Jodar Claims Third Challenger Title on Collegiate Home Courts; Martinez and Nijkamp Win Pro Circuit Titles; Tjen Captures First WTA Title; ITF Junior Davis Cup and BJK Cup Competition Begins Monday
University of Virginia sophomore Rafael Jodar of Spain won his third Challenger title since August today at the home of his collegiate team, defeating Martin Damm 6-3, 7-6(2) in the final at the ATP Challenger 75 at the Boar's Head indoor courts in Charlottesville.
Seeded No. 7, Jodar repeated his win over No. 6 seed Damm in the final of the Challenger 75 in Lincoln Nebraska two weeks ago; while that went three sets, the 19-year-old did not drop a set this week. With the title, he moves to 166 in the ATP rankings and into a tie for the eighth and final spot in next month's Next Gen finals. After playing three straight weeks and winning two titles, Jodar is not in the draw at next week's Challenger 50 in Knoxville, with Damm also passing on that event. Jodar is 3-0 in Challenger finals, while Damm is now 0-4.
As Jodar continues to move up in the ATP rankings, it becomes increasingly unlikely that he'll return to compete for the Cavaliers in the spring, but as of now, he is not ruling it out entirely.
The titles at the other two USTA Pro Circuit events went to collegians with ties to Oklahoma.
At the M25 in Harlingen Texas, former Oklahoma All-American Alex Martinez of Spain won his second title at that level, adding a singles title to the doubles title he earned Saturday. The 24-year-old, seeded No. 8, defeated No. 6 seed Aidan McHugh of Great Britain 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in the final.
Oklahoma State sophomore Rose Marie Nijkamp of the Netherlands won her second ITF women's World Tennis Tour singles title today at the W15 in Sumter South Carolina. The 19-year-old, who won the Wimbledon girls doubles title in 2022, defeated qualifier Carson Tanguilig(North Carolina) 6-2, 7-5, with all five of Nijkamp's wins this week coming in straight sets. Nijkamp has not yet qualified for the NCAA individual championships, but is expected to play the Sectionals this weekend.
Fiona Crawley(UNC) lost in the final of the W75 in Toronto to No. 3 seed Harriet Dart of Great Britain 6-2, 6-2, and Elvina Kalieva lost in the final of the W100 in Mexico, but two Americans men did pick up titles at the M15 level.
Former Harvard star Daniel Milavsky, the top seed, won the title at the M15 in Canada, beating qualifier Theo Dean(Yale, Cal) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 for his fourth ITF men's World Tennis Tour singles title.
Former NC State standout Braden Shick won his first pro title Sunday at the M15 in Japan. The unseeded 23-year-old didn't drop a set all week, defeating top seed Moerani Bouzige of Australia 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
The rapid ascent up the WTA rankings continues for former Pepperdine All-American Janice Tjen, with the 23-year-old from Indonesia claiming her first WTA singles title today at the 250 in Chennai India. The fourth-seeded Tjen, who won a WTA 125 in China last month, defeated No. 7 seed Kimberly Birrell of Australia 6-4, 6-3 in the final. She then partnered with former Kentucky star Aldila Sutjiadi, also of Indonesia, for the doubles title, with the No. 2 seeds beating top seeds Storm Hunter of Australian and Monica Niculescu of Romania 7-5, 6-4. Tjen had won her first WTA doubles title just last week in China with Katarzyna Piter of Poland. Tjen, who started the year at 411 in the WTA singles rankings, is now up to 53 and is now in the Top 100 of the WTA doubles rankings as well, at 85.
The ITF 16-and-under Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup competitions begin tomorrow in Santiago Chile, with the defending championship teams from the United States the top seeds.
Kristina and Annika Penickova and Julieta Pareja are representing the United States in BJK Cup, with Michael Antonius, Andrew Johnson and Jordan Lee the Junior Davis Cup team.
The seeded teams:
Junior BJK Cup1. United States
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