Sun and Liutova Meet Again for ITF J500 Orange Bowl Title; Kennedy and Boogaart Reach Boys Final; Sirichantho and Reyniak Claim 16s Titles; Thirty-Point Tiebreaker Decides G16s Doubles Title

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Fort Lauderdale FL--

Kristina Liutova had let one match point slip by, hitting a backhand wide at 5-3, 40-15 in the third set in her Orange Bowl semifinal match Saturday with No. 6 seed Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia. The second match point ended with a long rally and a mark check on the far sideline by the chair umpire with Cvetkovic pleading that Liutova's ball was wide. After staying out of the conversation for a minute, with the umpire not convinced the ball was out, Liutova told him the ball was out, conceding the point to Cvetkovic. Cvetkovic thanked her, the crowd around court 10 applauded Liutova applause, and the game continued.

At deuce, Cvetkovic missed a drop shot attempt, but saved a third match point with a volley winner. But a blistering backhand gave Liutova a fourth match point, with Cvetkovic sailing a backhand long to give Liutova a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

Asked why she conceded such a crucial point in such a hard-fought battle, Liutova said she saw the ball out and did not want the match to end with that knowledge.

"Tennis is fair play," said the 15-year-old Seattle-area resident, who was born in Russia. "I'd rather lose the game or whatever, but play fair; that shouldn't be a problem. I was stuck in the moment, just watching, but if I knew it was out and I take it, it's not fair."

Liutova had been pushed by Cvetkovic into an unfamiliar position after beating the 17-year-old Serbian 6-3, 6-0 in the ITF J300 Bradenton final six days ago.

"She stepped in in the first set, was very aggressive," said Liutova, who did not drop a set in Bradenton or this week until today. "I was a little nervous, but she played a very great level and I just had to accept it, continue the work, not thinking about what's been already."

Liutova will face No. 12 seed Xinran Sun of China for the third time in the past four months, after Sun defeated top seed Victoria Barros of Brazil 6-2, 6-3.

"She's a great player, and I just want to enjoy the competition in the final," said Liutova, who defeated Sun in the semifinals of the J300 in College Park in August and last week in the Bradenton J300 quarterfinals.  "Of course I will have some patterns and strategy with my team, but the most important thing is to just let myself play, be myself and go for my shots."

Sun, also 15, said she will "of course" make some changes in her third attempt to beat Liutova.

"Last two times she played really good," said Sun, who has not dropped a set this week. "I just hope I can play my tennis. My movement is good and my backhand is too."

Sun said she had practiced with Barros and was familiar with her game, although they had not played until today.

"I know she is so good player, has so good experience," said Sun, who trains in Belgrade Serbia. "Today I gave 100 percent and played my tennis."

The boys semifinals were both completed in straight sets, with No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy beating unseeded Tanishk Konduri 6-4, 6-3 and No. 11 seed Thijs Boogaard defeating top seed Yannick Alexandrescou of France 7-5, 6-1.

Boogaard, who reached the semifinals of the J300 in Bradenton, is beginning to feel more comfortable now on green clay.

"It's one of the first times I've played on green clay and it's definitely a bit different to the red clay we're used to in Europe,
 said the 17-year-old from the Netherlands. "Last week before the Eddie Herr Bradenton tournament, I took a bit of time to adjust to it, and I think I managed it well. I'm playing better and better on these clay courts and I'm starting to understand it more. The bounces are less high, which I'm a fan of, and the movement, everything is a bit more slippery."

Boogaard was out for many months with mononucleosis and has found the road back to top physical condition a rough one.

"After Wimbledon, we decided to take some time off to really build on my body," said Boogaard, who lost in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. "I felt I was not able to push myself every time, which was very frustrating for the last, what was it, one and a-half, two years. After Wimbledon I decided, together with my team, that I don't want to do this anymore and we've building ever since. We feel like we're back on the right path again. Just getting some match rhythm again, keep building, because it's still going to take a while until I'm back to 100 percent."

Boogaard has taken confidence from all the matches he's won these two weeks, with his win over Alexandrescou especially encouraging.

"He's an unbelievable player, he has great strokes," Boogaard said. "I knew I had to push myself every point, to go for it and attack. Otherwise he would grind me out. So I tried to push myself, go to the net, play aggressive, which is also my game style, and at the end, it worked perfectly."

Kennedy had to make an adjustment or two after falling behind against Konduri in their first meeting.

"I went down an early break 4-1," said the 17-year-old from New York, who was a semifinalist at this tournament last year. "He was playing really well, serving really well, but I was having chances to break back. I knew if I kept mentally solid and stayed present in the moment, I'd get my chance. I did, at 4-3, and I won the set."

The second set remained on serve until Kennedy broke for 4-3, and Konduri's game began to fade at that stage.

"After the break I think he lost a little bit of belief, and I countered that and took control of the metch," Kennedy.

Boogaard and Kennedy played in the second round at Roland Garros this year, with Kennedy posting a 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory.

"It was a tight match," Boogaard recalled. "He's a great player, one of best guys right now on the junior circuit. It's going to be a good test and we'll see what's going to happen tomorrow."

Two of the semifinalists who lost today managed to rebound in the doubles, with Konduri and partner Marcel Latak advancing to the boys final, and Cvetkovic and partner Rajeshwaran Revathi of India reaching the girls doubles final.

The unseeded Konduri and Latak defeated No. 8 seeds Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia and Johan Oscar Lien of Norway 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 and will face No. 6 seeds Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia. Alvarez and Sesko defeated No. 7 seeds Ryan Cozad and Gavin Goode 3-6, 6-4, 10-2.

Cvetkovic and Rajeshwaran, seeded No. 3, beat No. 5 seeds Thea Frodin and Welles Newman 3-6, 6-2, 10-5. They will face No. 8 seeds Alyssa James of Jamaica and Annika Penickova, who defeated the unseeded team of Giselle Guillen of Australia and Alisa Terentyeva 6-4, 6-3.

Due to the possibility of rain Sunday, all six finals, which include both ITF World Junior Wheelchair Championships singles finals, are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

The 16s champions were crowned today in all-USA finals, with No. 2 seed Matias Reyniak defeating No. 7 seed Daniel Malacek 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and Priscilla Sirichantho beating Daniela Del Mastro 6-4, 6-1.

Reyniak appeared tentative at the start of the match, with both players struggling with nerves and a bit more wind than had been the norm during the week. Reyniak briefly took the lead, with a break at 3-all, but two breaks later, Malacek had secured the set.

Reyniak found his form in the middle of the second set and was able to concentrate of the task at hand, rather than begin a premature celebration, when he took a 3-0 lead in the third set.

"That's the number one thing you're fighting," said the 16-year-old from New York, who trains in Spain with coach Gilad Bloom, a four-time participant in the Orange Bowl. "When you're on the court, the number one person that you're playing is yourself. If I can keep my level, I'm confident I can finish this out. Being down 0-3 in the third, they're just going to start going for it, and that's what he did, started ripping shots and started making them. So you just have to keep the pressure on, keep doing what you're doing; never change a winning strategy."

 

Malacek said Reyniak was able to take advantage of his opportunities in the second and third sets.

"He was able to capitalize on easy-ish balls more than Colter (Amey) was yesterday," said the 16-year-old from Seattle. "I had to go for more, take more risk to be gritty and I started missing a little bit, especially when I got a little tired."

Malacek counts the week as a success despite his loss in the final.

"It was a great experience; first Orange Bowl, I made the final, that's good," said Malacek, who will play the USTA 16s Winter Nationals after Christmas. "I'm going to keep trying to learn to play the clay game and play more clay tournaments, because I think I'm actually pretty good on it."

Reyniak has been playing the ITF Junior Circuit all year, primarily in Europe, but thought this trip back to the United States would be beneficial. 

"We came here wanting to win, but no expectations," said Reyniak, who will spend the holidays in New York. "Look, just come here, have fun, a little bit of Florida sun, who doesn't want that?" 

"And now I go back to New York, see my big brother, my dad and my dog Lola, and I'm really excited to see her; that's the real prize."

As for a celebration, Reyniak had a chilly one in mind.

"An ice bath, that's my thing," Reyniak. "A big long ice bath when I get home."

The girls 16s final, played after the boys on the Chris Evert Stadium Court, turned on the final game of the first set, with Priscilla Sirichantho breaking Daniela Del Mastro for a 6-4 lead. 

The 14-year-old left-hander dropped her serve in the opening game of the second set, but then reeled off six straight for a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

"It felt like impossible to break her in the beginning," said Sirichantho, who trains at the Solaris Racquet Club in Stamford and also has a weekly coaching session with Brian Barker, James Blake's former coach, at Tennis Club of Trumbull. "But I just held my ground and kept holding until I got my chance. That kind of switched the trajectory of the match, I think."

Sirichantho, who had lost to Del Mastro in their only meeting last fall, was pleased with her performance.

