Ngounoue Cruises to Semifinals at ITF Junior Finals; Shelton and Giron Meet in Semis at Tokyo ATP 500; Stearns, Navarro Among Dow Tennis Classic Wild Cards; Leach Chooses TCU

Clervie Ngounoue completed the round robin portion of the ITF Junior Finals in Chengdu China Friday as the only undefeated girl in the field of eight after three matches. The 17-year-old earned her third consecutive straight-sets win, beating Laura Samsonova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2. ITF No. 1 Ngounoue, who lost just 12 games in her three Group A round robin matches, will play Alina Korneeva of Russia in a semifinal between the top two girls in the ITF rankings, with Korneeva the girls Australian Open and Roland Garros champion and Ngounoue the Wimbledon champion. 

The other semifinal will feature two Japanese players: Sayaka Ishii and Sara Saito. Saito handed Korneeva her first loss in Group B.

Group A

Friday's matches 

Clervie Ngounoue(USA) d. Laura Samsonova(CZE) 6-1, 6-2

Sayaka Ishii(JPN) d. Ena Koike(JPN 6-4, 6-3

Final standings:

1. Ngounoue 3-0

2. Ishii 2-1

3. Samsonova 1-2

4. Koike 0-3

Group B

Friday's matches

Sara Saito(JPN) d. Alina Korneeva(RUS) 0-6, 6-3, 6-4

Renata Jamrichova(SVK) d. Kaitlin Quevedo(USA) 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3

Final standings:

1. Korneeva 2-1

2. Saito 2-1

3. Quevedo 1-2

4. Jamrichova 1-2

Girls semifinals:

Ngounoue v Korneeva

Saito v Ishii

Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico finished undefeated in Group A round robin play, beating previously unbeaten Iliyan Radulov of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-4. Like Ngounoue, Pacheco didn't lose a set in his three victories. In the semifinals, he will play Branko Djuric of Serbia, who finished first in Group B. 

I'm baffled why the two group winners are playing each other in the semifinals in both the girls and boys draws; typically the second place finisher in one group plays the winner in other, so that the group winners can meet in the finals.

Group A

Friday's matches

Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez(MEX) d. Iliyan Radulov(BUL) 6-2, 6-4

Arthur Gea(FRA) d. Yi Zhou(CHN) 6-1, 6-1

Final standings:

1. Pacheco Mendez 3-0

2. Radulov 2-1

3. Gea 1-2

4. Zhou 0-3

Group B

Friday's matches

Joel Schwaerzler(AUT) d. Federico Cina(ITA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

Branko Djuric(SRB) d. Yaroslav Demin(RUS) 6-2, 6-4

1. Djuric 2-1

2. Schwaerzler 2-1

3. Demin 1-2

4. Cina 1-2

Boys semifinals:

Pacheco Mendez v Djuric

Radulov v Schwaerzler

Live streaming of the semifinals is available at the ITF's YouTube channel.

Two former NCAA champions will meet in the semifinals of the ATP 500 in Tokyo tonight, with 2022 champion Ben Shelton(Florida) taking on 2014 champion Marcos Giron(UCLA). The unseeded Shelton reprised his US Open victory over No. 5 seed Tommy Paul 7-6(4), 6-3, while Giron, a qualifier, got a win over a second straight Top 20 opponent Friday, beating No. 8 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-1, 6-4. The top half semifinal also has no seeded player, with wild card and 2019 Wimbledon boys champion Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan facing Aslan Karatsev of Russia. 

The WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic begins at the end of the month in Midland Michigan and two recent NCAA champions are expected as wild cards: 2021 champion Emma Navarro(Virginia) and 2022 champion Peyton Stearns(Texas). Caroline Dolehide also has been awarded a wild card. All are WTA Top 50 players, so they were not allowed to enter a tournament at this level, but can receive wild cards. There are two wild cards set aside for Top 50 players in addition to four regular wild cards, so three more are still to be announced. There are only two qualifying wild cards at a WTA 125, with Midland's own Ellie Coleman, a junior at Duke, listed as one of them. 

The complete list of players expected in Midland is here. I am planning to make my annual trip there for a couple of days early in the tournament. I had a chance to talk with Peyton Stearns last year in Midland, when she was just a few months into her pro career, for this Tennis Recruiting Network article. She went on to reach the semifinals there last year.

At the $80,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Macon Georgia, Miami redshirt junior Alexa Noel lost a heartbreaker to ATP No. 95 and No. 2 seed Kayla Day (who is among those entered in Midland). Day and Noel battled for three hours and 45 minutes before Day prevailed 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5. The top four seeds have advanced to the semifinals, a rarity, with No. 1 Taylor Townsend meeting No. 3 seed Katie Volynets and Day facing No. 4 Panna Udvardy of Hungary.

Earlier this week, high school junior Jagger Leach announced his verbal commitment to TCU. The Kalamazoo 16s semifinalist, son of Lindsay Davenport and Jon Leach, spoke to Tennis Recruiting Network's Rhiannon Potkey about his choice, one that he wanted to make early, in this article published today.