My ITF J300 Bradenton Recap; Kennedy's Comeback Leads to All-USA Orange Bowl Semifinal; Sirichantho and Del Mastro Reach Girls 16s Final; Malacek and Reyniak Meet Saturday for B16s Title

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Fort Lauderdale FL--

The Orange Bowl is heading into its championship weekend, but if you missed any of last week's daily coverage of the ITF J300 in Bradenton, you can find my recap of the titles for Jordan Lee and Kristina Liutova today at the Tennis Recruiting Network. 

A third straight jam-packed day of tennis was on the menu at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center, but when the final doubles match was completed after 7:30 p.m., the Orange Bowl was back on schedule, with the 16s finals and the ITF J500 semifinals set for Saturday.

The weather was perfect again Friday, with low humidity, temperatures in the 70s, and little breeze. That was fortunate for the 18s tournament; with both the third round singles and the quarterfinals of singles and doubles on the schedule, no one needed more challenges from the elements.

The boys semifinals will feature a European section and an American section, with top seed Yannick Alexandrescou of France facing No. 11 seed Thjis Boogaard of the Netherlands and No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy of New York playing unseeded Tanishk Konduri.

Alexandrescou defeated wild card Safir Azam 6-3, 6-4 in the third round and got past unseeded Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Boogaard had a much less taxing day, getting a third round win when Bradenton finalist Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria retired with an elbow injury at after the 6-1 first set, then beating No. 16 seed Andy Johnson for the second time in two weeks, 6-2, 6-2.

Konduri also kept his court time to a minimum, with a 6-0, 6-2 win over unseeded Oliver Sanders of the Czech Republic in the third round and a 6-4, 6-3 win over wild card Marcel Latak in the quarterfinals.

"I felt more fresh today," said the 16-year-old from Cupertino California. "Oliver definitely wasn't at his full ability, but it ended up working out for me. I played a pretty long match yesterday afternoon, and I'm just happy to get through both matches. It's never easy playing two singles matches in a day, everyone is so explosive, so intense that even short matches are physically tiring."

Konduri trailed 4-2 in the first set of his quarterfinal match with his doubles partner, but began to take control of the match then.

"He started really strong," Konduri said. "I got my rhythm a little bit, got a feel for how he plays, what rhythm he plays at and I just tried to make it difficult for him. I felt very confident in my serve today, felt I could hold, maybe not comfortably, but get a solid hold every time, and I started to ease into the match."

Despite picking up just one win in the previous two weeks in Merida Mexico and Bradenton, Konduri did not lose faith in his game.

"The last two weeks I really didn't have the results that I wanted or expected," Konduri said. "But because I finished early last week, I had almost a full week to prepare for this week, and I know my level's there. I'm very confident in my game and I'll let my racquet do the talking."

Kennedy had a much less routine pair of wins to reach his second consecutive Orange Bowl semifinal. Down 3-0 to Carel Ngounoue in the third round, Kennedy won 13 of the next 16 games for a 7-5, 6-1 win.

Next up in the quarterfinals was No. 7 seed Jamie Mackenzie of Germany, who was motivated to beat Kennedy after losing to him 6-3, 6-4 in a J300 in Italy this spring.

Kennedy took a 4-2 lead in the first set, but lost four straight games, and then fell behind 1-4 serving at 15-40. If there was ever a reason to be pessimistic that was it, but Kennedy didn't succumb to that temptation.

"I tried my best just not to think of the score," said Kennedy, who went on a 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 victory. "It was really helpful to stay positive and just play my game. Everyone is going to get nervous when you get close to the finish line; I think he gave me a point or two and I came up clutch with my serving."

Although Kennedy held and got the break back, Mackenzie held for a 5-4 lead and Kennedy had to save two match points in that game. Mackenzie made errors on both, and although he held quickly for a 6-5 lead, Kennedy had new life, and the momentum, dropping only two points in the next two games.

Another comeback was necessary in the third set, with Kennedy down 4-2, but he won the last four games of the two-hour and 45-minute match to get the victory.

"The way Jamie was playing, I felt that I had to bring my best in the big moments," Kennedy said. "He came out playing well, his forehand was great, his serve was obviously great, his kick serve was unbelievable. It was a roller coaster of a match, a lot of ups and downs, a very physical match obviously, but I'm happy to get through it. It was a real test."

Mackenzie left the court, but didn't go far, taking out the frustrations of his missed opportunities on his racquet, with the unmistakable sound of a racquet hitting the concrete echoing throughout the grounds.

Both boys semifinals will be first-time meetings.

One of the girls semifinals will feature rematch of a recent meeting with Kristina Liutova defeating Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia in the ITF J300 Bradenton final on Sunday 6-3, 6-0.

Liutova continued her march through the green clay swing, with two more straight-sets victories today, beating No. 9 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina 6-1, 6-3 and Anita Tu 6-2, 6-2. Tu had beaten No. 3 seed Ruien Zhang of China 6-4, 6-2 in the third round.

The sixth-seeded Cvetkovic posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 11 seed Nadia Lagaev of Canada in the third round, but was extended to almost three hours of tennis by 15-year-old qualifier Sarah Ye. Down 5-1 in the first set, Ye came back to take the first set in a tiebreaker, but cramping derailed her upset bid in the middle of the second set.

"I led 5-1 and I had one set point and she just started to play, hit the ball, hit some lines, and she didn't miss any balls," said the 17-year-old, who is traveling with the ITF's Grand Slam Development team on this trip to North America."

Cvetkovic led 3-0 in the second set, with Ye making another comeback to 3-all, but said she told herself "not again, not again."

Aided by the cramps Ye could not be treated for with a medical timeout, Cvetkovic took control, with the six matches Ye had already won in the past seven days no doubt a factor.

Cvetkovic, who played 11 matches in single and doubles last week in Bradenton, reaching both finals, is in the semifinals in both this week, and she's not hiding that fatigue.

"Honestly yes I'm so tired," Cvetkovic said. "But this is tennis. I have to play and I have to give my best."

Cvetkovic wasn't ready to assess what she might change in order to revere the outcome of last week's final.

