Blanch and Satterfield Play for Kalamazoo 18s Title, Johnson and Latak Reach 16s Final; Woestendick and Exsted Win 18s Doubles in Thriller, Ayengar Shocks Pareja in Semis; Ayrault Claims G16s Title; US Girls Capture ITF 14U WJT Title

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Kalamazoo MI--

After a disappointing tournament in Kalamazoo last year, Darwin Blanch was leaving no stone unturned in his quest for the Kalamazoo 18s title and the US Open wild card that goes to the winner. 

With high humidity and temperatures in the low 90s forecast for Saturday, Blanch and his coach searched the local Kalamazoo Walmart for a chair and umbrella combination that could provide him some shade on the changeovers. Although skeptical at first, he admitted the purchase proved its worth in his 7-6(5), 6-1 semifinal victory over No. 3 seed Jack Kennedy.

"That was actually my coach and my brother's idea," said the 17-year-old left-hander. "I was like, you guys are being ridiculous, come on. They were like no, no, we need to do everything. It was super hot earlier and it was hard to recover on change of sides. So we were in Walmart yesterday for like an hour to find the perfect chair and umbrella. But it actually worked pretty well."

Blanch went up a break in the first set, but Kennedy fought back to force the tiebreaker, which turned in Blanch's favor when Kennedy double faulted at 3-3.

Blanch won the next two points on serve to earn three set points, but Kennedy held his two serves to for 6-5. Blanch missed his first serve, but Kennedy ended up trying a drop shot that didn't clear the net in the ensuing rally, giving Blanch the set.

"When he did the double fault, for sure he's nervous, and I'd say it gave me some oxygen, a release of nerves and stress," said Blanch, who trains in Spain. "That definitely helped a lot, that double fault. And when I got my serve, I just calmed down and played my game on that point."

Blanch opened the second set with a service break and detected that fatigue might be a factor for Kennedy.

"I saw he started struggling more physically in the second, looked very tired in his legs, He started missing a lot more really quickly, so I had to start really ahead, so he doesn't feel he has a chance to come back. I just tried to keep my intensity high, play solid because he struggling to stay in the long points."

Kennedy held for 2-1 in the second, but couldn't keep pace with Blanch giving him no errors, with Kennedy losing his next two service games to fall short of a second 18s final in as many years.

Blanch now will be playing in the US Open later this month, regardless of the outcome of the final, with at least a men's qualifying wild card and a main draw wild card if he wins.

"It feels amazing that I'm going to be going to New York, no matter what," Blanch said. "Still one more match on the line, so focus for tomorrow, but at the same time I'm super happy."

Blanch will face No. 8 seed Jack Satterfield, who overcame a nightmarish start to defeat No. 6 seed Keaton Hance 0-6, 7-5, 6-3.

At 6-0, 5-5, Satterfield went down 0-40, but won the next five points to completely change the tenor of the match.

"I think that's a big game, because if you can come back from down 0-40, the momentum switches and the opponent will automatically get tight, because they are like, I was so close," said the 18-year-old Vanderbilt freshman. "So that was obviously a massive hold, but to be honest, I wasn't thinking, if I lose this game it will be over, I was really locked in, one point at a time and I got it done."

After breaking Hance to get to a third set, Satterfield didn't let up, taking a 3-0 lead before Hance held. But Satterfield didn't give Hance any break points to work with, losing only three points on serve in his five holds, protecting that early break.

The last game was a physical challenge for Satterfield however.

"It was a battle, it always is with Keaton," said Satterfield, who was 1-1 against Hance this year, with both matches going to a third set after Satterfield lost the first. "At 5-2, I was feeling it, cramping and I just played an insane service game at 5-3, there was nothing he could do, so thank goodness for that. If I had lost that game, I may have had to get a medical right away. I felt my thigh whenever I was extending, so I'm super happy I closed that last game out."

Satterfield, who was scheduled to move in to the dorms Sunday, will instead be playing his first best-of-five set match against the ATP No. 403.

"I'd say it's intimidating before the match, when you think about it," said Satterfield, who is No. 36 in the ITF world junior rankings. "But when you get out there, you don't really think about who the opponent is; you're focused on yourself and how he's playing. During the match, you're not really thinking about it. It's going to be a good experience to play him."

As for playing a match in New York, whether in men's qualifying or men's main draw, Satterfield is still trying to process that.

