Krueger Advances in BNP Paribas Open Qualifying; Avdic Claims First ITF Junior Circuit Title at J3 in Mexico; USTA Pro Circuit $15K for Women in Naples This Week; Ten Americans in Field at ATP Challenger 100 in Monterrey

WTA qualifying began today at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells California, with reigning USTA Girls 18s National Champion Ashlyn Krueger among those advancing to Tuesday's final round of qualifying. Krueger defeated No. 4 seed Panna Udvardy of Hungary 7-6(5), 7-6(2), with her victory over the 82nd-ranking Udvardy the first Top 100 win of her career. Krueger is coming off her first pro title last week, winning the doubles at the $60K in Arcadia California with Robin Montgomery. 

The other young wild cards all lost today, with Alycia Parks, Theodora Rabman, Elli Mandlik, Reese Brantmeier and Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic falling in straight sets.

On the ITF Junior Circuit last week, Americans took home four titles, three of them coming at the Grade 3 in Tampico Mexico. Sixteen-year-old wild card Lamija Avdic won her first Junior Circuit title in impressive fashion, beating five seeds in her six matches without dropping a set. In the final, Avdic defeated No. 6 seed Natalia Perez of Puerto Rico 6-4, 6-2. With the title Avdic moves her ITF junior ranking up more than 800 spots, from 1311 to 432.

No. 4 seed Felipe Pinzon Moreno, the 2021 USTA 16s Clay Court champion, lost in the boys singles final to unseeded 15-year-old Rei Sakamoto of Japan 6-4, 6-3.

In the all-US boys doubles final, unseeded Ari Cotoulas and Jacob Olar defeated top seeds Pinzon Moreno and Jackson Armistead 6-4, 6-3. It's the second title for both, first as a team. Cotoulas won last week's doubles title at the J5 in Monterrey with Sakamoto.

No. 2 seeds Alexia Harmon and Canada's Alexia Jacobs won the girls doubles title, defeating No. 5 seeds Natalia Fantini and Mariana Reding of Mexico 3-6, 6-2, 10-2 in the final. It's 16-year-old Harmon's first doubles title on the ITF Junior Circuit, while Jacobs has six.

The third doubles title for American juniors came at the J4 in El Salvador, with unseeded Sophia Cedeno and Mia Garber defeating unseeded Sofia Giraldo Zamorano of Colombia and Antonia Sarria of Chile 6-2, 6-2 in the final. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for the 16-year-old Garber, the 14-year-old Cedeno now has two ITF junior doubles titles. 

This week the ITF Junior Circuit tournament most popular with Americans is the Grade 3 in Cancun, where Gracie Epps and Tatum Evans are the top seeds in the girls draw. 

The sole USTA Pro Circuit tournament this week is a $15,000 women's event in Naples Florida, where three $15,000 men's tournaments were held last month. 

Qualifying began today and will conclude on Tuesday, and main draw action will also begin on Tuesday with six matches. Reigning Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl 16s champion Kate Kim will be making her Pro Circuit debut Tuesday; she has drawn top seed Valentina Ryser of Switzerland. 

The other wild cards were given to teenagers Sonya Macavei, Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Lexington Reed. Madison Sieg and Qavia Lopez received entry via the ITF's Junior Reserved program.

Some of the American men who are not attempting to qualify at the BNP Paribas Open this week are in Monterrey Mexico for the ATP Challenger 100.  Four of the six qualifiers are Americans: Aleks Kovacevic(Illinois), Will Blumberg(UNC), Evan Zhu(UCLA) and Strong Kirchheimer(Northwestern). The other six Americans in the draw are Michael Mmoh, Christian Harrison, Alex Rybakov(TCU), Ulises Blanch and wild cards Ryan Harrison and Milledge Cossu(Purdue). 

Blumberg, who got into the qualifying as an alternate, will face former teammate Rinky Hijikata of Australia in the first round.

The top seed is former ATP Top 10 star Fernando Verdasco of Spain, with Jay Clarke of Great Britain the No. 2 seed.