Efremova and Pleshivtsev Capture ITF J500 Titles in Osaka; Gaines and Shao Claim J60s in Texas; J200 Underway in Corpus Christi; Refaat wins W35 in Berkeley; USTA Announces Annual Australian Open Wild Card Challenge

No. 2 seed Ksenia Efremova and No. 4 seed Egor Pleshivtsev won their first ITF J500 titles over the weekend in Osaka Japan. Efremova, a 16-year-old from France, defeated No. 11 seed Anna Pushkareva of Russia 6-1, 6-2 to cap a week in which she didn't drop a set.  Pushkareva had beaten top seed Kristina Penickova 7-6(2), 6-4 in the semifinals.

Pleshivtsev, an 18-year-old from Russia, dropped just one set, in his 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Kunanan Pantartorn of Thailand in the semifinals, beating unseeded 16-year-old Kanta Watanabe of Japan 6-2, 6-2 in the final.

Efremova, partnering with Penickova, also won the doubles title, with the top seeds beating the seventh-seeded sisters pairing of Renee and Rianna Alame of Australia 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 in the final. 

Unseeded Ivan Iutkin and Egor Shcherbakov of Russia won the boys doubles, beating No. 2 seeds Tito Chavez of Spain and Jamie Mackenzie of Germany 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-6 in the final.

At the J60 in Kerrville Texas last week, top seed Jerrid Gaines Jr and No. 3 seed Caroline Shao won the titles, with the 16-year-old Gaines claiming his third ITF Junior Circuit singles title with a 7-6(4), 6-2 win over Yashwin Krishnakumar in the all-USA final.

Shao's title was her first, with the 14-year-old, who played on the USA's ITF World Junior Tennis 14U championship team this August, beating unseeded Aya Manning 6-2, 6-3. Manning had defeated top seed and Shao's WJT teammate Olivia De Los Reyes 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals.

Emery Combs, the third member of the USA's WJT team, who lost to Manning in singles earlier, won the doubles title with De Los Reyes. The top seeds defeated unseeded Natasha Jerkunica and Molly Widlansky 6-3, 6-2 in the final. 

Unseeded James Ross and Kristian Sharma won the boys doubles title in Kerrville, beating top seeds Gaines and Kayden Colombo 6-4, 6-1 in the final. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for Sharma and the second for Ross.

Seventeen-year-old Vincent Weaver swept the titles for a second straight week at another J30 in the Dominican Republic. The No. 7 seed defeated top seed Isaac Guerrero Hernandez of the Dominican Republic 6-4, 6-0 in the singles final and partnered again with Maddox Iliescu for the doubles title. They defeated David Bayat and Johnny Wolf in the all-USA final between unseeded teams. No. 2 seeds Sofia Kedrin and Isabella Porto won the girls doubles title, beating Viktorie Dufkova and Renata Janoviakova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3 in the final.

Unseeded 17-year-old Piper Johnson won her first ITF Junior Circuit title at the J30 in Nicaragua, beating wild card Fernanda Martinez Yepez of Mexico 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in the final. Sofia Mills partnered with Mexico's Maria Jose Gil Castillo for the girls doubles title, with the top seeds beating unseeded Brielle Amey and Veronica Rabinovich of Canada 6-1, 6-4 in the final. 

At the ITF J100 in Mexico, unseeded Chase Kelley and Gurjot Singh won the boys doubles title, beating No. 3 seeds Niccolo Magagnin of Italy and Santiago Ovalle Santizo of Guatemala 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-5 in the final. Gurjot, unseeded, reached the boys singles final, losing to top seed Takahiro Kawaguchi of Japan 6-3, 6-2. Unseeded Emery June Martin reached the girls singles final, losing to 14-year-old top seed Sofia Bielinska of Ukraine 6-2, 7-5.

Teaghan Jou An Keys and Mexico's Natalia Varela Herrera, the No. 2 seeds, lost in the girls doubles final to No. 4 seeds Romina Dominguez Garcia and Montserrat Marron of Mexico 5-7, 7-6(4), 10-6.

I'll be in Houston next week for the ITF J300 Pan American Closed there; this week the Texas ITF Junior Circuit is in Corpus Christi and it's a J200, an upgrade from the previous J60 status.

Ryan Cozad, Michael Antonius, Andrew Johnson and Roshan Santhosh are the top four boys seeds and all won their first round matches today.  Kori Montoya, Isabelle DeLuccia, Ireland O'Brien and Maggie Sohns are the top four girls seeds. DeLuccia lost in the first round today to Reiley Rhodes 6-2, 6-1. College Park J300 champion Kristina Liutova is the No. 6 seed and will play Kerrville champion Shao in the second round Tuesday.

In a match that finished late last night on the East Coast due to wet courts at the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Berkeley California, Auburn sophomore Merna Refaat of Egypt won her second ITF women's World Tennis Tour singles title, her first coming at a W15 in 2022. Refaat, who won two matches to qualify, dropped her only set in her seven victories in the final against Johanne Svendsen of Denmark. But she rebounded for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 win and will move close to the WTA Top 700 when the points are added.

The annual USTA Wild Card Challenge for the reciprocal wild card into the Australian Open next year will begin next week for the women and the week after that for the men. Both have five-week windows, but only three weeks are counted for the women and four for the men, for reasons that aren't clear to me. The USTA's release:

Australian Open Wild Card Challenge to Begin Week of October 6 for Women, 

October 13 for Men

 

ORLANDO, Fla., September 29, 2025 – The Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, which will utilize indoor and outdoor hard-court and carpet professional tournaments to award an American man and woman a main draw wild card into the 2026 Australian Open, will begin with events the week of October 6 for the women and October 13 for the men.

 

The USTA and Tennis Australia have a reciprocal agreement in which main draw singles wild cards for the 2026 Australian Open and US Open will be exchanged.

 

The women's wild card will be awarded to the American with the most ranking points earned at a maximum of three tournaments during a five-week window, beginning with events starting the week of October 6. The women's Challenge window runs through the week of November 3.All indoor and outdoor hard-court and carpet events at the W35 level and above, including WTA Tour events, will be included in the Challenge.

 

The men's wild card will be awarded to the American with the most ranking points earned from a maximum of four events during a five-week window that begins the week of October 13 and runs through the week of November 10. All indoor and outdoor hard-court and carpet events at the M25 level and above, including ATP Tour and Challenger events, will be included in the Challenge.

 

Ranking points earned in the main draw and qualifying will be counted toward each player's Challenge point total. Should the player with the highest number of Challenge points earn direct entry into the Australian Open, the wild card will go to the next eligible American in the Challenge points standings. In the event of a tie for the men or the women, the player with the best singles ranking on the Monday immediately following the conclusion of the Challenge will earn the wild card. Americans who otherwise earn direct entry into the Australian Open are not eligible.