My Eight Intriguing Questions for 2026; Jovic Posts First Top 10 Win; Australian Open Juniors Begin Saturday with Six Americans in Action; Ayrault Defeats Newman at Costa Rica J300; Clemson Advances to Team Indoor

My annual look at some of the big picture questions in college and junior tennis is up today at Tennis Recruiting Network. I consider the NCAA on court and in court, Electronic Line Calling for the juniors, the departure of FILA from the junior scene and several other questions I hope to have answers to in 2026.

After a noticeable lack of teenagers at the top of the women's game a couple of years ago, that is changing, and quickly, with evidence building that their absence in the Top 100 was a temporary blip, not the sign of a trend.

Five teenagers remain in contention for an Australian Open women's singles title: Mirra Andreeva, Victoria Mboko, Nikola Bartunkova, Tereza Valentova and Iva Jovic.

The 18-year-old Jovic, who won the 2024 USTA National 18s title in San Diego, picked up the best win of her career Friday in Melbourne, avenging her two 2025 losses to No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy by claiming a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory. Jovic, whose previous best win was over No. 20 Linda Noskova in Cincinnati last fall, will play unseeded Yulia Putintsenva of Kazakhstan in the round of 16 Sunday.

Friday's third round results of Americans:

Coco Gauff[3] d. Hailey Baptiste 3-6, 6-0, 6-3
Iva Jovic[29] d. Jasmine Paolini[7](ITA) 6-2, 7-6(3)

Alex de Minaur[6](AUS) d. Frances Tiafoe[29] 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
Learner Tien[25] d Nuno Borges(POR) 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-2
Tommy Paul[19] d. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina[14](ESP) 6-1, 6-1 ret. 

Saturday's third round matches featuring Americans:

Madison Keys[9] v Karolina Pliskova(CZE)

Jessica Pegula[6] v Oksana Selekhmeteva(RUS)

Peyton Stearns v Amanda Anismova[4]

Eliot Spizzirri v Jannik Sinner[2](ITA)

Ben Shelton[8] v Valentin Vacherot[30](MON)

Ethan Quinn v Jakub Mensik[16](CZE)

Taylor Fritz[9] v Stan Wawrinka[WC](SUI)

The Australian Open Junior Championships begin Saturday in Melbourne(tonight in the United States), with six Americans playing on the first day, and a total of 14 in the boys and girls draws.

There were no surprise wild cards, so the fields are nearly identical to those of the ITF J300 in Traralgon, although Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic withdrew before the start of Traralgan, but is the No. 2 seed in Melbourne.

Lleyton Hewitt's son Cruz, who did not play Traralgon, also pulled out of the Australian Open Junior Championships.

The Americans competing are: Roshan Santhosh, Tanishk Konduri, Keaton Hance[4], Vihaan Reddy, Carel Ngounoue, Jack Secord[13], Ryan Cozad, Gavin Goode[15], Melije Clarke, Thea Frodin[8], Ciara Harding[Q], Carrie-Anne Hoo, Capucine Jauffret and Nancy Lee.

Saturday's first round Australian Open junior matches featuring Americans:

Tanishk Konduri v Taki Takizawa[WC](AUS)

Keaton Hance[4] v Ethan Domingo[WC](AUS)

Carel Ngounoue v Kaan Isik Kosaner[Q](TUR)

Vihaan Reddy v Arnav Paparkar(IND)

Melije Clarke v Alena Kovackova[1](CZE)

Carrie-Anne Hoo v Yu-Chen Lin(TPE)

Live scoring is available via the Australian Open website/app, and streaming is available on all courts at ESPN+.

The Australian Open Junior Championships seeds:

BOYS:

1. Yannick Alexandrescou(FRA)

2. Luis Guto Miguel(BRA)

3. Ryo Tabata(JPN)

4. Keaton Hance(USA)

5. Jamie Mackenzie(GER)

6. Nikita Bilozertsev(UKR)

8. Zangar Nurlanuly(KAZ)

9. Savva Rybkin(RUS)

10. Thilo Behrmann(AUT)

11. Kuan-Shou Chen(TPE)

12. Flynn Thomas(SUI)

13. Jack Secord(USA)

14. Tito Chavez(ESP)

15. Gavin Goode(USA)

16. Yannik Alvarez(PUR)

GIRLS:

1. Alena Kovackova(CZE)

2. Jana Kovackova(CZE)

3. Ksenia Efremova(FRA)

4. Victoria Barros(BRA)

5. Ruien Zhang(CHN)

6. Xinran Sun(CHN)

7. Anastasija Cvetkovic(SRB)

8. Thea Frodin(USA)

9. Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi(ARG)

10. Kanon Sawashiro(JPN)

11. Yushan Shao(CHN)

12. Luna Vujovic(SRB)

13. Mariia Makarova(RUS)

14. Nadia Lagaev(CAN)

15. Tahlia Kokkinis(AUS)

16. Sofia Hettlerova(CZE)

After Thursday's quarterfinals at the ITF J300 Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica, three US girls are still in contention, while all US boys have been eliminated. 

Top seed Welles Newman is not among the trio of American girls, with Newman falling to 15-year-old qualifier Hannah Ayrault, the reigning USTA National 16s champion, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.  Ayrault will face No. 4 seed Janae Preston, who defeated unseeded Ofir Manhard of Israel 7-6(5), 6-1. 

No. 2 seed Maggie Sohns beat unseeded Katerina Zajickova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-4, and will play another Czech, No. 7 seed Klara Blazkova, in tonight's semifinal.

Unseeded Agassi Rusher, the only US boy to reach the quarterfinals, lost to Takahiro Kawaguchi of Japan 7-6(7), 7-5 Thursday. Kawaguchi will play No. 4 seed Mathys Domenc of France, while the top half semifinal will feature two Canadians: wild card Felix Roussel and No. 5 seed Xavier Massotte.

The ITA Division I Kickoff Weekend is underway in most locations across the country, with the South Carolina men's regional concluding this afternoon.  Clemson, the No. 4 seed in the four-team regional, beat host and top seed South Carolina 4-2 on Thursday. Today the Tigers faced No. 2 seed Harvard for a spot at the men's Team Indoor in Texas next month, and won that match 4-1.

With the winter storm, several teams have opted not to travel, and many of the times have been adjusted, but keep track of all the action here.