ITF J300 Bradenton Quarterfinals Feature Two American Wild Cards, All US Girls Eliminated; Eleven US Juniors Compete in Semifinals of 12s, 14s and 16s Divisions; Orange Bowl 16s Qualifying Begins Friday; Santamarta Signs with Virginia

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Bradenton FL--

Jordan Lee had a difficult 2025, with a wrist injury keeping him out of competition for more than eight months. Yet on the green clay courts of the IMG Academy, the 15-year-old wild card is back to winning again, with the 2024 16s champion advancing to the ITF J300 quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-0 thumping of No. 4 seed Alan Wazny of Poland Thursday morning.

"After being out for so long, it feels great," said Lee, who returned to competition as a member of the Junior Davis Cup championship team last month in Chile.  "It's not my life, but tennis is the thing that I enjoy most in life, what I love doing most. During the time away I missed it so much, but it was important not to rush it."

Lee admitted to some jitters when he played his first match at the Junior Davis Cup, but he is not surprised by the form he's displayed since his return.

"The first match in Chile was very tough, I was very nervous," said Lee, whose only loss since coming back was in the second round of the M15 in Orlando last month. "But since I was finally back, I didn't want to waste it being nervous, just wanted to have fun, enjoy it. I put a lot of hard work into coming back."

Lee hadn't played Wazny, so wasn't sure what to expect, but was happy with his own level. 

"I did a very good job of staying solid, I played very well overall," Lee said. "I don't really know him, so I don't know, but I did a very good job today."

Lee will play unseeded 16-year-old Daniel Jade of France, who defeated wild card Marcel Latak 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in the quarterfinals, but hasn't given much thought to a second straight title.

"It feels great being back on these courts, but I'm not really thinking about being defending champion, a two-peat or anything like that," said Lee, who reached the Eddie Herr 12s final in 2021. "I'm just thinking about doing the best I can, using what I have and giving 100 percent."

Another young American reached the quarterfinals by claiming a decidedly tougher battle, with 16-year-old Jerrid Gaines Jr. defeating fellow wild card Samim Filiz of Turkey 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Filiz was returning the big first serves of Gaines well in the first two sets, but Gaines said he raised his level in the third set to reach his first J300 quarterfinal.

Gaines will play unseeded Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga of Colombia, who won a second straight three-setter, beating doubles partner Pedro Henrique Chabalgoity of Brazil 6-3, 0-6, 7-6(5). Chabalgoity, who had beaten No. 9 seed Michael Antonius Wednesday in over three and a half hours, looked exhausted in the late stages of the match, but managed to break Bolivar Idarraga serving for the match at 5-4 and saved two match points down 3-6 in the final tiebreaker before finally succumbing.

No. 5 seed Jamie Mackenzie of Germany also dropped a third set tiebreaker, with Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria taking a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) decision. Mackenzie was cramping badly at the end of the match and withdrew from his doubles quarterfinal as a result.

Kisimov will face qualifier Tim Vaisman of Israel, who has now won six matches this week after beating Connor Doig of South Africa 6-4, 6-3. 

The only two boys seeds remaining play each other, with No. 13 seed William Rejchtman Vinciguerra of Sweden facing No. 7 seed Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands. Rejchtman Vinchiguerra beat Dan Brand of Israel 7-6(3), 6-3, while Boogaard coasted past No. 12 seed Andy Johnson 6-1, 6-2.

There are no US girls through to the quarterfinals, with wild card Allison Wang withdrawing due to an ab injury prior to her match with Alyssa James of Jamaica. No. 16 seed Nancy Lee dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to No. 4 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina and Anita Tu lost to Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

Sushkova trailed 5-2 in the first set before getting back to 5-all, but she identified the problem and cleared her head during a bathroom break after the first set.

"I went to the restroom and just told myself to fight and to do my best," said the 17-year-old, who is now training in France. "In the first set my serve was terrible, so many double faults, and it was in my head, so that toilet break really helped me to clean my mind."

Sushkova is playing her first tournament on green clay, but she prefers it to the red clay prevalent in Europe.

"I like it because it doesn't bounce really high like on normal clay," Sushkova said. "For me, it's really good, I'm an aggressive player, so when the ball doesn't bounce high I have less time and feel it better."

Sushkova left her home country to train near Nice when Russia invaded Ukraine.

"For the first two years I was really struggling a lot mentally," said Sushkova, who travels with her French coach. "I used to be home, with my parents and grandparents. Now my mom stays with me, I see my dad only when I come to Ukraine, maybe one time per year, so it's quite tough. But we keep in touch, all the time, I call him after every match, I think he was actually watching this match (on live stream). But in time, I'm getting better in France, and it's my second home now."

Sushkova will face James in the quarterfinals, with the other quarterfinal in the top half featuring Hollie Smart of Great Britain and No. 5 seed Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia. Smart defeated No. 15 seed Iva Marinkovic of Sweden 6-2, 7-5 and Cvetkovic beat Tereza Hermanova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The only quarterfinal between two seeds is No. 9 seed Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India and No. 4 sed Larray Giudi. Rajeshwaran Revathi defeated No. 6 seed Kanon Sawashiro of Japan 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

In the bottom quarter, No. 8 seed Xinran Sun of China will be looking for revenge against unseeded Kristina Liutova, who beat Sun 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals of the ITF J300 College Park in August. Sun beat unseeded Pavla Sviglerova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-1 today, while Liutova defeated 14-year-old Sofiia Bielinska 6-3, 6-2. 

The Sun-Liutova quarterfinal is the only one where the competitors have played previously on the ITF Junior Circuit.

The doubles semifinals are set for Friday afternoon. 