"I have to play doubles today, so I will think about singles later," Cvetkovic said. "But first of all, doubles."

Cvetkovic and partner Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of Inida, the No. 3 seed, defeated unseeded Capucine Jauffret and Ava Rodriguez 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, and will play another US team: No. 5 seeds Thea Frodin and Welles Newman. Frodin and Newman beat unseeded Masa Jankovic of Serbia and Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia 6-3, 6-3.

No. 8 seed Alyssa James of Jamaica and Annika Penickova beat unseeded Neolia Manta and Iva Marinkovic of Switzerland 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals against unseeded Giselle Guillen of Australia and Alisa Terentyeva. Guillen and Terentyeva defeated unseeded Carrie-Anne Hoo and Kaya Moe 7-6(1), 6-3.

In the other girls semifinal, top seed Victoria Barros of Brazil will play No. 12 seed Xinran Sun of China. Barros defeated No. 16 seed Allegra Korpanec Davies of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4 in the third round and unseeded Zhang-Qian Wei of China 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Sun took out wild card Lani Chang 6-3, 6-1 in the third round, and No. 14 seed Iva Marinkovic of Switzerland 6-2, 7-6(1) in the quarterfinals.

In boys doubles quarterfinal action under the lights, the top three seeds and three teams that won junior slams this year were eliminated.

No. 7 seeds Ryan Cozad and Gavin Goode defeated top seed Alexandrescou and Ryo Tabata of Japan 6-2, 6-1, repeating their win in the final of the J300 in College Park in August.

Cozad and Goode will play No. 6 seed Alvarez and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, who beat the unseeded team of Kuan-Shou Cheng of Taiwan and Daniel Tazabekov of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-3. Cozad and Alvarez won the Orange Bowl 16s doubles title in 2023.

Roland Garros and Wimbledon champions Oskari Paldanius of Finland and Alan Wazny of Poland, the No. 3 seeds, had a match point on a deciding point at 4-5 in the second set against unseeded Latak and Konduri, but did not convert it and lost 6-7(2), 7-6(2), 10-8. 

US Open champions Keaton Hance and Kennedy, the No. 2 seeds, lost to No. 8 seeds Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia and Johan Oscar Lien of Norway 6-3, 6-2.

The girls 16s final Saturday will feature two unseeded Americans, with Priscilla Sirichantho facing Daniela Del Mastro.

Sirichantho defeated unseeded Sasha Miroshnichenko of Texas 6-2, 6-2 in Friday morning's semifinal, while Del Mastro spent nearly an hour more on court in her 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 14 seed Julia Seversen of California.

Both finalists have little experience on green clay, but they have adjusted quickly this week.

"I train on indoor hard," said the 14-year-old left-hander from Connecticut. "So I came in here just trying to have fun, because that's what my coach told me to do. I just came and tried my best; I had no idea what was going to happen."

After two singles matches and a doubles match Thursday, Sirichantho needed some help to be ready for her semifinal.

"I rolled out of bed, literally, I was so sore,"  Sirichantho said. "I have knees wrapped up, because I fell yesterday, and it was tough. I went to the physio and they gave me a little massage so now I'm all good."

It wasn't just the physical side either that Sirichantho needed to address.

"I came in pretty tight, but I talked to my dad a little bit and he kind of calmed me down," Sirichantho said. "He was in my corner the whole time, sitting in the coaches seat and giving me encouragement. But I got looser as the match went on and I'm happy with how it went."

Del Mastro won the Easter Bowl 14s title in March, so reaching the 16s Orange Bowl final puts an exclamation point on an eventful year.

"It's been a great year, I've had a lot of fun on court," said the 14-year-old from Minnesota. "In today's match she played very well and it was down to the wire. She's a great fighter, stays in the match the whole time and I had to play well to pull that out, and I'm happy that I did."

Del Mastro did play the Bradenton J300 as a wild card, but that one match was most of her experience on the green clay.

"I never play on green clay, ever," Del Mastro said. "The only time I hit on it is before a tournament."

Del Mastro knew she needed to make some changes to her strategy today after dropping the first set.

"She was playing very solid, so I was like, mix it up a little bit, try a couple of things," Del Mastro said. "The drop shot started working very well for me, so it was a good mixup."

Del Mastro and Sirichantho played last fall in the Les Petits As United States qualifying tournament, their only previous meeting.

"We've been friends for a long time, so I think it'll be a great match, it'll be really fun, Del Mastro said. "I ended up winning that match 6-1, 7-6, but it was great match and I'm looking forward to another one."

No. 2 seed Matias Reyniak and No. 7 seed Daniel Malacek will come into the boys 16s championship Saturday, with decidedly different perspectives.

Reyniak, who defeated No. 12 seed Gadin Arun of Arizona 6-4, 6-1, has been training on red clay in Spain for over a year, while Malacek, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over No. 14 seed Colter Amey, doesn't have any access to the surface to train on, but is adjusting his game to adapt.

"We have zero clay there," said the 16-year-old left-hander from Seattle." I'm more of a hard court player, most of the time. But I think I'm beginning to learn how to move on this clay, so I'm playing better and better."

Malacek also changed his mindset.

"I feel, because the ball's a little heavier, you can't really go for your shots as much," Malacek said. "So it's more of a grinding mentality. But I feel like I'm pretty fit, I can last, so I'm ok with it. It's not really how well you play, it's just that I've been more gritty."

Reyniak, originally from New York, found his commute to courts there to be so time consuming that he had to find an alternative.

"Everything in Spain is on red clay, and it's changed my game a lot," said the 16-year-old, who is at BTT Academy. "High bouncing, slow courts, really rich clay, unlike green clay, which is really like a hard court."

Despite playing mostly ITF Junior Circuit events in Europe, Reyniak believed he could contend for the title this week.

"I felt confident," Reyniak said. "I don't really know a lot of kids and I don't look at draws, it's not my thing, so I didn't know I was the No. 2 seed until I showed up. I just come and play, and see what happens, but I go to every tournament expecting to win."