"I'm proud of how I played," said Sirichantho, who will move up to the 18s next year. "I've been playing less tournaments, practicing a lot, and I've had a lot of great coaches help me. I just worked on a lot since losing to her a year ago."

Del Mastro credited Sirichantho for playing well, while expressing disappointment with her own level in the final.

"Today was definitely not my day, but Priscilla played an unbelievable match," said the 14-year-old from Minnesota. "It's been a very memorable week, a very positive week. I played very well the whole week and before this, I wasn't as confident on clay. Now I'm a lot more confident."

The match of the tournament was today's girls 16 doubles final, with top seeds Emery Combs and Olivia de Los Reyes saving five match points in their 2-6, 6-3, 16-14 win over No. 6 seeds Sylvana Jalbert and Reiley Rhodes.

Combs and de Los Reyes, both 14, won three straight ITF J100 title this fall, but that winning streak was in jeopardy throughout the match tiebreaker, after they failed to secure their match point at 9-8.

They saved match points at 10-9, 11-10, 12-11, 13-12 and 14-13, all with winners: a forehand putaway, three volley winners, and drop volley winner. 

Combs and de Los Reyes earned their second match point with a great first serve from de Los Reyes, with Combs putting away the weak return and Rhodes missed a backhand to finally put an end to all the drama.

Comfortable at the net and unwilling to play passively, Combs and de Los Reyes stuck to their game plan despite the two-back strategy of Rhodes and Jalbert.

"It's nice to know we have the skills to do it our way," said Combs, from Conway South Carolina. "We both have good hands, so as long as we are intense and stay positive, we're able to do whatever we want on court."

In addition to commitment and intensity, Combs and de Los Reyes are also determined to enjoy their matches.

"Whenever we have fun on court, it's straightforward," said de Los Reyes, a New Yorker. "Laughing helps a lot." 

Combs and de Los Reyes, who won the Orange Bowl 14s doubles title last year after playing together for the first time at the 2024 Easter Bowl, don't do a lot of signaling or talking during a match, no matter how pressure-packed the point is.

"We just know each other," de Los Reyes said. "And I just go fo my shots," Combs said. "I know my strengths and my weaknesses and I just adjust."

"In pressure moments, I just play what I practice," de Los Reyes said. "And I know I can rely on that."

The boys doubles champions also saved match points in winning the title, although their Houdini act came in the quarterfinals, and unlike the girls, they were playing together for the first time.

"In the quarters, we saved four match points," said Filip Jokic of Serbia, who teamed up with Sean Peng of Texas at the suggestion of a mutual friend and player who was aging out of the 16s. 

"I told him after our quarterfinal match (a 4-6, 7-6(12), 10-4 win over James Ross and Mason Vaughan) that if we could get through our quarters we'd have the confidence to get the title," Peng said.

Against the unseeded team of Rafael Pawar and Zesen Wang, the No. 5 seeds saved a set point at 6-5 in the second set tiebreaker, winning the next three points to secure the 6-3, 7-6(6) win and the champions' crystal bowl of oranges.

"I came over just for this tournament," said Jokic, who lives and trains in Serbia. "This is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, and my brother also played it eight years ago, so I wanted to come and see the best level of tennis."

The ITF Junior Wheelchair Championships are being held in conjunction with the Orange Bowl, and after round robin play for three days, the singles finals are Sunday. Those matches, and the results of today's doubles finals are below.

Boys WC doubles final:
Charlie Cooper(USA) and Tomas Majetic(USA) d. Marijn Bruinooge(NED) and Arlo Shawcross(AUS)[4] 6-1, 6-3

Girls WC doubles final:
Luna Gryp(BEL) and Lucy Heald(USA)[1] d. Emma Gjerseth(SWE) and Seira Matsuoka(JPN)[2] 6-0, 7-6(3)

Boys WC singles final:
Charlie Cooper(USA) vs Tomas Majetic(USA)

Girls WC singles final:
Luna Gryp(BEL)[1] vs Seira Matsuoka(JPN)

My ITF J300 Bradenton Recap; Kennedy's Comeback Leads to All-USA Orange Bowl Semifinal; Sirichantho and Del Mastro Reach Girls 16s Final; Malacek and Reyniak Meet Saturday for B16s Title

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Fort Lauderdale FL--

The Orange Bowl is heading into its championship weekend, but if you missed any of last week's daily coverage of the ITF J300 in Bradenton, you can find my recap of the titles for Jordan Lee and Kristina Liutova today at the Tennis Recruiting Network. 

A third straight jam-packed day of tennis was on the menu at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center, but when the final doubles match was completed after 7:30 p.m., the Orange Bowl was back on schedule, with the 16s finals and the ITF J500 semifinals set for Saturday.

The weather was perfect again Friday, with low humidity, temperatures in the 70s, and little breeze. That was fortunate for the 18s tournament; with both the third round singles and the quarterfinals of singles and doubles on the schedule, no one needed more challenges from the elements.

The boys semifinals will feature a European section and an American section, with top seed Yannick Alexandrescou of France facing No. 11 seed Thjis Boogaard of the Netherlands and No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy of New York playing unseeded Tanishk Konduri.

Alexandrescou defeated wild card Safir Azam 6-3, 6-4 in the third round and got past unseeded Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Boogaard had a much less taxing day, getting a third round win when Bradenton finalist Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria retired with an elbow injury at after the 6-1 first set, then beating No. 16 seed Andy Johnson for the second time in two weeks, 6-2, 6-2.

Konduri also kept his court time to a minimum, with a 6-0, 6-2 win over unseeded Oliver Sanders of the Czech Republic in the third round and a 6-4, 6-3 win over wild card Marcel Latak in the quarterfinals.

"I felt more fresh today," said the 16-year-old from Cupertino California. "Oliver definitely wasn't at his full ability, but it ended up working out for me. I played a pretty long match yesterday afternoon, and I'm just happy to get through both matches. It's never easy playing two singles matches in a day, everyone is so explosive, so intense that even short matches are physically tiring."

Konduri trailed 4-2 in the first set of his quarterfinal match with his doubles partner, but began to take control of the match then.

"He started really strong," Konduri said. "I got my rhythm a little bit, got a feel for how he plays, what rhythm he plays at and I just tried to make it difficult for him. I felt very confident in my serve today, felt I could hold, maybe not comfortably, but get a solid hold every time, and I started to ease into the match."

Despite picking up just one win in the previous two weeks in Merida Mexico and Bradenton, Konduri did not lose faith in his game.

"The last two weeks I really didn't have the results that I wanted or expected," Konduri said. "But because I finished early last week, I had almost a full week to prepare for this week, and I know my level's there. I'm very confident in my game and I'll let my racquet do the talking."

Kennedy had a much less routine pair of wins to reach his second consecutive Orange Bowl semifinal. Down 3-0 to Carel Ngounoue in the third round, Kennedy won 13 of the next 16 games for a 7-5, 6-1 win.

Next up in the quarterfinals was No. 7 seed Jamie Mackenzie of Germany, who was motivated to beat Kennedy after losing to him 6-3, 6-4 in a J300 in Italy this spring.

Kennedy took a 4-2 lead in the first set, but lost four straight games, and then fell behind 1-4 serving at 15-40. If there was ever a reason to be pessimistic that was it, but Kennedy didn't succumb to that temptation.

"I tried my best just not to think of the score," said Kennedy, who went on a 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 victory. "It was really helpful to stay positive and just play my game. Everyone is going to get nervous when you get close to the finish line; I think he gave me a point or two and I came up clutch with my serving."

Although Kennedy held and got the break back, Mackenzie held for a 5-4 lead and Kennedy had to save two match points in that game. Mackenzie made errors on both, and although he held quickly for a 6-5 lead, Kennedy had new life, and the momentum, dropping only two points in the next two games.

Another comeback was necessary in the third set, with Kennedy down 4-2, but he won the last four games of the two-hour and 45-minute match to get the victory.

"The way Jamie was playing, I felt that I had to bring my best in the big moments," Kennedy said. "He came out playing well, his forehand was great, his serve was obviously great, his kick serve was unbelievable. It was a roller coaster of a match, a lot of ups and downs, a very physical match obviously, but I'm happy to get through it. It was a real test."

Mackenzie left the court, but didn't go far, taking out the frustrations of his missed opportunities on his racquet, with the unmistakable sound of a racquet hitting the concrete echoing throughout the grounds.

Both boys semifinals will be first-time meetings.

One of the girls semifinals will feature rematch of a recent meeting with Kristina Liutova defeating Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia in the ITF J300 Bradenton final on Sunday 6-3, 6-0.

Liutova continued her march through the green clay swing, with two more straight-sets victories today, beating No. 9 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina 6-1, 6-3 and Anita Tu 6-2, 6-2. Tu had beaten No. 3 seed Ruien Zhang of China 6-4, 6-2 in the third round.

The sixth-seeded Cvetkovic posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 11 seed Nadia Lagaev of Canada in the third round, but was extended to almost three hours of tennis by 15-year-old qualifier Sarah Ye. Down 5-1 in the first set, Ye came back to take the first set in a tiebreaker, but cramping derailed her upset bid in the middle of the second set.