No. 6 seeds Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia will face No. 4 seeds Michael Antonius and Johnson in the top half; No. 7 seeds Johan Oscar Lien of Norway and Rejchtmann Vinciguerra play two-time junior slam champions Wazny and Oskari Paldanius of Finland.

Unseeded Rira Kosaka and Aoi Watanabe of Japan meet No. 3 seeds Sawashiro and Sun in the girls top half semifinal; No. 4 seeds Melije Clarke and Ha Eum Lee of Korea play No. 2 seeds Cvetkovic and Larraya Guidi.

The 12s, 14s and 16s divisions played their quarterfinals today, with 11 Americans still in the hunt for titles. An American girl will be the 16s champion, with all semifinalists from the United States. The girls 12s division is the only one of the six without an American still in contention for a title.

B12s Quarterfinals:
Rui He (CHN) d. Yeseong Lee[9] (KOR) 6-3, 6-0
Jobe Dikkenberg[3](AUS) d. Dmitriy Flyam[7] (USA) 6-3, 5-7, 10-6

Minchan Kwon[16] (KOR) d. Daichi Fujise (JPN) 2-6, 6-2, 10-1
James Borchard[5] (USA) d. Zirui Zhao (CHN) 6-4, 7-5

B14s Quarterfinals:
Genidy Mohamed[1] (EGY) d. Siyun Kim[7] (KOR) 6-3, 6-2
Tristan Ascenzo[3] (USA) d. Kenshin Sato (JPN) 6-2, 6-0

Akhmadi Makhanov[10] (KAZ) d. Boshi Wang[4] (USA) 6-2, 7-6(11)
Ignacio Mejias[16] (USA) d. Yosuke Hino[8] (SGP) 6-3, 6-0

B16s Quarterfinals:
Mason Vaughan[1] (USA) d. Rafael Bote[5] (CAN) 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
Artem Dmytrenko[9] (USA) d. Dhakshish Aryan[4] (USA) 6-4, 6-1

Colter Amey (USA) d. Ansar Niyetkaliyev (KAZ) 6-4, 6-0
Jang Junseo[14] (KOR) d. Cristobal Plasencia Robles[12] USA) 6-1, 6-2

G12s Quarterfinals:
Xiaoke Li (CHN) d. Chloe Anthony[7] USA) 3-6, 6-4, 10-1
Yoonseol Choi (KOR) d. Zana Peric[8] (USA) 6-7(4), 6-2, 10-3

Fangqiao Zou[4] (CHN) d. Yeonkyung Lim[6] (KOR) 6-2, 6-3
Seungyeon Seo[5] (AUS) d. Inie Toli[2] (USA) 6-0, 6-2

G14s Quarterfinals:
Adriana Khomyakova[13] (USA) d. Mia Tanasoiu (USA) 6-0, 6-1
Konstantina Volonaki[5](GRE) d. Jiayi Lu(CHN)[10] 7-6(6), 6-2

Zihao Han[4] (CHN) d. Srishti Kiran[11] (IND) 6-2, 6-0
Ayaka Iwasa[9] (JPN) d. Xinran Yan[12] (CHN) 6-2, 6-2

G16s Quarterfinals:
Adelina Iftime[11] (USA) d. Kara Fronek[16] (AUT) 7-5, 6-0
Samvrutha Jawahar[7] (USA) d. Sadira Ouyang[3] USA) 6-4, 6-3

Tanvi Pandey[6] (USA) d. Vibha Gogineni[4](USA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
London Evans (USA) d. Shaya Jovanovic (USA) 6-0, 6-4

Two rounds of doubles were played this afternoon and both the semifinals and finals are scheduled for Friday.

Qualifying for the 16s Orange Bowl begins Friday, and main draw wild cards have been determined. Draws and order of play can be found here.

Boys 16s wild cards:

Kush Bhandari

Chase Bowden

Diego Custodio

Alexander Farias

Mark Mrcela

Sulaiman Syed

Alexander Totian

Johnny Wolf

Girls 16s wild cards:

Audrey Dussault

Genevieve Hayden

Fiona Hu

Kylee Hung

Sofia Kedrin

Evelynn Kwak

Priyanka Tallamraju

The University of Virginia announced today that former ITF World Junior No. 1 and 2024 ITF J300 Bradenton and Orange Bowl champion Andres Santamarta Roig of Spain will be joining the team in January. Although Rafael Jodar is still planning to return to the team for the spring season, should the Spanish sophomore have notable results at the NextGen ATP Finals or in the Australian Open qualifying, that could change, and Santamarta would soften the blow should Jodar decide not to return.

Look HOOS joining us in January!!
Everyone welcome our newest Cavalier Andrés Santamarta Roig
🔶 Reached No. 1 World Junior Ranking
🔷 Won 7 Junior titles, including winning the 2024 Orange Bowl and Eddie Herr
🔶 Ranked No. 611 in the ATP World Rankings#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/NDK0jZG9zi

— Virginia Men's Tennis (@UVAMensTennis) December 4, 2025

Both ITF J300 Bradenton No. 3 Seeds Fall in Second Round; Wild Card Latak Comes Back to Advance; Quarterfinals Set in 12s, 14s, and 16s Divisions of IMG Academy International Championships

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Bradenton FL--

I decided to make the trip to the Legacy Hotel Courts on the West Campus of the IMG Academy, and although only 11 matches were played on the six courts, I was there for more than six hours, with three-setter after three-setter prolonging the second round of the ITF J300.

Seven of those 11 matches (No. 4 seed Alan Wazny of Poland got a walkover due to Carel Ngounoue's injury) went the distance, but the biggest upsets were straight-sets contests, with Hollie Smart of Great Britain defeating No. 3 seed Luna Cinalli of Argentina 6-3, 7-5 and Connor Doig of South Africa beating No. 3 seed Ryo Tabata of Japan 6-4, 6-2.

