Dussault and Lagaev Go Back-to-Back at ITF J200s in Dominican Republic; Jovic Reaches Final of Cold-Delayed W50 in Texas; My Appearance on No-Ad No-Problem Podcast to Recap D-I Men's Team Indoor; Interviews with Acapulco ATP 500 Qualifiers Tien and Basavareddy

While I followed the results of the ITF J300 in Brazil, the warmup to this week's J500 Banana Bowl, where Noah Johnston swept the titles and Thea Frodin made both finals last week, there were several other titles for Americans on the ITF Junior Circuit. Floridian Maximus Dussault won his second consecutive J200 in the Dominican Republic, a feat matched by Canadian Nadia Lagaev. 

Dussault, a 17-year-old left-hander who has committed to TCU for this fall, was the top seed both weeks and didn't lose a set in his 10 victories. In the all-USA final, Dussault, now up to 45 in the ITF junior rankings, defeated No. 8 seed Nischal Spurling 6-0, 6-2. Spurling did collect a title in the doubles, partnering with Ford McCollum. The unseeded pair from Los Angeles beat No. 4 seeds Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia and Vitor Ryden of Sweden 7-6(3), 6-1 in the final.

Lagaev, also a 17-year-old left-hander, dropped just one set in her ten victories, beating No. 5 seed Hyunyee Lee of Korea 6-3, 7-6(4). Lagaev, who has verbally committed to Georgia for the fall of 2026, is now up to No. 30 in the ITF junior rankings. 

Top seeds Lagaev and Kayla Moore lost in the doubles final to No. 3 seeds Sabrina Lin and Great Britain's Daniela Piani 6-3, 6-3.

At the J60 in Eau Claire Wisconsin, No. 12 seed Roman Sancilio and top seed Thara Gowda won their second career ITF Junior Circuit singles titles in all-USA finals. 

The 17-year-old Sancilio defeated unseeded Aaron Beduhn in the final, while Gowda, 16, defeated Sophia Budacsek 6-1, 7-5. 

Gowda also took the girls doubles title, with Karlin Schock, with the top seeds beating No. 3 seeds Budacsek and Sobee Oak 6-1, 6-0. No. 5 seeds Tej Bhagra and Chase Kelley took the boys doubles title, beating top seed Adrian Treacy and Avner Wong 6-1 6-2 in all-USA final.

At the J60 in Guatemala, unseeded Carolina Castro won her first ITF Junior Circuit title, with the 16-year-old from Maryland defeating No. 8 seed Camille Allegre 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(6) in another all-USA final. 

Top seeds Jordyn Hazelitt and Canada's Elicia Lin won the girls doubles title, beating Castro and Sasha Miroshnichenko 6-1, 7-6(2) in the final. 

Sixteen-year-old Jerald Carroll swept the boys titles at the J30 in Mexico. The third-seeded Floridian defeated unseeded Sebastian Garcia Puente of Mexico 6-0, 6-1 in the singles final, and partnered with Peru's Alessandro Rubini Garcia Belaunde for the boys doubles title. The No. 3 seeds defeated No. 4 seed Valentino Arjona and Rodrigo Garza of Mexico 2-6, 6-2, 10-5 in the final.

After playing just five games in reaching the cold-delayed quarterfinals today at the W50 in Spring Texas, 17-year-old Iva Jovic advanced to the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-1 win over qualifier Eryn Cayetano(USC), and then reached the final with a 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 win over Caty McNally. The final is still scheduled for tonight, with Jovic's opponent not yet determined, with Texas A&M senior Mary Stoiana playing Canada's Carol Zhao(Stanford) in the semifinals. Stoiana defeated Whitney Osuigwe 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 in the quarterfinals.

Over the weekend I spoke with John Parsons about the recently concluded ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championshps for his No-Ad No-Problem podcast, which is a must-listen (his weekly podcast, not my guest appearance) for any D-I college tennis fan. John and I were both in Dallas and at a men's Team Indoor Championship for the first time since 2013 so we had a lot to discuss. Our wide-ranging conversation touched on the SMU facility, the buzz around the tournament, SMU men's head coach Grant Chen's successful efforts to make it a special event, the Electric Line Calling system being used, our standout players and matches and the story lines we're following in the next two months as the conference season gets going. John knows his stuff and college tennis is fortunate to have him as an advocate for the sport.

Ben Rothenberg is at the ATP 500 in Acapulco this week, and he spoke to both Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy after their first round qualifying wins Saturday, catching up with the two rising American teenagers after their first Australian Open pro experiences last month. The interviews at Rothenburg's Bounces are behind a paywall (which he does for some articles, but not all), but please consider subscribing, even if you don't want to pay, as a free subscription, which goes directly to your email inbox, is available. Both Tien and Basavareddy won their final round qualifying matches, with Tien set to play Cam Norrie(TCU) of Great Britain later tonight, and Basavareddy likely to play Dallas Open champion Denis Shapovalov of Canada Tuesday.