Ohio State Earns Another Big Ten Title; Brady Wins Pac-12 Singles, Christian Claims Doubles for Third Time; ITF Junior Update

My account of the Big Ten men's championship match, in which Ohio State defeated Illinois 4-2, is now available at the Tennis Recruiting Network. Neither the Ohio State nor the Illinois release mentioned the ejection of Illinois' associate head coach Marcos Asse, but it was part of the story of the match, so it's included in my account.

Last night I mentioned UCLA's win over Southern Cal for the men's Pac-12 tournament title in Ojai, but I didn't have time to delve into the other results.

In the Pac-12 individual tournament, UCLA freshman Jennifer Brady took the singles title, beating Zoe Scandalis of Southern Cal 6-4, 6-0 in the final. Kaitlyn Christian of Southern Cal won the Pac-12 doubles title for the third straight year, this time with Giuliana Olmos, after winning in 2012 and 2013 with the currently injured Sabrina Santamaria. Christian joins Stanford's Alice Barnes as the only woman to win three consecutive Pac-12 titles.

Top seed Dennis Novikov won the men's Open title, defeating fellow former Bruin Haythem Abid, the No. 2 seed, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. The women's Open title went to former Sacramento State All-American Katrina Zheltova, who was unseeded. She defeated top seed Emma Higuchi 6-4, 6-4.

The CIF boys singles title went to UCLA recruit Austin Rapp, who defeated Michael Genender 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4. The girls 18s singles championship went to Hanna Chang, who beat Ryan Peus 7-5, 6-1.

A complete list of all the winners crowned in Ojai can be found at here. A link to the various TennisLink draws is available on the tournament home page.

A recap of the tournament can also be found in this article from the Los Angeles Daily News.

Madison Bourguignon won her third ITF title in the past two months at the Grade 4 in Trinidad and Tobago. Bourguignon, the No. 1 seed, beat No. 2 seed Nandini Das of India 6-1, 6-3 in the final. Stephanie Hazell of the US won the doubles title, teaming with Vera Alescheva of Russia to defeat unseeded 13-year-old twins Ashley and Jenna Dean of the US 6-2, 6-4. Hazell and Alescheva were seeded No. 3.

Fourteen-year-old Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia won the boys title, his third straight ITF title in the past two months. The No. 13 seed defeated No. 2 seed Rasheed Carey of the Bahamas 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(1).

At the Grade 1 last week in France, No. 2 seed Johan Sebastien Tatlot of France ended the winning streak of Juame Munar Clar of Spain, beating the top seed 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-1 in the final.  Clar had won three Grade 1s in succession since February. Tatlot's titles (he also won the doubles) moved him back into the ITF Top 10 and pushed Michael Mmoh of the US out.

Spain's Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov, who won the Banana Bowl last month, picked up another Grade 1 title in France. The top seed beat unseeded Seone Mendez of Australia 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 and has now moved to a career-high ITF junior ranking of 5.

ITF play returns to the US this week in Coral Gables, Florida, with a Grade 4 tournament. This tournament had been held in Daytona Beach the past several years. Fajing Sun of China is the top boys seed and Yolimar Ogando of Puerto Rico is the top seed in the girls draw.