Orange Bowl 16s Finals Videos; USA Reaches United Cup Final; Kudla Announces Retirement; Fonseca Beats Quinn in Canberra Challenger Final; Basavareddy Qualifies at Auckland ATP 250

Next batch of videos from last month's Florida swing are below, which now completes the 18s and 16s finals from both the IMG Academy Championships and the Orange Bowl. All can be viewed on my YouTube Channel.

The United States defeated the Czech Republic 3-0 in Sydney Australia Saturday to advance to Sunday's United Cup final, where the No. 1 seeds will play No. 2 seeds Poland. Coco Gauff defeated Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-4 to give the US a 1-0 lead, but Taylor Fritz trailed Tomas Machac 7-6(4), 5-3 before cramps forced Machac to retire with Fritz leading 6-5 in the second set. That clinched the 2023 champions their place in the final, but the doubles match was played, albeit with substitutes rather than the top players. Desirae Krawczyk(Arizona State) and Denis Kudla defeated Gabriela Knutson(Syracuse) and Patrick Rikl 7-5, 6-0 for the mixed doubles point.

Poland defeated Kazakhstan 3-0 in the other semifinal to reach the final for the second straight year. Gauff will face Iga Swiatek in women's singles, with Fritz playing Hubert Hurkacz in men's singles. The preview of Sunday's match, played in Sunday's early hours here in the United States, is here.

After his doubles victory, Denis Kudla announced his retirement, with the 32-year-old from Virginia, who reached a career-high of 53 in the ATP rankings, revealing that he would be coaching Reilly Opelka in his next chapter.  I covered Kudla throughout his junior career (look for Throwback Thursday photos on Bluesky next week) and will miss watching him crush that backhand, but it's easier to say goodbye to a player when the retirement announcement indicates a transition to a different role, but still in tennis.

If this week is any indication, Kudla could be a coaching natural, with Opelka, out for so long with injuries the past two years, into the final of the ATP 250 in Brisbane. Opelka has defeated top seed Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals and red-hot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France in the semifinals to advance to his first final since 2022. He'll face unseeded Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic in Sunday's final.

2023 NCAA champion Ethan Quinn finished as runner-up in the ATP Challenger 125 in Canberra, with 18-year-old Joao Fonseca of Brazil beating the former Georgia Bulldog 6-4, 6-4 in the final. Fonseca, who won the Next Gen ATP Finals last month, now has a 10-match winning streak as both he and Quinn head to Melbourne for next week's Australian Open qualifying. 

Nineteen-year-old Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford), who avoided qualifying at the Australian Open by winning the USTA's reciprocal wild card race last fall, has qualified for another ATP event this week, after making the main draw in Brisbane last week (he lost to Gael Monfils 6-4, 4-6, 6-1). Basavareddy got two ATP Top 100 wins in the Auckland ATP 250 qualifying this weekend, doubling his career total, by beating No. 80 )Botic Van De Zandschulp of the Netherlands 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of qualifying and No. 89 Daniel Altmaier of Germany 6-2, 6-1 in the final round of qualifying. 

Despite the six Americans in the quarterfinals of the WTA 250 in Auckland, none reached the final, which will feature Naomi Osaka of Japan and Clara Tauson of Denmark. Osaka defeated Alycia Parks 6-4, 6-2 and Tauson beat Robin Montgomery 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals.