June Aces; Antonius Avenges Roland Garros Final Loss to Reach Semis, Preston and Newman Meet for Spot in Final at J300 Roehampton; 13 US Juniors Begin Wimbledon Qualifying Thursday; Seven Americans Advance to Wimbledon Third Round

My monthly column for Tennis Recruiting Network on the top performances by juniors, collegians and former collegians is up today, with 19 players featured, which doesn't begin to cover all the titles claimed in June. Even with the normal exclusion now of 15K titles, there were a half dozen titles at the next level--M25 and W35--that I didn't have room for, and that's not likely to change the rest of this summer, with collegians out competing all over the world.

Three Americans have advanced to the semifinals of the J300 in Roehampton, with 16-year-olds Michael Antonius and Welles Newman and 15-year-old Janae Preston posting wins on the grass today, along with Puerto Rico's Yannik Alvarez.

No. 6 seed Antonius defeated top seed and World Tennis junior No. 1 Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, avenging his 6-3, 6-4 loss in the Roland Garros boys final last month. Antonius will face No. 4 seed Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, whom he beat 6-2, 6-2 in the Roland Garros quarterfinals, but I suspect this one will be closer, as the Australian Open champion prefers faster surfaces. Sesko defeated No. 10 seed Andy Johnson 6-3, 6-3 today.

No. 2 seed Jamie Mackenzie of Germany also lost today, with qualifier Svit Suljic making it two Slovenians in the semifinals with his 6-3, 7-5 win over the incoming TCU freshman. Suljic will face No. 9 seed Alvarez, who got a walkover from No. 3 seed Keaton Hance.

Preston and Newman have guaranteed an American finalist on Friday, as they advanced to face each other Thursday. 

Preston, the No. 15 seed, defeated unseeded Yihan Qu of China 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; No. 16 seed Newman beat No. 5 seed Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia 7-6(1), 6-3. Preston and Newman have not played on the World Tennis Junior Circuit.

Top seed Ksenia Efremova advanced to the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Mariia Makarova of Russia and will face unseeded 16-year-old Yu Jun Lin of China, who beat Denisa Zoldakova of Czechia 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Two Americans are through to the semifinals in the boys doubles. Jack Secord and his partner from Kazakhstan, Damir Zhalgasba, seeded No. 8, defeated No. 3 seeds Antonius and Johnson 6-4, 7-6(3). Secord will face his Roland Garros doubles partner Alvarez in the semifinals, with Alvarez and Leonardo Storck Franca of Brazil the No. 5 seeds.

Unseeded Rhys Lawlor of Great Britain and Jordan Lee will play Roland Garros champions Mackenzie and Vincent Reisach, after the fourth-seeded Germans repeated their Roland Garros doubles final victory over No. 7 seeds Mathys Domenc and Daniel Jade of France 6-0, 6-4.

Lee will be playing in the doubles semifinals and the Wimbledon Junior qualifying tomorrow at Roehampton, with his first round qualifying match at 10:30 a.m. and the time for the doubles to be announced. 

Lee is one of four US boys in the qualifying draw, with Vihaan Reddy, who won the J200 last week on clay in Czechia, the No. 1 seed based on that result. Lee is the No. 7 seed, Safir Azam is the No. 5 seed and Marcel Latak is unseeded.

Nine US girls are in the Wimbledon Junior qualifying, with Anita Tu, who was first out at the freeze deadline, moving into the main draw. The American girls are: Yael Saffar, Nancy Lee[9], Emery Combs, Sarah Ye[11], Maggie Sohns[10], Carrie-Anne Hoo[15], Ireland O'Brien, Hannah Ayrault[7] and Olivia Traynor[8]. The top seed in the Wimbledon girls qualifying is Ilary Pistola of Italy.

I don't recall if live scoring is available for the junior qualifying, but the Roehampton J300 live scoring link is here.

