Kessler, Keys Win WTA Titles; Ngounoue Reaches W35 Final in Martinique; Cozad, Reddy Claim ITF J100 Titles

McCartney Kessler won her first WTA title the week before the US Open last year in Cleveland. The former University of Florida All-American won her second WTA title Saturday, on the eve of the Australian Open, at the 250 in Hobart, a result that boosted her ranking into the Top 50 for the first time.

The 25-year-old from Georgia, who played her last collegiate match in 2022, defeated the top two seeds en route to the title in Hobart, taking out No. 1 Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed and 2018 Hobart champion Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 in the final. Kessler was not shy about going for lines throughout the match, and once she broke to go up 2-0 in the third set, the winners came in bunches.

Kessler lost in the first round of the US Open last year to Marta Kostyuk, who was the No. 19 seed; this year at the Australian Open, she plays Shuai Zhang of China, who won the Asia-Pacific wild card tournament to earn a place in the main draw.

Madison Keys won her ninth WTA title at the 500 in Adelaide, beating Jessica Pegula 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in Saturday's final. Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada won the ATP 250 in Adelaide with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over Sebastian Korda.

Clervie Ngounoue has reached the final of the W35 in Martinique this week, with the 2023 Wimbledon girls champion set to face fellow 18-year-old Victoria Mboko of Canada in the final. Ngounoue, the No. 2 seed, advanced when No. 3 seed Harmony Tan of France retired trailing 6-2, 1-0; The fourth-seeded Mboko defeated No. 5 seed Cadence Brace of Canada 7-6(4), 6-2.

Unseeded Theo Papamalamis of France will face No. 4 seed Patrick Maloney(Michigan) in the final of the men's $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Ithaca New York Sunday. Papamalamis defeated Alex Rybakov(TCU) 6-4, 6-4, while Maloney beat No. 5 seed Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State) 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-0.  Maloney has already secured one title, winning the doubles today with Joshua Sheehy(Abilene Christian). The No. 2 seeds defated top seeds Noah Schachter(Texas A&M) and Pranav Kumar(Texas A&M, SMU) 6-4, 7-6(6). 

Sunday's final at the women's W35 in Naples Florida will feature two unseeded players, with Jessica Pieri of Italy taking on Katherine Sebov of Canada. Pieri beat 18-year-old qualifier Victoria Osuigwe 6-3, 6-1, while Sebov survived a three-hour and 28 minute battle with No. 4 seed Eli Mandlik to post a 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5 victory. 

Maribella and Allura Zamarripa(Texas) won their eighth Pro Circuit doubles title, with the No. 4 seeds beating No. 3 seeds Julie Belgraver of France and Jasmijn Gimbrere of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-1.

The Australian Open, starting in less than an hour, will be my main focus for the next two weeks, so I want to cover the American titles in this week's ITF Junior Circuit tournaments a few days early.

Sixteen-year-old Ryan Cozad swept the titles at the ITF Junior Circuit J100 in Costa Rica, the warm-up tournament to the J300 Coffee Bowl next week. Cozad, the No. 4 seed, defeated No. 3 seed and Kalamazoo 16s doubles champion partner Yannick Alvarez of Puerto Rico 6-3, 6-4 in today's final. Cozad did not play with Alvarez in doubles and in fact was on the other side of the net from Alvarez in the doubles final, with Cozad and Keaton Hance, the top seeds, defeating No. 2 seeds Alvarez and Mason Taube 4-2, 4-2 in the final. Alvarez played four matches Friday, which explains the abbreviated scoring in the doubles final that day.

No. 2 seed and San Diego 16s champion Ishika Ashar lost in the girls singles final to Sarina Schnyder of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4. Ashar also lost in the doubles final, with unseeded Ireland O'Brien and Lucy Oyebog Atang beating No. 2 seeds Ashar and Raya Kotseva 2-4, 5-4(5), 12-10 in the all-USA final. 

At the J100 in the United Arab Emirates, 15-year-old Vihaan Reddy won his biggest ITF Junior Circuit title and his first representing the United States, with the No. 5 seed beating No. 7 seed Mustafa Ege Sik of Turkey 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the final. No. 8 seed Sebastian Bielen made the singles semifinals and the doubles final.

Roshan Santhosh lost 6-1, 6-1 to No. 4 seed Donghyun Hwang of Korean in the ITF J300 final in New Delhi India today.

At the J30 in Claremont California, Andre Alcantara and Natalie Kha won the singles titles, with the unseeded 16-year-old Kha winning her first ITF Junior Circuit title and the 17-year-old Alcantara his second singles title, although he has won seven doubles titles. Kha defeated unseeded Alisa Lansky of Israel 7-5, 6-2 in the final; No. 2 seed Alcantara beat unseeded Rishvanth Krishna 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the all-USA final.  

No. 3 seeds Tyler Lee and Justin Riley Anson won the boys doubles title, beating top seeds Alcantara and Adrien Abarca 6-3, 3-6, 10-2 in the final. Unseeded Lily Bazemore and Olivia Lewis won the girls doubles title, beating No. 4 seeds Cassie Blakey and Tayler Conway 6-4, 6-3 in the final.