"That's just insane to me," Satterfield said. "I haven't even thought about it. It'll be a great experience, but I honestly still don't even believe it. Obviously when I'm at home, preparing for the tournament, I'm like yeah, I'm going to win it, go far, but I never really thought I would. But I took it one match at a time, kept my routines and I'm here."

The boys 16s semifinals, played prior to the 18s matches, were straight-set affairs, with No. 2 seed Andrew Johnson beating No. 4 seed Vihaan Reddy 6-3, 6-1 and No. 5 seed Marcel Latak defeating No. 10 seed Jerrid Gaines Jr. 6-1, 6-4.

Gaines, like Satterfield got off to a horrendous start, falling behind 5-0 and not holding serve in the first set. But he forced Latak to play some excellent tennis in the second set, which had just one break, with Gaines fighting back from 0-40 down serving at 4-5 saving that match point and another in the four-deuce game before Latak converted his fifth match point with a backhand winner.

"In the second set, when he started to play so much better, it was just, it's fine if he holds easily," said the 16-year-old from Chicago. "But when it's my turn to hold, I have to play the points smart and not give him anything. He obviously has such a good serve, I watched his doubles match yesterday and he gets a lot of free points off his serve, so I thought if I was able to take [my return] a little bit earlier I'd have a better shot."

For Latak, the 2025 Easter Bowl champion, this run to the final, which included a dramatic come-from-behind victory over top seed Michael Antonius in Friday's quarterfinal, has helped him erase the bad memories from last year's tournament.

"This feels so surreal," Latak said. "Last year I got so unlucky with my draw. I played Arin Pallegar(eventual 16s finalist) in the second round. I was a little discouraged, because before the tournament I was playing so well and to not have the result I wanted, I felt I didn't accomplish everything to my fullest. This is the tournament everyone looks forward to every year, this is the big tournament, the grand slam for juniors, so to be in the finals now, it's such an unreal feeling. I'm really proud of myself."

Johnson, who has yet to drop more than three games in any set in his six victories, lost the first game of the match on his serve, but recovered quickly and wasn't threatened as he began to feel more comfortable.

"I've known Vihaan for a while and I know how he plays," Johnson said. "A lot of things were working: deep balls, I mixed up my pace, threw him off a lot. I was executing pretty well, for the most part. I stayed mentally focused and I don't think I was ever negative in the match."

Johnson, who won the Junior Orange Bowl 14s, Winter Nationals 14s and Easter Bowl 14s in a space of four months in 2023-24, doesn't think nerves will come into play in Sunday morning's final. 

"I've been training for this, I've had big crowds like this in the past," said the 15-year-old from Rancho Palos Verde California. "I'd say I'm pretty used to it. I just have to play hard, work hard and if I do that, I'll get the title."

Latak knows what he's facing in the taking on Johnson, who beat him 6-1, 6-3 at an ITF J60 in Orlando last July.

"He's an incredibly smart player, probably the smartest junior here," Latak said. "You have to be so unbelievably focused every single point and I need to bring that focus out tomorrow. I've got nothing to lose, just go after it."

The USTA National doubles champions were crowned today, with the day's most compelling finish coming in the Boys 18s division.

Top seeds Cooper Woestendick and Max Exsted defeated No. 2 seeds Benjamin Willwerth and Noah Johnston 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(1), saving three match points in the process, to earn the title and a US Open main draw wild card.

After the two teams traded sets, neither could find any momentum in the third set. Woestendick and Exsted, the 2024 Australian Open boys champions, took a 3-1 lead, but three consecutive breaks made it 4-4, until Noah Johnston broke the streak to hold for 5-4.

Woestendick went down 15-40, giving Johnston and Willwerth three match points in the no-ad format played in USTA junior doubles events. Johnston missed a forehand for 30-40, and then the longtime friends and partners took a chance.

"Max poached on the second serve," said TCU rising sophomore Woestendick. "I knew it was the play, if we could execute it, and Max hit a great ball."

"Yeah, the second serve poach, it's a big risk but we took it," said Exsted, an 18-year-old from Minnesota, who trains at the Nadal Academy in Spain. "And then Cooper hits an incredible serve at deuce, so like wow."

The Woestendick ace brought them even, and two easy holds sent the match to a deciding tiebreaker, which the top seeds dominated.

"Me and Max have played so many matches together, that really helps," said Woestendick, who won the Boys 16s title with Mitchell Lee in 2022. "So our chemistry is really there in the big moments. We kept saying to ourselves all tournament 'let's have fun' and 'this tournament's ours.' We felt we were due for a good tournament and we got it."