"I led 5-1 and I had one set point and she just started to play, hit the ball, hit some lines, and she didn't miss any balls," said the 17-year-old, who is traveling with the ITF's Grand Slam Development team on this trip to North America."

Cvetkovic led 3-0 in the second set, with Ye making another comeback to 3-all, but said she told herself "not again, not again."

Aided by the cramps Ye could not be treated for with a medical timeout, Cvetkovic took control, with the six matches Ye had already won in the past seven days no doubt a factor.

Cvetkovic, who played 11 matches in singles and doubles last week in Bradenton, reaching both finals, is in the semifinals in both this week, and she's not hiding that fatigue.

"Honestly yes I'm so tired," Cvetkovic said. "But this is tennis. I have to play and I have to give my best."

Cvetkovic wasn't ready to assess what she might change in order to revere the outcome of last week's final.

"I have to play doubles today, so I will think about singles later," Cvetkovic said. "But first of all, doubles."

Cvetkovic and partner Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of Inida, the No. 3 seed, defeated unseeded Capucine Jauffret and Ava Rodriguez 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, and will play another US team: No. 5 seeds Thea Frodin and Welles Newman. Frodin and Newman beat unseeded Masa Jankovic of Serbia and Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia 6-3, 6-3.

No. 8 seed Alyssa James of Jamaica and Annika Penickova beat unseeded Neolia Manta and Iva Marinkovic of Switzerland 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals against unseeded Giselle Guillen of Australia and Alisa Terentyeva. Guillen and Terentyeva defeated unseeded Carrie-Anne Hoo and Kaya Moe 7-6(1), 6-3.

In the other girls semifinal, top seed Victoria Barros of Brazil will play No. 12 seed Xinran Sun of China. Barros defeated No. 16 seed Allegra Korpanec Davies of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4 in the third round and unseeded Zhang-Qian Wei of China 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Sun took out wild card Lani Chang 6-3, 6-1 in the third round, and No. 14 seed Iva Marinkovic of Switzerland 6-2, 7-6(1) in the quarterfinals.

In boys doubles quarterfinal action under the lights, the top three seeds and three teams that won junior slams this year were eliminated.

No. 7 seeds Ryan Cozad and Gavin Goode defeated top seed Alexandrescou and Ryo Tabata of Japan 6-2, 6-1, repeating their win in the final of the J300 in College Park in August.

Cozad and Goode will play No. 6 seed Alvarez and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, who beat the unseeded team of Kuan-Shou Cheng of Taiwan and Daniel Tazabekov of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-3. Cozad and Alvarez won the Orange Bowl 16s doubles title in 2023.

Roland Garros and Wimbledon champions Oskari Paldanius of Finland and Alan Wazny of Poland, the No. 3 seeds, had a match point on a deciding point at 4-5 in the second set against unseeded Latak and Konduri, but did not convert it and lost 6-7(2), 7-6(2), 10-8. 

US Open champions Keaton Hance and Kennedy, the No. 2 seeds, lost to No. 8 seeds Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia and Johan Oscar Lien of Norway 6-3, 6-2.

The girls 16s final Saturday will feature two unseeded Americans, with Priscilla Sirichantho facing Daniela Del Mastro.

Sirichantho defeated unseeded Sasha Miroshnichenko of Texas 6-2, 6-2 in Friday morning's semifinal, while Del Mastro spent nearly an hour more on court in her 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 14 seed Julia Seversen of California.

Both finalists have little experience on green clay, but they have adjusted quickly this week.

"I train on indoor hard," said the 14-year-old left-hander from Connecticut. "So I came in here just trying to have fun, because that's what my coach told me to do. I just came and tried my best; I had no idea what was going to happen."

After two singles matches and a doubles match Thursday, Sirichantho needed some help to be ready for her semifinal.

"I rolled out of bed, literally, I was so sore,"  Sirichantho said. "I have knees wrapped up, because I fell yesterday, and it was tough. I went to the physio and they gave me a little massage so now I'm all good."

It wasn't just the physical side either that Sirichantho needed to address.

"I came in pretty tight, but I talked to my dad a little bit and he kind of calmed me down," Sirichantho said. "He was in my corner the whole time, sitting in the coaches seat and giving me encouragement. But I got looser as the match went on and I'm happy with how it went."

Del Mastro won the Easter Bowl 14s title in March, so reaching the 16s Orange Bowl final puts an exclamation point on an eventful year.

"It's been a great year, I've had a lot of fun on court," said the 14-year-old from Minnesota. "In today's match she played very well and it was down to the wire. She's a great fighter, stays in the match the whole time and I had to play well to pull that out, and I'm happy that I did."

Del Mastro did play the Bradenton J300 as a wild card, but that one match was most of her experience on the green clay.

"I never play on green clay, ever," Del Mastro said. "The only time I hit on it is before a tournament."

Del Mastro knew she needed to make some changes to her strategy today after dropping the first set.

"She was playing very solid, so I was like, mix it up a little bit, try a couple of things," Del Mastro said. "The drop shot started working very well for me, so it was a good mixup."

Del Mastro and Sirichantho played last fall in the Les Petits As United States qualifying tournament, their only previous meeting.

"We've been friends for a long time, so I think it'll be a great match, it'll be really fun, Del Mastro said. "I ended up winning that match 6-1, 7-6, but it was great match and I'm looking forward to another one."

No. 2 seed Matias Reyniak and No. 7 seed Daniel Malacek will come into the boys 16s championship Saturday, with decidedly different perspectives.

Reyniak, who defeated No. 12 seed Gadin Arun of Arizona 6-4, 6-1, has been training on red clay in Spain for over a year, while Malacek, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over No. 14 seed Colter Amey, doesn't have any access to the surface to train on, but is adjusting his game to adapt.

"We have zero clay there," said the 16-year-old left-hander from Seattle." I'm more of a hard court player, most of the time. But I think I'm beginning to learn how to move on this clay, so I'm playing better and better."

Malacek also changed his mindset.

"I feel, because the ball's a little heavier, you can't really go for your shots as much," Malacek said. "So it's more of a grinding mentality. But I feel like I'm pretty fit, I can last, so I'm ok with it. It's not really how well you play, it's just that I've been more gritty."

Reyniak, originally from New York, found his commute to courts there to be so time consuming that he had to find an alternative.

"Everything in Spain is on red clay, and it's changed my game a lot," said the 16-year-old, who is at BTT Academy. "High bouncing, slow courts, really rich clay, unlike green clay, which is really like a hard court."

Despite playing mostly ITF Junior Circuit events in Europe, Reyniak believed he could contend for the title this week.

"I felt confident," Reyniak said. "I don't really know a lot of kids and I don't look at draws, it's not my thing, so I didn't know I was the No. 2 seed until I showed up. I just come and play, and see what happens, but I go to every tournament expecting to win."

The girls 16s doubles title will feature top seeds Emery Combs and Olivia de Los Reyes and No. 6 seeds Sylvana Jalbert and Reiley Rhodes.  Combs and de Los Reyes will be playing for their fourth consecutive title after winning three straight J100 titles this fall. Combs and de Los Reyes defeated unseeded Audrey Dussault and Evelynn Kwak in the semifinals 6-2, 6-2. Jalbert and Rhodes beat No. 7 seeds Alexandra and Natasha Jerkunica 2-6, 6-3, 10-7.

No. 5 seeds Filip Djokic of Serbia and Sean Peng will face unseeded Rafael Pawar and Zesen Wang in the 16s boys double final. Djokic and Peng defeated No. 2 seeds Griffin Goode and Nicolas Pedraza 7-6(4), 6-4 in the the semifinals, while Pawar and Wang beat No. 8 seeds Mikaeel Ali Baig of Pakistan and Atticus Kim 7-5, 1-6, 10-5.

Live streaming and live scoring can be found at the ustaorangebowl.com information page.

Half of Orange Bowl J500 Seeds Gone After Thursday's Second Round, Ten US Boys Reach Round of 16; All-USA Semifinals Set for Friday in 16s Division; Junior Orange Bowl Begins Friday

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Fort Lauderdale FL--

Wednesday heat and humidity disappeared Thursday morning, with temperature in the 70s and a light breeze providing perfect conditions for a long day of Orange Bowl competition at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center.

When the final match finished under the lights, ten US boys and four US girls had advanced to the round of 16 of the ITF J500, and all the semifinalists in both the boys and girls 16s divisions are Americans.

Exactly half the seeds in the 18s are out after two rounds, although both No. 1 seeds are through. Victoria Barros of Brazil defeated Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine 6-0, 6-3 and Yannick Alexandrescou, who has now officially switched countries from Romania to France, beating wild card Nikolas Stoot 6-3, 6-3.

No. 4 seed Thea Frodin was one of the first upset victims, with Tereza Hermanova of the Czech Republic defeating the 16-year-old American 6-4, 6-4.