The girls 16s doubles title will feature top seeds Emery Combs and Olivia de Los Reyes and No. 6 seeds Sylvana Jalbert and Reiley Rhodes.  Combs and de Los Reyes will be playing for their fourth consecutive title after winning three straight J100 titles this fall. Combs and de Los Reyes defeated unseeded Audrey Dussault and Evelynn Kwak in the semifinals 6-2, 6-2. Jalbert and Rhodes beat No. 7 seeds Alexandra and Natasha Jerkunica 2-6, 6-3, 10-7.

No. 5 seeds Filip Djokic of Serbia and Sean Peng will face unseeded Rafael Pawar and Zesen Wang in the 16s boys double final. Djokic and Peng defeated No. 2 seeds Griffin Goode and Nicolas Pedraza 7-6(4), 6-4 in the the semifinals, while Pawar and Wang beat No. 8 seeds Mikaeel Ali Baig of Pakistan and Atticus Kim 7-5, 1-6, 10-5.

Live streaming and live scoring can be found at the ustaorangebowl.com information page.

Half of Orange Bowl J500 Seeds Gone After Thursday's Second Round, Ten US Boys Reach Round of 16; All-USA Semifinals Set for Friday in 16s Division; Junior Orange Bowl Begins Friday

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Fort Lauderdale FL--

Wednesday heat and humidity disappeared Thursday morning, with temperature in the 70s and a light breeze providing perfect conditions for a long day of Orange Bowl competition at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center.

When the final match finished under the lights, ten US boys and four US girls had advanced to the round of 16 of the ITF J500, and all the semifinalists in both the boys and girls 16s divisions are Americans.

Exactly half the seeds in the 18s are out after two rounds, although both No. 1 seeds are through. Victoria Barros of Brazil defeated Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine 6-0, 6-3 and Yannick Alexandrescou, who has now officially switched countries from Romania to France, beating wild card Nikolas Stoot 6-3, 6-3.

No. 4 seed Thea Frodin was one of the first upset victims, with Tereza Hermanova of the Czech Republic defeating the 16-year-old American 6-4, 6-4.

Hermanova is now in her fourth week on North American clay, having competed at the J300 and J500 in Mexico and the J300 in Bradenton last week.

"I'm feeling great," said the 16-year-old from Prague, who counts this as her best win of the six she's posted on this trip. "I think it's better to play more matches, it's great."

Hermanova credited her variety with her success against Frodin today.

"I think I changed it up, some slices, some drop shots and I think that was the way that I did it," said Hermanova, who is playing in the Orange Bowl for the first time. "I think we knew before the match how to play the game and that was good. And today I was returning really well."

Frodin was hardly the only seed to fall, with No. 5 seed Luna Cinalli going out to 15-year-old Welles Newman 6-2, 6-0. Newman who picked up three main draw wins at USTA Pro Circuit W35s last month, is playing her first junior event since reaching the third round of the US Open in September.

The other three US girls to advance are wild card Lani Chang, Anita Tu and qualifier Sarah Ye. Chang, who turned 15 Tuesday, defeated Lyla Messler 6-4, 6-0; Tu defeated Noelia Manta of Switzerland 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 and Ye advanced when No. 13 seed Ha Eum Lee of Korea retired at 4-6, 5-2.

Keeping up with all the American boys was impossible, with 17 of the 32 players competing today from the United States. Ten of those advanced, with five winning over their countrymen.

Safir Azam defeated Agassi Rusher 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a battle of wild cards, with Azam set to play top seed Alexandrescou Friday morning.

Wild card Marcel Latak defeated Gavin Goode 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 and No. 10 seed Noah Johnston beat wild card Tyler Lee 7-5, 6-0. The other two all-US second round matches were lengthy battles with No. 12 seed Michael Antonius defeating Vihaan Reddy 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2 and Tanishk Konduri beating qualifier Navneet Raghuram 5-7, 6-0, 6-4.  The final game of the Konduri-Raghuram match was a classic, with Raghuram serving to stay in the match. After nine deuces and errors on his first two match points, Konduri converted his third on a Raghuram error.

Qualifier Benjamin Saltman pulled off the biggest upset of the day, defeating No. 3 seed Ryo Tabata of Japan 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, while Carel Ngounoue beat No. 13 seed Kuan-Shou Chen of Taiwan 7-6(4), 6-4.

Three other seeded Americans advanced, with No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy beating Volodymyr Gurenko of Canada 6-4, 6-1, No. 8 seed Ronit Karki rebounding for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Daniel Jade of France and No. 16 seed Andrew Johnson beating Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga of Colombia 6-0, 5-7, 6-1.

No. 4 seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland lost to qualifier Olive Sanders of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-5; No. 5 seed Keaton Hance couldn't stop the momentum of ITF J300 Bradenton finalist Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria, who posted a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

 

Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico defeated his doubles partner, No. 9 seed Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, closing out the match with four straight games.

"I've been traveling with him for the past couple of weeks, playing doubles with him, so it's tough to play him," said the 17-year-old Georgia resident, who is with the ITF Grand Slam Development Touring Team on this trip. "He hits very fast, the ball comes super fast and I honestly wasn't mentally ready, I was late, lazy footwork. In the second set, I knew I had to start strong, got the early break and just held serve. He wasn't playing his best, I wasn't playing my best and I was down most of the third set, 3-1, 4-2. I played solid, he gave me some mistakes, which was pretty lucky."

Alvarez, a blue chip in the class of 2027, recently committed to the University of Georgia.

"I visited a lot of schools, but once I visited Georgia, I knew that's where I wanted to be," Alvarez said. "I fell in love."

Two rounds of singles will be played Friday, with the singles round of 16 and quarterfinals on the schedule, as well as the doubles quarterfinals.

The girls 16s division is still not quite caught up after the rain on Monday and Tuesday, but they will be playing their singles semifinals Friday, as well as two rounds of doubles. 

All four semifinalists in the boys and girls 16s are from the United States.

In the girls top half semifinal, Priscilla Sirichantho will face Alexandra Miroshnichenko; in the bottom half, Daniela Del Mastro will play No. 14 seed Julia Seversen.  