Smart got off to a good start against Cinalli and closed out the first set without much resistance, but Cinalli served for the second set at 5-3 and held a set point at 40-30. Smart saved it with her forehand forcing an error from Cinalli and two unforced Cinalli errors later, Smart was back on serve. 

Smart held in a tight game to pull even, then took the lead when she converted her second break point by putting away a forehand on a short ball. Serving out the match proved difficult however, with her 30-0 lead disappearing, and a match point at 40-30 lost on a backhand error. She missed a forehand pass wide to give Cinalli a break point, and couldn't land a first serve. But Cinalli netted the second serve return and then netted two more forehands to hand the match to Smart.

Smart hadn't played on green clay before this week, but has reached the semifinals of a J300 on red clay in Europe and advanced to the quarterfinals at last week's J500 in Merida, and thinks the surface suits her game.

"Playing heavy balls and mixing it up with the low slice, it keeps my opponent moving," said the 16-year-old, who trains at the LTA's Academy at Loughborough. "I can get it in tough positions for them, get it out of their striking zone."

Smart used her slice, both forehand and backhand, to coax errors from Cinalli.

"She definitely struggled when it was lower, so I was trying to mix that in," Smart said. "Not too much, so she didn't get into a groove, but going heavy and then keeping it low definitely got me a lot of cheap points, or opportunities to be up in the point."

Cinalli is the rare junior girls with a one-handed backhand, with Smart unable to recall another opponent she has faced with that shot. 

"It's definitely different," Smart said. "She's going to feel better on some shots and struggle on others, so just trying to find out what works, the first few games are a bit of problem solving. But as the match progresses, it was better to keep it high, she struggled with that, getting the one-hander up there."

Smart will face No. 15 seed Iva Marinkovic of Sweden, who won one of the three-setters at the Legacy Hotel courts, beating Zhang-Qian Wei of China 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Marinkovic is one of two seeds remaining in the top half, with No. 5 seed Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia beating qualifier Ana Avramovic 6-1, 6-3 in only other girls two-setter at the Legacy Courts.

Like Smart, Doig was unfamiliar with the green clay in the United States, but the 17-year-old from South Africa did have four days of practice on the surface after losing in the first round of the J500 in Merida last week.

"This is my first time in the States and my first time on green clay," Doig said. "I don't have as much experience as everyone else on the clay, coming from South Africa. We don't really have any clay courts, none at all really. I've definitely improved a lot on it since I first got on it, and I'm feeling more comfortable, I'd say I enjoy it more than the European clay. Here I would say it's a bit quicker, and bounces better than the European clay."

Doig stayed in the rallies with the usually consistent Tabata, a Roland Garros boys semifinalist this year. That consistency wasn't apparent today, with Doig's shot tolerance superior to Tabata's and his motivation heightened by a previous loss.

"About three and a half years ago, on my first trip to Europe, playing for South Africa in the U14 Davis Cup (World Junior Tennis) in Prostejov (Czech Republic)," Doig said. "I lost that match after being 6-5, 40-0 up in the third set. So there was definitely an element of revenge in this one. He's definitely really tough; he's a quality opponent so he makes you play a lot of balls. You've got to take your chances against an opponent like him, play at your highest level to win, which I did today."

Doig will face the only qualifier remaining in either draw, Tim Vaisman of Israel, in Thursday's third round.

In addition to Tabata two other boys seeds fell at the Legacy Hotel courts, with Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga of Colombia beating No. 8 seed Zigo Sesko of Slovenia 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3 and wild card Marcel Latak defeating No. 10 seed Kuan-Shou Chen of Taiwan 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-5. 

Chen served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, but Latak lifted his game when he needed to, breaking Chen at love and holding quickly to put the pressure right back on Chen.

Latak had two match points at 15-40, but shanked a return on the first, with Chen getting a fortunate net cord on the second. But a double fault provided Latak with another match point, which Chen saved with a good first serve. But Latak cracked a forehand winner for a fourth match point and converted it with a perfect forehand pass to close out the three-hour victory.

"I told myself that physically, I'm there," said the reigning Kalamazoo 16s champion. "So if I can just mentally be there, I'll be able to do it. If I just stay focused the whole time, if I go down, it doesn't matter, because it's all momentum."

Latak is not especially fond of the green clay, but he did have an opportunity to train on it at the USTA National Campus prior to this tournament and was determined to show some improvement.

"So far it's been pretty good," said the 16-year-old from Illinois. "Earlier in the year, when I transitioned from hard to clay, I struggled a lot but Christian (Groh) has helped me so much, with strategy and the way I'm supposed to play on green clay, and I've taken that advice."

Latak will face unseeded Daniel Jade of France in the third round Thursday.

No. 12 seed Andrew Johnson came from 6-1 down in the first set tiebreaker and went on to defeat Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico 7-6(8), 6-4, joining fellow Americans Latak, Jerrid Gaines Jr and Jordan Lee in the third round. Lee, last year's 16s champion, defeated qualifier Koki Nara of Japan 6-2, 6-3 and Gaines beat qualifier Kamil Stolarczyk 6-2, 6-3. 

No. 9 seed Michael Antonius suffered his first loss ever at the tournament, after winning the Eddie Herr 12s title in 2022 and the 14s title in 2023, while not competing in Bradenton last year. Today he lost a three-hour and 35-minute battle of attrition to Pedro Henrique Chabalgoity of Brazil 6-2, 6-7(8), 6-3.

The only seed remaining in the bottom half of the draw is No. 5 seed Jamie Mackenzie of Germany, a TCU signee, who received a walkover from Victor Ryden of Sweden.

The doubles quarterfinals are set for Thursday, after four of the boys second round matches were played under the lights due to the length of so many of the singles matches. The top seeds in the girls draw, Nadia Lagaev of Canada and Laim Vladson of Uzbekistan, lost to Yu Jun Lin and Zhang-Qian Wei of China 7-6(5), 6-4.