Hermanova is now in her fourth week on North American clay, having competed at the J300 and J500 in Mexico and the J300 in Bradenton last week.

"I'm feeling great," said the 16-year-old from Prague, who counts this as her best win of the six she's posted on this trip. "I think it's better to play more matches, it's great."

Hermanova credited her variety with her success against Frodin today.

"I think I changed it up, some slices, some drop shots and I think that was the way that I did it," said Hermanova, who is playing in the Orange Bowl for the first time. "I think we knew before the match how to play the game and that was good. And today I was returning really well."

Frodin was hardly the only seed to fall, with No. 5 seed Luna Cinalli going out to 15-year-old Welles Newman 6-2, 6-0. Newman who picked up three main draw wins at USTA Pro Circuit W35s last month, is playing her first junior event since reaching the third round of the US Open in September.

The other three US girls to advance are wild card Lani Chang, Anita Tu and qualifier Sarah Ye. Chang, who turned 15 Tuesday, defeated Lyla Messler 6-4, 6-0; Tu defeated Noelia Manta of Switzerland 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 and Ye advanced when No. 13 seed Ha Eum Lee of Korea retired at 4-6, 5-2.

Keeping up with all the American boys was impossible, with 17 of the 32 players competing today from the United States. Ten of those advanced, with five winning over their countrymen.

Safir Azam defeated Agassi Rusher 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a battle of wild cards, with Azam set to play top seed Alexandrescou Friday morning.

Wild card Marcel Latak defeated Gavin Goode 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 and No. 10 seed Noah Johnston beat wild card Tyler Lee 7-5, 6-0. The other two all-US second round matches were lengthy battles with No. 12 seed Michael Antonius defeating Vihaan Reddy 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2 and Tanishk Konduri beating qualifier Navneet Raghuram 5-7, 6-0, 6-4.  The final game of the Konduri-Raghuram match was a classic, with Raghuram serving to stay in the match. After nine deuces and errors on his first two match points, Konduri converted his third on a Raghuram error.

Qualifier Benjamin Saltman pulled off the biggest upset of the day, defeating No. 3 seed Ryo Tabata of Japan 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, while Carel Ngounoue beat No. 13 seed Kuan-Shou Chen of Taiwan 7-6(4), 6-4.

Three other seeded Americans advanced, with No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy beating Volodymyr Gurenko of Canada 6-4, 6-1, No. 8 seed Ronit Karki rebounding for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Daniel Jade of France and No. 16 seed Andrew Johnson beating Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga of Colombia 6-0, 5-7, 6-1.

No. 4 seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland lost to qualifier Olive Sanders of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-5; No. 5 seed Keaton Hance couldn't stop the momentum of ITF J300 Bradenton finalist Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria, who posted a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

 

Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico defeated his doubles partner, No. 9 seed Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, closing out the match with four straight games.

"I've been traveling with him for the past couple of weeks, playing doubles with him, so it's tough to play him," said the 17-year-old Georgia resident, who is with the ITF Grand Slam Development Touring Team on this trip. "He hits very fast, the ball comes super fast and I honestly wasn't mentally ready, I was late, lazy footwork. In the second set, I knew I had to start strong, got the early break and just held serve. He wasn't playing his best, I wasn't playing my best and I was down most of the third set, 3-1, 4-2. I played solid, he gave me some mistakes, which was pretty lucky."

Alvarez, a blue chip in the class of 2027, recently committed to the University of Georgia.

"I visited a lot of schools, but once I visited Georgia, I knew that's where I wanted to be," Alvarez said. "I fell in love."

Two rounds of singles will be played Friday, with the singles round of 16 and quarterfinals on the schedule, as well as the doubles quarterfinals.

The girls 16s division is still not quite caught up after the rain on Monday and Tuesday, but they will be playing their singles semifinals Friday, as well as two rounds of doubles. 

All four semifinalists in the boys and girls 16s are from the United States.

In the girls top half semifinal, Priscilla Sirichantho will face Alexandra Miroshnichenko; in the bottom half, Daniela Del Mastro will play No. 14 seed Julia Seversen.  

In the boys top half semifinal, No. 14 seed Colter Amey, who has reached the semifinals for the second straight week, will play No. 7 seed Daniel Malacek; in the bottom half, No. 12 seed Gadin Arun will play No. 2 seed Matias Reyniak.

Play will begin at 9:30 a.m. Friday, due to several late doubles matches, with the 18s third round and the girls 16s semifinals, followed by the 18s quarterfinals and boys 16s semifinals.

Live scoring is available at IonCourt, with live streaming at SaveMyPlay.

The Junior Orange Bowl begins Thursday at four sites in the Miami area. 

Below are seeds in each division:

B12s
1. Rui He

2. Oliver Baker

3. Evan Fan

4. James Borchard

5. William McGugin

6. Ethan Wang

7. Jobe Dikkenberg

8. Pranav Madamanchi

B14s

1. Mohamed Genidy

2. Tristan Ascenzo

3. Kazuki Nakajima

4. Siyun Kim

5. Evan Giurescu

6. Ishaan Marla

7. Alexander Anderson

8. Neve Upston

G12s

1. Fangqiao Zou

2. Lucy Dupere

3. Ann Sandru

4. Mila Mikoczi Spivey

5. Seungyeon Seo

6. Inie Toli

7. Summer Yang

8. Cataleya Brown

G14s

1. Nikol Davletshina

2. Isha Manchala

3. Tanvi Pandey

4. Isabella Yan

5. Olivia Lin

6. Yerin Lim

7. Ayaka Iwasa

8. Audrey Dussault

Due to the overlap with the Orange Bowl, I will not be covering the event in person, but will monitor the results when the tournament reaches the quarterfinal stage Monday.

IMG Academy International 12s, 14s, 16s Recap; Kisimov Avenges ITF J300 Bradenton Finals Loss in Orange Bowl Opener; Liutova's Winning Streak Continues; Amey Ousts Top Seed Vaughan in 16s

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Fort Lauderdale, FL--

Before I get into the action today at the Orange Bowl, which finally dried out after a day and a half of rain, take a minute to look at my Tennis Recruiting Network article on the 12s, 14s and 16s tournaments at the IMG Academy International Championships last week in Bradenton. These weeks in Florida and Mexico that close out the junior calendar are not independent; many of the storylines at this week's Orange Bowl have developed over the past three weeks, and will continue into next week, when the Junior Orange Bowl concludes.

One of those storylines emerged the moment the Orange Bowl draw was published, with a rematch of the ITF J300 Bradenton boys final between Jordan Lee and Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria set for the first round in Fort Lauderdale.

Due to the rain Tuesday, that match was postponed to today, with Kisimov avenging his loss to Lee on Sunday with a 6-4, 7-5 win in sunny, calm and warm conditions.

Lee fell behind 5-1 in the first set, but closed the gap to 5-4 before Kisimov served it out on his second attempt.

Kisimov got a key break at 3-all in the second set, and held for 5-3 in a service game that featured five deuces and two break points. Lee held to force Kisimov to serve it out at 5-4, which he could not do, despite a 30-0 lead in the game. Unforced errors were the major cause, although Kisimov could hardly blame himself for Lee's inside-in forehand winner at 30-40.

Kisimov said he was frustrated with himself for failing to serve out the match, although with his placid demeanor on court, no one would detect it.

"I don't show emotion, but inside, I am a bit angry with those kind of games," said the 17-year-old from Sofia. "But the good part was that I managed to get myself calm, and that's maybe why I got those next two games."

Lee couldn't hold at 5-all however, with Kisimov breaking on a perfect drop shot at 30-40. 

Serving for the match a second time, Kisimov had just one goal.

"I just focused on not making unforced errors, basically keep attacking," said Kisimov, who went up 30-0 just as he had at 5-4, but this time crushed a forehand winner to earn three match points. He made an unforced error on a slice to make it 40-15, but converted the second with a lob winner over a charging Lee.

Kisimov was surprised when he saw his Orange Bowl draw, but thought it probably benefitted him.

"I was like oh, again. But I kind of wanted to play again because I wanted revenge," Kisimov said. "It was tough in the final at Eddie Herr. I was really motivated today and now I am really happy, because I won. But it was a great match, a great match."

Next up for Kisimov is another American, No. 5 seed Keaton Hance.

Although Lee saw two winning streaks broken today, with the 2024 Orange Bowl 16s champion suffering his first Orange Bowl loss and his chance for a second set of back-to-back championships at IMG and Orange Bowl, Kristina Liutova extended hers with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Annika Penickova.

Like Lee, the ITF J300 Bradenton champion had a tough draw, facing the seventh-seeded Penickova, but the 15-year-old Seattle-area resident didn't concern herself with that, considering it just another match against a quality opponent.

"It was nothing different from the other players," said Liutova, who beat three seeds, in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final in Bradenton. "The tactics might be different, but mentally I would go out there and play my game and do what I need to do to win the match. I need to go out there and just play, enjoy the competition."

