Kristina Penickova Reaches ITF WTT Junior Finals; Annika Penickova Advances to W15 Hilton Head Final; Forbes, and Stoiana Play for Pro Circuit Titles Sunday; Kypson and Spizzirri in Challenger 100 Finals; Lam Falls in Final of W15 in Spain

Sixteen-year-old twin sisters Kristina and Annika Penickova are, unusually, half a world apart this month, but both have advanced to finals Sunday.

Kristina will play for the title at the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals against Jeline Vandromme of Belgium, while Annika has advanced to her first pro final at the W15 in Hilton Head South Carolina.

Kristina posted her third victory in four meetings with 2025 Wimbledon girls champion Mia Pohankova in today's semifinals, taking a 6-3, 7-6(8) decision. Vandromme beat Hannah Klugman of Great Britain 6-4, 6-2 to run her record to 3-0 against Klugman, all this year.

US Open girls champion Vandromme is 2-0 against Penickova, with a third round win in New York this year and a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Penickova in group play Thursday.

I believe Penickova will take over the ITF Junior No. 1 ranking now regardless of the outcome of the final.

The boys final will feature the No. 6 and No. 4 seeds, with No. 6 Yannick Alexandrescou of Romania facing No. 4 Max Schoenhaus of Germany.

Jack Kennedy and Benjamin Willwerth will play for fifth place; Kennedy beat Willwerth 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 Friday in group play; Kennedy has won all three of their meetings on the ITF Junior Circuit.

Saturday's semifinal results:

BOYS:

Max Schoenhaus[4](GER) d. Jacopo Vasami[3](ITA) 5-0, ret.

Yannick Alexandrescou[6](ROU) d. Andres Santamarta Roig[2](ESP) 6-2, 6-4 

5-8 placement matches for Americans:

Jack Kennedy[5](USA) d. Aleksandra Vasilev[1](BUL) 6-4, 6-4

Benjamin Willwerth[7](USA) d. Oskari Paldanius[8](FIN) 6-3, 6-3

GIRLS:
Jeline Vandromme[4](BEL) d. Hannah Klugman[2](GBR) 6-4, 6-2
Kristina Penickova[1](USA) d. Mia Pohankova[3](SVK) 6-3, 7-6(8)

Sunday's finals:
Jeline Vandromme[4](BEL) v Kristina Penickova[1](USA)
Max Schoenhaus[4](GER) v Yannick Alexandrescou[6](ROU)

Live streaming, including replays, can be found here. Live scoring is here.

Annika advanced to the final in Hilton Head with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over 15-year-old wild card Janae Preston. Penickova will face 16-year-old qualifier Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann, who defeated No. 2 seed Carolina Bohrer Martins of Brazil 6-4, 7-5. Drenser-Hagmann is playing in her first pro event this week.

No. 2 seeds Elena-Teodora Cadar of Romania and Dia Evtimova of Bulgaria won the doubles title today, beating unseeded teens Bella Payne and Sara Shumate 6-1, 2-6, 10-4 in the final.

Michigan State sophomore Matt Forbes has reached the final of the M25 in Norman Oklahoma, defeating No. 7 seed Alex Martinez(Oklahoma) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in today's semifinal. The 19-year-old Forbes, who has won six matches already, including two in qualifying, will face No. 5 seed Raphael Perot(Texas A&M) of France for the title. Perot already has won two M15 titles this fall on the USTA Pro Circuit; it's Forbes' first final.

University of Oklahoma teammates Oscar Lacides of Guadeloupe and Bruno Nhavene of Mozambique won the doubles title today, beating Gavin Young(Michigan) and Felix Corwin(Minnesota) 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final.

The women's final at the W35 in Norman will feature two unseeded players, with Francesca Pace of Italy taking on Ekaterina Khayrutdinova of Russia. Pace beat top seed Elvina Kalieva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, while Khayrutdinova, a senior at Auburn, defeated No. 6 seed Jaeda Daniel 6-0, 6-1.

Current collegians Alice Battesti(Auburn) of France and Barakat Quadre(Oklahoma) of Nigeria won the doubles titles, with the unseeded pair beating top seeds Daniel and Switzerland's Leonie Kung 3-6, 6-2, 10-6 in the final.

At the 100 level USTA Pro Circuit events, two former Texas A&M Aggies will compete for the titles, with Mary Stoiana advancing to the W100 final in Tyler Texas and Patrick Kypson reaching the final at the ATP Challenger 100 in Sioux Falls South Dakota.

The unseeded Stoiana defeated No. 8 seed Olivia Gadecki of Austrlian 6-4, 7-6(7) to reach the final, where she'll face No. 3 seed Petra Marcinko of Croatia. Marcinko defeated top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals.

No. 4 seeds Weronika Falkowska of Poland and Dalayna Hewitt won the doubles title today, beating unseeded Eryn Cayetano(USC) and Victoria Hu(Princeton) 6-2, 6-3 in the final. 

In Sioux Falls, Kypson continued his impressive play, beating qualifier Antoine Ghibaudo(Kentucky) of France 6-3, 6-1, not facing a break point for the second consecutive match.  Kypson, who will be playing for his third Challenger title this year, faces unseeded Johannus Monday of Great Britain, who is seeking his first Challenger title. The former Tennessee All-American defeated qualifier Mats Rosenkranz of Germany 6-4, 7-6(4) in today's other semifinal.

Top seeds Rinky Hijikata and Mac Kiger, both North Carolina alums, won the doubles title today, beating unseeded Juan Jose Bianchi(SMU, Boston College) of Venezuela and Andrew Fenty(Michigan) 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

At the ATP Challenger 100 in Brest France, No. 5 seed Eliot Spizzirri is through to the final after the former Texas All-American and two-time ITA Player of the Year defeated No. 8 seed Francesco Passaro of Italy 7-6(11), 6-3 in today's semifinals. He will face No. 3 seed Hugo Gaston of France, who beat former NC State standout Alexis Galarneau of Canada 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Seventeen-year-old Shannon Lam has been playing W15 events in Tunisia and Spain since May, and she made a second final in the past two months this week at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy in Villena. Unseeded, Lam defeated two seeds to reach the final, where she lost to No. 6 seed Carmen Lopez Martinez of Spain 6-4, 6-2.