Seven Americans have advanced to the third round of Wimbledon, including qualifier Claire Liu, who won the Wimbledon girls title in 2017: https://tenniskalamazoo.blogspot.com/2017/07/liu-defeats-li-to-claim-wimbledon.html

The 26-year-old South Californian defeated Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey 7-5, 6-3 to reach the third round of Wimbledon for the first time. Liu is not the only American qualifier to reach the third round; Michael Zheng(Columbia) defeated Nico Mejia of Colombia 6-7(4), 7-6(8), 6-1, 6-4 to reach the third round of a major for the first time. Liu is not the only former Wimbledon junior champion to qualify and advance to the third round for the first time, with Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan, the 2019 boys champion, beating last week's Mallorca finalist Ethan Quinn(Georgia) 6-2, 7-6(6), 7-5.

Brandon Nakishima's second round match was again suspended due to darkness, as was his first round match, so he will be playing for a fourth consecutive day Thursday.

Wednesday's Wimbledon second round results of Americans:

Aryna Sabalenka[1](BLR) d. McCartney Kessler 6-1, 7-6(9)
Coco Gauff[7] d. Solana Sierra(ARG) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7)
Jessica Pegula[4] d. Sara Sorribes Tormo(ESP) 7-6(6), 6-1
Iva Jovic[16] d. Tatjana Maria(GER) 6-1, 6-2
Mananchaya Sawangkaew[Q](THA) d. Alycia Parks 7-5, 6-0
Claire Liu[Q] d. Zeynep Sonmez(TUR) 7-5, 6-3

Tommy Paul[21] d. Soonwoo Kwon[Q](KOR) 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2
Marton Fucsovics(HUN) d. Learner Tien[16] 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-3
Brandon Nakashima[28] v Jan-Lennard Struff(GER) 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-7(5), 7-6(8) suspended, darkness
Jenson Brooksby d. Ignacio Buse[31](PER) 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
Shintaro Mochizuki[Q](JPN) d. Ethan Quinn 6-2, 7-6(6), 7-5
Arthur Rinderknech[25](FRA) d. Martin Damm 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-3
Michael Zheng[Q] d. Nicolas Mejia[Q](COL) 6-7(4), 7-6(8), 6-1, 6-4

Thursday's Wimbledon second round matches featuring Americans:

to finish:

Brandon Nakashima[28] v Jan-Lennard Struff(GER) 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-7(5), 7-6(8) 

Taylor Fritz[6] v Patrick Kypson

Frances Tiafoe[17] v Jan Choinski(GBR)

Marcos Giron v Quentin Halys(FRA)

Zachary Svajda v Kamil Majchrzak(POL)

Caty McNally v Elena Rybakina[2](KAZ)

Madison Keys[26] v Katie Swan[WC](GBR)

Amanda Anisimova[6] v Sofia Kenin

Ashlyn Krueger[Q] v Mariam Bolkvadze(GEO)

Emma Navarro[23] v Oksana Selekhmeteva(ESP)

The heat continues to disrupt play in Cary North Carolina; you can find results from the Challenger 75 matches here and the W100 matches here.

The San Diego SoCal Pro Series results can be found here for the men and here for the women.

Newman and Preston Beat Top 4 Seeds to Join Three US Boys in J300 Roehampton Quarterfinals; Twenty-three Americans Reach Wimbledon Second Round; Five Americans Qualify for Cary NC W100; SoCal Pro Series Moves to San Diego This Week

The boys quarterfinals at the J300 in Roehampton will feature a rematch of last month's Roland Garros final, with Michael Antonius hoping to avenge that loss on clay to Brazil's Luis Guto Miguel in Paris with a win on the grass courts of London. Antonius, the No. 6 seed, defeated wild card Vincent Fletcher of Great Britain 6-4, 6-0 to advance, while the top-seeded Miguel beat unseeded Jordan Lee 6-4, 6-4.

