Jovic Wins WTA 500 Title, Reaches Top 40; Pinnington Jones Wins Second Challenger in Winston-Salem; Vasilev Clinches Promotion for Bulgaria; Lam Makes First W15 Final

Iva Jovic has had some dramatic matches this week at the WTA 500 in Guadalajara Mexico, winning three three-setters and saving a match point in the third-set tiebreaker of her 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) quarterfinal victory over Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra.

The unseeded 17-year-old from Southern California, who hadn't reached a WTA quarterfinal in her brief pro career until this week, managed to avoid similar suspense in this afternoon's final, beating Emiliana Arango of Colombia 6-4, 6-1 in just over an hour and a half. 

With the title, Jovic moves to 36 in the WTA live rankings, ahead of McCartney Kessler, with her previous career-high ranking 73. She is the youngest player in the Top 100, with the only teenagers ranked ahead of her 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva and 19-year-old Victoria Mboko. Prior to today's title, her biggest title came this spring at a W100 on green clay and a WTA 125 on grass.

Former Pepperdine All-American Janice Tjen lost in the final of the WTA 250 in Brazil, with 19-year-old Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah of France capping her surprising run with a 6-3, 6-4 victory today. She moves to 131 in the WTA live rankings, with her ranking 214 when the tournament started. She has won three W15 titles, with her fourth and biggest before today, a W50 last year in Peru.

Jack Pinnington Jones, who left TCU for pro tennis this May, won his second Challenger title since then today at the ATP Challenger 75 in Winston-Salem North Carolina. Pinnington Jones, who won a Challenger 50 on grass in July, defeated SMU junior Trevor Svajda 6-2, 6-2, saving all four break points he faced, although first serve percentage was below 50. The 22-year-old from Great Britain is now at an ATP career-high ranking of 171.

The United States lost their second round qualifying tie in Davis Cup to the Czech Republic last night, with Jakub Mensik defeating Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 6-4 to clinch the 3-2 win for the visitors. For more on the tie, see this article from the ATP website.

I mentioned Friday the big win for Wake Forest senior's DK Suresh, with India going on to post a 3-1 decision over host Switzerland in Davis Cup. Sumit Nagal clinched the victory in World Group I with a 6-1, 6-3 win over 2025 Australian Open boys champion Henry Bernet. India will now play in the February 2026 qualifying first round, which is also the starting point for the United States after their loss last night.

While Bernet was unsuccessful in his Davis Cup debut, US Open finalist Alexander Vasilev was the hero for Bulgaria this weekend in their World Group I tie with Finland. Vasilev won both of his singles matches, beating ATP 141 Otto Virtanen 6-3, 7-5 on the first day, and former ATP No. 37 Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6(5), 6-4 in the deciding match today. Ruusuvuori had beaten Wimbledon and US Open boys champion Ivan Ivanov in singles the first day, but Bulgaria took the doubles point to take a 2-1 lead. Finland won the first reverse singles match Sunday with Eero Vasa(Cornell, Pepperdine) beating Yanaki Milev, leaving it up to 26-year-old Ruusuvuori and 18-year-old Vasilev to decide the winner, with the inexperienced left-hander standing up to the pressure of the moment.

For more on Bulgaria's win and others in World Group I, see this article from the Davis Cup site.

Seventeen-year-old Shannon Lam, who played the ITF Junior Circuit until April of this year, spent the summer playing ITF women's circuit tournaments instead of junior events. She did play San Diego, losing in the round of 32 to Julieta Pareja, but she returned to the ITF women's circuit after that. This week, at a W15 in Spain, Lam qualified and reached the final, her first on the Pro Circuit. She lost to fellow qualifier Shiyu Ye, and 18-year-old from China, 7-6(6), 6-1.