Italy's Vasami and Sweden's Wallberg Claim J500 Titles in Egypt; Dussault Earns J200 Title, Three More US Juniors Capture ITF Singles Titles; Johns Takes Naples $15K; Ngounoue Wins W50 in Great Britain; Anisimova Earns WTA 1000 Doha Title

I spent most of today's off-day for the main draw ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor Championships watching consolation matches and catching up with some of the freshmen from Stanford and TCU who had arrived in SMU after winning their quarterfinal matches in Baylor on Saturday, but I won't be providing any reporting on Virginia's 4-1 win over North Carolina State or Texas A&M's 4-2 win over Kentucky, so that I can review the week on the ITF Junior Circuit, USTA Pro Circuit, the ITF Women's WTT and the pros, before I return to detailed coverage of the Men's Team Indoor semifinals and finals the next two days. Streaming of the semifinals Monday, beginning at 3:30 pm Central time will be available at the Cracked Racquet YouTube channel. Wake Forest plays Texas first, with the semifinal between TCU and Stanford to follow.

The first ITF J500 tournament of 2025, contested in Cairo Egypt this week, concluded with titles No. 3 seed Jacopo Vasami of Italy and No. 10 seed Nellie Taraba Wallberg of Sweden, both 17-year-olds in their final year of junior eligibility.

Taraba Wallberg defeated No. 11 seed Rada Zolotareva of Russian 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-3 in the final, while Vasami won his first J500 singles title in just his second appearance at that level, claiming a 6-2, 6-2 victory over unseeded Savva Rybkin of Russia in the championship match.

Vasami swept the titles in Cairo, partnering with Alan Wazny of Poland to take the doubles championship. The top seeds defeated unseeded Alvaro Jimenez of Spain and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

No. 7 seeds Charo Esquiva Banuls of Spain and Flora Johnson of Great Britain won the girls doubles title, beating No. 6 seed Dora Miskovic of Croatia and Sonja Zhenikhova of Germany 6-2, 6-1 in the final. 

It was a banner week for Americans on the ITF Junior Circuit, and although both Keaton Hance[6] and Noah Johnston[5] lost in the singles semifinals of the J300 Asuncion Bowl in Paraguay, Thea Frodin did capture the doubles title there with Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria. The top seeds defeated Ana Maria Fedotova of the Dominican Republic and Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina 6-2, 6-2 in the final. Tops seeds Hance and Valentin Garay of Argentina lost the boys final via a walkover, given to Thomas Miranda and Leornardo Storck Franca of Brazil.

At the J200 in the Dominican Republic, American boys swept the titles, with Maximus Dussault, the top seed, defeating Gavin Goode, the No. 12 seed 7-5, 6-3 in the all-US final. It's Dussault's second ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the other coming at a J60 in the Dominican Republic in 2023. The boys doubles title was also decided among Americans, with unseeded Ford McColllum and Nischal Spurling defeating No. 4 seed Simon Caldwell and Zachary Cohen 7-6(2), 6-4 in the final.  

2024 USTA National 16s champion Ishika Ashar, the No. 2 seed, lost in the girls singles final to top seed Nadia Lagaev of Canada 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-2. Lagaev and Daniela Piani of Great Britain took the girls doubles title, beating Sabrina Lin and Serbia's Masa Jankovic, the No. 7 seeds, 6-2, 7-5 in the final.

At the J100 in South Africa, 15-year-old Navneet Raghuram won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the No. 8 seed defeating No. 5 seed Xavier Massotte of Canada 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final. He also reached the doubles final, with Canadian partner Finn Muller. The No. 4 seeds lost to the unseeded British team of Rhys Lawlor and Eric Lorimer 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 in the championship match. 

JoAnna Kennedy took the title this week at the J60 in Medford New Jersey, one of two ITF Indoor tournaments in the United States in February. The unseeded 17-year-old from Colorado, didn't drop a set during the week, beating No. 2 seed Anastasia Pleskun 6-2, 6-4 in the all-US final. Unseeded Shristi Selvan and Kendall Smith won the girls doubles title, beating top seeds Aurora Lugo of Puerto Rico and Arina Vansovich of Belarus 7-6(2), 6-3 in the final.  

An unseeded team also won the boys doubles title in an all-US final, with Kayden Colombo and Anthony Dry defeating Jack Dermenjyan and Muyang Yi 6-2, 3-6, 11-9 in the final.

The fourth singles title for an American junior came at the J60 in Guatemala, with 14-year-old Jordyn Hazelitt, the No. 3 seed, winning her second singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5 win over unseeded compatriot Scarlett Fagan, also 14.

Hazelitt also took the doubles title, with Canadian partner Elicia Lin, with the top seeds defeating Camille Allegre and Olivia Allegre 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 in the final.

At the J60 in Mexico, Joseph Hernandez won the boys doubles title with Miguel Daiha of Brazil, with the No. 6 seeds beating No. 8 seeds Nicolas Dagda Mireles and Guillermo Narcio of Mexico 5-7, 7-6(4), 10-7 in the final. Sophia Cedeno, who reached the girls singles final, won the doubles title with partner Zoe Levresse Zavala of Mexico. The top seeds defeated No. 2 seed Emanuela Lares and Maria Isabel Suarez of Colombia 6-3, 6-1 in the championship match.

And at the J30 in Bahrain, Muaz Malik won the boys doubles title with Kaushik Arunkumar of India. The No. 4 seeds defeated No. 3 seeds Amir Jaber and Talai Shatara of Jordan 6-2, 6-3 in the final.

At the USTA Pro Circuit men's $15,000 tournament in Naples Florida, former Duke All-American Garrett Johns won his second title in the last three weeks on the green clay. The 24-year-old from Georgia, seeded No. 8, defeated No. 7 seed Lorenzo Joaquin Rodrigues of Argentina 6-4, 6-4 in today's final. 

Former Georgia Tech teammates Keshav Chopra and Andres Martin won the doubles title, with the No. 4 seeds beating No. 3 seeds Rodriguez and Ignacio Monzon of Argentina 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final. 

Eighteen-year-old Clervie Ngounoue, the 2023 Wimbledon girls and USTA National 18s champion, won the W50 this week in Birmingham England, her fourth ITF women's World Tennis Tour singles title. Unseeded, Ngounoue defeated the No. 3 and No. 2 seeds en route to the final, where she beat No. 5 seed Viktoria Hruncakova of Slovakia 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Ngounoue, who will rise to around 250 in the WTA ranking when the points are added, is just a few good results away from earning entry into the women's singles qualifying at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year.

At the ATP 250 in Delray Beach, Alex Michelsen advanced to the semifinals in singles, but it was Brandon Nakashima(Virginia) earning the American title this week. Partnering with singles champion Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, Nakashima and Kecmanovic defeated Dallas Open champions Christian Harrison and Evan King(Michigan) 7-6(3), 1-6, 10-3 in the final. It's the first ATP doubles title for Nakashima. For more on the doubles final, see this article from the ATP website.

Amanda Anisimova won the WTA 1000 in Doha, beating Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-4, 6-3 in the final. It's the third and biggest title for the 23-year-old, who will move into the WTA Top 20 for the first time. For more on the final, see this article from the WTA website.

And at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, ATP Next Gen Finals champion Joao Fonseca of Brazil won his first title, with the unseeded 18-year-old defeating Francisco Cerundolo(South Carolina) of Argentina 6-4, 7-6(1). The 2023 US Open champion is the youngest South American champion in the ATP Tour era, which dates to 1990. For more on the final, see this article from the ATP website.