Although the scoreline looks routine, the match took two hours and 15 minutes to complete, with nearly half of the 19 games going to deuce.

"I had to find a way to return well, so I don't get killed on the next shot," Liutova said of her efforts to counteract Pennickova's big lefty serve. "She's a great server and I had to adjust on return."

In the opening set, Liutova was unable to serve it out at 5-3, but she didn't panic and broke Penickova in a five-deuce game to claim the set.

"Mistakes are past and I have to accept the past, because nothing is going to change, whether I get frustrated or not," Liutova said. "If I get back from the last point faster, it will just help."

Liutova will face fellow 15-year-old Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia, who defeated Iona Boian of Romania 6-1, 6-1 on Monday.

The only other seed to lose today in the completion of the first round was No. 8 seed Sonja Zhenikhova of Germany, who lost the qualifier Lyla Messler 6-0, 6-0. Messler, who recently signed with Illinois, has an ITF ranking of 2604, with Zhenikhova ranked 21.

Two boys seeds lost today, with qualifier Navneet Raghuram advancing when No. 14 seed Stefan Haita of Romania retired at 3-6, 6-3, 2-0. Wild card Marcel Latak took out No. 6 seed Alan Wazny of Poland 6-1, 7-6(5).

Latak, the reigning Kalamazoo 16s champion, got off to a quick start, but had to make some adjustments in the second set, down two breaks at 4-1.

"First set, I went on court just going for it and everything kind of clicked," said the 16-year-old from Illinois. "Second set I had a super slow start, didn't serve my best, the shot selection wasn't there at all. My dad was in the coaching box and he told me just to put a bunch of balls in the court first and then try to look for something. After a couple of points of that, the rhythm came back and I was able to go up 6-5."

Latak doesn't really enjoy the surface, but his success on this swing has made him rethink that.

"I'm happy with how I'm playing on clay," Latak said. "The expectations weren't high at all before I came (to Florida). I know I'm not going to be a clay court player, to be honest, but I think I'll have to forgive clay now."

As with most other players, Latak has assessed the courts at the renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center as excellent and slow.

"They are super slow," Latak said. "When I came here for my first practice, I was hitting everything so early and these courts are genuinely so slow. I like it though, I genuinely like the conditions."

Latak will play Gavin Goode, who advanced Monday when Wiliam Rejchtman Vinciguerra of Sweden retired trailing 6-3, 1-0.

No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy struggled in the first half of his match with Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia, but the momentum of passing shot winner, followed by a forehand winner at 5-all in the second set tiebreaker propelled him to 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 victory. He will play Volodymyr Gurenko of Canada in Thursday's second round.

In the 16s divisions, top boys seed Mason Vaughan was beaten by fellow IMG Academy International semifinalist Colter Amey 7-6(3), 6-3.  Catalina Delmas Schaerer, the No. 2 seed in the girls draw, lost to Amy Gray of Australia 6-2, 6-3.

The boys 16s quarterfinals will be played Thursday, and the girls 16s will play both their third round and their quarterfinal matches on Friday.

The ITF Wheelchair Junior Masters tournament begins Thursday, with two round robin matches. The participants in the girls and boys events can be found here.

The draws and Thursday's order of play can be found here.

IonCourt is providing live scoring. The free live streaming is provided by SaveMyPlay.

All-Day Rain on Day Two Throws Orange Bowl Schedule into Disarray; Australian Open Men's and Women's Singles Entry Lists Released

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Fort Lauderdale FL--

Sunshine has been in short supply at the Orange Bowl, with play canceled on Monday at 3:30 p.m. due to rain and lightning and Tuesday's matches starting in light drizzle with barely three hours of action on court before heavy rains ended all hope of competition at 1:30 p.m. at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center at Holiday Park.

This is my 20th Orange Bowl, and although rain isn't unusual at this event, the usual disruption is a heavy rain and clearing skies within a few hours. An all-day rain, unrelenting but not drenching, is something I have never experienced at this event (Junior Orange Bowl is another story) and when it comes at the beginning of the tournament with so many matches, the schedule is thrown into chaos.

With only 22 of the 103 matches on Tuesday's schedule completed, Wednesday's matches will be a wide variety of rounds and age groups. The good news from today is that the boys 16s second round was completed, and their singles tournament remains on schedule, with their eight third round matches slated for Wednesday. 

The second round of the girls 16s, and the first round of both girls and boys 18s, normally completed by Tuesday, are now awaiting completion on Wednesday, with doubles also behind due to the two days of rain.

One of the players fortunate to finish his match before the first rain delay was boys 16s top seed Mason Vaughan, who had to hustle to get under the clubhouse roof as the rain intensified following his 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over Sulaiman Syed.

Vaughan, who was also the top seed at last week's IMG Academy International Championships, lost a three-and-a-half-hour semifinal there on the hard courts, with just one day to prepare for the change to green clay.

"That's one of the main things I've been working on over the past year is having these two-week blocks of tournaments and being able to reset, for the second one especially," said the 16-year-old from Austin Texas. "If I go deep in the first one, which I did--I had like seven hours on court one day--I have to recover. So I've been resetting my mind the last couple of days, and it was about just forgetting about last week. I'm glad to be here and really glad to be in the third round."

Switching surfaces from last week to this was not as difficult as it could have been, with Vaughan having access to green clay as well as hard courts at the Brookhaven Tennis Academy.

"I'm training like once a day on clay, and on hard court the other half," said Vaughan. "So for me it was a really easy adjustment. I have a really good balance there, but I know for others it's definitely difficult. Orange Bowl has been one of my main goals, so I've really put an emphasis on clay this year."

Vaughan, who played the 16s at the Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation last year, is impressed by the newly renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center.

"That was a great site, but this site is unreal," Vaughan said. "For sure, way better. I haven't had a single bad bounce, even when it hits the line. So I'm really appreciative that they moved it here."

Vaughan will play another 2025 IMG Academy International 16s semifinalist on Wednesday: No. 14 seed Colter Amey. Amey defeated Aidan Conley 6-4, 6-1 this morning. Kahven Singh, who beat IMG Academy International champion Jang Junseo of Korea in the first round, continued his great form, beating 2025 14s Clay Courts champion Joshua Dolinsky 6-1, 6-1 this morning.

As positive as most of the comments have been regarding the tournament's new location, a major complaint has centered on the practice court situation. There are no on-site courts for practice, as there were at Veltri, with players needing to book warmups at two other clubs, which are between 15 and 30 minutes away. 

Those logistics nearly led to the default of Daniel Brand of Israel, who was scheduled at not before 9:30 a.m. on the Chris Evert Stadium against No. 8 seed Ronit Karki. After girls 16s No. 5 seed Olivia de Los Reyes quickly beat Alexandra Korneeva of Armenia 6-1, 6-1, the court was groomed and ready to go and Brand had not yet arrived at the JETC. Karki, who had warmed up at 6:30 a.m. at the JETC after arriving in Fort Lauderdale Monday from his participation in the A Racquet at the Rock exhibition in Newark New Jersey, was ready to go, so Brand was put on the clock. The ITF has a 15-minute grace period once the match is called before a default is issued, and Brand arrived with just five minutes to spare.

When the first rain delay came at 10:30, Karki led 5-1, and although some courts had matches resume between 1:00 and 1:30, the Evert Stadium court was not playable, with that score carrying over until tomorrow.

The draws and order of play for Wednesday are available at the ustaorangebowl.com website. Live scoring and streaming is available via iOnCourt.

Stephanie Myles of OpenCourt recently posted a deep dive on the Orange Bowl fields from five, ten and 15 years ago. The latter would have been played on the hard courts of Crandon Park; the 2020 and 2015 tournaments were both at the Veltri Tennis Center.

The Australian Open men's and women's acceptances were released today, with 16 US men and 16 US women currently in the fields, including wild cards Patrick Kypson and Elli Mandlik.

The women's list is here; the men's list is here.

2025 Orange Bowl Championships Begin with Chris Evert Attending Stadium Court Ceremony Honoring Her; Top Seed Barros Tested, No. 2 Seed Vladson Upset; Mixed Results for IMG Academy 16s Champions

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Fort Lauderdale FL--

In the 20 years I've been attending the Eddie Herr, now known as the IMG Academy International Championships, I've made the trip to the other side of the state for the Orange Bowl Championships. The first six years of my coverage of that event were at Crandon Park's hard courts on Key Biscayne; the next 13 years, the historic event was held at the Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation Florida. 

Today marked the opening of a new era for the Orange Bowl, with the first main draw matches of the ITF J500 tournament played at the recently renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center in Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale. 

The green clay courts with newly installed subsurface irrigation were buzzing with activity as the completion of the first round of 16s division began at 8 a.m. But the excitement reached its peak at 10 a.m., when the dedication and unveiling of the Chris Evert Stadium Court drew hundreds of fans, coaches, administrators and city dignitaries, eager to connect with one of the great champions of the sport.