Woestendick and Exsted haven't thought ahead to competing in New York, but are just happy to be back playing together after Woestendick spent the first five months of the year competing for the Horned Frogs.

"Before a couple of weeks ago I hadn't seen Max in months and months," said Woestendick. "It's awesome to get out there and in our second tournament back get a win. To play with my brother in the US Open is going to be amazing."

"Like Cooper said, it's really special," said Exsted, who won this year's Australian Open boys doubles title with Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic. "The chemistry on the court and off the court, I'm just really happy to do it with him."

In contrast to Woestendick and Exsted, the Boys 16s champions had never teamed up before, but No. 7 seeds Lucas Smith and Shaan Majeed demonstrated that a first-time pairing can also be effective. With their 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory over No. 2 seeds Andrew Johnson and Mason Vaughan Saturday afternoon, the USTA Southern section pair confirmed what they suspected when they decided to play together.

"We've known each other for a while and so I texted him," said Smith, a 16-year-old from Daniel Island South Carolina. "We knew we'd be a great team and it worked out well. Two great doubles players together, can't go wrong."

"I was actually waiting on someone else to play," said Majeed, who won the 2023 14s National Doubles gold ball with Yannik Alvarez. "So when [Smith] texted me I said, I don't know, I might be playing with someone else. He ended up bailing on me, so thank God."

After beating the No. 1 seeds in the quarterfinals and the No. 2 seeds today, Majeed and Smith know they earned their gold balls. 

"They came out playing well, but we stayed calm and were able to bounce back super well in the second," said Majeed, a 16-year-old from Georgia. "In the third, it was just go out there and do it."

Majeed double faulted on a deciding point serving up 4-2 in the third set, but that didn't faze him or Smith, and they broke Vaughan at love in the next game. Smith served it out without any drama and a jumping hip-bump ensued.

"We went and took it," said Smith. "We got the job done in the end, it was awesome," Majeed added.

The 16s final will begin at 10:30 a.m., the 18s, a best-of-five final, will follow not before 12:30 p.m.

Live streaming and live scoring can be found at ustaboys.com.

The girls 16s title and a US Open junior wild card went to No. 17 seed Hannah Aryault, with the 14-year-old from Atlanta defeated No. 4 seed Paige Wygodzki 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

No. 2 seed and ITF World Junior No. 1 Julieta Pareja lost her semifinal today in a stunning upset, with No. 17 Maya Iyengar surviving a furious third-set comeback from Pareja to move into the final. Down 5-0, Pareja came back for 5-all, lost serve, but broke Iyengar for a fourth time serving for the match at 6-5 to force a tiebreaker.  Iyengar, who had trailed 6-3, 3-0, 30-0, played a steadier tiebreaker to record a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) victory.

Iyengar will play No. 7 seed Alyssa Ahn of San Diego, who had her own lengthy semfinal battle, beating No. 5 seed Alexis  Nguyen 6-1, 6-7(1), 7-5.

Cracked Racquets will provide coverage of the G18s singles and doubles finals Sunday at their YouTube Channel.

Boys 12s final:

Keita Iida[5] d. Evan Fan[2] 6-3, 6-1

Boys 14s final: 

Jiarui Zhang[15] d. Dylan Meineke[3] 6-4, 6-2

Girls 12s final:

Anna Victoria Sandru[8] d. Noa Boar[10] 6-2, 6-1

Girls 14s final:

Daniella Sales[6] d. Isha Manchala[1]

photo courtesy USTA/ITF

The girls team from the United States won the ITF World Junior Tennis 14U team competition in the Czech Republic, coming back in dramatic fashion to beat Canada 2-1.

Oliva de los Reyes lost at No. 2 singles to Tessa Puente 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-4.

Emery Combs dropped her first set to Isabella Ruyu Yan at No. 1 singles, but kept the United States alive with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.

In the doubles, de los Reyes and Combs defeated Milagros Patuszka and Yan 7-5, 6-3 to clinch the first WJT girls title for the USA since 2017.

The US boys lost to France 2-0 to finish second. Mario Vukovic beat Indra Vergne 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and Samuel Dakessian beat Tristan Acenzo 7-6(5), 6-3 at No. 1 singles to clinch the title for France.

Full results are available at the ITF tournament site.