Anisimova, Ahn Reach Dothan $60K Final; Sandgren Advances to Sarasota Challenger Final; Madurawe, Inoue Claim ITF Titles in Caribbean

Amanda Anisimova reached the final last week at the $80,000 Indian Harbour Beach USTA Pro Circuit event and has followed that up this week with another trip to the championship match, her third in three ITF Women's Circuit tournaments this year.  The 15-year-old from Florida defeated 18-year-old Sonya Kenin 6-3, 6-0 in today's $60,000 Dothan Alabama semifinal and will face No. 8 seed Kristie Ahn in the final. Ahn defeated unseeded Barbara Haas of Austria 6-2, 6-2 in the other semifinal. Ahn is looking for the biggest title of her pro career and her first since 2015. The 24-year-old, who graduated from Stanford in 2014, will reach her career high in the WTA rankings regardless of the result on Sunday.  Should Anisimova win the title , she will put herself in a commanding position in the USTA French Open Wild Card Challenge, even with two more tournaments still on the schedule.  Live streaming of the final will be available via this link.

Both US men in the semifinals of the $15,000 Orange Park Florida Futures lost today.  Qualifier Gianni Ross's string of victories ended at six, when he lost 6-4, 6-2 to top seed Calvin Hemery of France.  No. 2 seed Evan King led 5-3 in the second set against unseeded Felipe Mantilla of Colombia, but Mantilla won the final four games of the match to earn a place in the final.

Tennys Sandgren has had an outstanding start to 2017, and the former Tennessee Volunteer stayed on that track today, beating Vincent Millot of France 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the final of the $100,000 ATP Challenger in Sarasota.  Sandgren, now at a career high of 156 in the ATP rankings, will face the winner of tonight's match between No. 3 seed Frances Tiafoe and former ATP Top 10 player Jurgen Melzer of Austria. A free live stream of the match is available at the ATP Challenger website.

In ITF junior action, US juniors Niluka Madurawe and Hina Inoue won titles, with Madurawe capturing the championship at the Grade 4 in Trinidad and Tobago and Inoue claiming the title at the Grade 5 in Guadeloupe. No. 8 seed Madurawe's  6-1, 6-2 win over No. 2 seed Dakota Fordham gave the 17-year-old her second singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit, with the first earlier this year in Guatemala. Qualifier Inoue, just 13, defeated unseeded Selena Janicijevic of France 6-4, 6-2 in the final to win the first ITF junior tournament she has played.

Ronan Jachuck was the second American to pick up a title in Trinidad, taking the doubles championship with Kirac Bekisoglu of Turkey. The top seeds defeated No. 2 seeds Ignacio Garcia and Rafael Grovas of Puerto Rico 6-3, 7-6(5) in the final.

Several US juniors are already in Europe, with Amanda Meyer reaching the singles semifinals and Nicole Mossmer advancing to the quarterfinals in singles and final in doubles at the Grade 2 in France.
At the Grade 2 in Italy, Easter Bowl champion Alafia Ayeni was the top seed but lost in the quarterfinals to Matias Soto of Chile. He did take the doubles title, however, with Soto as his partner. The top seeds defeated No. 2 seeds Francesco Forti and Mattia Frinzi of Italy 4-6, 6-2, 10-3 in the final.