On Tuesday, two unseeded teams won the 18s doubles titles at the USTA Winter National Championships; today, two unseeded players claimed the singles titles at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona.
Sixteen-year-old Alexis Nguyen, who reached the ITF J500 Orange Bowl quarterfinals last month, didn't drop a set in her seven victories, capping off her run with a 6-4, 6-2 win over unseeded Anna Frey.
Eighteen-year-old Saahith Jayaraman, who, like Nguyen trains with Joe Gilbert at the JMG Academy in Sacramento, won the boys 18s title, avenging his Easter Bowl loss to No. 17 seed Niels Hoffmann with a 6-2, 6-4 victory in this morning's final. Jayaraman, a Duke signee, was up 6-2, 2-1 and serving before Hoffmann, a USC signee, won three straight games for a 4-2 lead. Serving at 4-2, 40-0, Hoffmann was broken, and his momentum slipped away, with Jayaraman saving three break points pull even at 4. Hoffman's costly double fault at 4-all 30-all led to a break and Jayaraman closed out the championship on his first match point. Jayaraman has only 28 matches in 2023 on his Tennis Recruiting profile, so his lack of seeding, in a tournament which seeds a quarter of the participants, might be understandable. But I can't fathom the failure to seed Nguyen, who is having success in pro circuit events and the highest levels of junior tennis.
The 16s champions are No. 4 seed Nischal Spurling, who didn't lose a set in his seven wins and beat No. 5 seed Gavin Goode 7-6(4), 6-4 in today's final, and No. 2 seed Bella Payne, who defeated unseeded Sena Yoon 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the only three-set final in Lake Nona. The 16s and 18s draws can be found
here.
G18s singles final:
Alexis Nguyen d. Anna Frey 6-4, 6-2
G18s doubles final(Tuesday):
Emily Deming and Kenzie Nguyen d. Polina Krumkachev and Katie Spencer 6-2, 6-0
B18s singles final:
Saahith Jayaraman d. Niels Hoffmann[17] 6-2, 6-4
B18s doubles final(Tuesday):
Jordan Chang and Ronit Karki a. Dylan Jaen and Tanner Povey[9] 6-2, 6-2
G16s singles final:
Bella Payne[2] d. Sena Yoon 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
G16s doubles final(Tuesday):
Anna Bennett and Emerey Gross[3] d. Carrie-Anne Hoo and Danielle Young[6] 6-1, 7-6(3)
B16s singles final:
Nischal Spurling[4] d. Gavin Goode[5] 7-6(4), 6-4
B16s doubles final (Tuesday):
Gavin Goode and Yannik Alvarez[6] d. Evan Rigsby and Rajat Shirur[2] 7-6(3), 6-1
It was a long day at the 12s and 14s Winter Nationals in San Antonio, with rain all day Tuesday delaying the semifinals until today, along with the doubles finals. That meant several players were asked to play three matches, two of them for the gold balls awarded to USTA Level 1 national champions.
One player did manage to win all three matches and two gold balls today, No. 7 seed Andrew Johnson, who claimed the Junior Orange Bowl 14s title two weeks ago. With his 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 4 seed Rowan Qalbani in today's final, Johnson has now won 14 consecutive singles matches in straight sets; his last loss was to Eddie Herr champion Michael Antonius in last month's semifinals of the Eddie Herr 14s. Johnson and partner Tyler Lee, the top seeds, took the doubles title to close out the day in San Antonio. Johnson was the only singles champion to also capture the doubles title this year in all eight divisions.
USTA Winter Nationals 12s and 14s results from Wednesday, with the finals results in bold:
G14s semifinal results:
Bailey Scott[4] d. Aarini Bhattacharya[5] 6-4, 6-3
Anjani Vickneswaran[6] d. Kayden Johnson[3] 6-1, 6-1
G14s singles final:
Anjani Vickneswaran[6] d. Bailey Scott[4] 7-6(3), 6-1
G14s doubles final:Sammie Mercer and Bailey Scott[2] d. Madeleine Bridges and Raina Kim[1] 6-1, 6-4 B14s semifinal results:
Andrew Johnson[7] d. Owen Conley[13] 6-0, 6-1
Rowan Qalbani[4] d. Safir Azam[1] 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-6(4)
Boys 14s singles final:
Andrew Johnson[7] d. Rowan Qalbani[4] 6-3, 6-4
B14s doubles final:
Tyler Lee and Andrew Johnson[1] d. Aditya Pandey and Paxton Au 6-0, 6-2
B12s semifinal results:
Tristan Ascenzo[1] d. James Borchard[16] 6-2, 6-0
Jiarui Zhang[5] d. Smyan Thuta[2] 6-2, 6-4
B12s singles final:
Jiarui Zhang[5] d. Tristan Ascenzo[1] 7-5, 3-6, 6-2
B12s doubles final:
Tristan Ascenzo and Sebastian Zavala[1] d. Jason Zhao and Andres Quijada[5] 6-2, 6-2
G12s semifinal results:
Daniela Del Mastro[1] d. Cissy Adams[3] 6-2, 1-1 ret. inj.
Nikol Davletshina[2] d. Tanvi Pandey[30] 6-1, 6-1
G12s singles final:
Daniela Del Mastro[1] d. Nikol Davletshina[2] 6-1, 6-1
G12s doubles final:
Olivia De Los Reyes and Nikol Davletshina[2] d. Madeline Cleary and Olivia Lin[1] 3-6, 6-3, 6-0
The first
Division I team rankings are out today, with the 13 regional ranking chairs voting in a poll to determine the rankings early in the season. The ITA computer algorithm will take over in February, when there are an adequate number of results from dual matches to consider. Both NCAA champions North Carolina women and Virginia men received all 13 first place votes.
Division I Preseason Rankings
(poll of 13 ranking chairs)
WOMEN:
1. North Carolina
2. Texas A&M
3. Georgia
4. Stanford
5. Michigan
6. Oklahoma State
7. Texas
8. Pepperdine
9. NC State
10. Florida
11. Auburn
12. Virginia
13. Oklahoma
14. Ohio State
15. Duke
16. UCLA
17. Vanderbilt
18. Tennessee
19. Cal
20. Georgia Tech
21. Miami
22. USC
23. Wisconsin
24. Washington
25. Arizona State
MEN:
1. Virginia
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. TCU
5. South Carolina
6. Tennessee
7. USC
8. Duke
9. Stanford
10. Harvard
11. Kentucky
12. Columbia
13. North Carolina
14. Michigan
15. Wake Forest
16. Arizona
17. Mississippi State
18. Georgia
19. Texas A&M
20. Florida State
21. NC State
22. Oklahoma
23. Florida
24. Michigan State
25. Baylor
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