Carter, Virginia's Rachel Pierson, Texas's Ratnika Batra and Florida's Belinda Woolcock all won three matches in two days to get into the qualifying draw. None were seeded, and in fact, UCLA's Chanelle Van Nguyen, the No. 7 seed, was the only seeded player to reach the qualifying draw. Loeb and Carter also advanced to the doubles qualifying. Results and draws can be found at the ITA tournament website.

The men's ITA St. Francis All-American pre-qualifying is not complete due to rain in Tulsa yesterday, but qualifying starts Monday.  The qualifying draw is available at the tournament page on the ITA website.