Mackenzie and Sun Capture ITF J500 Trofeo Bonfiglio Titles; Basavareddy Upsets Fritz at Roland Garros; Brengle Wins Pelham W50; Flagler Men Claim First NCAA Division II Title; Babson's Cristiani Plays for Both D-III Women's Titles Monday

The Roland Garros Junior Championships begin a week from today with Sunday's ITF J500 Milan champions reaffirming their status as threats to add a junior slam title to their already considerable accomplishments.

Eighteen-year-old Jamie Mackenzie of Germany won his second ITF J500 title this month, with the No. 3 seed beating No. 2 seed Thilo Behrmann of Austria, who won last month's J500 in Cairo, 6-4, 6-4 in the final. TCU recruit Mackenzie, who won the J500 in Offenbach two weeks ago, did not drop a set all week.

No. 3 seed Xinran Sun of China, the 2025 Orange Bowl champion, defeated No. 7 seed Mariia Makarova of Russia 6-2, 7-5, and she also took the title without dropping a set. The 15-year-old, who like Mackenzie reached the Australian Open junior quarterfinals this year, won a J300 in Bulgaria at the beginning of this month, so both she and Mackenzie have proven again their skill on the surface.

In a note on the Roland Garros field, Julieta Pareja withdrew two days ago; she had reached the quarterfinals in Paris last year. Lani Chang has moved into the main draw.

There is a J300 this week in Belgium, but sandwiched in between Milan and Roland Garros, the fields includes just one ITF Top 20 player: Mariella Thamm of Germany.

Thirty-six-year-old Madison Brengle, whose ranking had fallen outside the WTA Top 1000 in 2024, is up to 241 in the live rankings after winning the USTA Pro Circuit W50 in Pelham Alabama today. Brengle, the No. 2 seed, defeated top seed Katrina Scott(Tennessee) 6-1, 6-4 in the final. It's the first title of the year for Brengle, who has been as high as 35 in the WTA rankings. 

Opening day at Roland Garros saw five of the ten Americans on the schedule advancing to the second round.  The biggest surprise came from former Stanford All-American Nishesh Basavareddy, who beat No. 7 seed Taylor Fritz 7-6(5), 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-1. Basavareddy's drop shot was particularly effective against Fritz, who was playing just his second match on clay due to a chronic knee injury. It's the first Top 10 win for 21-year-old, who won the USTA's reciprocal wild card to gain entry into the main draw.

The women's USTA wild card recipient, 19-year-old Akasha Urhobo of Florida, faces Katie Boulter of Great Britain Monday in her debut in the main draw of a major.

ITF Junior No. 1 Ksenia Efremova of France, who received a main draw wild card, lost to No. 18 seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-3, 6-1. Cirstea, at 36, is more than twice as old as the 17-year-old Australian Open girls champion.

Hailey Baptiste saved two match points in her win over 2021 Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova of Czechia.

Sunday's Roland Garros first round results of Americans:

Hailey Baptiste[26] d. Barbora Krejcikova(CZE) 6-7(7), 7-6(6), 6-2
Katie Volynets d. Clara Burel[WC](FRA) 6-3, 6-1
Caty McNally d. Ajla Tomljanovic(AUS) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3
Peyton Stearns d. Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-3
Sara Bejlek(CZE) d. Sloane Stephens[Q] 6-3, 6-2

Nishesh Basavareddy[WC] d. Taylor Fritz[7] 7-6(5), 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-1

Dino Prizmic(CRO) d. Michael Zheng[Q] 6-1, 6-1, 6-3

Federico Cina[Q](ITA) d. Reilly Opelka 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 6-7(6), 6-4

Monday's Roland Garros first round matches featuring Americans:

Amanda Anisimova[6] v Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah[WC](FRA)

Alycia Parks v Leyla Fernandez[24](CAN)

Akasha Urhobo[WC] v Katie Boulter(GBR)

McCartney Kessler v Hanyu Guo[Q](CHN)

Ben Shelton[5] v Daniel Merida(ESP)

Eliot Spizzirri v Frances Tiafoe[19]

Jenson Brooksby v Mariano Navone(ARG)

Patrick Kypson v Luca Van Assche(FRA)

Emilio Nava[Q] v Camilo Ugo Carabelli(ARG)

Marcos Giron v Yibing Wu(CHN)

Alex Michelsen v Alexander Shevchenko(KAZ)

Brandon Nakashima[31] v Roberto Bautista Agut(ESP)

Aleks Kovacevic v Rafael Jodar[27](ESP)

Tommy Paul[24] v Rinky Hijikata(AUS)

The NCAA Division II team championshipsconcluded today in Surprise Arizona, with No. 6 seed Flagler winning the program's first D-II title with a 4-3 victory over top seed Barry.  Not only was it a 4-3 thriller, but the championship came down to a third-set tiebreaker at line 4.  For more on the Flagler title, see this article from flaglerathletics.com.

The women's Division III singles and doubles championships are Monday in Chattanooga, with top seed Matia Cristiani of Babson playing in both. Cristiani defeated No. 4 seed Sarena Biria of Chicago 6-3, 6-1 in today's semifinals and will face unseeded Lia Melvin of Johns Hopkins for the singles title. Cristiani and Alessandra Sikharulidze, the No. 1 seeds, will play No. 2 seeds Lindsay Eisenman and Rebecca Kong of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the doubles final after singles. Cristiani is going for her third consecutive NCAA doubles title, with a new partner this year, after winning the titles in 2024 and 2025 with Olivia Soffer. 

The men's Division III semifinals are Monday, with the finals set for Tuesday.  Defending champion and top seed Advik Mareedu of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will play No. 6 seed Mark Kneiss of Bowdoin; unseeded Andreas Sillaste of Amherst will face No. 2 seed Michael Melnikov of Swarthmore.

Live streaming is available at ncaa.com

And while we're on the subject of Division III tennis, four-time NCAA women's champion Eudice Chong(Wesleyan) of Hong Kong won her first WTA title in doubles yesterday in Rabat Morocco. Chong partnered with Magali Kempen of Belgium, with the unseeded pair beating top seeds Aldila Sutjiadi(Kentucky) of Indonesia and Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-3, 2-6, 10-6 in the final. Chong, who was playing in her fourth WTA doubles final, is now at a career-high WTA doubles ranking of 71.