Hong, Blinkova win ITF Junior Masters Titles; Kozlov Falls in Challenger Final; USTA's French Open Wild Card Challenge Begins This Week

This is a travel day for me, after 14 days of onsite junior tennis coverage in California, so this post will be shorter than the topics deserve.

The ITF's Junior Masters finished in China on Sunday, with Russia's Anna Blinkova and Korea's Seong Chan Hong winning titles and $15,000 in travel grants in the eight-player knockout draws. The US girls Kayla Day, Sonya Kenin and Usue Arconada finished 4th, 6th and 7th, with the US boy William Blumberg finishing 5th. For more on the finals, see the ITF junior website coverage.

Men’s Singles Final 

Hong Seong Chan (KOR) d. Casper Ruud (NOR) 75 63

Men’s Singles 3-4th place play-off

Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera (CHI) d. Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) 46 64 64

Men’s Singles 5-8th place play-off

William Blumberg (USA) d. Orlando Luz (BRA) 64 61 – match was suspended due to rain on Saturday with Blumberg leading 5-4

Men’s Singles 5-6th place play-off

William Blumberg (USA) d. Alvaro Lopez San Martin (ESP) 63 64

Men’s Singles 7-8th place play-off 

Orlando Luz (BRA) d. Ly Hoang Nam (VIE) 64 46 76(4)

Women’s Singles Final  

Anna Blinkova (RUS) d. Katie Swan (GBR) 64 67(1) 76(4)

Women’s Singles 3-4th place play-off 

Charlotte Robillard-Millette (CAN) d. Kayla Day (USA) 76(6) 62

Women’s Singles 5-6th place play-off  

Tereza Mihalikova (SVK) d. Sofia Kenin (USA) 36 61 61

Women’s Singles 7-8th place play-off 

Usue Arconada (USA) d. Miriam Kolodziejova (CZE) 36 64 61

At last week's $100,000+Hospitality ATP Challenger in Guadeloupe, two American teenagers made the semifinals, with Taylor Fritz(2) and unseeded alternate Stefan Kozlov both losing to champion Malek Jaziri of Tunisia.  Fritz fell to the No. 3 seed in the semifinals, 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-5 and Kozlov lost to him 6-2, 6-4 in the final.

The Challenger circuit returns to the US this week, with the men in Sarasota for the $100,000 Challenger there. This is the first week, for the men, of the USTA's French Open Wild Card Challenge.  The women's Wild Card Challenge begins next week in Dothan, Alabama. 

For more on the two series, see this article from usta.com.