May Aces; Hance, Kennedy and Antonius Reach Roland Garros Junior Quarterfinals; Liutova Extends W100 Winning Streak; Top Seeds Arseneault and Vagramov Ousted in Lakewood; D-III Final Rankings, All-Americans Named
My monthly column highlighting the top performances of juniors, collegians and former collegians is up today at the Tennis Recruiting Network, and, as has been the case in the past several years, it's impossible to feature everyone that claimed a pro circuit title in May. With the increase in the number of W15 and M15 tournaments on the ITF World Tennis Tour, and the surge of juniors and collegians who participate in them, there simply isn't room for all those champions, particularly when former collegians are having so much success on the ATP and WTA tours.
Three US boys are through to the quarterfinals of the Roland Garros Junior Championships, with Jack Kennedy, Keaton Hance and Michael Antonius all posting straight-sets wins today in Paris.
Sixteen-year-old Antonius, who is playing just his second junior slam tournament, defeated No. 2 seed Yannick Alexandrescou of France 6-2, 6-4, a score that doesn't indicate how tricky that second set was. Antonius, the No. 13 seed, was down 3-1 in the set before winning four straight games, but was broken serving for the match at 5-3, after failing to convert three match points. Alexandrescou, who has committed to Duke for this fall, had a vocal group of young fans supporting him throughout, but Antonius didn't show any signs of frustration after dropping the 5-3 game and broke at love to end it, avenging his 6-0, 6-2 loss to Alexandrescou in the final of the ITF J300 in College Park last August.
Antonius will face No. 5 seed and Australian Open champion Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, who defeated unseeded Connor Doig of South Africa 6-3, 6-2 today. Antonius and Sesko met last May in the J300 in Belgium, with Sesko winning the second round encounter 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
No. 4 seed Jack Kennedy defeated unseeded Arnav Paparkar of India 7-5, 6-2, following a similar pattern to his first two victories this week: winning a tight first set and pulling away in the second. Kennedy, who turns 18 tomorrow, will play unseeded wild card Leonardo Storck Franca of Brazil, who beat No. 8 seed Zangar Nurlanuly of Kazakhstan 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5. Kennedy's only previous quarterfinal in a junior slam came in the 2025 Australian Open. The ITF Junior website spoke with Kennedy after his second round win over Daniel Jade of France yesterday for this article.
2026 Australian Open boys finalist Keaton Hance needed just 63 minutes to get past qualifier Kaan Isik Kosaner of Turkey 6-1, 6-1. He will face No. 3 seed Jamie Mackenzie of Germany, who won ten straight games from unseeded Flynn Thomas of Switzerland after dropping the first set and went on to post a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory.
The only boys quarterfinal not featuring an American is top seed Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil's contest with No. 7 seed Thilo Behrmann of Austria. Miguel defeated No. 16 seed Nicolas Baena of Peru 6-4, 6-4, while Behrmann beat unseeded Mathys Domenc of France 6-0, 7-6(2).
The girls draw lost three Top 8 seeds today, with No. 8 seed Mariia Makarova of Russia losing to unseeded Ha Eum Lee of Korea 6-3, 7-6(8). Lee will face No. 3 seed Victoria Barros of Brazil, who beat unseeded Denisa Zoldakova of Czechia 6-3 ,0-6, 6-3.
No. 9 seed Charo Esquiva Banuls of Spain defeated her doubles partner, No. 5 seed Nauhany Leme Da Silva of Brazil, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 and No. 7 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina lost to No. 12 seed Alisa Oktiabreva of Russia, who reached the semifinals of the Roland Garros Junior Championships the last time she played it, in 2023. Oktiabreva will face unseeded qualifier Ekaterina Dotsenko of Russia, who won a two-hour and 16-minute battle with No. 13 seed Mariella Thamm of Germany 7-6(6), 6-4. Banuls will play No. 4 seed Jana Kovackova, a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner over No. 14 seed Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybas of Russia.
No. 2 seed Xinran Sun of China, who needed three hours and 17 minutes to get past unseeded Maia Burcescu of Romania, will face No. 6 seed Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia next. They are the only girls who have played before on the ITF Junior Circuit, with Cvetkovic 2-2 against Sun in four previous meetings, but Sun won the most recent encounter last month in the final of the J300 in Bulgaria. Cvetkovic is the subject of today's ITF Junior Circuit article on the Roland Garros championships.
Seven US juniors are through to Thursday's quarterfinals in doubles, with those matchups listed below.
Wednesday's Roland Garros third round junior results of Americans:Michael Antonius[13] d. Yannick Alexandrescou[2](FRA) 6-2, 6-4
Keaton Hance[6] v Kaan Isik Kosaner[Q](TUR)
Jack Kennedy[4] d. Arnav Paparkar(IND) 7-5, 6-2
Thursday's Roland Garros quarterfinals featuring Americans:
Singles:
Jack Kennedy[4] v Leonardo Storck France(BRA)
Michael Antonius[13] v Ziga Sesko[5](SLO)
Keaton Hance[6] v Jamie Mackenzie[3](GER)
Doubles:
Jordyn Hazelitt and Welles Newman[8] v Victoria Barros(BRA) and Paola Pinera Celorio(ESP)[1]
Thea Frodin and Anastasija Cvetkovic(SRB) v Jana Kovackova and Katerina Zajickova(CZE)
Jack Secord and Yannik Alvarez(PUR)[6] v Luis Guto Miguel(BRA) and Ziga Sesko(SLO)[1]
Safir Azam and Dan Brand(ISR) v Mathys Domenc and Daniel Jade(FRA)
Keaton Hance and Jack Kennedy[2] v Nicolas Baena(PER) and Tito Chavez(ESP)[5]
All matches are streamed on HBO/Max.
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