Texas A&M's Habib and Pepperdine's Failla Claim ITA National Summer Championships; Yepifanova, Mejia Win $10K Battle of Boca; Gauff, Fernandez Move On at WTA Top Seed Open

 

ITA Summer Champions Hady Habib and Jessica Failla
photo credits, Jacob Dye, ITA

The two top seeds claimed the titles today at the annual ITA National Summer Championships, with Hady Habib of Texas A&M prevailing on his home courts and Pepperdine's Jessica Failla crowned the women's champion.

Both matches were held at the same time this morning in College Station, so I was flipping back and forth between the two, and without any scoring graphics, I admit to having a hard time following closely. I thought that Habib's victory over defending champion and No. 7 seed Jonathan Sheehy was 6-1, 6-4, but the ITA recap and the UTR website gives the final score as 6-1, 6-3.  I thought Sheehy, a graduate student at Oklahoma, had saved three break points at 3-all in the third to hold, but was unable to do the same at 4-all, giving Habib, a rising senior, a chance to serve it out. He was able to convert his first match point at 40-30, crushing a forehand winner, to earn the title and $2500.

Usually the winner of the Summer Nationals receives a wild card into the ITA All-American Championships, held in October, but with all the fall sports being canceled across the country now, that event is by no means assured, as the lack of any mention of it in the ITA recap implies.

The women's final took a bit longer, but was more lopsided score-wise, with Failla, a fifth year senior, defeating No. 6 seed Solymar Colling, a redshirt sophomore at San Diego 6-2, 6-1. Failla also earned $2500, with Sheehy and Colling taking home $1250 for reaching the finals. There were no doubles played this year due to the pandemic.

The $10,000 Battle of Boca, a UTR Open event, was supposed to finish today, but the finals were actually played Monday, with No. 2 seed Alexandra Yepifanova taking the women's title, and No. 4 seed Nicolas Mejia of Colombia earning the men's championship. 

Yepifanova, a rising senior who has committed to Stanford, defeated top seed and former Georgia star Maria Carle of Argentina 6-4, 6-1 in the final. Yepifanova lost only 13 games in her five victories.

The 20-year-old Mejia defeated 18-year-old Emilio Nava, the No. 4 seed, 6-4, 6-4 in the men's final. Nava had defeated top seed Adrian Andreev in the quarterfinals and Zane Khan in the semifinals. Khan, the No. 8 seed, had avenged his 2018 Kalamazoo 16s final loss to Martin Damm, the No. 9 seed, in the round of 16. Another notable result saw Ben Shelton, who will start at Florida this fall, defeating 2019 Wimbledon boys champion Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan, the No. 6 seed, 6-3, 7-6(2) in the second round.

Shelton lost in the third round in singles, but partnered with his sister Emma to claim the mixed doubles title. The Sheltons, seeded No. 6, defeated No. 7 seeds Yepifanova and Nathan Han 6-3.

The prize money distribution for the event was not disclosed.

The first round is complete at the WTA Top Seed Open in Lexington Kentucky, with two teenagers among the 16 players to advance.

Sixteen-year-old Coco Gauff may have been generous in grading her performance today, giving it an A, but she did pick up her first WTA win since January, beating qualifier Caroline Dolehide 7-5, 7-5. 

Seventeen-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada, who won two qualifying matches the past two days, ousted No. 7 seed Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-3 in the final match of the first round. 

Cici Bellis was scheduled to play No. 4 seed Amanda Anisimova, but Anisimova withdrew with an injury and Francesca Di Lorenzo got in as a lucky loser. Bellis converted 5 of her 6 break points, while Di Lorenzo was 1 of 8 and won only one point on her second serve, giving Bellis a straightforward 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Top seed Serena Williams and older sister Venus won their opening round matches today; the pair will play against each other for the 31st time on Thursday. The other American to advance to the second round today, joining yesterday's winners Jessica Pegula and Jennifer Brady, is wild card Shelby Rogers.

Today's scores are here, and Wednesday's order of play is here.