Top Four Boys Seeds Advance to ITF J300 Pan Am Semifinals; Sohns and Hoo Oust Second and Third Seeds to Reach Girls Final Four; Kennedy Moves into Quarterfinals of M15 in Lexington

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Spring, Texas--

Three comebacks were necessary, but when the boys quarterfinals concluded after noon Thursday at the ITF J300 Pan American Closed Championships, the four top seeds had advanced.

The only quarterfinal in which the winner won the opening set No. 4 seed Andrew Johnson's 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 10 seed Tanishk Konduri, a rematch of last Saturday's Corpus Christi J200 final that Johnson won 7-5, 7-5.

Awaiting the winner of the match between top seed Gavin Goode and unseeded Navneet Raghuram, Johnson probably anticipated facing Raghuram, who was serving for the match at 6-2, 5-4. But a sloppy game produced a 0-40 deficit, and Goode crushed a backhand winner on his second break point to make it 5-all. He began to breathe easier after that, eventually posting a 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory.

"When he was up 5-4, I knew he would be a little tight, so I just made him play a lot of balls," said the 17-year-old left-hander from Raleigh North Carolina. "He got a little nervous, missed a few balls, and I started playing a lot better. I played a good service game at 5-all, made a lot of first serves, and it was just easier from there."

Goode extended his string of games won to five by holding to start the third set, then won one more by denying Raghuram a hold in a multiple-deuce game that encompassed more than 15 minutes. 

"It was super long game, and after I won that I felt a burst of energy," Goode said. "It looked like he was cramping a little bit, so it gave me a lot of hope for the third set. I used that as motivation, made him play a lot more long rallies and he started to check out on long points."

Goode's winning streak ended at six, when he lost his serve in the next game, but he immediately started another streak, taking the next four games to close out the win.

Goode's last tournament prior to this week was the ATP Challenger 75 in Winston-Salem North Carolina, where he qualified before falling 7-5, 6-1 in the first round to ATP 309 Rafael Jodar of Spain, the University of Virginia sophomore.

"I thought in the Challenger qualies I played a little more free, since I was playing up," said Goode, who defeated former collegian Karl Poling, the No. 5 seed, in the first round, and Virginia sophomore Jangjun Kim of Korea to qualify. "First round (qualifying) I played a guy who was 600 in the world and I was just happy to be there. But I got into the match, and I actually thought I was the better player, playing well, playing free, compared to today, when I felt a lot more tight on court, and felt like I was the person who had something to lose. He was playing really well in the first set and a half, but when I ended up getting that second set, that was all the difference."

Johnson and Goode have split their two ITF Junior Circuit matches, both on hard courts, with Johnson winning in the quarterfinals of the Las Vegas J60 in March of 2024 and Goode winning in the quarterfinals of the J200 in the Dominican Republic in February of this year.

No. 2 seed Ryan Cozad came from a set down for the second consecutive match, beating unseeded Nikolas Stoot 2-6, 6-0, 6-3. He will face No. 3 seed Michael Antonius, who overtook unseeded Marcel Latak 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3 in a three-hour and 32-minute battle.

Antonius and Latak have played three times in the past two months, with Latak winning in three sets in the Kalamazoo 16s quarterfinals en route to the title, and Antonius winning their first round match at the J300 in College Park, with Antonius going on to reach the final there. So it was no surprise to anyone familiar with their history when the first set took 80 minutes to complete.

"Every time we play it's a very competitive match," Antonius said. "Three sets the last three times, and today was three and a half hours, so I don't know how much more difficult it could get."

Antonius got off to a good start and was up 4-1 with a break point to take a 5-1 lead. But he didn't convert, which he pointed to as a theme throughout the match.

"The whole match I struggled to convert the game points," said the 15-year-old from Buffalo New York, who now trains at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona. "The ratio was like, it took me three game point chances to convert and it took him like, one. I had more chances, but if you're not converting them, what good does it do?"

In the second set, Antonius was up a break at 4-3 and 5-4, but was broken back both times, squandering three set points before he broke Latak again. He was able to hold to love to take the set, after receiving permission to take the time he needed to replace his shoes on the changeover.

Although today's conditions weren't as humid as the first couple of days, Antonius frequently needs shoe and attire changes due to excessive sweat. Coming back drier after the second set change of attire, Antonius got off to another good start, breaking Latak in the opening game, and this time he was able to hold on to that advantage over a fatigued Latak.