The singles quarterfinals are set for Thursday in the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions, with another rash of upsets in today's third round.

Rui He of China defeated top seed Oliver Baker of Australia 6-3, 7-5 and Zirui Zhao of China defeated No. 2 seed Evan Fan 6-3, 6-4 in the boys 12s.

2024 girls 12s champion Nikol Davletshina, the No. 1 seed this year in the 14s, lost to No. 13 seed Adriana Khomyakova 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

B12s Quarterfinals:
Rui He (CHN) vs Yeseong Lee[9] (KOR)
Jobe Dikkenberg[3](AUS) vs Dmitriy Flyam[7] (USA)
Daichi Fujise (JPN) vs Minchan Kwon[16] (KOR)
James Borchard[5] (USA) vs Zirui Zhao (CHN)

B14s Quarterfinals:
Genidy Mohamed[1] (EGY) vs Siyun Kim[7] (KOR)
Tristan Ascenzo[3] (USA) vs Kenshin Sato (JPN)
Boshi Wang[4] (USA) vs Akhmadi Makhanov[10] (KAZ)
Yosuke Hino[8] (SGP) vs Ignacio Mejias[16] (USA)

B16s Quarterfinals:
Mason Vaughan[1] (USA) vs Rafael Bote[5] (CAN)
Dhakshish Aryan[4] (USA) vs Artem Dmytrenko[9] (USA)
Colter Amey (USA) vs Ansar Niyetkaliyev (KAZ)
Cristobal Plasencia Robles[12] (USA) vs Jang Junseo[14] (KOR)

G12s Quarterfinals:
Xiaoke Li (CHN) vs Chloe Anthony[7] USA)
Yoonseol Choi (KOR) vs Zana Peric[8] (USA)
Fangqiao Zou[4] (CHN) vs Yeonkyung Lim[6] (KOR)
Inie Toli[2] (USA) Seungyeon Seo[5] (AUS)

G14s Quarterfinals:
Adriana Khomyakova[13] (USA) vs Mia Tanasoiu (USA)
Jiayi Lu(CHN)[10] vs Konstantina Volonaki[5](GRE)
Zihao Han[4] (CHN) vs Srishti Kiran[11] (IND)
Xinran Yan[12] (CHN) vs Ayaka Iwasa[9] (JPN)

G16s Quarterfinals:
Adelina Iftime[11] (USA) vs Kara Fronek[16] (AUT)
Sadira Ouyang[3] USA) vs Samvrutha Jawahar[7] (USA)
Vibha Gogineni[4](USA) vs Tanvi Pandey[6] (USA)
Shaya Jovanovic (USA) vs London Evans (USA)

Eight Qualifiers Advance, Top Boys Seed Out at ITF J300 Bradenton; Upsets Continue in 12s, 14s, 16s Division at IMG Academy International Championships

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Bradenton FL--

Rain has been an infrequent visitor the first week of December at the IMG Academy International Championships and ITF J300 this decade, but a morning shower on Tuesday left the hard courts needing several hours to dry, sending the 12s divisions second round singles matches indoors and postponing the first round of doubles until Wednesday.

Because the ITF J300 is being played on green clay, disruptions were minimal, allowing that tournament to stay on schedule. But the upsets that began Monday continued, with five more seeds, including No. 1 Yannick Alexandrescou, eliminated.

Alexandrescou, who played in the singles semifinals and the doubles final Saturday night at the ITF J500 in Merida, looked unwell throughout the opening games of his match with Lucas Yunez of Ecuador, and eventually requested an immediate visit from the trainer at 5-all in the first set, saying he was struggling to breathe. He attempted a few more points but could not continue, with the 17-year-old from Romania, a quarterfinalist here last year, retiring. He and Ryo Tabata, the No. 1 seeds in doubles, gave a walkover to the team of Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga of Colombia and Pedro Chabalgoity of Brazil, with no other team signing in as alternates.

No. 16 seed Linus Lagerbohm of Finland, also a semifinalist last week at Merida, retired from his match with wild card Jordan Lee, the 2024 16s champion here. Lee was leading 5-1 when Lagerbohm could not continue due to illness. Lagerbohm also withdrew from doubles, with partner Stefan Haita of Romania, but there was one alternate team signed in to take their place, the twin brothers Max and Jan Frolich of the Czech Republic. The Frolichs lost to Lee and his partner Jerrid Gaines Jr. 6-0, 7-5.

The other two boys seeds to fall today were No. 14 seed Tito Chavez of Spain and No. 15 seed Ryan Cozad. Chavez lost to wild card Samim Filiz of Turkey 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, while Cozad was beaten 6-1, 6-1 by qualifier Tim Vaisman of Israel.

The only girls seed to lose today was No. 11 seed Capucine Jauffret, who was beaten by qualifier Lingling Zhu of China 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). 

Zhu, who won both of her qualifying matches Sunday in straight sets, had a couple of chances to finish the match without a tiebreaker with Jauffret serving at 5-6, but Jauffret held and Zhu double faulted on the opening point of the tiebreaker. 

That unfortunate start didn't prove costly, as she got the next two points and led 4-2 at the first change of ends. Jauffret got the minibreak back for 4-4, but Zhu was more locked in during the last three points, with Jauffret making three errors to end it.

"I wanted to play every point, focus on every shot and didn't think too much," said the 16-year-old, who has recently trained in Naples Florida. "I tried to focus on what I worked on in practice."

Zhu hadn't played a tournament on green clay until this one, just an occasional practice, so the two qualifying matches were helpful to her, and to her doubles and training partner, Avery Alexander of Canada, who defeated IMG student Ava Rodriguez 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on the IMG Stadium Court.

