Korneeva, Schwaerzler Champions at ITF Junior Finals; Shelton Claims First ATP Title in Tokyo; USTA Pro Circuit Titles for Townsend, Tomic and Miyamoto

When the fields for the ITF Junior Finals were announced at the beginning of the month, few would have been surprised by any prediction that three weeks later Alina Korneeva of Russia would take the girls title. The same can't be said for boys champion Joel Schwaerzler of Austria, as he wasn't even among the eight players and one alternate announced at the time.

Schwaerzler was selected to take the place of Darwin Blanch, who withdrew after the initial announcement, with the fact that he was playing the J500 in Osaka Japan no doubt making that last-minute invitation more appealing from a travel standpoint. The 17-year-old Schwaerzler, who won the Osaka title to move to No. 7 in the junior rankings, handed Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico his first loss of the week in Sunday's final, beating his fellow left-hander 6-3, 7-6(6).

The final standings for the boys:

1. Joel Schwaerzler(AUT)

2. Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez(MEX)

3. Iliyan Radulov(BUL)

4. Branko Djuric(SRB)

5. Yaroslav Demin(RUS)

6. Federico Cina(ITA)

7. Arthur Gea(FRA)

8. Yi Zhou/Tianhui Zhang(CHN)*

*Zhou retired during his match Saturday, Zhang played Sunday)

The 16-year-old Korneeva, 165 in the WTA rankings, lost to Japan's Sara Saito 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 in round robin play, but she convincingly avenged that loss in the final, 6-0, 6-3, no doubt having learned her lesson regarding Saito's response after being shut out in a first set.

Both Korneeva and Schwaerzler will receive travel grants of $18,500, with all participants receiving some compensation in the form of travel grants.

The final standings for the girls:

1. Alina Korneeva(RUS)

2. Sara Saito(JPN)

3. Sayaka Ishii(JPN)

4. Clervie Ngounoue(USA)

5. Kaitlin Quevedo(USA)

6. Renata Jamrichova(SVK)

7. Laura Samsonova(CZE)

8. Ena Koike(JPN)

Replays of the finals can be viewed on the ITF's YouTube Channel.

Ben Shelton won his first ATP title Sunday in Tokyo, defeating Aslan Karatsev of Russia 7-5, 6-1 in the 500 final. Throughout the year, particularly after his quarterfinal at the Australia Open and his semifinal at the US Open, I've been asked if I can recall a rise this rapid for a player who played college tennis, and in my 18 years experience, I can't. Barely over two years ago, Shelton was losing in the Kalamazoo 18s final to Zachary Svajda. After leaving Florida in May of 2022, after winning the NCAA singles title, Shelton was outside the Top 500, now he is No. 15 in the ATP rankings. For the first time since 1997, there are now four Americans in the ATP Top 15: Taylor Fritz[10]. Tommy Paul[12], Tiafoe[14] and Shelton[15].

There was a second recent collegian taking a title in Tokyo, with  former North Carolina All-American Rinky Hijikata of Australia partnering with compatriot Max Purcell for the doubles crown. Hijikata, 22, and Purcell, 25, won a battle of unseeded teams in the final, beating Michael Venus(LSU) of New Zealand and Jamie Murray of Great Britain 6-4, 6-1 for their first ATP title as a team. Hijikata, who won the Australian Open doubles title this year with Jason Kubler, is up to 24 in the ATP doubles rankings.

For more on the final, see this article from the ATP website. The ATP's first-time champion interview with Shelton is here.

Two No. 1 seeds and a qualifier took home titles today on the USTA Pro Circuit, with Taylor Townsend winning the $80,000 tournament in Macon Georgia, Bernard Tomic claiming the title at the $15,000 tournament in Las Vegas Nevada and Ayumi Miyamoto earning her first title at the $15,000 tournament in Jackson Tennessee.

Townsend defeated No. 4 seed Panna Udvardy of Hungary 6-3, 6-4 for her second Pro Circuit title of the month, taking the Macon title without dropping a set. She is now up to 66 in the WTA live rankings, just a few spots below her career-high of 61.

Jana Kolodynska of Belarus and Tatiana Prozorova of Russia won the the doubles title, with the unseeded pair beating No. 2 seeds Sofia Sewing(Miami) and Antastasia Tikhonova of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

Tomic, the 31-year-old from Australia, won his first title since last November, defeating 2017 NCAA champion Thai Kwiatkowski (Virginia) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in today's final.

The doubles title in Las Vegas went to current University of Tennessee teammates Johannus Monday of Great Britain and Angel Diaz of of Ecuador. The No. 3 seeds defeated former University of Florida teammates Will Grant and Andres Andrade of Ecuador, who were unseeded, 6-4, 6-4 in the championship match. It's the first doubles title for Diaz, the eighth for Monday.

Oklahoma State graduate student Ayumi Miyamoto, a 22-year-old from Japan, won two qualifying matches and five matches in the main draw in Tennessee, defeating teammate and No. 1 seed Lucia Peyre of Argentina 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 in today's final. Miyamoto played the No. 4 and 5 positions for the Cowgirls last year as a senior, going 17-3.