Krueger Sweeps Orlando ITF Titles, Vallejo Wins Boys Singles; Tauson Beats Rogers at Tyler $80K; Tiafoe Advances to Semifinals in Kazakhstan; SoCal Junior Sectionals Begin Saturday

Ashlyn Krueger lost both the singles and doubles finals last week at the Grade 4 in Atlanta, but this week the 16-year-old Texan flipped the script, taking both championships at the ITF Grade 4 at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona Florida. Krueger, a wild card, defeated doubles partner Sarah Hamner, a qualifier, 6-2, 6-4 in the singles final, then teamed with Hamner to earn the doubles title with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Sophie Llewellyn and Mia Slama, with both teams unseeded. For Krueger, who won the 16s Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl titles last year, it's her first two titles on the ITF Junior Circuit, where she has played sparingly.

Top seed Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay took the boys singles title, beating Atlanta champion Giulio Perego of Italy 6-2, 6-2 in the final. Jonah Braswell and Timothy Phung won the boys doubles title, defeating No. 8 seed Ryan Colby and Braden Shick 6-4, 6-3 in the final.

The $80,000 USTA Women's Pro Circuit tournament in Tyler Texas is still trying to catch up from three days of rain, with several quarterfinal matches not yet underway tonight. But 17-year-old Clara Tauson of Denmark has already pulled off a big upset, beating top seed Shelby Rogers 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in the second round. How Tauson will fare in her quarterfinal against Ann Li after that three-hour-plus match remains to be seen, but this is her second ATP Top 60 win this month. 

Frances Tiafoe reached his first ATP semifinal in more than two years today when he defeated Egor Gerasimov of Kazakhstan 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-5 at the 250-level event in Kazakhstan. Tiafoe will face No. 4 seed John Millman of Australia, who he defeated at the US Open last month, for a place in the finals. Millman saved two match points in his 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(4) victory over No. 7 seed Tommy Paul to prevent an all-US semifinal. Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA) lost to No. 3 seed Adrian Mannarino of France 6-1, 6-4. Mannarino's semifinal opponent is Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland. For more on today's quarterfinals, see this article from the ATP website.

The USTA Southern California sectionals, delayed from this summer due to the pandemic, begin tomorrow and extend through next weekend, with competition taking place in various sites over two weekends. I've listed the top seeds in each of the five divisions below. For draws and results, see the TennisLink site.

Girls 18s: Rebecca Lynn

Boys 18s: Sebastian Gorzny

Girls 16s: Lucinda Gatsiounis

Boys 16s: Lucas Coriaty

Girls 14s:  Rachel Lee

Boys 14s:  Mario Garcia

Girls 12s:  Julieta Pareja

Boys 12s: Rishvanth Krishna

Girls 10s: Ania Zabost

Boys 10s: Stefanos Constantinides