Johnson Goes Back-to-Back, Hazelitt Earns First J300 Title at North American Regional Championships in San Diego; Antonius Reaches M25 Bakersfield Final, Wins Doubles with Grumet; Pareja Takes W50 Title in Mexico

©Colette Lewis 2026--
San Diego CA--

Fast food is not in the nutritional regimen of top juniors, but Andy Johnson and Jordyn Hazelitt are going to treat themselves tonight after capturing the singles titles at the ITF J300 North American Regional Championships at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.

Top seed Johnson avenged his loss to Marcel Latak in the 2025 Kalamazoo 16s final with a tense and high-quality 6-3, 6-4 victory to claim his second J300 title in as many weeks, while No. 2 seed Hazelitt earned her first ITF J300 title with a dominate 6-1, 6-2 decision over No. 14 seed Avery Alexander of Canada.

The boys final opened the Stadium Court schedule on yet another sunny and warm morning, with both players quickly shaking off any nerves early as they engaged in long and entertaining rallies. 

Johnson earned the only break of the opening set with Latak serving at 2-3, and held at love to close out the 37-minute first set.

The ninth-seeded Latak got his only break of the match in the second game of the second set, but lost it immediately, with his unforced errors more responsible for the love break than anything Johnson came up with. 

After that exchange of breaks, neither player faced a break point in their next two service games, with each coming up with a key winner at either 30-all or deuce. 

With Latak leading 4-3, Johnson double faulted on two separate occasions to give Latak break points, but Latak couldn't take advantage, with Johnson hitting winners on both.

"I honestly couldn't be upset by those," said Latak, a 17-year-old from Illinois, who often trains in San Diego. "He hit a good serve, and on the second one, hit a really good pass."

Johnson understood the impact a break of serve there would have had on the rest of the match.

"If he breaks me, he's serving for the set, so those two points there could have meant a third set," said the 16-year-old from Southern California. "I said after my last match that maybe some lucky stuff was going my way, maybe a little bit in this match as well, but I play well under pressure, and these two points, I'm proud of myself for that."

Once he secured that game, Johnson immediately broke Latak, with a double fault making it 15-40 and Latak hitting a backhand long to give Johnson the opportunity to serve for the match.

Serving to close out a championship is rarely an easy task, and Johnson had a few ghosts to vanquish as well. In the 2025 Kalamazoo 16s final against Latak, Johnson served for the title at both 5-1 and 5-3, but ultimately Latak was the champion, winning the last six games for an improbable 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 win.

Up 5-4, 40-15 today, Johnson watched as Latak come up with two big shots, using aggressive forehands to force Johnson into a defensive mode. His third match point also fell victim to a Latak winner, with Latak anticipating Johnson's trademark backhand-down-the line and picking it off for a forehand winner. 

The advantage then swung to Latak, who had three break points, only to see Johnson turn the table and hit two winners. The third saw Latak miss a backhand return, and that shot, usually his strength, produced two more errors in succession to give Johnson the title.

"Towards the end, I was a little nervous, of course, because it's the finals, and what happened last time too," Johnson said. "I don't care who you are, you're going to feel a little bit of that on the important points. Going into the match, I didn't really care, it's a completely different match, but there's always the thought at end. But I definitely got lucky to make it 3 and 4; it could have easily been that one point deciding the set, and I could have lost, who knows?"

 

Latak admits that the dynamic of their second meeting was much different from that Kalamazoo encounter.

"That match was different, because I was down the majority of the match," said Latak, who was playing in his first J300 singles final and won his second J300 doubles title Friday. "So then I had less pressure anyway, so it's easier to just go for it. Here, I felt like it was pretty even, I was never that far down in a set. I feel like I could have played better in moments, but it happens."

Johnson was prepared for that tough last game.

"He never backs off," Johnson said. "He's like a bully on the court. He stands on the baseline and just rips. That's really hard to deal with, for anyone, so I had to find an even balance, not playing too much defense, not playing to much attacking and I think I found that this match. Maybe in Kzoo I was playing too much defense at the end of it, not enough offense, so I think I was able to find the even ground throughout the match."