Alexander, who also won two qualifying matches in straight sets on Sunday, was happy to have those matches as preparation, as she had not played during the clay swing in Mexico.

"At my academy we did train on green clay, that was one of the main surfaces," said the 16-year-old, who during the past six months has been training and traveling with a private coach, sharing him with Zhu. "But over the past six months or so, I haven't had much training on green clay. So the qualifying matches were good experience, good practice before the main draw. They tough matches, good players, strong players in the qualifying and I got used to the surface a little bit more."

Alexander said that playing an IMG student on Stadium Court was "a good experience."

"I was blocking out the noise after the points, just focusing on myself, my own serves, point by point," Alexander said. "I was sticking to my patterns, so I didn't have to worry too much about what was going on, who was there or any of that."

Zhu will play Tereza Hermanova of the Czech Republic in Wednesday's second round, with Alexander facing No. 16 seed Nancy Lee.  Zhu and Alexander lost their first round doubles match to Canadians Clemence Mercier and Andrea Cabio 6-3, 2-6, 10-6.

The other qualifier to advance to the second round was Ana Avramovic, who beat Rira Kosaka of Japan 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, while lucky loser Sena Yoon also posted a win.

Yoon, who defeated Kori Montoya 6-3, 6-3, contemplated leaving for her home in Boca Raton after losing her final round qualifying match Sunday to Armira Kockinis 5-7, 6-4, 10-3, But she decided to spend another night in Bradenton after drawing the No. 2 lucky loser spot and when the girl who drew the top spot could not play due to injury, Yoon went in for Victoria Barros of Brazil, who was the No. 2 seed before she withdrew after making the J500 Merida final. 

"The next day I came to sign in, thinking, oh, I'm not going to play and I wasn't even ready to play tennis," said the 17-year-old Columbia recruit, who did not have to play Monday with Barros  receiving a Tuesday start. "But the girl in front of me at No. 1 didn't sign in, so I got the spot."

Yoon had lost three times to Montoya this year at ITF Junior Circuit events, most recently at October's J300 in Houston, so she was especially pleased with today's result. 

"I think I played pretty good today, some funky shots here and there, but it was good," said Yoon, who will face Kristina Liutova, the 2025 ITF J300 College Park champion, Wednesday. Liutova defeated qualifier Yilin Chen 6-2, 6-3.

Five qualifiers reached the second round in the boys draw. In addition to Vaisman, Koki Nara of Japan, Tyler Lee, Noble Renfrow and Kamil Stolarczyk advanced with wins today.

Lee cruised past Merida quarterfinalist Olivers Sanders of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2; Nara, an IMG student, beat wild card Nick Stoot by the same score. At the Legacy Hotel courts, Renfrow beat Max Frohlich of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 and Stolarcyzk defeated Dani Szabo of Canada 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

The first round of ITF doubles finished at dusk, with top seeds Laima Vladson of Uzbekistan and Nadia Lagaev of Canada advancing, as did No. 2 seeds Ansastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia and Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina. The only seeded team to lose was No. 6 Sofia Bielinska of Ukraine and Sofia Meabe of Argentina. They fell to Nancy Lee and Kaya Moe 6-2, 6-2.

Two-time junior slam champions Alan Wazny of Poland and Oskari Paldanius of Finland, the No. 2 seeds, advanced, as did all seeded teams with the exception of those who did not play: No. 1 Alexandrescou and Tabata and No. 5 Lagerbohm and Haita.

The girls 12s lost their No. 1 seed in today's second round play, with Xiaoke Li of China beating Lucy Dupere 3-6, 6-4, 10-8. No. 3 seed Darcy Basist of Australian also lost, to Yoonseol Choi of Korea 6-0, 6-2.

No. 2 seed Yerin Lim of Korea lost in the second round of the Girls 14s, with Aiym Kanagatova of Kazakhstan posting a 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 win. 

No. 2 seed Daniella Sales, the USTA National 14s champion, was beaten in the second round of the girls 16s by London Evans 6-1, 6-0.

The top four seeds in the boys 16s and boys 12s are all still alive going into the round of 16; boys 14s No. 2 seed Kazuki Nakajima of Japan lost in the first round Monday.

All draws can be found at the USTA tournament website. 

A Question and Answer session with former ATP Top 5 player Kevin Anderson, hosted by IMG's Jimmy Arias, is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday at the IMG Academy's Champions Room.

Wild Card Gaines Ousts No. 2 Seed Paldanius, Girls Top Seed Vladson Out in First Round of ITF J300 Bradenton; Miguel and Kovackova Claim Merida Titles; Arora Wins J100 in India; All USTA National Indoor Finals Results

©Colette Lewis 2025-
Bradenton FL--

The IMG Academy was buzzing all day Monday with over 500 players, as well as their coaches and families, on site for the first round of singles in the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions and the first day of main draw competition for the ITF J300. 

It didn't take long for a major upset to be recorded, with ITF No. 93 Alisa Terentyeva of Russia defeating top seed and ITF No. 12 Laima Vladson 6-3, 6-3 on Clay Court 1. 

Vladson, who now represents Uzbekistan after playing the junior slams this year under the Lithuanian flag, was late arriving on court, although within the 15 minutes allowed by the ITF rules. The powerful 18-year-old never developed any rhythm on her ground strokes and Terentyeva took advantage of the unforced errors she was given.

Vladson was one of four seeds who lost in the top quarter, with Anita Tu outlasting No. 14 seed Maja Pawelska of Poland 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in three hours and 13 minutes; wild card Allison Wang beat No. 10 seed Ha Eum Lee of Korean 6-3, 6-2 and Alyssa James of Jamaica defeated No. 7 seed Nadia Lagaev of Canada 6-4, 6-3, meaning an unseeded semifinalist is already guaranteed after just one round.

