New USTA Level 1 Tournaments Coming in May; Banerjee and Colak Reach Colombia Grade 1 Final; Las Vegas Concludes with Titles for Mboko and Perego; Brooksby's Comeback Extends Challenger Winning Streak; Li into Semis at WTA Monterrey

The USTA announced that it has added a new Level 1, the highest level in its junior competition, to the calendar for May 1-5, 2021. The five-day tournaments, in eight locations across the country, will have 128-player draws, so two matches per day will be necessary on two of the five days. Christened the USTA Sections Invitational, all entries will generated through endorsements from individual sections, with each section free to determine how to select players for its list. Entries close April 1.

According to the USTA, "this event was created as part of the USTA’s ongoing efforts to create more play opportunities for juniors and to ensure there are equitable opportunities for players to earn valuable rankings points."

For more information, go to the individual Playtennis tournament sites:

B12s: Austin, TX (Austin Tennis Academy)

B14s: Cary, NC (Cary Tennis Park)

B16s: San Diego, CA (Barnes Tennis Center)

B18s: Indianapolis, IN (North Central High School)

G12s: Virginia Beach, VA (Virginia Beach Tennis and Country Club)

G14s: Tucson, AZ (El Conquistador Tucson)

G16s: Tulsa, OK (Racquet & Health 91)

G18s: Mobile, AL (Mobile Tennis Center)

The ITF boys final in Barranquilla Colombia will feature two Americans, with No. 5 seed Samir Banerjee taking on No. 2 seed Ozan Colak with a first title at the Grade 1 level on the line for both. Both advanced with wins over opponents from Peru, with Banerjee taking out unseeded Ignacio Buse 6-3, 6-2 and Colak defeating No. 8 seed Gonzalo Bueno 6-3, 6-3. Neither American has lost a set this week en route to the final.

Ava Krug's run ended in today's semifinals, with the 15-year-old American dropping a 6-4, 7-5 decision to No. 3 seed Julie Garcia of Mexico. Garcia will face unseeded 16-year-old Johanne Svendsen of Denmark in the final. Svendsen, who lost in the first round of the Grade 2 last week in Santo Domingo, is playing in her first Grade 1.  She already has collected her first Grade 1 title, winning the doubles today with Lucija Ciric Bagaric of Croatia. The unseeded pair defeated No. 4 seeds Madison Sieg and the Czech Republic's Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-4, 6-4.  The boys  doubles title went to Bueno and Ecuador's Alvaro Guillen Meza, with the No. 3 seeds defeating unseeded Buse and Christopher Li of Peru 6-3, 7-5 in the final. 

At the Grade 2 in the Dominican Republic, wild card Olivia Lincer lost in the semifinals for the second consecutive week. The 16-year-old from Connecticut fell to Marina Stacusik of Canada 6-3, 6-4.

The Grade 4 in Las Vegas finished today with two Americans falling in the singles finals. Top seed Kimmi Hance was beaten by 14-year-old Victoria Mboko of Canada 7-5, 6-3 in the girls final; Giulio Perego of Italy, the No. 2 seed, defeated qualifier Sebastian Gorzny 6-4, 7-5. All four are scheduled to compete in next week's Grade 1 in San Diego; Gorzny is in qualifying, the other three are entered in the main draw.

Americans had more success in doubles, with both titles going to US teams. Unseeded Gorzny and Brayden Michna defeated No. 3 seeds Ethan Quinn and Colton Smith 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-8 for the boys championship. No. 4 seeds Vivian Ovrootsky and Tsehay Driscoll defeated No. 3 seeds Maya Iyengar and India's Nikita Vishwase 6-3, 7-5 in the final.

Jenson Brooksby trailed No. 3 seed Emilio Gomez(USC) of Ecuador 6-2, 5-2 in today's semifinal at the ATP Challenger 80, and had to save two match points, one serving at 2-5 and another with Gomez serving at 5-3. But the 20-year-old Californian, who was on the Baylor team for one semester last year, won five games in a row to take the second set, then won four more to start the third, before Gomez finally rebounded. Gomez got one of the breaks back in the third, but Brooksby closed out the match at his first opportunity, earning a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 win and his ninth consecutive win at the Challenger level. He will face the winner of tonight's match between Bjorn Fratangelo and Illinois' fifth-year senior Aleks Kovacevic. Kovacevic reached his first Challenger semifinal with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 win over Yosuke Watanuki of Japan last night. 

Ann Li has lost just one match this year, to Aryna Sabalenka in the third round of the Australian Open, and she has continued her excellent play back in North America, reaching the semifinals of the WTA 250 in Monterrey Mexico. Li, the No. 8 seed, defeated No. 3 seed Saisai Zheng of China 7-5, 6-1 and will play the winner of tonight's match between two qualifiers: Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland and Anna Kalinskaya of Russia. Eighteen-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada has advanced to the semifinals in the top half, beating Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia 7-5, 6-3.  No. 2 seeds Caroline Dolehide and Asia Muhammad are through to the doubles final, where they'll meet Zheng and Heather Watson of Great Britain for the title.