Also in the top half of the boys draw is No. 10 seed Andy Johnson, who is competing on grass for the first time in his career. He defeated Mark Ceban, the British 18s National Champion, 6-3, 6-4 and will face No. 4 seed and Australian Open champion Ziga Sesko of Slovenia in the quarterfinals. Sesko beat Ryan Cozad 7-6(2), 6-3 in the third round.

No. 3 seed Keaton Hance will take on No. 9 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico, with Hance defeating Tito Chavez of Spain 6-3, 7-6(6) and Alvarez taking out No. 8 seed Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria 7-5, 7-6(4). The only unseeded player remaining in the boys draw is qualifier Svit Suljic of Slovenia, who beat British wild card Rhys Lawlor 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Suljic will face No. 2 seed Jamie Mackenzie of Germany, who beat Rihards Neimanis of Lativa 6-4, 6-4.

Antonius and Johnson are through to the doubles quarterfinals as the No. 3 seeds and will face Jack Secord and Kazakhstan's Damir Zhalgasbay, the No. 8 seeds, next.

Lee, who is playing with Lawlor, defeated No. 2 seeds Yannick Alexandrescou of France and Thilo Behrmann of Austria 2-6, 6-4, 11-9 in today's second round.

Two US girls advanced to the quarterfinals, both in the bottom half, with No. 16 seed Welles Newman beating No. 2 seed Jana Kovackova of Czechia 4-6, 6-0, 6-0. Newman had lost to Kovackova in the final of the ITF World Junior Tennis 14-and-under team event in 2024, the year after she had lost to the Czech in the final of the Junior Orange Bowl 14s, when both were 13 years old. Newman's opponent in the quarterfinals is No. 5 seed Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia, who beat No. 9 seed Charo Esquiva Banuls of Spain 6-2, 6-4.

Janae Preston, the No. 15 seed, defeated No. 4 seed Nana Leme Da Silva 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, repeating her win over the Brazilian in the first round of last year's US Open Junior Championships. Preston will face unseeded Yihan Qu of China, a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 winner today over Melije Clarke, with Preston also having a win over Qu last year at the J300 in College Park Maryland. 

In the top half of the draw, No. 1 seed Ksenia Efremova of France rebounded to beat British 16s and 18s champion Daniella Britton 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and will face No. 6 seed Mariia Makarova of Russia in the quarterfinals. Two unseeded players will face off in the other quarterfinal, with Denisa Zoldakova of Czechia play Yu Jun Lin of China. 

No US girls advanced to the doubles quarterfinals.

Live scoring for the tournament can be found here.

Although two of the biggest stories at Wimbledon today were losses by Americans, with No. 4 seed Ben Shelton falling to qualifier Otto Virtanen of Finland 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(8), 6-2, 7-6(9) and wild card Serena Williams losing to Maya Joint of Australia 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, the overall results from the US cohort were positive, with 11 wins and 7 losses today. Pending Frances Tiafoe's result, in which he led two sets to one over Terence Atmane of France when play was suspended for darkness, the US will be either 23-13 or 24-12 in the first round of singles at Wimbledon.

Qualifier Ashlyn Krueger defeated No. 31 seed and WTA 500 Queens champion Donna Vekic of Croatia 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4, and No. 23 seed Emma Navarro(Virginia) came from 5-2 down in the third set to beat Paula Badosa of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Tuesday's Wimbledon first round results of Americans:
Iga Swiatek[3](POL) d. Taylor Townsend 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
Maya Joint(AUS) d. Serena Williams[WC] 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3
Amanda Anisimova[6] d. Lina Gjorcheska[Q](MKD) 6-3, 6-2
Jasmine Paolini[13](ITA) d. Robin Montgomery[Q] 0-6, 6-4, 7-5
Madison Keys[26] d. Kayla Day[Q] 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3
Caty McNally d. Elena-Gabriela Ruse(ROU) 7-5, 6-3
Sofia Kenin d. Petra Marcinko(CRO) 7-6(4), 6-4
Ashlyn Krueger[Q] d. Donna Vekic[31](CRO) 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4
Emma Navarro[23] d. Paul Badosa(ESP) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5