Football and tennis commentator Chris Fowler, now a colleague of Evert's at ESPN, served as the Master of Ceremonies, and led off with one of the themes of the morning: how Chris Evert sparked his interest in professional tennis.

Remarks by the city's mayor and councilman, USTA 's General Manager of US Tennis Tracy Davies, Orange Bowl Committee Chairman Henri Crockett and Orange Bowl Tennis Committee Chairman Doug Wylie detailed the years-long effort to find a new home for the Orange Bowl, with the collaboration between the City of Fort Lauderdale, the Orange Bowl Committee and the USTA leading to the 9.5 million dollar renovation of the public courts where Jimmy Evert taught his five children and thousands of other young players the game.

Evert, a three-time Orange Bowl champion, then stepped to the podium to talk about her father, his legacy, the significance of the tournament and what the facelift to the venue will mean for the future of the sport in South Florida.

After the new Chris Evert scoreboard was unveiled, Evert posed for many photos with fans and VIPs, then did a short mixed zone interview session with local media.

Prior to the event Evert was out watching a match featuring one of the players training at the Evert Academy in Boca Raton, and in her speech she reiterated how important this tournament has been for its nearly 80-year history.

"It's huge," said Evert, who won the 16s in 1968 and the 18s in 1969 and 1970. "It's the biggest international tournament in junior tennis. It is the standard for the best. Usually if you look at players that won the Orange Bowl, they turn pro, almost 99 percent of them. It's a great stepping stone, so to now have this at my dad's facility, it's a great tournament, I enjoyed it, and I feel very privileged."

Keaton Hance had the honor of playing the first match in Orange Bowl history on the Chris Evert Stadium Court, with the No. 5 seed defeating Siu Chi Nicholas Cheng of Hong Kong 6-4, 6-4.

I asked the 17-year-old how he felt about christening the court, and what he knew about Evert.

"It's amazing, wow, first one," said Hance, a Southern Californian who trains with the USTA in Lake Nona. "All I know is that my mom (Courtney) knows a lot about her. I don't know too much, but I know she was an amazing player, that's she's a huge part of tennis history."

Hance complimented the court itself, which was a contrast with his last tournament, where he made the final of the ITF J500 in Merida Mexico on red clay.

"They're very nice, I know they have the underground (irrigation) which is really good for the green clay especially," said Hance. "They are playing really well, pretty slow, which I like. I just got here a couple of days ago but what I've seen is really high quality."

A first J500 final was one milestone for Hance in Mexico, a second was his first solo trip to a tournament.

"I was actually alone," said Hance, who resorted to a hitting wall for a warmup as he continued to advance. "Towards the end of the tournament a lot of guys went back home and only a few guys left. But it was a really good experience being alone and playing matches alone."

Several players who played in Merida arrived the following week in Bradenton feeling ill, but Hance took no chances, eating every meal at a Starbucks.

"I've had a lot bad experiences because of my stomach in Mexico and South America," Hance said. "So I stuck to the same thing every single day. It sounds bad, but I ate Starbucks every single day for every single meal. But you know what? I got to the finals so it worked good enough."

While Hance was playing on Chris Evert Stadium, top seed Victoria Barros, like Hance a Merida finalist, was being tested on Court 10, with the 15-year-old from Brazil beating Maja Pawelska of Poland 7-6(6), 7-6(7). Pawelska served for the first set at 6-5 and had two set points in the second set tiebreaker, but Barros was steadier in the key moments to pull out the win.

No. 2 seed Laima Vladson of Uzbekistan lost in the first round for the second consecutive week, with wild card Yael Saffar, ranked 132 spots below the ITF No. 13, getting the 6-4, 7-6(6) victory.

Boys top seed Yannick Alexandrescou of Romania, one of the players who withdrew from Bradenton due to illness after competing in Mexico, defeated Jan Chlodnicki of Poland 6-4, 6-2.

No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy, who played Ronit Karki before the women's and men's exhibition A Racquet at The Rock in New Jersey Sunday, will face Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia, the son of Goran Ivanisevic Tuesday.

Three seeds, including Vladson, lost today, with Agassi Rusher defeating No. 15 seed Linus Lagerbohm of Finland 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 and Anita Tu beating No. 15 seed Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India 6-0, 6-3.

No. 16 seed Andy Johnson barely escaped the upset bid of Emilo Camacho of Ecuador 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, in a match that drew a large crowd of spectators crammed around Court 12 for all the drama.

After a long set point that earned him a split, Camacho immediately collapsed from cramps just behind the baseline. After a medical timeout, play resumed, but Johnson was also experiencing some cramping in his calves, and he saw break leads disappear twice before he closed out the match with a good serve.

"We played a pretty long point, we were both in the corners for that point and I am came to net, missed a ball at the net, a dropper volley that barely clipped the net. He was full sprinting to it and ended up cramping on the way and tumbling," Johnson said.  

Johnson said the cramps were specific to certain movements, so many of the rallies showed no signs of them.

"He was cramping but only on the corners," Johnson said of his fellow 16-year-old. "It was kind of like me, if I'd run for a ball I'd feel it, and same thing for him. But overall, I'd say it was one of those fun matches. Everything was happening that everyone would want to see. It was definitely a good experience."

After a day off Sunday, the IMG Academy International 16s champions made the switch from hard to clay courts, with only one of the two advancing.

Girls champion Adelina Iftime defeated Sophia Osipova 6-1, 6-0 but boys champion Jang Junseou of Korea lost to Kahven Singh 6-1, 6-7(1), 6-2. Boys finalist Artem Dmytrenko lost to No. 8 seed Nicolas Pedraza 6-1, 6-2. Girls finalist London Evans, who received a wild card into the 18s, plays Tuesday.

The weather was warm and sunny for the Evert Stadium ceremony and for several hours after it concluded, but by 3:15 p.m. dark clouds began to build and the lightning alarm sounded with four 18s matches still in progress. Those matches will be finished Tuesday, weather permitting, with rain again in the forecast. All first round 16s singles matches were completed Monday as scheduled, but the first round of doubles were disrupted by rain. 

The first round of 18s doubles are scheduled for the late afternoon, with Alexandrescou and Japan's Ryo Tabata the No. 1 seeds in the boys draw, with US Open champions Hance and Kennedy the No. 2 seeds. 

Vladson and Sonja Zhenikhova of Germany are the No. 1 seeds in the girls draw, with Bradenton champions Kanon Sawashiro of Japan and Xinran Sun of China the No. 2 seeds.

Wild Card Lee Adds ITF J300 Title to Last Year's 16s Championship at IMG Academy International; Unseeded Liutova Claims Second ITF J300 Title; Orange Bowl Begins Monday; USA's Master 'U Streak Ends; Urhobo Falls in W35 Daytona Beach Final

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Bradenton FL--

Last year Jordan Lee received one of the inaugural Nick Bollettieri trophies presented the IMG Academy International champions after he claimed the Boys 16s title. A year later, on the same court, Lee earned another Bollettieri statuette by defeating unseeded Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria 6-3, 7-6(3), capping off a improbable return from injury with a historic back-to-back performance.

The 15-year-old from Orlando was out for more than eight months with a wrist injury, returning to competition at last month's Junior Davis Cup in Chile, and winning all the matches he played in the USA's title run. Immediately upon returning from Chile, he picked up his first ATP point as a wild card at an M15 in Orlando, before losing in the second round.

This week, Lee faced his first true test, with daily matches that demanded both physical and mental endurance. And although he found himself in a third set in both the quarterfinals and the semifinals, Lee found what he needed to close out his older and more experienced opponents.

Although he had played on the same Stadium Court last year, when the 16s were switched to clay due to hurricane damage to several of the Academy's hard courts, Lee admitted to some jitters in his first ITF J300 final.

"I came out a little nervous," said Lee, who was broken in the opening game. "I think I felt a little more comfortable on this court, especially after last year, but I wasn't really thinking about last year, just more about what I could do this year."

Lee and Kisimov exchanged breaks twice, but at 3-all Lee shook off the nerves, winning 12 of 13 points to take a 5-3 lead. Up 40-0 serving for the set, Lee ended up at deuce, with Kisimov hitting two winners and Lee double faulting, but an ace gave Lee a fourth set point, which he won when Kisimov caught the tape after a long rally.

"When I started getting warm, I loosened up," said Lee said, who is the first boy two win both the 16s and 18s titles in the tournament, formerly known as the Eddie Herr International Championships. "I played very well then throughout the match, it was a great level from both; he played very well as well."

Kisimov, who was also playing in his first ITF J300 final, said he wasn't nervous, but didn't agree with Lee's assessment of his performance.

"It could have been better," said the 17-year-old from Sofia. "I didn't play my best, but he played good. My serve wasn't perfect today, so I couldn't manage to hold my games."

Lee opened the second set with a 2-0 lead, but dropped four straight games, with Kisimov playing well and Lee making several of the unforced errors  he had avoided in winning five straight games. But Kisimov wasn't able to hold the 4-2 lead, with too many second serves leading to a love break.