In the boys top half semifinal, No. 14 seed Colter Amey, who has reached the semifinals for the second straight week, will play No. 7 seed Daniel Malacek; in the bottom half, No. 12 seed Gadin Arun will play No. 2 seed Matias Reyniak.

Play will begin at 9:30 a.m. Friday, due to several late doubles matches, with the 18s third round and the girls 16s semifinals, followed by the 18s quarterfinals and boys 16s semifinals.

Live scoring is available at IonCourt, with live streaming at SaveMyPlay.

The Junior Orange Bowl begins Thursday at four sites in the Miami area. 

Below are seeds in each division:

B12s
1. Rui He

2. Oliver Baker

3. Evan Fan

4. James Borchard

5. William McGugin

6. Ethan Wang

7. Jobe Dikkenberg

8. Pranav Madamanchi

B14s

1. Mohamed Genidy

2. Tristan Ascenzo

3. Kazuki Nakajima

4. Siyun Kim

5. Evan Giurescu

6. Ishaan Marla

7. Alexander Anderson

8. Neve Upston

G12s

1. Fangqiao Zou

2. Lucy Dupere

3. Ann Sandru

4. Mila Mikoczi Spivey

5. Seungyeon Seo

6. Inie Toli

7. Summer Yang

8. Cataleya Brown

G14s

1. Nikol Davletshina

2. Isha Manchala

3. Tanvi Pandey

4. Isabella Yan

5. Olivia Lin

6. Yerin Lim

7. Ayaka Iwasa

8. Audrey Dussault

Due to the overlap with the Orange Bowl, I will not be covering the event in person, but will monitor the results when the tournament reaches the quarterfinal stage Monday.

IMG Academy International 12s, 14s, 16s Recap; Kisimov Avenges ITF J300 Bradenton Finals Loss in Orange Bowl Opener; Liutova's Winning Streak Continues; Amey Ousts Top Seed Vaughan in 16s

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Fort Lauderdale, FL--

Before I get into the action today at the Orange Bowl, which finally dried out after a day and a half of rain, take a minute to look at my Tennis Recruiting Network article on the 12s, 14s and 16s tournaments at the IMG Academy International Championships last week in Bradenton. These weeks in Florida and Mexico that close out the junior calendar are not independent; many of the storylines at this week's Orange Bowl have developed over the past three weeks, and will continue into next week, when the Junior Orange Bowl concludes.

One of those storylines emerged the moment the Orange Bowl draw was published, with a rematch of the ITF J300 Bradenton boys final between Jordan Lee and Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria set for the first round in Fort Lauderdale.

Due to the rain Tuesday, that match was postponed to today, with Kisimov avenging his loss to Lee on Sunday with a 6-4, 7-5 win in sunny, calm and warm conditions.

Lee fell behind 5-1 in the first set, but closed the gap to 5-4 before Kisimov served it out on his second attempt.

Kisimov got a key break at 3-all in the second set, and held for 5-3 in a service game that featured five deuces and two break points. Lee held to force Kisimov to serve it out at 5-4, which he could not do, despite a 30-0 lead in the game. Unforced errors were the major cause, although Kisimov could hardly blame himself for Lee's inside-in forehand winner at 30-40.

Kisimov said he was frustrated with himself for failing to serve out the match, although with his placid demeanor on court, no one would detect it.

"I don't show emotion, but inside, I am a bit angry with those kind of games," said the 17-year-old from Sofia. "But the good part was that I managed to get myself calm, and that's maybe why I got those next two games."

Lee couldn't hold at 5-all however, with Kisimov breaking on a perfect drop shot at 30-40. 

Serving for the match a second time, Kisimov had just one goal.

"I just focused on not making unforced errors, basically keep attacking," said Kisimov, who went up 30-0 just as he had at 5-4, but this time crushed a forehand winner to earn three match points. He made an unforced error on a slice to make it 40-15, but converted the second with a lob winner over a charging Lee.

Kisimov was surprised when he saw his Orange Bowl draw, but thought it probably benefitted him.

"I was like oh, again. But I kind of wanted to play again because I wanted revenge," Kisimov said. "It was tough in the final at Eddie Herr. I was really motivated today and now I am really happy, because I won. But it was a great match, a great match."

Next up for Kisimov is another American, No. 5 seed Keaton Hance.

Although Lee saw two winning streaks broken today, with the 2024 Orange Bowl 16s champion suffering his first Orange Bowl loss and his chance for a second set of back-to-back championships at IMG and Orange Bowl, Kristina Liutova extended hers with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Annika Penickova.

Like Lee, the ITF J300 Bradenton champion had a tough draw, facing the seventh-seeded Penickova, but the 15-year-old Seattle-area resident didn't concern herself with that, considering it just another match against a quality opponent.

"It was nothing different from the other players," said Liutova, who beat three seeds, in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final in Bradenton. "The tactics might be different, but mentally I would go out there and play my game and do what I need to do to win the match. I need to go out there and just play, enjoy the competition."

Although the scoreline looks routine, the match took two hours and 15 minutes to complete, with nearly half of the 19 games going to deuce.

"I had to find a way to return well, so I don't get killed on the next shot," Liutova said of her efforts to counteract Pennickova's big lefty serve. "She's a great server and I had to adjust on return."

In the opening set, Liutova was unable to serve it out at 5-3, but she didn't panic and broke Penickova in a five-deuce game to claim the set.

"Mistakes are past and I have to accept the past, because nothing is going to change, whether I get frustrated or not," Liutova said. "If I get back from the last point faster, it will just help."

Liutova will face fellow 15-year-old Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia, who defeated Iona Boian of Romania 6-1, 6-1 on Monday.

The only other seed to lose today in the completion of the first round was No. 8 seed Sonja Zhenikhova of Germany, who lost the qualifier Lyla Messler 6-0, 6-0. Messler, who recently signed with Illinois, has an ITF ranking of 2604, with Zhenikhova ranked 21.

Two boys seeds lost today, with qualifier Navneet Raghuram advancing when No. 14 seed Stefan Haita of Romania retired at 3-6, 6-3, 2-0. Wild card Marcel Latak took out No. 6 seed Alan Wazny of Poland 6-1, 7-6(5).

