Three Americans Advance at Australian Open Junior Championships, Top Seed Cina Ousted; Karki Claims Second Straight Costa Rica J100 Title; Holt Advances to First Challenger Final in Indian Wells

The first 28 matches of the Australian Open Junior Championships concluded Saturday, producing one major upset and three victories for Americans.  Boys top seed Federico Cina of Italy took the first set from Amir Omarkhanov  6-0, but that didn't faze the 16-year-old from Kazakhstan, who went on to claim a 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. ITF reporter Richard L. Evans spoke with Omarkhanov, who is competing in his first junior slam, not only about his shocking upset, but his family, which includes an older brother who plays for NAIA Northwest Ohio. Also included in the boys article is Jagger Leach, who beat Daniil Sarksian of Russia 7-6(4), 6-4.

The most notable upset in the 14 girls matches that were played Saturday saw 14-year-old wild card Ksenia Efremova of France take down No. 5 and 2023 US Open girls finalist Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republc 7-6(2), 6-4. Top seed Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia cruised past Francesca Gandolfi of Italy 6-0, 6-2. She is featured in the ITF girls article, along with No. 2 seed Sara Saito of Japan, who defeated wild card Giselle Guillen of Australia 6-2, 6-2.

Saturday's first round Australian Open Junior results of Americans:
Vittoria Paganetti(ITA) d. Alanis Hamilton 6-2, 6-4
Kate Fakih d. Rositsa Dencheva(BUL) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1

Jagger Leach d. Daniil Sarksian(RUS) 7-6(4), 6-4
Roy Horovitz[10] d. Egor Pleshivtsev(RUS) 7-6(5), 6-4

Sunday's first round Australian Open Junior matches featuring Americans:

Alex Razeghi[6] v Cruz Hewitt[WC](AUS)

Cooper Woestendick v Thanaphat Boosarawongse[Q](THA)

Max Exsted v Diego Dedura-Palomero(GER)

Kaylan Bigun[5] v Rohan Hazratwala[WC](AUS)

Matthew Forbes v Nicolai Budkov Kjaer[2](NOR)

Mia Slama v Koharu Nishikawa[WC](AUS)

Iva Jovic[8] v Vendula Valdmannova(CZE)

Aspen Schuman[Q] v Kaitlin Quevedo[3](ESP)

Tyra Grant[9] v Reina Goto[Q](JPN)

In addition to the 36 first round singles matches Sunday, doubles is also on the schedule. All 13 Americans are competing in doubles, with Tyra Grant and Iva Jovic the No. 3 seeds in the girls draw.  Alex Razeghi, partnering with Australian Hayden Jones, is the No. 3 seed in the boys draw. 

The number of Americans left in the men's and women's singles at the Australian Open is dwindling, with all four in third round action Saturday failing to advance. Three remain, playing their fourth round matches Sunday.

Sunday's fourth round matches featuring Americans:

Taylor Fritz[12] v Stefanos Tsitsipas[7](GRE)

Coco Gauff[4] v Magdalena Frech(POL)

Amanda Anisimova v Aryna Sabelenka[2](BLR)

Saturday's third round results of Americans:

Alexander Zverev[6](GER) d. Alex Michelsen 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-2

Miomir Kecmanovic(SRB) d. Tommy Paul[14] 6-4, 3-6. 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-0

Anna Kalinskaya(RUS) d. Sloane Stephens 6-7(8), 6-1, 6-4

Dayana Yastremska[Q](UKR) d. Emma Navarro[27] 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 

At the ITF J100 in Costa Rica, unseeded Ronit Karki won his second consecutive singles title, beating No. 1 seed Jack Kennedy 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in today's final. In Friday's semifinals, Karki had avenged his Orange Bowl 16s final loss to Dominick Mosejczuk 2-6, 7-6(9), 6-2. No. 3 seed Krisha Mahendran, a Californian who plays for India, won the girls singles title, beating No. 5 seed Naomi Xu of Canada 6-0, 7-6(7).

Xu and Jessica Bernales won the girls doubles title, with the No. 3 seeds beating No. 4 seeds Brooke Black and Flora Johnson of Great Britain 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 in the final. Twins Mikael and Nicolas Arseneault of Canada won the boys doubles title, beating Nathan Blokhin and Mark Krupkin 6-0, 6-4. Neither team was seeded.

The California rain that caused postponement of all the college matches scheduled for that part of the country this weekend made its way over the mountains to the Coachella Valley, with the second semifinal at the Southern California Open ATP Challenger 50 in Indian Wells to be postponed until Sunday morning.  

The first semifinal between No. 3 seed Brandon Holt(USC) and No. 6 seed Thai Kwiatkowski(Virginia) did finish, with Holt reaching his first ATP Challenger final with a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3) victory over the 2017 NCAA singles champion. Holt will face the winner of the match between 2019 NCAA singles champion Paul Jubb(South Carolina) of Great Britain and No. 4 seed Mitchell Krueger. Krueger led 6-4, 3-2 serving when play was stopped. The all-American doubles final, between Kwiatkowski and Alex Lawson(Notre Dame) and top seeds Ryan Seggerman(Princeton/UNC) and Patrick Trhac(Idaho State/Utah), also postponed due the rain, will be played after the singles semifinal, with the singles final to follow that. 

Live streaming is available at the ATP Challenger TV page. Another Southern Californian Brandon, Nakashima, is also in a Challenger final tomorrow, with the former Virginia star facing Pedro Martinez of Spain in the Tenerife Challenger 100 final Sunday.