"Not many first serves, not enough speed," said Kisimov, who is coached by Zlatin Mingov at Pro Sport in Sofia. "I returned great, but you have to have a good serve to win a set."

Kisimov took a 5-4 lead, saving a break point with a forehand winner, but after Lee held at love, Kisimov was broken to give Lee a chance to serve for the match. He was unable to take it, going down 0-40, and when his forehand caught the tape at 30-40 he simply shrugged and prepared for the tiebreaker.

"I didn't think too much about it," Lee said. "I knew I had to take it point after point. In the tiebreaker, I knew I had to stay calm, do the best I could after each point and make him work for it."

Lee got some good fortune with a let serve winner to go up 4-2 in the tiebreaker, and then came up with an ace for 5-2. Kisimov came up with a forehand winner to stay within range but a double fault sealed his fate, and he couldn't return Lee's deep first serve on match point.

A small fist pump toward his coach Sylvain Guichard was the extent of Lee's celebration, a reaction that he said comes naturally.

"I don't know, I fell like I'm more of a calm guy, and in the moment I couldn't think of anything," Lee said. "I didn't plan anything, and I didn't want to make it too disrespectful as well."

Guichard wasn't sure what to expect from Lee coming into this week, with so little match play since his return.

"I know Jordan has the level, but in a tournament like this, a lot of things have to go right," said USTA National Coach Guichard, who was the captain of the USA's Junior Davis Cup team in Chile. "He hasn't played that much, but he's in great shape physically; that's all he's done in the nine months he was out, but playing on the court and competing is different. I didn't expect him to be that fresh, to last the entire tournament."

In addition to a second Bollettieri statuette, with this year's version featuring Bollettieri's signature sunglasses, Lee will receive a main draw wild card for the ATP Challenger 100 in Sarasota in the spring of 2026.

Lee and Kisimov's next meeting will be Tuesday, in the first round of the ITF J500 Orange Bowl.

The girls final, played simultaneously with the boys due a threat of rain later in the day, featured two players who had already won titles at the J300 level. Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia, the No. 5 seed this week, had claimed the J300 in Santa Croce Italy in May, while unseeded Kristina Liutova broke through at the J300 in College Park in August.

With contrasting paths to the finals--Liutova had not dropped a set, while Cvetkovic came from a set down three times--and no previous meetings, the championship went to the fresher player, with Liutova posting a 6-3, 6-0 victory.

Liutova's only hiccup came when she was serving for the first set at 5-2, with the 15-year-old Washington state resident missing several chances to close out the set with uncharacteristic backhand errors. But rather than indulge in frustration, Liutova focused on the next game, breaking Cvetkovic to take control.

"It's always tough to finish, especially when you think about it," Liutova said. "I just had to stop thinking about finishing faster and just play point by point, one at a time, no rush."

Liutova had been hitting after her matches earlier in the week, but after her 7-5, 7-5 win over No. 4 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina on Saturday, she simply rested, while Cvetkovic was still at the IMG Academy, competing in the doubles final.

"Actually my body is a little bit tired," said the 17-year-old Cvetkovic, who played 11 matches in singles and doubles over the seven-day event. "We played early today because of rain, but I don't want to say something, because Kristina's so good a player, she played so well, I want to congratulate her. It was a good match, not like 6-3, 6-0, but at 3-5, she hit some winners, and I could just say, good job, bravo. In the second set I had a lot of break points, but she played so well in the important moments."

Liutova said she had developed a plan and that helped her "just play my tennis. I let myself play, because I didn't want to get tight and think about finishing the tournament."

Liutova said her title at College Park did provide her with an increased comfort level.

"I think today I was more confident," said Liutova, who is coached by Ilya Osintsev and Tiago Campana at the Gorin Academy in Seattle, but was traveling only with her mother Elena this week. "Yesterday I was tighter, but today I just let myself play. I was planning on just enjoying the competition, enjoy the final, because it's very special."

Until Liutova won her quarterfinal match over No. 8 seed Xinran Sun of China 6-1, 7-6(10), she was facing the prospect of going through qualifying at the Orange Bowl, but refused to let that distract her.

"I was at this tournament, so I didn't think about anything else," Liutova. "I was just focused on winning the match in front of me. I came here excited to be here and I'm very happy with the win."

The girls champion receives a wild card into the qualifying of the WTA 500 in Abu Dhabi in February, but Liutova is unsure of her plans for next year.

Liutova will be tested early in the Orange Bowl, as she has been drawn to face No. 5 seed Annika Penickova. Cvetkovic, the No. 6 seed at the Orange Bowl, will face wild card London Evans, the girls 16s finalist in Bradenton. 

The top girls seed in the Orange Bowl is Merida J500 finalist Victoria Barros of Brazil, with Laima Vladson of Uzbekistan the No. 2 seed. 

Yannik Alexandrescou of Romania is the top seed in the boys draw, with Jack Kennedy the No. 2 seed.

In the girls 16s, top seed Sofiia Bielinski withdrew and was replaced by a lucky loser. Boys 16s top seed Mason Vaughan won his first round match today over wild card Mark Mrcela 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. 

Draws and Monday's order of play can be found at the ustaorangebowl.com website. Live scoring is available via the iOnCourt app.

The dedication of the new Chris Evert Stadium Court at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center, the new site of the Orange Bowl, will take place tomorrow at 10 a.m. This is from the Orange Bowl release I received today:

WORLD-CLASS TENNIS KICKS OFF IN FORT LAUDERDALE:

ORANGE BOWL OPENS AT NEWLY RENOVATED JIMMY EVERT TENNIS CENTER

Ceremony to Dedicate Chris Evert Stadium Court and Unveil $9.5 Million in Infrastructure

WHAT: The Orange Bowl Committee, City of Fort Lauderdale, and USTA will host a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for Chris Evert Stadium Court to officially reopen the renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center at Holiday Park and kick off the 2025 Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships. The $9.5 million project includes 20 state-of-the-art clay courts, a new 700-seat stadium court named in honor of Chris Evert, and significant infrastructure upgrades, positioning the venue as a world-class home for both community play and elite junior competition.

WHEN: Monday, December 8, 2025

10:00 AM- 11:00 AM ET (remarks and dedication beginning at 10:00 AM.)

WHERE: Jimmy Evert Tennis Center at Holiday Park – Chris Evert Stadium Court

701 NE 12th Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304

WHO: Planned program participants include:

Chris Evert, Tennis Hall of Famer and Fort Lauderdale native

Henri Crockett, President & Chair, Orange Bowl Committee

Dean Trantalis, Mayor, City of Fort Lauderdale

Tracy Davies, General Manager, USA Tennis (USTA)

Chris Fowler, ESPN broadcaster and event emcee

Additional City of Fort Lauderdale and USTA representatives

The five-year winning streak of USA's Master U' BNP University Games in France ended today with Great Britain beating the team from the United States 4-3. For more on the finals, see this article from the Tennis Recruiting Network.

I wasn't able to cover the W35 in Daytona Beach this week because I was so busy in Bradenton, but 18-year-old Akasha Urhobo, the No. 5 seed, reached the final, where she lost to top seed Vivian Wolff(Georgia, UCLA) 7-6(6), 6-3 today. 

The doubles title was won by Ingrid Neel(Florida) of Estonia and Abigail Rencheli(NC State), who beat Anastasia Goncharova and  Madison Tattini 6-3, 6-2 in a final between unseeded teams.

Historic Title for Genidy at IMG Academy International; Iftime Claims G16s Title; Junseo Wins Second Championship in Three Years; Lee vs Kisimov, Liutova vs Cvetkovic in Sunday's ITF J300 Finals; Vaughan and Bielinska Top Orange Bowl 16s Draws

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Bradenton FL--

When the dense fog cleared and the IMG Academy hard courts dried, the six finals of the IMG Academy lnternational Championships proceeded, with history on the line for the countries of Greece, Venezuela and Egypt. 

Those three countries had never had a singles champion at the prestigious tournament, formerly known as the Eddie Herr International, and the boys 14s final would elevate one and eliminate the other when top seed Mohamed Genidy of Egypt met No. 16 seed Ignacio Mejias of Venezuela.

Although no clear favorite emerged after more than two hours of play, Genidy managed to break and hold at 4-4 in third to post a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Many juniors would not be aware of the history, but Genidy was well versed in his country's performance in December's major junior events Florida in Florida.

"Ismail El Shafei won the Orange Bowl," Genidy said of the 1965 18s champion. "But the Eddie Herr, no one from my country did."

Genidy was able to put his slow start behind him, chalking it up to a lack of familiarity with Mejias's game.

"It was my first time to play him in singles, so it was weird for me," said the 14-year-old from Cairo. "But I handled it well, and I know how to play in the second set. I started well, but again, he is very good and when I do something good, he would play better every time."

Genidy let a 4-3 lead slip away, but he broke right back to give himself a chance to serve for the match. Facing two match points at 40-15, Mejias again raised his level, and it took two good first serves from Genidy in the next two points to deliver the historic title.