Latak, the reigning Kalamazoo 16s champion, got off to a quick start, but had to make some adjustments in the second set, down two breaks at 4-1.

"First set, I went on court just going for it and everything kind of clicked," said the 16-year-old from Illinois. "Second set I had a super slow start, didn't serve my best, the shot selection wasn't there at all. My dad was in the coaching box and he told me just to put a bunch of balls in the court first and then try to look for something. After a couple of points of that, the rhythm came back and I was able to go up 6-5."

Latak doesn't really enjoy the surface, but his success on this swing has made him rethink that.

"I'm happy with how I'm playing on clay," Latak said. "The expectations weren't high at all before I came (to Florida). I know I'm not going to be a clay court player, to be honest, but I think I'll have to forgive clay now."

As with most other players, Latak has assessed the courts at the renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center as excellent and slow.

"They are super slow," Latak said. "When I came here for my first practice, I was hitting everything so early and these courts are genuinely so slow. I like it though, I genuinely like the conditions."

Latak will play Gavin Goode, who advanced Monday when Wiliam Rejchtman Vinciguerra of Sweden retired trailing 6-3, 1-0.

No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy struggled in the first half of his match with Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia, but the momentum of passing shot winner, followed by a forehand winner at 5-all in the second set tiebreaker propelled him to 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 victory. He will play Volodymyr Gurenko of Canada in Thursday's second round.

In the 16s divisions, top boys seed Mason Vaughan was beaten by fellow IMG Academy International semifinalist Colter Amey 7-6(3), 6-3.  Catalina Delmas Schaerer, the No. 2 seed in the girls draw, lost to Amy Gray of Australia 6-2, 6-3.

The boys 16s quarterfinals will be played Thursday, and the girls 16s will play both their third round and their quarterfinal matches on Friday.

The ITF Wheelchair Junior Masters tournament begins Thursday, with two round robin matches. The participants in the girls and boys events can be found here.

The draws and Thursday's order of play can be found here.

IonCourt is providing live scoring. The free live streaming is provided by SaveMyPlay.

All-Day Rain on Day Two Throws Orange Bowl Schedule into Disarray; Australian Open Men's and Women's Singles Entry Lists Released

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Fort Lauderdale FL--

Sunshine has been in short supply at the Orange Bowl, with play canceled on Monday at 3:30 p.m. due to rain and lightning and Tuesday's matches starting in light drizzle with barely three hours of action on court before heavy rains ended all hope of competition at 1:30 p.m. at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center at Holiday Park.

This is my 20th Orange Bowl, and although rain isn't unusual at this event, the usual disruption is a heavy rain and clearing skies within a few hours. An all-day rain, unrelenting but not drenching, is something I have never experienced at this event (Junior Orange Bowl is another story) and when it comes at the beginning of the tournament with so many matches, the schedule is thrown into chaos.

With only 22 of the 103 matches on Tuesday's schedule completed, Wednesday's matches will be a wide variety of rounds and age groups. The good news from today is that the boys 16s second round was completed, and their singles tournament remains on schedule, with their eight third round matches slated for Wednesday. 

The second round of the girls 16s, and the first round of both girls and boys 18s, normally completed by Tuesday, are now awaiting completion on Wednesday, with doubles also behind due to the two days of rain.

One of the players fortunate to finish his match before the first rain delay was boys 16s top seed Mason Vaughan, who had to hustle to get under the clubhouse roof as the rain intensified following his 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over Sulaiman Syed.

Vaughan, who was also the top seed at last week's IMG Academy International Championships, lost a three-and-a-half-hour semifinal there on the hard courts, with just one day to prepare for the change to green clay.

"That's one of the main things I've been working on over the past year is having these two-week blocks of tournaments and being able to reset, for the second one especially," said the 16-year-old from Austin Texas. "If I go deep in the first one, which I did--I had like seven hours on court one day--I have to recover. So I've been resetting my mind the last couple of days, and it was about just forgetting about last week. I'm glad to be here and really glad to be in the third round."

Switching surfaces from last week to this was not as difficult as it could have been, with Vaughan having access to green clay as well as hard courts at the Brookhaven Tennis Academy.

"I'm training like once a day on clay, and on hard court the other half," said Vaughan. "So for me it was a really easy adjustment. I have a really good balance there, but I know for others it's definitely difficult. Orange Bowl has been one of my main goals, so I've really put an emphasis on clay this year."

Vaughan, who played the 16s at the Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation last year, is impressed by the newly renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center.

"That was a great site, but this site is unreal," Vaughan said. "For sure, way better. I haven't had a single bad bounce, even when it hits the line. So I'm really appreciative that they moved it here."

Vaughan will play another 2025 IMG Academy International 16s semifinalist on Wednesday: No. 14 seed Colter Amey. Amey defeated Aidan Conley 6-4, 6-1 this morning. Kahven Singh, who beat IMG Academy International champion Jang Junseo of Korea in the first round, continued his great form, beating 2025 14s Clay Courts champion Joshua Dolinsky 6-1, 6-1 this morning.

As positive as most of the comments have been regarding the tournament's new location, a major complaint has centered on the practice court situation. There are no on-site courts for practice, as there were at Veltri, with players needing to book warmups at two other clubs, which are between 15 and 30 minutes away. 

Those logistics nearly led to the default of Daniel Brand of Israel, who was scheduled at not before 9:30 a.m. on the Chris Evert Stadium against No. 8 seed Ronit Karki. After girls 16s No. 5 seed Olivia de Los Reyes quickly beat Alexandra Korneeva of Armenia 6-1, 6-1, the court was groomed and ready to go and Brand had not yet arrived at the JETC. Karki, who had warmed up at 6:30 a.m. at the JETC after arriving in Fort Lauderdale Monday from his participation in the A Racquet at the Rock exhibition in Newark New Jersey, was ready to go, so Brand was put on the clock. The ITF has a 15-minute grace period once the match is called before a default is issued, and Brand arrived with just five minutes to spare.