Taylor Fritz[6] d. Dusan Lajovic[LL](SRB) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

Otto Virtanen[Q](FIN) d. Ben Shelton[4] 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-2, 7-6(9) 

Frances Tiafoe[17] leads Terence Atmane(FRA) 7-6(6), 6-1, 4-6, suspended darkness

Brandon Nakashima[28] d. Jack Pinnington Jones[WC] 6-3, 7-6(5), 7-5

Marcos Giron d. Corentin Moutet(FRA) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4

Zachary Svajda d. Pablo Llamas Ruiz[LL](ESP) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4

Patrick Kypson d. Mackenzie McDonald[Q] 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4

Jacob Fearnley[WC](GBR) d. Alex Michelsen 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2

Wednesday's Wimbledon first round matches featuring Americans:

Frances Tiafoe[17] leads Terence Atmane(FRA) 7-6(6), 6-1, 4-6, suspended darkness

Wednesday's Wimbledon second round matches featuring Americans:

McCartney Kessler v Aryna Sabalenka[1](BLR)

Coco Gauff[7] v Solana Sierra(ARG)

Jessica Pegula[4] v Sara Sorribes Tormo(ESP)

Iva Jovic[16] v Tatjana Maria(GER)

Alycia Parks v Mananchaya Sawangkaew[Q](THA)

Claire Liu[Q] v Zeynep Sonmez(TUR)

Tommy Paul[21] v Soonwoo Kwon[Q](KOR)

Learner Tien[16] v Marton Fucsovics(HUN)

Brandon Nakashima[28] v Jan-Lennard Struff(GER)

Jenson Brooksby v Ignacio Buse[31](PER)

Ethan Quinn v Shintaro Mochizuki[Q](JPN)

Martin Damm v Arthur Rinderknech[25](FRA)

Michael Zheng[Q] v Nicolas Mejia[Q](COL)

In addition to the ATP Challenger 75 in Cary North Carolina, three other USTA Pro Circuit events are on the calendar, with qualifying completed today at the W100 in Cary and the SoCal Pro Series M15 and W15 in San Diego.

Five American women qualified in Cary: Maya Iyengar, Tatum Evans(UNC), Malaika Rapolu(Texas), Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) and Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State). 

All three wild cards were in first round action today, with Mia Slama(NC State) defeating Ana Sofia Sanchez of Mexico 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, but Slama's teammate Victoria Osuigwe lost to Momoko Kobori of Japan 7-6(4), 6-0, and NCAA singles champion Reese Brantmeier(UNC) was beaten by No. 4 seed YeXin Ma of China 6-2, 6-4.

Probably due to the heat, which has disrupted play at both the Challenger and the W100, eight women's first round matches were on the schedule today and several are still in progress. Elvina Kalieva and Italy's Lucrezia Stefanini are the top two seeds.

In San Diego, play did not begin until 3 p.m. Eastern time, so many of the first round main draw matches on the schedule aren't complete, but the qualifying has concluded.

At the M15, four Americans qualified for the main draw: Nav Dayal(UCLA), Hugo Hashimoto(Columbia), Bryce Nakashima(Ohio State) and Alex Petrov(Illinois).

Wild cards were given to Rudy Quan(UCLA), William Kleege(San Diego State) and Benjamin Berger, a rising freshman at Cal. Junior reserved spots went to Noah Johnston(Georgia) and Vanderbilt rising freshman Roshan Santhosh.

The top two seeds are Aidan Kim(Ohio State) and Marko Miladinovic(Baylor) of Serbia.