"I could see he was getting a little bit tired," Antonius said. "I didn't see any physical issue, just that he was tired. I hit one drop shot and it wasn't great, but he didn't run for it. So I was telling myself I just need to make him play. He's very aggressive, so he's going to keep hitting some winners, but me extending the games and the rallies is the best I can do in terms of making him work, while keeping him on the defense. I served a lot better in the third set too, and it all started going the right way, three hours later."

Antonius and Cozad played in the semifinals of the ITF J300 in Costa Rica in January of this year, with Cozad, who went on to win the title, claiming a 6-2, 6-4 decision.

"He's had some close matches here, so I am curious physically how he'll be feeling," Antonius said. "I know I have too, and everyone at this stage of the tournament is tired. He's always in Orlando and we always practice with each other, so I feel we both know each other's games, so it's just who is able to convert on that."

While top seed Annika Penickova ended the run of 15-year-old qualifier Sophie Suh 6-2, 6-4, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds were not able to join her in the semifinals, both losing in straight sets.

No. 3 seed Capucine Jauffret lost to No. 5 seed Carrie-Anne Hoo 6-4, 6-2 and No. 2 seed Nancy Lee fell to 15-year-old Maggie Sohns, the No. 11 seed.

Sohns, who reached the final of the J200 in Corpus Christi last week, wasn't entirely pleased with her level, but was happy to get a win over Lee after going 0-3 against her on the ITF Junior Circuit in the spring of 2024.

"I've known Nancy since we were like ten years old," Sohns said. "We played in USTA 12-and-under L2s a bunch of times. I was never very successful; Lately, I played her in wild card playoffs in November and in May or March around that time."

Sohns credited her serve with much of the success she had today.

"I served really well, which in the past when I played Nancy I didn't do," Sohns said. "Nancy has a very good serve, so I knew I had to bring my best level of serving and returning."

Court 12 is shaded early in the day, with the light and shadows from the towering pine trees making for a challenging backdrop.

"I really think the conditions were tricky," Sohns said. "I don't think either of us played our best tennis. I played her on red clay last time and I haven't practiced with her on hard court in a very long time, but the conditions were tricky with the shadows, and I think that was definitely a factor."

Despite two weeks of competing in the South Texas heat, Sohns said she is holding up well.

"I don't want to jinx it, but I feel great," Sohns said. "I've been doing a ton of fitness, and that's helped a lot. I have a little tendonitis in my knee, so working on the little muscles, that's what's really helping me."

Sohns said she and Hoo also go back several years.

"Again, I've known Carrie since I was 10 years old, we've played each other a bunch of times, and the last time I played her was in February," Sohns said. "I think we know each other's games pretty well, so I'm excited for the match."

Penickova will face No. 6 seed and reigning USTA Winter Nationals 18s champion Chukwumelije Clarke, who avenged her College Park first round loss in August to No. 13 seed Janae Preston 7-5, 6-3.

The doubles finals are set for Friday afternoon, with both boys and girls championship matches featuring the No. 1 seeds against an unseeded team.

Girls top seeds Pennickova and Jauffret came from behind to defeat No. 3 seeds Isabelle DeLuccia and Thara Gowda 2-6, 6-4, 10-6 in Thursday afternoon's semifinals. Their opponents in the final are Lucy Oyebog and Lillian Santos, who beat No. 4 seeds Preston and Zaire Clarke 6-2, 6-4.

Boys top seeds Cozad and Goode, who won the last J300 they played as a team in College Park, defeated unseeded Tyler Lee and Mason Vaughan 6-4, 6-2 to reach the final. The unseeded team of Stoot and Sebastian Bielen prevented all four boys singles semifinalists from competing in the doubles final, when they beat No. 2 seeds Antonius and Johnson, last week's Corpus Christi champions, 7-5, 2-6, 10-4.

The three singles semifinals involving doubles finalists will begin at 9 a.m. Central, with Hoo and Sohns not before 10:30 a.m. The doubles finals are not before 1 p.m.

Last year's Pan American Closed boys singles champion Jack Kennedy is playing this week at the M15 in Lexington Kentucky and he is through to the quarterfinals after wins Wednesday and Thursday.

The 17-year-old from New York defeated No. 6 seed Blu Baker of Great Britain 7-6(6), 7-6(8) in the first round Wednesday and Alex Kotzen(Columbia, Tennessee) 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3 today. He will play No. 3 seed Karl Poling(Princeton, UNC) in Friday's quarterfinals.