Kockinis Claims Back-to-Back World Tennis Junior Titles in Mexico, Reaches Top 100; Shick Wins First Challenger Title, Nakashima Earns First Singles Title on Pro Circuit

While I was covering the World Tennis J300 in Roehampton and Wimbledon Juniors, which produced three American champions, five other Americans won singles titles in the first two weeks of July, with 16-year-old Armira Kockinis of Southern California earning two of them, and with those results rising to the Top 100 in the World Tennis junior rankings.

Unseeded at the J200 in Monterrey Mexico two weeks ago, Kockinis defeated four seeds, including top seed Avery Alexander of Canada in the semifinals. Kockinis then defeated No. 6 seed Isabella DeLuccia 7-6(5), 7-5 in the final for her best result in a World Tennis tournament.

Last week at the J100 in Monterrey, the fifth-seeded Kockinis again defeated DeLuccia, this time in the semifinals, then won her tenth straight match with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over unseeded Riho Goto of Japan in the final.

With those two results, Kockinis is now up to a career-high of 98 in the WT junior rankings.

Olivia De Los Reyes and Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann won the girls doubles title, with the No. 2 seeds beating unseeded Elicia Lin of Canada and Ellery Mendel 6-3, 6-4 in the final. 

At the J100 in Medellin Colombia last week, 14-year-old Kathryn Cragg of New York won her second career WT junior title, with the No. 3 seed beating Emanuela Lares of Colombia 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Charlies Minvielle, who reached the semifinals in boys singles, won the doubles title with Colombian partner Alejandro Pena. The No. 2 seeds beat the unseeded Colombian team of Alejandro Castellanos and Juan Sebastian Castellanos Mogollon 6-3 6-1 in the final.

It was an all-USA final at last week's J60 in Vancouver Canada, with No. 5 seed Dylan Meineke capturing his first WT junior title in boys's singles.

The 16-year-old from Texas defeated 17-year-old Luca Tabidze of Northern California 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in the final. 

Fifteen-year-old twin sisters Saranya and Sitara Agarwal took turns winning their first titles at the J30s in Aruba, with Saranya, the No. 2 seed, winning her championship with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over top seed and compatriot Leila Montevidoni Leroy in the first week of the month. Last week, Sitara, also the No. 2 seed, beat top seed Charlotte Perks of Great Britain 7-5, 7-5 in the championship match.

There were also two doubles titles for Americans last week. At the J100 in the Dominican Republic, No. 3 seeds Kaya Baker and Audrey Dussault took the girls titles with a 6-4, 6-1 win over top seeds Aarini Bhattacharya and Kalista Papadopoulos in an all-USA final. 

At the J30 in Canada, 14-year-old Southern Californian Melody Lee won her first title in her second World Tennis junior tournament, partnering with Sophia Montemurro of Canada for the doubles championship. Lee and Montemurro, the No. 3 seeds, defeated fourth-seeded Ruxleigh Jahnne Bayasen and Flora Zhang of Canada 7-5, 6-2 in the final. Lee, unseeded in singles, also reached that final, losing to No. 7 seed Katherine Kobzar of Canada 6-4, 6-1.

I covered the USTA Pro Circuit singles champions from last week yesterday, but didn't have time to go back two weeks for the American champions crowned on July 5.

Qualifier Bryce Nakashima, the Ohio State rising senior, won his first pro singles title at the M15 SoCal Pro Series event in San Diego, beating teammate and top seed Aidan Kim 6-2, 7-6(2) in the final. Rising sophomores Noah Johnston(Georgia) and Max Exsted won the doubles title in San Diego, with the No. 4 seeds beating unseeded Vignesh Gogineni(Yale) and Matthew Shearer(William Carey, Nebraska) of New Zealand 3-6, 6-4, 11-9.

Alina Shcherbinina won the W15 in San Diego, her third straight title during this USTA Southern California Pro Series. Because she took the previous week off, she had to qualify again, but she got through and beat UCLA rising junior Kate Fakih 6-3, 7-6(1) in the final.  Anne Christine Lutkemeyer(UCLA) and Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) won the doubles title in San Diego, with the top seeds beating Salma Ewing(USC, Texas A&M) and Alexandra Vagramov, the No. 2 seeds, 6-1, 6-3 in the final.

At the W100 in Cary NC, Savannah Broadus reached a final at that level for the first time, with the former All-American at Pepperdine, a qualifier, falling to 2 seed Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy 6-3, 6-2 in the final. Catherine Harrison(UCLA) and Dalayna Hewitt, the No. 2 seeds, won the doubles title with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Hiroko Kuwata of Japan and Ankita Raina of India.

Former NC State star Braden Shick won his first Challenger title two weeks ago at the ATP 75 in Cary North Carolina. The unseeded Shick defeated former Texas All-American Timo Legout of France, also unseeded, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the final, and he is now getting close to entry into the US Open men's qualifying with his ATP ranking of 232.

Last week at the ATP 125 in Newport Rhode Island, former TCU All-American Jake Fearnley of Great Britain claimed the title with a 5-7, 7-6(8), 6-4 win over No. 4 seed Adam Walton of Australia. Fearnley saved six match points in the final. No. 2 seeds Finn Reynolds(Ole Miss) and James Watt(St. Mary's) of New Zealand won the doubles title, beating top seeds Fernando Romboli of Brazil and JP Smith(Tennessee) of Australia 6-2, 6-7(2), 10-6 in the final.

In non-USTA Pro Circuit news, Orange Bowl 16s champion Matias Reyniak reached his first World Tennis men's final two weeks ago, with the 17-year-old wild card from New York falling to top seed Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine of France 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the M15 final in Turkey last month.