Frodin, Johnston Reaches ITF J300 Brazil Finals; Cold Cancels Play Again at W50 in Texas, Second Round Matches Still Unplayed; Corwin Reaches Naples $15K Final; Cash and Glasspool Win ATP 500 Title; Holt, Budkov Kjaer Reach Challenger Finals

Sixteen-year-old Thea Frodin and 17-year-old Noah Johnston will compete for their first ITF J300 titles Sunday in Porto Alegre Brazil after both posted straight-sets victories Saturday.

No. 4 seed Frodin reached her third ITF J300 final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 2 seed Annika Penickova in an all-USA semifinal, while the unseeded Johnston advanced to his first J300 final with a 6-0, 7-6(3) win over No. 6 seed Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil.

Johnston will face qualifier Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria, who avenged his 2022 Eddie Herr 14s quarterfinal loss to Keaton Hance, the No. 7 seed, in a semifinal even closer than that one, with Ivanov earning a 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 6-3 win today. Johnston and Ivanov were set to play last week in the quarterfinals of the J300 in Paraguay, but Ivanov retired down 1-0 in the first set.

Johnston won his ninith ITF Junior Circuit doubles title, with partner Jacob Olar. The unseeded pair defeated top seeds Hance and Jack Kennedy 7-5, 6-4 in the final, and did not drop a in the tournament.

The top seeds in the girls doubles also lost to an unseeded team, with Sol Ailin Larraya Giudi of Argentina and Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva Brazil beating No. 1 seed Katiylyn Rolls and Frodin 4-6, 6-1, 12-10 in the final. 

Frodin's opponent in the singles final is unseeded Laima Vladson of Lithuania, who defeated No. 3 seed Luna Maria Cinalli of Argentina 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(8).  The 17-year-old Vladson, who also beat Cinalli in a third-set tiebreaker in the quarterfinals on her way to the title at last week's J300 in Paraguay, had never advanced past the quarterfinals of a J300 until last week.

The unseasonable winter weather in Texas persisted today, with no play in the first round of qualifying at the WTA 250 in Austin and no play at all, for the second straight day, at the USTA Pro Circuit W50 in Spring. 

The  four remaining Spring second round matches, as well as the quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled to be played Sunday, with the weather forecast better (although not great); I assume there will be some short scoring, probably a match tiebreaker in lieu of a third set, for the quarterfinals and semifinals, with the final held over until Monday, but that is just speculation on my part. 

At the other USTA Pro Circuit tournament this week, a men's $15,000 event in Naples Florida, No. 7 seed  Felix Corwin has advanced to the final. The former University of Minnesota standout defeated former Ohio State All-American Cannon Kingsley, the No. 6 seed, 7-6(3), 6-1 in today's semifinals. Corwin will face qualifier Daniel Paty of the Czech Republic, who beat qualifier Victor Lilov 6-0, 5-7, 6-0.

Paty won the doubles title today, with partner Joao Vitor Goncalves Ceolin of Brazil, with the unseeded pair defeating top seeds Jamie Vance and Tennyson Whiting(BYU) 2-6, 6-3, 11-9. 

Seventeen-year-old Mirra Andreeva of Russia became the youngest WTA 1000 winner (that level dates back to 2009) with her title today in Dubai. The 2023 Australian Open girls finalist, who reached No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings for one week that year, defeated Clara Tauson of Denmark 7-6(1), 6-1. Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic won the doubles title in Dubai.

The British pair of Lloyd Glasspool, who won the NCAA doubles title while at Texas in 2015, and Julian Cash, a former standout at Mississippi State and Oklahoma State, won their third ATP title today in Doha, beating two other former collegiate stars from Great Britain: Neal Skupski(LSU) and Joe Salisbury(Memphis). Glasspool and Cash, who have been playing together for six months, defeated Skupski and Salisbury 6-3, 6-2 in the final. For more on the Glasspool and Cash title run, see this article from the ATP website.

2024 Wimbledon boys champion Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway has reached his first ATP Challenger final at the 75 tournament in Glasgow Scotland. The 18-year-old Budkov Kjaer, who is into the ATP Top 350 with this run, will play, improbably, another one of the three Norwegians in the ATP Top 1000, 27-year-old Viktor Durasovic. 

Former USC All-American Brandon Holt is into his fourth Challenger final after winning his first Challenger title last month in Thailand. The sixth-seeded Holt, competing at the 100 tournament in Pune India, will face unseeded Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic for the title. Holt is now up to a career-high 144 in the ATP rankings.

Two former Kalamazoo 16s champions are through to the finals of $15Ks, with 2018 champion Martin Damm, returning from another injury suffered last fall and winter, is through to the final in Egypt. The No. 3 seed, Damm will play No. 7 seed Alexandr Binda of Italy for the title.

Darwin Blanch, the 2022 Kalamazoo 16s champion, who is still just 17, advanced to the final in Spain, where the unseeded left-hander will play former Florida All-American Oliver Crawford of Great Britain, the No. 2 seed.