18 Americans Start Junior Grass Fortnight at Roehampton ITF J300, Tagger, Vasami Top Seeds; Three Current Collegians Reach SoCal Pro Series $15K Finals in Lakewood; More on College Tennis Alums at Wimbledon; Fritz, Pegula Take Winning Streaks into Wimbledon

The very short ITF Junior Circuit grass season begins Sunday, with 18 Americans beginning play at the J300 in Roehampton. Thirteen Americans boys and five American girls are in the 64-player fields, including three qualifiers and six seeds.

The US boys: Gavin Goode[Q], Keaton Hance[16], Ronit Karki, Jagger Leach[3], Ryan Cozad, Jack Secord, Dominick Mosejczuk, Noah Johnston, Matisse Farzam[Q], Maxwell Exsted, Benjamin Willwerth[5], Maximus Dussault, Jack Satterfield.

Missing from this large group is Jack Kennedy, who is expected to compete at Wimbledon.

The US girls: Leena Friedman, Julieta Pareja[3], Capucine Jauffret[Q], Thea Frodin[15], Kristina Penickova[2].

Jacopo Vasami of Italy is the top seed, and he is fresh off an ATP Challenger semifinal this week in Milan, on clay. He will play qualifier Gavin Goode, who has the advantage of two matches on the grass in preparation for Sunday's first round. The No. 2 seed is Roland Garros champion Niels McDonald of Germany, with Jack Satterfield his first round opponent.

Roland Garros girls champion Lilli Tagger of Austria is the top girls seed, with Kristina Penickova the No. 2 seed. Annika Penickova withdrew from both Roehampton and Wimbledon last week.

Live scoring can be found at the LTA tournament page.

At the SoCal Pro Series in Lakewood, SMU rising junior Trevor Svajda continued his winning streak with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 win over top seed Karue Sell of Brazil in today's men's semifinals. The 19-year-old from San Diego, who won the title in the third week of the SoCal Pro Series, in San Diego, did not play last week in Rancho Santa Fe because he was competing in the doubles competition of the USTA's American Collegiate US Open Playoffs in Lake Nona. But that didn't disrupt his momentum, with wins this week over No. 4 seed Alfredo Perez, No. 5 seed Dane Sweeney and now top seed Sell. His opponent in Sunday's final is qualifier Spencer Johnson, a rising junior at UCLA, who beat No. 2 seed Garrett Johns(Duke) 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2 in today's semifinals.

Svajda added a first pro doubles title to his success in this SoCal Pro Series, partnering with Kyle Kang, a rising junior at Stanford. The unseeded pair defeated top seeds Perez and Jamie Vance 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 in today's final.

It's three titles down and one more to go for Eryn Cayetano, who swept the titles last week in Rancho Santa Fe and will try to do the same with a win in tomorrow's women's singles final.

The No. 2 seed, a former USC All-American, defeated No. 5 seed Alexis Nguyen 6-1, 6-1 and will play UCLA rising senior Anne Christine Lutkemeyer, a qualifier. Lutkemeyer has made the semifinals during the SoCal Pro Series the past two years, but this is her first run to a final.  She defeated No. 8 seed Alyssa Ahn, an incoming freshman at Stanford, 6-2, 6-4.

Cayetano won the doubles title this afternoon with Haley Giavara(Cal). The top seeds beat No. 3 seeds and former University of San Diego teammates Jordyn McBride and Kristina Nordikyan 6-0, 6-1 in the final. 

I linked to the ITA's article on the collegians competing at Wimbledon this year in yesterday's post, but there's an even more detailed analysis, with selected bios and storylines available, thanks to the collaboration of former ATP staffer Greg Sharko and the ITA's Zach Pohlmann. See this google document for more.

Tomorrow will be quiet at the top levels of pro tennis, in preparation for Monday's start at Wimbledon, after two ATP and two WTA finals today.

Top seed Taylor Fritz defeated lucky loser Jenson Brooksby 7-5, 6-1 to defend his ATP 250 Eastbourne title. Fritz has now won ten ATP titles, with four of them coming at Eastbourne. 

Top seed Jessica Pegula won the WTA 500 in Bad Homburg, beating No. 4 seed Iga Swiatek 6-4, 7-5 in the final. Pegula now has nine WTA titles, and each of her three titles this year have come on a different surface. 

Maya Joint, the 19-year-old American-born Australian, won her second WTA title, saving four match points in her 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(10) win over qualifier Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in the final of the WTA 250 in Eastbourne. Joint, who won her first title on clay in May, is up to 41 in the WTA live rankings. Eala is the first woman from her country to reach a WTA final.

At the ATP 250 in Mallorca Spain, No. 4 seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands defeated Corentin Moutet of France 7-5, 7-6(3) for his third ATP title. Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) won their third straight title on grass, claiming championships at the Stuttgart ATP 250, the Nottingham ATP Challenger 125 and the Mallorca ATP 250. They had to save three match points in today's final to extend their winning streak to 12, beating Yuki Bhambri of India and Robert Galloway(Wofford) 6-1, 1-6, 15-13.