At the W15, Alina Shcherbinina(Baylor, Oklahoma) of Russia was forced to qualify this week, even after she won back-to-back titles on the SoCal Pro Series earlier this month. She did get through to the main draw, as did Americans Olivia Center(UCLA), Jessica Bernales(Michigan, UCLA), Simone Kay(USC), Kelly Keller(Arkansas), Kayla Chung(UCLA) and Angelo Ho(Cal State-Northridge). Shcherbinina will play Chung in the first round.

Wild cards were given to 14-year-old Tanvi Pandey, 16-year-old Yilin Chen, Elena Goodman(CSUN) and Alyssa Ahn(Stanford).

Pandey plays top seed Alexandra Vagramov(UCLA) of Canada in the opening round. Recent UCLA graduate Anne Christine Lutkemeyer is the No. 2 seed.

Zheng's Upset Among the Dozen American Wins on Opening Day at Wimbledon; Eight Americans Reach J300 Roehampton Round of 16; Qualifying Complete, Kennedy Opens with Win at ATP Challenger 75 in Cary NC

Michael Zheng, who reached the Wimbledon boys final in 2022, had a triumphant return to the All England Lawn Tennis Club today, with the two-time NCAA singles champion outlasting the British No. 1 Cameron Norrie 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(4) in a four-hour battle on Court No. 2. 

Zheng, a recent Columbia graduate, who won three qualifying matches last week, had 74 winners, including 21 aces, to beat the former TCU All-American, who was seeded No. 26. Zheng, who beat Sebastian Korda in the first round of the Australian Open in January but retired with an injury in the second round, will face fellow qualifier Nicolas Mejia of Colombia in the second round Wednesday.

The other American to beat a seed today was also a former NCAA champion: University of Georgia's Ethan Quinn, who beat No. 14 Luciano Darderi of Italy 7-6(7), 7-5, 6-2. With Darderi being more comfortable on clay, and Quinn in form after making first ATP final last week in Mallorca, the result wasn't really an upset.

Two men's first round matches did not finish due to darkness, with Brandon Nakashima(Virginia) leading wild card Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) of Great Britain 6-3, 7-6(5), 4-3 when play was suspended. 

The lack of wins for British players Monday--they went 0-10--certainly didn't help the mood in England, which was still coming to terms with the late withdrawals of Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper. Eight more, plus Pinnington Jones, are in action Tuesday, so better results on Day Two are likely.

Monday's Wimbledon first round results of Americans: 

Jessica Pegula[4] d. Dasha Vidmanova(CZE) 7-5, 6-3

Coco Gauff[7] d.  Tamara Korpatsch(GER) 6-2, 6-1

Alycia Parks d. Alicia Dudeney[WC](GBR) 6-3, 6-3

McCartney Kessler d. Oleksandra Oliynykova(UKR) 6-0, 6-0

Nikola Bartunkova(CZE) d. Peyton Stearns 6-4, 3-6, 7-5

Claire Liu[Q] d. Hanne Vandewinkel(BEL) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Iva Jovic[16] d. Jaqueline Cristian(ROU) 7-6(1), 6-0

Zeynep Sonmez(TUR) d. Ann Li[28] 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 

Michael Zheng[Q] d. Cam Norrie[26](GBR) 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(4)

Brandon Nakashima[28] leads Jack Pinnington Jones[WC] 6-3, 7-6(5), 4-3, postponed darkness

Tommy Paul[21] d. Alexandre Muller(FRA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-1

Ignacio Buse[31](PER) d. Emilio Nava 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5, 6-0

Martin Damm d. Marco Trungelliti(ARG) 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 7-6(5)

Botic van De Zandschulp(NED) d. Aleks Kovacevic 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-0

Nuno Borges(POR) d. Tristan Boyer[Q] 6-3, 7-5, 7-5

Jenson Brooksby d. Aleks Vukic(AUS) 7-6(7), 6-1, 6-1

Ethan Quinn d. Luciano Darderi[14](ITA) 7-6(7), 7-5, 6-2

Learner Tien[16] d. Dalibor Svrcina(CZE) 6-1, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3