Last week's Tucson champion, Johnson has won both J300s he's played this year, in addition to claiming his first USTA Pro Circuit men's title at the M15 in Sunrise Florida last month. He will make his M25 debut next week in Las Vegas as a wild card, and expects to play several other ITF Pro Circuit tournaments before heading to Europe for the major events there on clay. 

As for his celebration, Johnson didn't hesitate.

"Go to In-N-Out," Johnson said. "That's a Cali thing, I love it."

While the boys final raised the possibility of three sets, the girls did not, mostly due to Alexander's lengthy quarterfinal and semifinal matches, both of which were well over three hours in duration.  

Alexander managed to hold in the first game of each set, and in her last service game, but the grueling rallies which she excelled in throughout the week didn't materialize.

Part of that was also due to the finishing power of Hazelitt, who was on top of her game. With her serve firing and her groundstrokes landing deep in the court, the drop shots and volleys were even more effective, and Alexander could not summon the energy to stay in the rare rallies that lasted over six strokes.

"It's been a long couple of days," said Alexander, a 16-year-old from Sudbury Ontario. "In warmup, I was feeling ok, but stepping on the court I felt tired, and mentally a little exhausted. But she was playing amazing and there really wasn't much I could have done. I couldn't get many plays on the ball."

Hazelitt was delighted with her performance today, particularly after losing 7-6(3), 6-3 in the final of the J300 in Colombia to unseeded Olivia Traynor in January.

"It feels great," said Hazelitt, who turns 16s next month. "I'm glad to be able to bounce back after I lost the one in Colombia, so I'm really happy about that. That gave me a little experience and helped me control my nerves a little bit."

Hazelitt was a point from losing in her first match in the second round, to doubles partner Emery Combs, when she was down 5-6 in the third-set tiebreaker. But a big first serve saved her, and after surviving that close call, she knew staying positive was the key to continuing her success.

"For me, I always expect the players to play their best, so I'm prepared for it," said Hazelitt, who is coached by Adolph Huddleston at the Las Vegas Country Club. "I need to have a positive mindset, but I try to forget whether I won or lost a point and forget about it. It doesn't matter when it comes to the next point, because if I think about it too much, it'll carry on to the next point and I won't play my best."

Hazelitt has now added a fourth ITF J300 title to the list of those won this year by a Henderson Nevada resident, with Janae Preston taking three straight in Central and South America in January and February.

"We're really good friends, we've known each other for a while," Hazelitt said. "She's a really good player, and it's nice that I have someone else to be on the journey with me."

Hazelitt claimed two titles in San Diego, having won the doubles title with Combs on Friday, and, like Johnson, she had a ready answer for how she would celebrate.

"I'm going to go to Popeye's," Hazelitt said. "That's my go-to cheat meal."

Two juniors who were originally scheduled to compete in the San Diego J300 decided instead to play on the ITF and USTA Pro Circuit, and have posted impressive results.

I apologize for not realizing that Julieta Pareja was competing this week at the W50 in Mexico, but the former ITF Junior No. 1 captured her biggest pro title without dropping a set this week. The 17-year-old from Carlsbad California, seeded No. 7, defeated LSU sophomore Kayla Cross of Canada 6-3, 7-6(5) in the final.

Sixteen-year-old Michael Antonius has reached the final of the Bakersfield California M25, beating fellow wild card Gianluca Brunkow(UC-Santa Barbara) 7-6(2), 6-2. He will face No. 2 seed Andrew Fenty(Michigan) in the Sunday final, after Fenty beat LSU newcomer Olaf Pieczkowski, the No. 4 seed, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.  Antonius is the first player born in 2010 to reach the final of an ITF men's tournament. 

Wild cards Antonius and Gus Grumet, the 2024 Kalamazoo 16s champion, won the doubles title via a walkover from No. 2 seeds Maximilian Homberg(Pepperdine) of Germany and Christopher Papa(San Diego Christian, Pepperdine) due to an injury to Papa.