Mitsui and Smith Reach Winston-Salem M25 Final; Dotsenko 14-Year-Old Dotsenko Claims First ITF J300 Title in India; Nakashima in Brisbane Final; Americans Claim Challenger Doubles Titles; Hannah Klugman Feature

Recent University of Tennessee graduate Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan advanced to his first M25 final with a 6-1, 6-3 win over 17-year-old wild card Jack Kennedy, who was seeking his first Pro Circuit final after losses in three M15 semifinals last year. The 23-year-old Mitsui, who has two M15 titles, will face No. 5 seed Keegan Smith, a former UCLA All-American, who defeated wild card Luca Pow, a junior at Wake Forest, 6-2, 7-6(7) in the bottom half semifinal of the first USTA Pro Circuit tournament of the year in Winston-Salem North Carolina.

Smith, 27, won an M25 title back in 2022, when he reached his career-high ATP ranking of 339. The 2019 NCAA doubles champion won three M15 titles last year, the most recent in December in New Zealand, and he could approach that career-high ranking with the title Sunday.

At the first ITF J300 of the year, No. 5 seed Ekaterina Dotsenko of Russia won the girls title, with No. 2 seed Flynn Thomas of Switzerland taking the boys championship.

Dotsenko, who didn't turn 14 until October, won the title at the Les Petits As last January and went on to post a 37-5 record on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2025. She won five titles, two of them at the J100 level, but she was playing in her first J300 this week in New Delhi India.  She did not lose a set all week, with the seven games she lost in today's 6-4, 6-3 win over unseeded Miku Kitaoka of Japan the most she dropped in any match.

The 17-year-old Thomas, whose only title last year was at a J100, claimed his first at the J300 level with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-0 win over No. 5 seed Arnav Paparkar of India. Both Thomas and Papakar are scheduled to compete in the J300 in Tralragon and the Australian Open Junior Championships, beginning late next week.

The defending champions United States lost in the semifinals of the United Cup Saturday, dropping a 2-1 decision to Poland. Taylor Fritz lost to Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(1), 7-6(2), Gauff pulled the USA even with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Iga Swiatek, but Gauff and Christian Harrison could not continue their doubles winning streak. They lost to Jan Zielinski(Georgia) and Katarzyna Kawa 7-6(5), 7-6(3) to seal Poland's place in the finals for third straight year. They will play Switzerland, who beat Belgium 2-1 in the other semifinal.

Brandon Nakashima(Virginia) is through to his first ATP final since 2022, when he won his only ATP title in his home town of San Diego. At the ATP 250 in Brisbane, the unseeded 24-year-old beat Aleks Kovacevic(Illinois) 7-6(4), 6-4 to advance to a third meeting with top seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia. Medvedev defeated Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals.

Marcos Giron was beaten by No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Hong Kong ATP 250.

Jessica Pegula lost to Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals of the WTA 500 in Brisbane and Iva Jovic was beaten by Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 7-6(5), 6-2 in the semifinals of the WTA 250 in Auckland.

Three Americans captured doubles titles in this week's Challengers. At the 125 in Canberra Australia, No. 3 seeds Mac Kiger(North Carolina) and Reese Stalder(TCU) beat No. 4 seeds Blake Bayldon and Pat Harper(Tennessee) of Australia 7-6(3), 6-3 in the final.

In the singles final in Canberra, Next Gen ATP Finals finalist Alexander Blockx beat Raphael Jodar(Virginia) of Spain 6-4, 6-4.

Benjamin Kittay, a 2024 NCAA doubles finalist while at Michigan, partnered with Nicolas Barrientos(West Florida) of Colombia to claim the title at the 125 in Bengaluru India. The No. 4 seeds beat No. 3 seeds Arthur Reymond and Luca Sanchez of France 7-6(9), 7-5 in the final. Kittay, 22, now has three Challenger doubles titles.

Hannah Klugman, who turns 17 next month, made the decision to move on from junior tennis after the US Open last year. She spoke to the LTA about that choice, and several other topics, in this feature article.