Grant and Penickova Placed in Same Group for ITF Junior Finals, Kostovic and Papamalamis Withdraw; Jana Kovackova Earns First ITF J300 Title; Recap of American Titles on ITF Junior Circuit

The draws have been revealed for the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals, which begin Wednesday in Chengdu China. The two American girls who made the eight-player field--Tyra Grant and Kristina Penickova--are both in Group B. Both can still make the semifinals, as the top two in each group advance. The other two girls in Group B are Laura Samson of the Czech Republic, who reached the final at Roland Garros, and Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain, the US Open girls champion.  Group A features Emerson Jones of Australia a two-time girls slam finalist this year; Wakana Sonobe of Japan, the US Open finalist; and Antonio Vergara Rivera of Chile. Vergara was originally the first alternate, but Teodora Kostovic of Serbia withdrew. Sonja Zhiyenbayeva of Kazakhstan is currently the girls alternate.

The boys field is missing the first three junior slam champions of 2024, but US Open boys champion Rafael Jodar of Spain is at the top of Group A, joined by Wimbledon finalist Mees Rottgering of the Netherlands; Australian Open finalist Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic and Hayden Jones of Australia. Group B features Luca Preda of Romania; Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic; Charlie Robertson of Great Britain; and Kim Jangjun of Korea. Kim was the original alternate, but Theo Papamalamis of France withdrew. Jiang Fumin of China is currently the boys alternate.

Last week the ITF put together a review of notable achievements by juniors this year, which can be found here.  Yannik Alvarez, who lives in Georgia but represents Puerto Rico on the ITF junior circuit, is featured as the youngest player to win 11 titles in a season. He was 15 at the time this article was published; he turned 16 two days ago.  

Jana Kovackova, the 14-year-old from the Czech Republic, is also in the spotlight, for winning 11 titles in singles and doubles this year, the youngest boy or girl ever to do that. That number is now 13, after she won the singles and doubles titles at the J300 in Casablanca last weekend. Seeded No. 6, Kovackova defeated Luna Vujovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-2 in the singles final. Vujovic, who defeated top seed and Jana's older sister Alena in the quarterfinals, was the 2023 Wimbledon 14U champion; Kovackova won that title this year. The Kovackovas won the doubles title, with the No. 2 seeds defeating No. 4 seeds Maia Burcescu of Romania and Vujovic 6-1, 5-7, 10-2 in the final.

Jana is now up to a career-high 45 in the ITF junior rankings. She is the only girl born in 2010 in the Top 100.

Because I was covering the ITF J300 Pan American Regional Championships last week, I didn't have time to highlight the Americans who won titles that previous weekend, and I don't want to slight the J200 titles by two players who came a long way to play the Pan Am in Houston.  Leena Friedman won the J200 in Taiwan, which was plagued by rain from a typhoon, which required short scoring until the final. Friedman, the top seed, defeated No. 2 seed Allegra Korpanec Davies of Great Britain 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the final, but due to her flight to Houston, she and Sabrina Lin were unable to play the doubles final.

Friedman lost in the third round of the Pan Am to eventual champion Maya Iyengar, while Benjamin Willwerth, who won both singles and doubles at the J200 in Japan, fell in semifinals to champion Jack Kennedy. Willwerth, the No. 4 seed in Japan, defeated No. 3 seed Moise Kouame of France 6-4, 6-2; he did not drop a set all week.  Kouame and Willwerth won the doubles title, with the No. 2 seeds beating top seeds Max Exsted and Russia's Timofei Derapasko 2-6, 7-5, 10-8 in the final.

Last weekend, 15-year-old Reagan Levine won her first ITF Junior Circuit title at the J60 in Mexico. Seeded No. 13, Levine lost only 12 games total, and none in her semifinal or final. The Southern Californian defeated No. 4 seed Natalia Varela Herrera of Mexico 6-0, 6-0 in the final.

At the J60 in the Dominican Republic, 16-year-old Agassi Rusher won his fourth ITF Junior Circuit singles title, all this year. The top-seeded Floridian defeated No. 7 seed Gustavo Albieri of Brazil 7-6(4), 6-2 in the final. Olivia Traynor made both the singles and doubles final. She and partner Ireland O'Brien, seeded No. 1, lost to No. 2 seeds Ana Avramovic and Sasha Miroshnichenko 6-1, 6-3 in the doubles championship match.