Wang, a 14-year-old from Northern California, has little experience with green clay, but saw it as a development tool for her game.

"Clay improves my game, it helps my movement," Wang said. "Also whenever I then go back to hard court, it feels easier to play."

Wang was considering playing the 16s tournament, but was encouraged by the USTA coaches to accept a wild card for the ITF tournament.

"At first I was going to play the 16s on hard courts, not the 18s, since there's not clay courts in NorCal, "said Wang, who made the third round in October's ITF J300 Pan Am in Houston, losing to eventual champion Chukwumelije Clarke. "The USTA said I should play this one, so I signed up for a wild card and I got it."

Wang had an opportunity to train at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona prior to the tournament, so she had reason to feel comfortable on the surface, even when she drew a seed in the first round.

"I know that I'm the underdog, so I really don't have that much pressure," Wang said. "The only pressure I feel is to perform my best."

With Vladson' loss and the late withdrawal of No. 2 seed Victoria Barros of Brazil, who lost in the Merida final last night, No. 3 seed Luna Cinalli of Argentina is the top remaining seed; she defeated Karlin Schock 6-2, 6-3 in the first round today.

Top seed Yannick Alexandrescou of Romania will play his first round match Tuesday, with No. 2 seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland the only seed to fall in the boys first round action Monday, falling to Jerrid Gaines Jr. 7-6(4), 6-1.

Wild card Gaines, ranked 273 compared to Paldanius at 11, never wavered as he moved closer to the best win of his junior career. The 16-year-old, who reached the quarterfinals of the 14s two years ago and the semifinals of the 16s last year, watched as the more experienced Paldanius crumbled at the end of the tiebreaker, double faulting on set point, then immediately losing his serve to open the second.

"I just focused on the basics of what I wanted to do," said Gaines, who won a J60 in Texas in September and a J100 in Georgia in October. "I didn't want to overthink, just keep playing. He was getting a little bit frustrated, and I didn't want to beat myself out there. I've had some experiences when I didn't convert those moments, I'd crack mentally, but I'm doing a lot better mentally, and it was a big stepping stone, for sure."

Gaines knew he had to continue to play aggressively once he got a 3-0 lead in the second set, and he did, making returns and staying in every rally to keep the pressure on Paldanius, who could not find any nerves or tentative play to exploit.

"I prepared a lot for this tournament and I'm playing at a really high level right now," Gaines said. "Obviously, I'm very excited and very happy, advancing to get to play another time."

Gaines, who will not play singles Tuesday, faces the winner of Tuesday's first round match between qualifier Kamil Stolarczyk and Canada's Dan Szabo Wednesday.

Another upset was looming when Agassi Rusher, who was the last player in the main draw, took the second set from No. 8 seed Ziga Sesko of Slovenia 6-1, after dropping the first 6-3. Sesko managed to survive the third set 6-4, but he admitted that the green clay was still something of a mystery to him.

"It's my first time on the United States clay; I've never played on the green clay," said the 17-year-old right-hander, who is on this trip with the ITF Junior Touring Team, who arrived from Merida on Saturday. "It's a bit different, you need some time to get used to it, the bounces are lower than on the red clay, European clay, so I'm happy I managed to get through."

No. 4 seed Alan Wazny of Poland was also pushed to the limit before getting past Johan Oscar Lien of Norway 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles play begins Tuesday, with Nadia Lagaev and Laima Vladson the top seeds in the girls draw, with J500 Merida champions Yannick Alexandrescou and Ryo Tabata the No. 1 seeds.

The 16s first round is still going as of 9 p.m., but the 12s and 14s had only one major upset in the first round. Zichen Li of China defeated Boys 14s No. 2 seed Kazuki Nakajima of Japan 6-1, 7-5. 

In last night's singles finals at the ITF J500 in Merida Mexico, No. 3 seed Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil defeated Keaton Hance 6-1, 6-1 and top seed Alena Kovackova of the Czech Republic beat No. 4 seed Victoria Barros of Brazil 6-7(1), 7-5, 6-2.

Fourteen-year-old Anya Arora won her first ITF Junior Circuit title last week at the J100 in New Delhi India. Unseeded, Arora defeated No. 2 seed Diya Ramesh Ramesh of India 6-2, 6-4 in the final.

The USTA National Indoor Championships concluded today, with the results of the singles and doubles finals below. Click the headings to see the draws.

Girls 18s Indianapolis, IN

Singles

Thara Gowda[1] d. Carlota Moreno[2] 6-3, 5-7, 6-2

Doubles

Francie Pate and Danielle Young[1] d. Lauren Nolan and Alaina LiSanti 8-2

Boys 18s Overland Park KS

Singles

Alexander Suhanitski[6] d. Gus Grumet[1] 6-3, 1-6, 6-1

Doubles

Gregory Bernadsky and Carson Dwyer d. Yashwin Krishnakumar and Joseph Nau[1] 8-5

Girls 16s Minneapolis MN

Singles

Sylvana Jalbert[1] d. Sofia Basto Cabrera 6-2, 6-0

Doubles

Addison Lindsay and Sammie Mercer[3] d. Sylvana Jalbert and Heidi Polasek 8-4

Boys 16s Chicago IL

Singles 

Eli Kaminski[4] d. Daniel Malacek[9] 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Doubles

Eli Kaminiski and James Ross[5] d. Rafael Lopez and Nicolas Pedraza[4] 8-6 

Girls 14s Toledo OH

Singles

Anna Kapanadze[2] d. Olivia Lin[1] 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-3

Doubles

Sophia Nguyen-Huynh and Jessie Janiak[3] d. Eleanor Armistead and Gabrielle Villegas 8-4