"He hit very good two forehands, and it was my second serve," Genidy said. "Two championship points down, how is he doing that? But I tried to make my first serves, it was very tough, and I did that, and he hit two returns out.

Genidy, who will play the Junior Orange Bowl in Miami next week, is making his first visit to the United States for these two tournaments.

"It's my first time in America, so this means a lot to me," Genidy said.

The girls 14s champion, No. 9 seed Ayaka Iwasa of Japan, denied Greece its first IMG Academy champion, defeating No. 5 seed Konstantina Volonaki 6-1, 6-1.

"I'm so happy to win this tournament," said the 13-year-old, who lost in the first round of the 12s as an 11-year-old in 2023, and made the quarterfinals of the 12s division last year.  "I played very good in the final, the best this week."

The boys 16s final was the last match to begin, and with long and physical games and points, No. 14 seed Jang Junseo of Korea needed two-and-a-half hours to collect his second IMG Academy title, beating No. 9 seed Artem Dmytrenko 7-6(4), 7-5.

Junseo, who won the 12s title in 2023 and reached the 14s final last year, has been training at the IMG Academy for more than a year, and had the support of his coaches and many fellow IMG students, as he broke Dmytrenko serving for the second set at 5-4 and broke again at 6-5 to claim the title.

"Last year I had seven set points," the 14-year-old recalled of his 7-6(7), 6-2 loss to Qi Hongjin of China in the final on Stadium Court. "I remembered last year, when I was playing tiebreak in the first set (today), and it was a little bit tough, but I won."

Junseo was receiving regular encouragement from one of his IMG Academy coaches, Agge Venizelos, and he drew comfort from that.

"It was helping a lot," Junseo said. "He told me to stay focused, and if I'm tired, my opponent is tired also, so I need to keep going."

Dmytrenko said he enjoyed the atmosphere, despite receiving no support from the pro-Junseo spectators.

"I love it," said the 16-year-old, who trains at the Mouratoglou Academy in Zephyrhills Florida, which merged last year with Andy Sorrentino's Academy there. "I love the crowd against me."

Dmytrenko regretted not taking advantage of his opportunities, but he didn't want to blame his loss on the three-and-a-half hour 7-6(6), 1-6, 7-6(5) semifinal victory over top seed Mason Vaughan Friday.

"I felt it a little bit, but I must say I had some chances today, and I didn't take them," said Dmytrenko, who had not competed at this tournament before this year and decided to play it just a few weeks ago. "He's a very great player. He's young, hits the ball well, does everything well. He played his game today and some of the key points went his way and that kind of decided the match. But that's ok, we'll bounce back and do better in my next tournament."

Originally from Ukraine, Dmytrenko has been in the United States for the past two-and-a-half years, and has just signed with Louisville for the fall of 2026.

"I'm doing Ukrainian school and I'm graduating from there this year," said Dmytrenko, who is playing the Orange Bowl 16s next week. "So basically I skipped a grade here."

Two 14-year-old Americans battled for the Girls 16s title, with No. 11 seed Adelina Iftime coming from behind to defeat unseeded London Evans 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, a result that surprised her.

"I lost the previous two years in the first round, in the 12s and 14s," said the Orlando resident. "I just turned 14 in October, so I thought I could get past three rounds, but I ended up winning, so I was happy with that."

Iftime made an adjustment that helped her hand Evans her only two losses of a set in the tournament.

"I felt like I should stay more in the point," said Iftime, who trains with her father, and also with Tomas Penika, the father of  Kristina and Annika Penickova. Kristina also won a 16s championship here, in 2023. "I was going for too much and not in the good moments. So I just tried to stay calm and stay in the points longer. It was both patience and mental. I was trying to stay calm the whole match, not get angry at myself, and that helped me as well."

Iftime is playing the Orange Bowl next week and is excited about getting to play on the green clay.

"I like clay a lot more than I like hard," Iftime said.

Evans said she wasn't really feeling the ball well today, even with her fast start.

"She just kept the ball in and was waiting for me to miss," said Evans, last year's USTA Winter Nationals 14s champion.

Evans, who defeated No. 2 seed Daniella Sales 6-1, 6-0 in second round, said she had no expectations as far as results were concerned when she entered the tournament.

"Honestly I wasn't really paying attention, thinking about anything," Evans said. "I just went out there and played. I didn't look that far ahead in the draw."

Evans will play her second ITF J500 main draw next week with a wild card into the Orange Bowl, after her debut in Merida last week, but unlike Iftime, said "I definitely prefer hard." 

The fourth American in a final today, No. 5 seed James Borchard, fell to unseeded Rui He of China 6-1, 7-5.

Borchard raised his level against He, but after a clutch hold at 4-5, he couldn't quite find that form in the 5-6 game, with He breaking for the title.

"He is just physically very tough and he got to all my balls," said the 12-year-old from Southern California, who won the doubles title on Friday and reached the final today in his debut at this event. "He has a great slice too."

Borchard came out in the second set determined to put He under some pressure.

"I just started playing really aggressive," said the reigning Easter Bowl 12s champion. "I was playing really well, but in the end he got to a lot more balls than I did."

Borchard will be competing next week in the Junior Orange Bowl 12s in Miami.

The girls 12s title also went to a Chinese player, with No. 4 seed Fangqiao Zou pulling away from No. 5 seed Seungyeon Seo of Australia in the second set to earn a 7-5, 6-1 victory.

I was unable to see any of the ITF J300 semifinals today, with all of them played at the same time as the IMG Academy International finals due to the possibility of rain later in the day, which did not end up materializing. 

I was able to talk by phone to 15-year-old wild card Jordan Lee, who will go for a second straight IMG title tomorrow after beating No. 7 seed Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

Lee went up early in the first set, lost the break, but broke the 17-year-old to claim the set. 

Boogaard, ranked more than 400 spots higher than Lee, who was out for eight months with a wrist injury, served for the second set at 5-4, but Lee broke, only to lose his next service game. Boogaard then took his second opportunity to serve for the set.

"The first set went very well," said Lee, who won the 2024 16s title, which was played on clay last year due to hurricane damage to some of the Academy's hard courts.  "I feel like it was a pretty equal level and it just came out that I had won the set. Second set was the same thing; he played a very good game at 5-all in the second set and at 6-5, very solid from him and then, in the third set, I feel I had a little bit more energy."

There was only one break in the final set, with Boogaard dropping serve at 2-3 and Lee closed out the nearly three-hour contest with a hold.

Although Lee has played only three tournaments since his return from injury, he is pleased with how he has held up physically as he anticipates his first ITF J300 title on the same court where he won his 16s title last year.

"I've been working on my physicality, staying physical and working on the right things, not giving away points too easily," Lee said. "I feel I've been doing a very good job with that."

Lee will face unseeded Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria, who has had a breakout tournament this week. Kisimov advanced to his first J300 final with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga of Colombia.

The girls final will feature No. 5 seed Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia and unseeded Kristina Liutova. Cvetkovic defeated unseeded Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine 6-2, 6-4 to reach her second ITF J300 final, which is also the case for Liutova, who defeated No. 4 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina 7-5, 7-5.

Cvetkovic, 17, won the title in her first appearance in a J300 final this spring in Italy, while Liutova won the J300 in College Park in August; Cvetkovic lost in the semifinals at that event.

Cvetkovic said she is beginning to feel comfortable on the green clay, with this her first experience on it and at the IMG Academy. She has had plenty of reps on it, coming from a set down in three of her first four matches to advance.

"It's a little bit tough, but the courts are good and I'm feeling so good," said Cvetkovic, who has survived physically despite all that court time, which included five doubles matches. "This morning I was feeling so good, it's like just confidence."

Making just her second trip to the United States, with the first the College Park/US Open Junior swing, Cvetkovic has not had an opportunity to study Liutova's game. 

"This is the first time I play against her," said Cvetkovic, who is traveling with the ITF Junior Touring Team on this Florida swing. "We will see tomorrow, who will be better, who will give more."

Both ITF singles finals are scheduled for 8 a.m. Sunday, with rain again a possibility.

Cvetkovic and partner Larraya Guidi, the No. 2 seeds, lost in the afternoon doubles final to No. 3 seeds Kanon Sawashiro of Japan and Xiran Sun of China 6-2, 6-4.

In the boys doubles final, played at the same time as the singles semifinals, No. 2 seeds Oskari Paldanius of Finland and Alan Wazny of Poland defeated No. 6 seeds Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia 6-0, 6-4, The Roland Garros and Wimbledon doubles champions did not drop a set in their five victories this week.

Main draw play begins Sunday at the Orange Bowl, with 32  singles matches in the 16s, which is half of the draws, on the schedule, along with the final round of 18s qualifying.

As he was at the IMG Academy International Championships, Mason Vaughan is the top seed; the girls top seed is Sofiia Bielinska of Ukraine.

Draws for the 16s main draw and 18s qualifying, along with the order of play, can be found at ustaorangebowl.com