Tuesday's Wimbledon first round matches featuring Americans:

Taylor Townsend v Iga Swiatek[3](POL)

Serena Williams[WC] v Maya Joint(AUS)

Amanda Anisimova[6] v Lina Gjorcheska[Q](MKD)

Robin Montgomery[Q] v Jasmine Paolini[13](ITA)

Kayla Day[Q] v Madison Keys[26]

Caty McNally v Elena-Gabriela Ruse(ROU)

Sofia Kenin v Petra Marcinko(CRO)

Ashlyn Krueger[Q] v Donna Vekic[31](CRO)

Emma Navarro[23] v Paul Badosa(ESP)

Taylor Fritz[6] v Dusan Lajovic[LL](SRB)

Ben Shelton[4] v Otto Virtanen[Q](FIN)

Frances Tiafoe[17] v Terence Atmane(FRA)

Marcos Giron v Corentin Moutet(FRA)

Zachary Svajda v Pablo Llamas Ruiz[LL](ESP)

Patrick Kypson v Mackenzie McDonald[Q]

Alex Michelsen v Jacob Fearnley[WC](GBR)

At the J300 in Roehampton, five boys and three girls from the United States are through to the round of 16.

No. 15 seed Janae Preston beat Fleur De Bresser of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-2; No. 16 seed Welles Newman defeated  Sofiia Bielinska of Ukraine 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 and Melije Clarke defeated qualifier Michelle Khomich of Germany 7-6(2), 6-4.

Clarke faces unseeded Yihan Qu of China, with Preston playing No. 4 seed Nana Leme Da Silva of Brazil, and Newman taking on No. 2 Jana Kovackova of Czechia in a rematch of the 2023 Junior Orange Bowl girls 14s fina, which Kovacova won 6-3, 7-6(5).

Jordan Lee, who was the last direct acceptance, beat No. 15 seed Arnav Paparkar of India 6-3, 6-1 and will play top seed and Roland Garros champion Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil Tuesday. 

Ryan Cozad defeated No. 13 seed Kuan-Shou Chen of Taiwan 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 and will play the reigning Australian Open boys champion Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, the No. 4 seed. 

No. 6 seed Michael Antonius faces wild card Vincent Fletcher of Great Britain after Antonius beat Dan Brand of Israel 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; Andy Johnson, the No. 10 seed beat Connor Doig of South Africa 6-3, 6-4 and will face Mark Ceban of Great Britain, the British National 18s champion. Ceban defeated No. 5 seed Yannick Alexandrescou of France 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in today's second round. No. 3 seed Keaton Hance, who beat Daniel Jade of France 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, will play Spain's unseeded Tito Chavez next.

Live scoring is available here.

The ATP Challenger Circuit has returned to the United States after a three-week absence with a 75-level tournament in Cary North Carolina.

Qualifying was completed today, with Andrew Fenty(Michigan) and Ozan Baris(Michigan State) the two Americans advancing to the main draw, along with recent college stars DK Suresh(Wake Forest) of India, Jay Friend(Arizona) of Japan and Edward Winter(Pepperdine) of Australia. 

Rei Sakamoto of Japan is the top seed and is defending his title, with Liam Draxl(Kentucky) of Canada, his opponent in last year's final, the No. 2 seed. 

Wild cards were given to NC State's Will Manning and Jules Leroux of France and JJ Wolf(Ohio State).

Timo Legout(Texas) of France is using a college Accelerator Program entry, and Jack Kennedy received a Next Gen Accelerator Program entry.

Kennedy, who is skipping the Wimbledon Junior Championships, defeated Kaichi Uchida of Japan in a first round match tonight 6-4, 6-4.