Boys 14s Chicago IL

Singles

Ishaan Marla[2] d. Smyan Thuta[2] 6-0, 4-6, 6-1

Doubles

Gus Geubelle and Andrew Beltran[3] d. James Choi and Noah Bouzoubaa 8-5

Girls 12s Memphis TN

Singles

Mary Podkhyneychenko[5] d. Anna Sandru[2] 6-3, 6-0

Doubles

Cataleya Brown and Mila Mikoczi Spivey[3] d. Elizabeth Higgins and Rhiya Chiang  8-1

B12s Flushing Meadows NY

Singles

Pranav Madamanchi[5] d. Novak Masteller[11] 6-3, 7-6(5)

Doubles

William McGugin and Olie Rosa Hall[1] d. Novak Masteller and Luka Lopez[3] 8-5

Bradenton ITF J300 Qualifying Complete, Seeds Begin Play Monday; First Round of IMG Academy International 12s, 14s, 16s Championships Set for Monday; Hance Reaches ITF J500 Merida Final; Frodin and Penickova Win Girls Doubles

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Bradenton Florida--

A beautiful day to end the holiday weekend was even more enjoyable for the 16 players who won two matches on the green clay to qualify for the ITF J300 Bradenton main draw, while eight players in the younger age divisions earned their spots in Monday's first round with victories on the hard courts of the IMG Academy. (A list of all 12s, 14s and 16s qualifiers is here).

Five US girls advanced to the main draw: Amira Kockinis, Yilin Chen, Ana Avarmovic[9], Kaya Moe[4] and top qualifying seed Brooke Wallman.

Being the top seed in qualifying is accompanied by some what-ifs, and the top seed in boys qualifying, Agassi Rusher, ended up in the main draw after a late withdrawal. But Wallman was able to look for a silver lining, especially because she won both her matches Sunday, beating Siena Schintler of Puerto Rico 6-3, 6-3 this morning and Aya Manning  6-4, 1-6, 10-5 in the afternoon, both on Stadium Court.

"My coach Ryan (Harrison) was telling me to focus on preparing," said the 17-year-old from New York. "Because if I did qualify, and luckily I did, then I would have some match play on the courts and some of my opponents may not have had that, and I won't have any first rounds jitters."

After taking the first set against Manning, Wallman hit a rough spot in the second, a lull she attributed to a lack of patience.

"She was playing smart and I was kind of forcing things," Wallman said. "Just missing too much and I wasn't playing enough heavy spin and my footwork got a little sloppy. I was trying to end the point, when I really shouldn't have; I was going for the wrong shots at the wrong time. She got some confidence from that and she was playing a little better than in the first."

Wallman was able to reset after a bathroom break, taking an early lead in the match tiebreaker that helped her quickly put the poor second set behind her.

"I told myself to focus on every ball in, don't give her anything sloppy," Wallman said. "If she's going to win the breaker, it's going to be because she earned every point, not that I gave it to her. I played smart in the breaker, and I feel she played a little worse than in the second set, gave me a few points in the beginning which gave me some confidence."

Wallman recently made a verbal commitment to Texas A&M for the fall of 2027, with her search for the right school a short one.

"A&M was the first visit I went on, and I was like, what else am I really going to want in a school that they don't have here?" Wallman said. "And I couldn't come up with one thing, so you know what? This is my school."

Kori Montoya, a close friend of Wallman's, is joining the Aggies next fall, which also played a role in her choice.

"I'll be with one of my friends, and all the coaches, they were just people I thought I could grow a lot with," Wallman said. "I could tell from the practices I watched that they really enjoyed being there with the girls; it's not a job to them. And it's really cool that I can be on a team that we could be playing for a national title."

Wallman will face No. 8 seed Xinran Sun of China in the first round Tuesday, with all qualifiers having Monday off.

Four US boys reached the main draw with two wins today: Noble Renfrow, Safir Azam[9], Kamil Stolarczyk and Tyler Lee.

Lee, who is arrived Friday from Southern California, had only a couple of hours of practice to adjust to what is admittedly not his favorite surface. But he did not drop a set in his three wins, including a 6-1, 6-2 victory of Jerald Carroll Sunday morning and a 6-4, 6-1 win over this year's 16s USTA Clay Courts champion Keshav Muthuvel.

"This is my third tournament ever on clay and before this, I think my record on clay was 1-2," said the 16-year-old from Tustin California. "It's pretty tough to find clay courts in California. This tournament kind of snuck up on me and I think I played literally once in California and that was on red clay as well. I knew I had to make the most of my two hours of practice."

Lee is known for the hugging the baseline and generating blistering pace, but he said he's made adjustments this weekend, especially in his return game.

"Everyone knows how close I stand to the baseline when I return, especially on second serves," Lee said. "But it's kind of hard on these courts, when the ball bounces randomly, so stepping back has helped me a lot, to find my sweet spot. And if I'm comfortable, I can take time away as well. I've noticed that's what all the guys are doing anyway, and they know more than me about clay."

Lee's opponent on Tuesday will be unseeded Oliver Sanders of the Czech Republic, who reached the quarterfinals of this week's J500 in Merida Mexico.

