US Girls Reach Sunday's Junior Fed Cup Final; Mmoh Rolls on in Tiburon Challenger; Dolehide and Collins Meet for Stillwater Title; Kenin Advances to Las Vegas Final

As the No. 2 seeds, the US girls Junior Fed Cup team was expected to be in the final, and on Sunday, for the second year in a row, they will play for the title of the 16-and-under international team competition.

For the fifth straight match, the doubles point was a formality, as Claire Liu and Amanda Anisimova won at No. 2 and No. 1 singles against No. 3 Japan to earn their place in the final. The only surprise is their opponent, which will be No. 4 seed Poland, rather than top seed Russia.

Anastasia Potapova started the Russians off with a close win at No. 2 singles over Maja Chwalinska, but Iga Swiatek squared the match for Poland with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Olesya Pervushina, meaning the doubles would decide the USA's opponent.  That turned out to be less than dramatic, with Swiatek and Chwalinska posting a 6-1, 6-3 win for the upset.

The US boys, seeded fourth and down a player due to the injury to Keenan Mayo in the first day, made a spirited attempt to emulate the Polish girls in their semifinal with top seed Canada, but the boys fell in the doubles match tiebreaker.  Sangeet Sridhar gave the US a 1-0 lead with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Nicaise Muamba at No. 2 singles, but Sebastian Korda was no match for US Open boys champion Felix Auger-Aliassime, falling 6-3, 6-1.  Auger-Aliassime has brought his team back from 1-0 down three times in their past four matches and clinched it with the doubles. Today, Auger-Aliassime partnered Chih Chi Huang, and after dropping the first set, they came back for a 5-7, 6-2, 10-5 victory and a place in the final against No. 2 seed Russia.

Russia, who defeated Argentina 2-1, will try to prevent Canada and Auger-Aliassime from repeating as Junior Davis Cup champions.  The US girls, and Claire Liu,  will be trying to avoid a runner-up finish for the second straight year.

Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas
Semifinals
Poland (4) d. Russia (1) 2-1
Anastasia Potapova (RUS) d. Maja Chwalinska (POL) 36 76(5) 61
Iga Swiatek (POL) d. Olesya Pervushina (RUS) 63 63
Maja Chwalinska/Iga Swiatek (POL) d. Olesya Pervushina/Anastasia Potapova (RUS) 61 63

USA (2) defeated Japan (3) 3-0
Claire Liu (USA) d. Yuki Naito (JPN) 62 76(3)
Amanda Anisimova (USA) d. Ayumi Miyamoto (JPN) 62 57 60
Claire Liu/Catherine McNally (USA) d. Ayumi Miyamoto/Yuki Naito (JPN) 62 76(4)

Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas
Semifinals
Canada (1) defeated USA (4) 2-1
Sangeet Sridhar (USA) d. Nicaise Muamba (CAN) 75 61
Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) d. Sebastian Korda (USA) 63 61
Felix Auger-Aliassime/Chih Chi Huang (CAN) d. Sebastian Korda/Sangeet Sridhar (USA) 57 62 10-5

Russia (2) defeated Argentina (7) 2-1
Timofey Skatov (RUS) d. Thiago Tirante (ARG) 64 61
Alen Avidzba (RUS) d. Sebastian Baez (ARG) 64 57 61
Thiago Tirante/Tomas Descarrega (ARG) d. Timofey Skatov/Alexey Zakharov (RUS) 75 63

For more on today's matches, see the ITF junior website.  Links to the live streaming of tomorrow's finals can be found here.  Full results are at the tournament website.

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Qualifier Michael Mmoh continued his impressive run at the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger this evening, defeating defending champion and No. 3 seed Tim Smyczek 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) to reach Sunday's final. Mmoh got off to a horrible start in the match, going down 4-0 quickly, but he recovered to take the second set and went up a break in the third set at 4-2. Smyzcek got the break right back and after four holds, a tiebreaker would decide it. Smyczek fell behind 3-1, but got the mini-break back and two forehand winners gave him a 5-4 lead. Mmoh hit a big serve to make it 5-5, but Smyczek earned a match point with an overhead winner and would have it on his serve. After working his way into the net, he missed a backhand volley, and he did not get another chance.  Mmoh earned his first match point with a scrambling passing shot, and an excellent second serve that Smyczek couldn't get back in play gave him the victory.

Mmoh will play unseeded Darian King of Barbados in the final, after King defeated wild card Mackenzie McDonald 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-5. NCAA champion McDonald served for the match twice, at 5-4 in the second set and at 5-4 in the third set, but didn't reach match point either time.

Sunday's final at the USTA Pro Circuit $25,000 tournament in Stillwater, Oklahoma will feature two Americans: qualifier Danielle Collins and Caroline Dolehide.  Collins defeated Yuliya Beygelzimer of Ukraine 6-1, 6-3 for her seventh win in seven days, while the 18-year-old Dolehide needed nearly three hours to overcome lucky loser Bianca Turati of Italy 6-7(4), 6-0, 7-5. Each has won one $10,000 title, but neither has won a title at the $25,000 level.

Former Michigan teammates Emina Bektas and Ronit Yurovsky won the doubles title, beating Giuliana Olmos(USC) and Nazari Urbina(Texas A&M) of Mexico 6-4, 6-7(6), 10-6 in the final. It's Bektas' second $25,000 level title in the past three weeks, while Yurovsky won a $25,000 doubles title back in July.

Sonya Kenin will go for her second $50,000 singles title in the past three months Sunday in Las Vegas.  The 18-year-old defeated 19-year-old Nadia Podoroska of Argentina 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 today and will face top seed Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium in the final.  Van Uytvanck advanced when qualifier Fanni Stollar of Hungary retired down 6-1, 3-3.

For more on today's matches, see this article from Red Rock Open press aide Steve Pratt.

At the $10,000 women's Pro Circuit tournament in Charleston, South Carolina, 17-year-old Nicole Coopersmith, the No. 2 seed, will face University of South Carolina sophomore Ingrid Gamarra Martins of Brazil in the final.  Coopersmith defeated No. 3 seed Lauren Embree 6-3, 6-3, while Gamarra Martins eliminated qualifier Yukako Noi of Japan 6-1, 7-5.  For more on Coppersmith, see this article from Charleston's The Post and Courier.

Alabama teammates Andie Daniell and Erin Routliffe won the doubles title, defeating Quinn Gleason(Notre Dame) and Whitney Kay(North Carolina) 6-4, 6-2 in the final.

At the $10,000 men's Futures in Fountain Valley, California, No. 6 seed Sebastian Fanselow of Germany will face No. 4 seed Takanyi Garanganga of Zimbabwe for the singles title.  Fanselow defeated No. 8 seed Marcos Giron 7-5, 6-1, while Garanganga needed nearly three hours to eliminate top seed Carl Soderlund of Sweden 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-4.