When the first rain delay came at 10:30, Karki led 5-1, and although some courts had matches resume between 1:00 and 1:30, the Evert Stadium court was not playable, with that score carrying over until tomorrow.

The draws and order of play for Wednesday are available at the ustaorangebowl.com website. Live scoring and streaming is available via iOnCourt.

Stephanie Myles of OpenCourt recently posted a deep dive on the Orange Bowl fields from five, ten and 15 years ago. The latter would have been played on the hard courts of Crandon Park; the 2020 and 2015 tournaments were both at the Veltri Tennis Center.

The Australian Open men's and women's acceptances were released today, with 16 US men and 16 US women currently in the fields, including wild cards Patrick Kypson and Elli Mandlik.

The women's list is here; the men's list is here.

2025 Orange Bowl Championships Begin with Chris Evert Attending Stadium Court Ceremony Honoring Her; Top Seed Barros Tested, No. 2 Seed Vladson Upset; Mixed Results for IMG Academy 16s Champions

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Fort Lauderdale FL--

In the 20 years I've been attending the Eddie Herr, now known as the IMG Academy International Championships, I've made the trip to the other side of the state for the Orange Bowl Championships. The first six years of my coverage of that event were at Crandon Park's hard courts on Key Biscayne; the next 13 years, the historic event was held at the Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation Florida. 

Today marked the opening of a new era for the Orange Bowl, with the first main draw matches of the ITF J500 tournament played at the recently renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center in Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale. 

The green clay courts with newly installed subsurface irrigation were buzzing with activity as the completion of the first round of 16s division began at 8 a.m. But the excitement reached its peak at 10 a.m., when the dedication and unveiling of the Chris Evert Stadium Court drew hundreds of fans, coaches, administrators and city dignitaries, eager to connect with one of the great champions of the sport.

Football and tennis commentator Chris Fowler, now a colleague of Evert's at ESPN, served as the Master of Ceremonies, and led off with one of the themes of the morning: how Chris Evert sparked his interest in professional tennis.

Remarks by the city's mayor and councilman, USTA 's General Manager of US Tennis Tracy Davies, Orange Bowl Committee Chairman Henri Crockett and Orange Bowl Tennis Committee Chairman Doug Wylie detailed the years-long effort to find a new home for the Orange Bowl, with the collaboration between the City of Fort Lauderdale, the Orange Bowl Committee and the USTA leading to the 9.5 million dollar renovation of the public courts where Jimmy Evert taught his five children and thousands of other young players the game.

Evert, a three-time Orange Bowl champion, then stepped to the podium to talk about her father, his legacy, the significance of the tournament and what the facelift to the venue will mean for the future of the sport in South Florida.

After the new Chris Evert scoreboard was unveiled, Evert posed for many photos with fans and VIPs, then did a short mixed zone interview session with local media.

Prior to the event Evert was out watching a match featuring one of the players training at the Evert Academy in Boca Raton, and in her speech she reiterated how important this tournament has been for its nearly 80-year history.

"It's huge," said Evert, who won the 16s in 1968 and the 18s in 1969 and 1970. "It's the biggest international tournament in junior tennis. It is the standard for the best. Usually if you look at players that won the Orange Bowl, they turn pro, almost 99 percent of them. It's a great stepping stone, so to now have this at my dad's facility, it's a great tournament, I enjoyed it, and I feel very privileged."

Keaton Hance had the honor of playing the first match in Orange Bowl history on the Chris Evert Stadium Court, with the No. 5 seed defeating Siu Chi Nicholas Cheng of Hong Kong 6-4, 6-4.

I asked the 17-year-old how he felt about christening the court, and what he knew about Evert.

"It's amazing, wow, first one," said Hance, a Southern Californian who trains with the USTA in Lake Nona. "All I know is that my mom (Courtney) knows a lot about her. I don't know too much, but I know she was an amazing player, that's she's a huge part of tennis history."

Hance complimented the court itself, which was a contrast with his last tournament, where he made the final of the ITF J500 in Merida Mexico on red clay.

"They're very nice, I know they have the underground (irrigation) which is really good for the green clay especially," said Hance. "They are playing really well, pretty slow, which I like. I just got here a couple of days ago but what I've seen is really high quality."

A first J500 final was one milestone for Hance in Mexico, a second was his first solo trip to a tournament.

"I was actually alone," said Hance, who resorted to a hitting wall for a warmup as he continued to advance. "Towards the end of the tournament a lot of guys went back home and only a few guys left. But it was a really good experience being alone and playing matches alone."

Several players who played in Merida arrived the following week in Bradenton feeling ill, but Hance took no chances, eating every meal at a Starbucks.

"I've had a lot bad experiences because of my stomach in Mexico and South America," Hance said. "So I stuck to the same thing every single day. It sounds bad, but I ate Starbucks every single day for every single meal. But you know what? I got to the finals so it worked good enough."

While Hance was playing on Chris Evert Stadium, top seed Victoria Barros, like Hance a Merida finalist, was being tested on Court 10, with the 15-year-old from Brazil beating Maja Pawelska of Poland 7-6(6), 7-6(7). Pawelska served for the first set at 6-5 and had two set points in the second set tiebreaker, but Barros was steadier in the key moments to pull out the win.

No. 2 seed Laima Vladson of Uzbekistan lost in the first round for the second consecutive week, with wild card Yael Saffar, ranked 132 spots below the ITF No. 13, getting the 6-4, 7-6(6) victory.

Boys top seed Yannick Alexandrescou of Romania, one of the players who withdrew from Bradenton due to illness after competing in Mexico, defeated Jan Chlodnicki of Poland 6-4, 6-2.

No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy, who played Ronit Karki before the women's and men's exhibition A Racquet at The Rock in New Jersey Sunday, will face Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia, the son of Goran Ivanisevic Tuesday.

Three seeds, including Vladson, lost today, with Agassi Rusher defeating No. 15 seed Linus Lagerbohm of Finland 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 and Anita Tu beating No. 15 seed Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India 6-0, 6-3.

No. 16 seed Andy Johnson barely escaped the upset bid of Emilo Camacho of Ecuador 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, in a match that drew a large crowd of spectators crammed around Court 12 for all the drama.

