Top Four Boys Seeds Advance to ITF J300 FILA International Semifinals, Pareja Sole Girls Seed Remaining on Chilly Day in Indian Wells; Baylor Wins 4-3 Thriller Over Pepperdine in UTR College Championships

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Indian Wells CA--

Upsets in the boys draw this week at the ITF J300 FILA International Championships have been scarce, and there were none today, as the top four seeds advanced to Saturday's semifinals. The girls draw went in the opposite direction this week, with No. 5 Julieta Pareja the only seed reaching the semifinals, which also feature qualifier Alexis Nguyen.

Pareja, who defeated No. 13 seed Nancy Lee 6-2, 6-4 in an all-USA contest on Stadium 4, feels right at home at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, having attended the BNP Paribas Open for eight years and now playing in the ITF J300 here for the third straight year.

"I love coming here to Indian Wells," said the 16-year-old from Carlsbad California. "I used to come every year, because my sister was a ball kid. I like the conditions here, they're nice.

Pareja, who lost 6-4, 6-4 to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in the first round of qualifying here earlier this month, was facing Lee for the first time. Lee, who is 15, also has fond memories of the courts at Indian Wells, winning the Easter Bowl 14s title here in 2023. But Pareja, who has a WTA ranking of 556, was able to get out of trouble when she needed to.

"I was focused on opening up the court, using my forehand to step in when I can and take time away," Pareja said. "I also focused on my first serve as well, having a high percentage."

Pareja has a chance to earn another wild card into the qualifying next year by winning the junior title Sunday, but she doesn't see her role as the favorite as much of an advantage.

"I think it's called tennis," Pareja said. "In tennis, anything can happen. You can be surprised that first day, when all the top seeds fell, but I don't worry about the seeds, I worry about who I'm playing in my next match."

That will be Adla Lopez, the 16-year-old left-hander from Florida, who defeated wild card Maggie Sohns 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. 

The other semifinal will feature the 17-year-old Nguyen, who defeated No. 14 seed Alyssa James of Jamaica 6-2, 6-2, and 15-year-old Kristina Liutova of Russia, who beat qualifier Tianmei Wang in a two-hour and two-minute match by the deceptive score of 6-1, 6-2. 

Boys top seed Jagger Leach defeated No. 10 seed Ronit Karki 6-4, 6-2 and will face doubles partner Noah Johnston, the No. 4 seed, for a place in Sunday's final. Johnston won the battle of the left-handers, beating No. 6 seed Maximus Dussault 6-4, 6-4.

Another doubles pair will meet in the bottom half semifinal, with No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy and No. 3 seed Keaton Hance both getting through in three sets.

Kennedy came from a break down in the third set to defeat No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, while Hance needed three hours to eliminate No. 7 seed Jack Satterfield 6-3 2-6, 7-5.

Hance, a 17-year-old from Torrance California, fell behind 2-0 in the third set, got the break back and then went up a break at 4-3, but Satterfield broke back immediately.  Hance had two break points with Satterfield serving at 4-all but he couldn't convert either, with Satterfield coming up with some well-executed volleys to take a 5-4 lead.

"Of course it's super frustrating when you have the chances to be able to serve for the match and not be able to take them," said Hance, who has recently verbally committed to the University of Texas for 2026. "I was just trying to stay positive, because there's always another chance if you stay positive."

Hance credited his older brother Connor, who played at UCLA, with helping him through some of the difficult moments late in the third set and providing him with a change of strategy after dropping the second set.

"He's really into it and it's really nice to have him on the sidelines," Hance said. "I don't know if you could tell, but after the second set, I was just grinding the entire time, just staying solid,  I wasn't being aggressive at all, and Connor was telling me to get in long rallies, that was the main thing."

Hance held quickly for 5-all and with Satterfield serving, Hance again had a break point he couldn't convert, but on his fourth, Satterfield missed a volley, giving Hance the opportunity to serve for the match.  Getting first serves in was key and Hance did that, building a 40-0 lead and converting his second match point, unfazed by the large crowd that had gathered around Stadium 4 after the men's doubles semifinals had concluded on Stadium 1.

"I was just trying to stay consistent, especially on these slow courts," Hance said. "It's not any good to try to go super big, and have less of a chance to make a serve, just keep it simple, not feel the pressure of doubles faulting."

Despite their similar ages and schedules, Hance and Kennedy have met only once in competition, in the final of an ITF J60 in Spain in May of 2023, which Hance won 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. 

"We've trained a lot together of course," Hance said. "Two years ago in Spain, it was a good match but obviously it's a lot different now. I'm looking forward to it; it'll be fun."

Longtime doubles partners, and top seeds this week, Kennedy and Hance lost in the quarterfinals, with No. 5 seeds Cozad and Matisse Farzam earning a 6-2, 4-6, 11-9 victory. Cozad and Farzam will play No. 8 seeds Andrew Johnson and Nischal Spurling, who beat No. 4 seeds Satterfield and Karki 7-5, 6-3.

In the bottom half semifinals, No. 2 seeds Leach and Johnston will play No. 7 seeds Gavin Goode and Simon Caldwell. Leach and Johnston defeated No. 6 seed Jacob Olar and Australia's Cruz Hewitt 7-6(5), 6-4, while Goode and Caldwell beat Jack Secord and Dussault 7-6(5), 6-4.

An unseeded team will make the girls doubles final, after Maria Aytoyan and Sabrina Lin defeated No. 7 seeds Kayla Chung and Ava Rodriguez 6-1, 4-6, 10-7 and Isabella DeLuccia and Carrie-Anne Hoo beat Chukwumelije Clarke and Ireland O'Brien 6-4, 6-3.

In the bottom half, No. 6 seeds Lee and Welles Newman will face No. 2 seeds Leena Friedman and Thea Frodin, with Lee and Newman beating unseeded Addison Yang Comiskey of Canada 6-4, 6-7(5), 11-9 and Friedman and Frodin defeating unseeded Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann and Karlin Schock 6-2, 7-5.

The doubles semifinals were on the schedule for Friday evening, but with temperatures, which hovered in the low 60s during the day, beginning to plunge as the sun set, and several players facing a third match of the day, the four semifinals will be played Saturday instead.

While there are Americans everywhere in the junior event, there only opportunity for a US champion at the BNP Paribas Open this weekend will come in doubles, after No. 5 seed Madison Keys lost to top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-0, 6-1. Sabalenka will face 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva of Russia in Sunday's women's final. 

Asia Muhammad and her partner Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands will play in the women's doubles final Saturday against Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia and Olivia Nicholls of Great Britain.  Sebastian Korda and his partner Jordan Thompson of Australia will play for the men's doubles title Saturday night, with top seed Marcelo Arevalo(Tulsa) of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia their opponents. 

The first semifinal of the UTR College Championships this morning on the Indian Wells Tennis Garden practice courts went for more than three and a half hours and finished with No. 14 Baylor defeating No. 28 Pepperdine 4-3.  The shouts, chants and cheers reverberated through the grounds as the match came down to a third set tiebreaker between Pepperdine's Maxi Homberg and Baylor's Oskar Brostrom Poulsen at line 2, with Brostrom Poulsen taking it 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(7). 

Baylor will play in Sunday's final against the winner of Saturday's 9:30 a.m. match between No. 26 Princeton and No. 45 Arizona State.