ITF J2 Titles for Rabman, Bigun and Slama, Ngounoue Sweeps J5 Titles in Cameroon; Johnson and Volynets Take Leads in Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge; Pac-12, Big-12 Conference Brackets Released
Americans Thea Rabman and Kaylan Bigun earned the singles titles at the ITF J2 in Woodbridge Ontario on indoor hard courts, while Mia Slama captured the girls singles title on outdoor clay at the J2 in Istres France.
Thirteen-year-old Carel Ngounoue won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title at the J5 in Cameroon, while capturing his second consecutive doubles title there.
In Canada, the 16-year-old Rabman, seeded No. 8, took advantage of all the upsets, winning her first ITF Junior Circuit title without facing a seed. The Easter Bowl quarterfinalist defeated Ellie Daniels of Canada 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the final, the third time in her five matches that she came from a set down to win.
The 15-year-old Bigun had won two ITF junior doubles titles with his twin Meecah, but the title in Canada is his first in singles. Seeded No. 4, Bigun claimed three three-set victories, including in the final where he defeated unseeded Junghee You of Canada 7-5, 2-6, 7-5. You had beaten top seed Alexander Frusina in the first round.
Frusina did take the doubles title, with partner Yannik Rahman. The top seeds defeated Bigun and Evan Wen, the No. 3 seeds, 6-4, 6-4 in the final. The Biguns split up this week, with Kaylan defeating Meecah and his partner Duncan Chan of Canada in the semifinals.
Ariana Pursoo and Erica Jessel lost in the girls doubles final to Alexia Jacobs and Anna-Raphaelle Serghi of Canada 3-6, 6-3, 11-9.
The 16-year-old Slama, the No. 3 seed in France, defeated unseeded Celine Simunyu of Ireland 6-4, 7-5 in the final. Simunyu had defeated top seed Joelle Steur of Germany in the semifinals. It's the sixth singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit for Slama; the previous five have been a J3, three J4s and one J5.
The unseeded Ngounoue, who had reached the final of the J5 in Cameroon two weeks ago, took that next step last week, defeating Benedict Horn-Bourque of Canada, also unseeded, 6-3 6-1 in the final. Ngounoue lost only 11 games in his five victories. He and Joseph Oyebog Junior won their second consecutive doubles title, with the No. 3 seeds defeating top seeds Boris Ekani Essono and Hermann Nsahno Ndonfack of Cameroon 7-6(5), 6-1.
The other title for a US junior came in boys doubles at the J5 in Guadeloupe. Seventeen-year-old Matvey Greschner and his partner Dae Hyun Back of Korea, seeded No. 2, defeated top seeds Nicolas Iantosca and his Canadian partner David Asenov 6-4, 6-2 in the final. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for Greschner.
At last week's J1 in Bulgaria, No. 4 seed Ozan Colak reached the semifinals in singles and the final in doubles.
The latest update in the standings of the USTA's Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge were released today, with Katie Volynets and Steve Johnson now at the top of the lists after Volynets won the $100K in Palm Harbor and Johnson reached the final of the ATP Challenger 100 in Sarasota. Volynets is the No. 5 seed this week at the Charlottesville $60K and Johnson is the No. 2 seed this week at the ATP Challenger 80 in Tallahassee.
Below are the current Top 5s, with two more weeks remaining in the men's race and three more weeks available for women to earn points. Today's release from the USTA is available here.
1. Steve Johnson - 802. Michael Mmoh - 60
3. Mitchell Krueger - 52
4. JJ Wolf - 40
5. Sam Querrey - 20
Two more of the Power 5 conferences have released their conference tournament draws, with the Pac-12 and Big-12 joining the SEC and ACC, which released their draws Sunday. The Big Ten's tournaments are the last weekend of April.
The top 4 seeds in the Pac-12:
Men (tournament in Ojai CA):1. Arizona
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