After a long set point that earned him a split, Camacho immediately collapsed from cramps just behind the baseline. After a medical timeout, play resumed, but Johnson was also experiencing some cramping in his calves, and he saw break leads disappear twice before he closed out the match with a good serve.

"We played a pretty long point, we were both in the corners for that point and I am came to net, missed a ball at the net, a dropper volley that barely clipped the net. He was full sprinting to it and ended up cramping on the way and tumbling," Johnson said.  

Johnson said the cramps were specific to certain movements, so many of the rallies showed no signs of them.

"He was cramping but only on the corners," Johnson said of his fellow 16-year-old. "It was kind of like me, if I'd run for a ball I'd feel it, and same thing for him. But overall, I'd say it was one of those fun matches. Everything was happening that everyone would want to see. It was definitely a good experience."

After a day off Sunday, the IMG Academy International 16s champions made the switch from hard to clay courts, with only one of the two advancing.

Girls champion Adelina Iftime defeated Sophia Osipova 6-1, 6-0 but boys champion Jang Junseou of Korea lost to Kahven Singh 6-1, 6-7(1), 6-2. Boys finalist Artem Dmytrenko lost to No. 8 seed Nicolas Pedraza 6-1, 6-2. Girls finalist London Evans, who received a wild card into the 18s, plays Tuesday.

The weather was warm and sunny for the Evert Stadium ceremony and for several hours after it concluded, but by 3:15 p.m. dark clouds began to build and the lightning alarm sounded with four 18s matches still in progress. Those matches will be finished Tuesday, weather permitting, with rain again in the forecast. All first round 16s singles matches were completed Monday as scheduled, but the first round of doubles were disrupted by rain. 

The first round of 18s doubles are scheduled for the late afternoon, with Alexandrescou and Japan's Ryo Tabata the No. 1 seeds in the boys draw, with US Open champions Hance and Kennedy the No. 2 seeds. 

Vladson and Sonja Zhenikhova of Germany are the No. 1 seeds in the girls draw, with Bradenton champions Kanon Sawashiro of Japan and Xinran Sun of China the No. 2 seeds.

Wild Card Lee Adds ITF J300 Title to Last Year's 16s Championship at IMG Academy International; Unseeded Liutova Claims Second ITF J300 Title; Orange Bowl Begins Monday; USA's Master 'U Streak Ends; Urhobo Falls in W35 Daytona Beach Final

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Bradenton FL--

Last year Jordan Lee received one of the inaugural Nick Bollettieri trophies presented the IMG Academy International champions after he claimed the Boys 16s title. A year later, on the same court, Lee earned another Bollettieri statuette by defeating unseeded Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria 6-3, 7-6(3), capping off a improbable return from injury with a historic back-to-back performance.

The 15-year-old from Orlando was out for more than eight months with a wrist injury, returning to competition at last month's Junior Davis Cup in Chile, and winning all the matches he played in the USA's title run. Immediately upon returning from Chile, he picked up his first ATP point as a wild card at an M15 in Orlando, before losing in the second round.

This week, Lee faced his first true test, with daily matches that demanded both physical and mental endurance. And although he found himself in a third set in both the quarterfinals and the semifinals, Lee found what he needed to close out his older and more experienced opponents.

Although he had played on the same Stadium Court last year, when the 16s were switched to clay due to hurricane damage to several of the Academy's hard courts, Lee admitted to some jitters in his first ITF J300 final.

"I came out a little nervous," said Lee, who was broken in the opening game. "I think I felt a little more comfortable on this court, especially after last year, but I wasn't really thinking about last year, just more about what I could do this year."

Lee and Kisimov exchanged breaks twice, but at 3-all Lee shook off the nerves, winning 12 of 13 points to take a 5-3 lead. Up 40-0 serving for the set, Lee ended up at deuce, with Kisimov hitting two winners and Lee double faulting, but an ace gave Lee a fourth set point, which he won when Kisimov caught the tape after a long rally.

"When I started getting warm, I loosened up," said Lee said, who is the first boy two win both the 16s and 18s titles in the tournament, formerly known as the Eddie Herr International Championships. "I played very well then throughout the match, it was a great level from both; he played very well as well."

Kisimov, who was also playing in his first ITF J300 final, said he wasn't nervous, but didn't agree with Lee's assessment of his performance.

"It could have been better," said the 17-year-old from Sofia. "I didn't play my best, but he played good. My serve wasn't perfect today, so I couldn't manage to hold my games."

Lee opened the second set with a 2-0 lead, but dropped four straight games, with Kisimov playing well and Lee making several of the unforced errors  he had avoided in winning five straight games. But Kisimov wasn't able to hold the 4-2 lead, with too many second serves leading to a love break.

"Not many first serves, not enough speed," said Kisimov, who is coached by Zlatin Mingov at Pro Sport in Sofia. "I returned great, but you have to have a good serve to win a set."

Kisimov took a 5-4 lead, saving a break point with a forehand winner, but after Lee held at love, Kisimov was broken to give Lee a chance to serve for the match. He was unable to take it, going down 0-40, and when his forehand caught the tape at 30-40 he simply shrugged and prepared for the tiebreaker.

"I didn't think too much about it," Lee said. "I knew I had to take it point after point. In the tiebreaker, I knew I had to stay calm, do the best I could after each point and make him work for it."

Lee got some good fortune with a let serve winner to go up 4-2 in the tiebreaker, and then came up with an ace for 5-2. Kisimov came up with a forehand winner to stay within range but a double fault sealed his fate, and he couldn't return Lee's deep first serve on match point.

A small fist pump toward his coach Sylvain Guichard was the extent of Lee's celebration, a reaction that he said comes naturally.

"I don't know, I fell like I'm more of a calm guy, and in the moment I couldn't think of anything," Lee said. "I didn't plan anything, and I didn't want to make it too disrespectful as well."

Guichard wasn't sure what to expect from Lee coming into this week, with so little match play since his return.