The J300 Bradenton seeds:

GIRLS ITF

1. Laima Vladson(UZB)

2. Victoria Barros(BRA)

3. Luna Cinalli(ARG)

4. Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi(ARG)

5. Anastasija Cvetkovic(SRB)

6. Kanon Sawashiro(JPN)

7. Nadia Lagaev CAN)

8. Xinran Sun(CHN)

9. Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi(IND)

10. Ha Eum Lee(KOR)

11. Capucine Jauffret(USA)

12. Melije Clarke(USA)

13. Sofia Meabe(ARG)

14. Maja Pawaelska(POL)

15. Iva Marinkovic(SWE)

16. Nancy Lee(USA)

BOYS ITF

1. Yannick Alexandrescou(ROU)

2. Oskari Paldanius(FIN)

3. Ryo Tabata(JPN)

4. Alan Wazny(POL)

5. Jamie Mackenzie(GER)

6. Keaton Hance(USA) (withdrew)

7. Thijs Boogaard NED)

8. Ziga Sesko(SLO)

9. Michael Antonius(USA)

10. Kuan-Shou Chen(TPE)

11. Stefan Haita(ROU)

12. Andrew Johnson(USA)

13. William Rejchtman Vinciguerra(SWE)

14. Tito Chavez(ESP)

15. Ryan Cozad(USA)

16. Linus Lagerbohn(FIN)

Forty-one of the 64 first round matches are scheduled for Monday, with the remainder on Tuesday; the first round of doubles is scheduled for Tuesday, although there is a chance of rain in the forecast.

The seeds for the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions are below. Draws with times are at the USTA tournament site. Scores will posted to that site throughout the day.

B12s Seeds:

1. Oliver Baker(AUS)

2. Evan Fan(USA)

3. Jobe Dikkenberg(AUS)

4. Ethan Wang(AUS)

5. James Borchard(USA)

6. William Nikolas Vasii(ROM)

7. Dmitriy Flyam(USA)

8. Cheng-en Tsai(TPE)

9. Yeseong Lee(KOR)

10. Yoonjae Suh(KOR)

11. Jackson Ansbach(USA)

12. Udomchoke Bhasura(USA)

13. Rafael Champion(USA)

14. John Pollock(USA)

15. Maxim Kerbikov(USA)

16. Minchan Kwon(KOR))

B14s Seeds:

1. Genidy Mohamed(EGY)

2. Kazuki Nakajima(JPN)

3. Tristan Ascenzo(USA)

4. Boshi Wang(USA)

5. Alexander Anderson(USA)

6. Neve Upston(NZL)

7. Soyun Kim(KOR)

8. Yosuke Hino(SGP)

9. Novak Palombo(AUS)

10. Akhmadi Makhanov(KAZ)

11. Xiande He(CHN)

12. Michael Chervenkov(USA)

13. Indra Vergne(USA)

14. Kensho Ford(USA)

15. Deniz Karabulut(CAN)

16. Ignacio Mejias(USA)

B16s Seeds:

1. Mason Vaughn(USA)

2. Daniil Berezin(USA)

3. Arun Gadin(USA)

4. Dhakshish Aryan(USA)

5. Rafael Bote(CAN)

6. Ivan Rybak(USA)

7. Syed Sulaiman(USA)

8. Colin McPeek(USA)

9. Artem Dmytrenko(USA)

10. Julian Zhang(USA)

11. Mikaeel Alibaig(USA)

12. Cristobal Plasencia RoblesUSA)

13. Arjun Krishnan(USA)

14. Jang Junseo(KOR)

15. Zander Abrams(USA)

16. Jake Spurrell(AUS)

G12s Seeds:

1. Lucy Dupere(USA)

2. Inie Toli(USA)

3. Darcy Basist(AUS)

4. Fangqiao Zou(CHN)

5. Seungyeon Seo(AUS)

6. Yeonkyung Lim(KOR)

7. Chloe AnthonyUSA)

8. Zana Peric(USA)

9. Danielle Han(USA)

10. Ana Paula Vega Alvarez(DOM)

11. Meina Hirai(JPN)

12. Jocelyn Jia(AUS)

13. Nastassia Gilbert(USA)

14. Airi Ono(JPN)

15. Ameilia Hilton(USA)

16. Victoire Koko(FRA)

G14s Seeds:

1. Nikol Davletshina(USA)

2. Yerin Lim(KOR)

3. Amy Shen(CAN)

4. Zihao Han(CHN)

5. Konstantina Volonaki(GRE)

6. Aoi Yoshida(JPN)

7. Tessa Puente(USA)

8. Emilia Henningsen(DEN)

9. Ayaka Iwasa(JPN)

10. Jiayi Lu(CHN)

11. Srishti Kiran(IND)

12. Xinran Yan(CHN)

13. Adriana Khomyakova(USA)

14. Sophia Khomoutov(USA)

15. Yasmin Dyussembayeva(KAZ)

16. Eva Deng(USA)

G16s Seeds:

1. Rose Biria(USA)

2. Daniella Sales(USA)

3. Sadira OuyangUSA)

4. Vibha Gogineni(USA)

5. Kiana Smith(USA)

6. Tanvi Pandey(USA)

7. Samvrutha Jawahar(USA)

8. Aleksandra Jerkunica(USA)

9. Anna Scott Laney(USA)

10. Misaki Yamagishi(JPN)

11. Adelina Iftime(USA)

12. Rachel White(USA)

13. Kylee Hung(USA)

14. Kaylee Hill(USA)

15. Natasha Jerkunica(USA)

16. Kara Fronek(AUT)

No. 7 seed Keaton Hance defeated top seed Yannik Alexandrescou 6-4, 7-6(8) last night in the semifinals of the ITF J500 in Merida Mexico; he plays for the title tonight against No. 3 seed Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil, who beat No. 16 seed Linus Lagerbohm of Finland 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Top seed Alena Kovackova of the Czech Republic defeated Iva Marinkovic of Sweden 6-1, 6-4, but she will not face her sister, No. 2 seed Jana Kovackova in the final, with Jana losing to Victoria Barros of Brazil, the No. 4 seed, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. 

Thea Frodin and Annika Penickova, seeded No. 3, won the girls doubles title via a walkover from the top-seeded Kovackova sisters. 

Alexandrescou and Ryo Tabata of Japan, the No. 1 seeds, defeated No. 8 seeds Dominick Mosejczuk and Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia 7-6(3), 6-3 for the boys doubles title.