"I know Jordan has the level, but in a tournament like this, a lot of things have to go right," said USTA National Coach Guichard, who was the captain of the USA's Junior Davis Cup team in Chile. "He hasn't played that much, but he's in great shape physically; that's all he's done in the nine months he was out, but playing on the court and competing is different. I didn't expect him to be that fresh, to last the entire tournament."

In addition to a second Bollettieri statuette, with this year's version featuring Bollettieri's signature sunglasses, Lee will receive a main draw wild card for the ATP Challenger 100 in Sarasota in the spring of 2026.

Lee and Kisimov's next meeting will be Tuesday, in the first round of the ITF J500 Orange Bowl.

The girls final, played simultaneously with the boys due a threat of rain later in the day, featured two players who had already won titles at the J300 level. Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia, the No. 5 seed this week, had claimed the J300 in Santa Croce Italy in May, while unseeded Kristina Liutova broke through at the J300 in College Park in August.

With contrasting paths to the finals--Liutova had not dropped a set, while Cvetkovic came from a set down three times--and no previous meetings, the championship went to the fresher player, with Liutova posting a 6-3, 6-0 victory.

Liutova's only hiccup came when she was serving for the first set at 5-2, with the 15-year-old Washington state resident missing several chances to close out the set with uncharacteristic backhand errors. But rather than indulge in frustration, Liutova focused on the next game, breaking Cvetkovic to take control.

"It's always tough to finish, especially when you think about it," Liutova said. "I just had to stop thinking about finishing faster and just play point by point, one at a time, no rush."

Liutova had been hitting after her matches earlier in the week, but after her 7-5, 7-5 win over No. 4 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina on Saturday, she simply rested, while Cvetkovic was still at the IMG Academy, competing in the doubles final.

"Actually my body is a little bit tired," said the 17-year-old Cvetkovic, who played 11 matches in singles and doubles over the seven-day event. "We played early today because of rain, but I don't want to say something, because Kristina's so good a player, she played so well, I want to congratulate her. It was a good match, not like 6-3, 6-0, but at 3-5, she hit some winners, and I could just say, good job, bravo. In the second set I had a lot of break points, but she played so well in the important moments."

Liutova said she had developed a plan and that helped her "just play my tennis. I let myself play, because I didn't want to get tight and think about finishing the tournament."

Liutova said her title at College Park did provide her with an increased comfort level.

"I think today I was more confident," said Liutova, who is coached by Ilya Osintsev and Tiago Campana at the Gorin Academy in Seattle, but was traveling only with her mother Elena this week. "Yesterday I was tighter, but today I just let myself play. I was planning on just enjoying the competition, enjoy the final, because it's very special."

Until Liutova won her quarterfinal match over No. 8 seed Xinran Sun of China 6-1, 7-6(10), she was facing the prospect of going through qualifying at the Orange Bowl, but refused to let that distract her.

"I was at this tournament, so I didn't think about anything else," Liutova. "I was just focused on winning the match in front of me. I came here excited to be here and I'm very happy with the win."

The girls champion receives a wild card into the qualifying of the WTA 500 in Abu Dhabi in February, but Liutova is unsure of her plans for next year.

Liutova will be tested early in the Orange Bowl, as she has been drawn to face No. 5 seed Annika Penickova. Cvetkovic, the No. 6 seed at the Orange Bowl, will face wild card London Evans, the girls 16s finalist in Bradenton. 

The top girls seed in the Orange Bowl is Merida J500 finalist Victoria Barros of Brazil, with Laima Vladson of Uzbekistan the No. 2 seed. 

Yannik Alexandrescou of Romania is the top seed in the boys draw, with Jack Kennedy the No. 2 seed.

In the girls 16s, top seed Sofiia Bielinski withdrew and was replaced by a lucky loser. Boys 16s top seed Mason Vaughan won his first round match today over wild card Mark Mrcela 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. 

Draws and Monday's order of play can be found at the ustaorangebowl.com website. Live scoring is available via the iOnCourt app.

The dedication of the new Chris Evert Stadium Court at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center, the new site of the Orange Bowl, will take place tomorrow at 10 a.m. This is from the Orange Bowl release I received today:

WORLD-CLASS TENNIS KICKS OFF IN FORT LAUDERDALE:

ORANGE BOWL OPENS AT NEWLY RENOVATED JIMMY EVERT TENNIS CENTER

Ceremony to Dedicate Chris Evert Stadium Court and Unveil $9.5 Million in Infrastructure

WHAT: The Orange Bowl Committee, City of Fort Lauderdale, and USTA will host a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for Chris Evert Stadium Court to officially reopen the renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center at Holiday Park and kick off the 2025 Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships. The $9.5 million project includes 20 state-of-the-art clay courts, a new 700-seat stadium court named in honor of Chris Evert, and significant infrastructure upgrades, positioning the venue as a world-class home for both community play and elite junior competition.

WHEN: Monday, December 8, 2025

10:00 AM- 11:00 AM ET (remarks and dedication beginning at 10:00 AM.)

WHERE: Jimmy Evert Tennis Center at Holiday Park – Chris Evert Stadium Court

701 NE 12th Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304

WHO: Planned program participants include:

Chris Evert, Tennis Hall of Famer and Fort Lauderdale native

Henri Crockett, President & Chair, Orange Bowl Committee

Dean Trantalis, Mayor, City of Fort Lauderdale

Tracy Davies, General Manager, USA Tennis (USTA)

Chris Fowler, ESPN broadcaster and event emcee

Additional City of Fort Lauderdale and USTA representatives

The five-year winning streak of USA's Master U' BNP University Games in France ended today with Great Britain beating the team from the United States 4-3. For more on the finals, see this article from the Tennis Recruiting Network.

I wasn't able to cover the W35 in Daytona Beach this week because I was so busy in Bradenton, but 18-year-old Akasha Urhobo, the No. 5 seed, reached the final, where she lost to top seed Vivian Wolff(Georgia, UCLA) 7-6(6), 6-3 today. 

The doubles title was won by Ingrid Neel(Florida) of Estonia and Abigail Rencheli(NC State), who beat Anastasia Goncharova and  Madison Tattini 6-3, 6-2 in a final between unseeded teams.