Johnson, Nguyen and Akli Claim USTA Pro Circuit Titles; US Boys Shine, Girls Falter at J300 Roehampton; Reddy Wins J200 in Czechia, World Tennis Junior Circuit Update; Eighteen Americans Begin Play Monday at Wimbledon

The SoCal Pro Series continues to provide opportunities for milestones in the budding careers of Californians, with Alexis Nguyen winning her first Pro Circuit title today in Claremont and UCLA rising senior Spencer Johnson adding another singles title to his sweep last week in Irvine.

The fifth-seeded Nguyen, an 18-year-old from Northern California who will join the Tar Heels of North Carolina this fall, defeated 2025 San Diego 18s champion Alyssa Ahn, the No. 7 seed, 6-2, 6-3 in today's final at the W15 in Claremont.  Ahn, a rising sophomore at Stanford, had beaten Nguyen in the San Diego semifinals last August, but Nguyen is now 3-0 against Ahn in the SoCal Pro Series.

Johnson, who won his first two Pro Circuit titles last week added a third today, with the unseeded 23-year-old defeating unseeded Sasha Rozin, a rising senior at Arizona, 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the M15 in Claremont.

At the W35 in Rome Georgia, No. 2 seed Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina)won her second USTA Pro Circuit title and the first this year, beating No. 6 seed Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara) 7-6(3), 6-4 in the battle of former collegiate All-Americans. Honer had won back-to-back W35s this spring on the USTA Pro Circuit, while Akli has struggled this year, mostly at events above the W35 level, going 5-11 prior to doubling her win total this week.

The first round of the J300 in Roehampton today was great for the US boys and a disappointment for the US girls. Nine of the ten American boys in the draw advanced to the second round, while only four of the 11 American girls in action picked up wins. No. 14 seed Jordyn Hazelitt, who lost to Katerina Zajickova of Czechia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4), was the only seeded American to lose. Melije Clarke defeated No. 11 seed Anna Pushkareva of Russia 7-6(3), 2-6, 7-6(1).

In addition to Hazelitt and Pushkareva, four other girls seeds lost: No. 7 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina fell to British wild card Sophie Bekker 6-3, 6-3. No. 3 seed Victoria Barros of Brazil was beaten by qualifier Marija Lauva of Latvia 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; No. 10 seed Paola Pinera Celorio of Spain lost to British wild card Tegan Bush 6-2, 6-3 and No. 13 seed Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India lost to Antonia Sushkova of Ukraine 6-2, 7-5.

No. 7 seed Thilo Behrmann of Austria was the only Top 8 seed in the boys draw to lose, falling to qualifier Svit Suljic of Slovenia 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-4; Jack Secord defeated No. 14 seed Dante Pagani of Argentina 6-2, 6-4, British wild card Rhys Lawler defeated No. 12 seed Mathys Domenc of France 7-6(3), 6-1, British wild card Vincent Fletcher beat No. 11 seed Nicolas Baena of Peru 6-2, 6-3 and Tito Chavez of Spain defeated Roland Garros finalist Leonardo Storck Franca of Brazil, the No. 16 seed, 6-3, 6-2.

Top seeds Ksenia Efremova of France and Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil won their first round matches in straight sets.

Live scoring is available here.

Vihaan Reddy won the J200 title in Pilsen Czechia today, with the top seed defeating No. 7 seed Thomas Gunzinger of Switzerland 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in the final on clay. Reddy, who is in qualifying for the Wimbledon Juniors, should move into the Top 40 of the World Tennis junior rankings for the first time tomorrow.

I already covered the sweep of the titles by Brooke Wallman at the J200 in Mexico Friday, and with Wimbledon starting tomorrow, I'm going to update the American results on the World Tennis Junior Circuit a day early.

In addition to the two J200 titles, there were five titles at J30s, with 13-year-old Skylar Mandell winning her first two titles at the J30 in Mexico, and 15-year-old Isabella Gonzalez Alvarez winning her second straight J30 in Honduras.

Mandell, who received entry based on her World Tennis Number, defeated No. 3 seed Laurence Demers of Canada 6-4, 6-0 for the singles title. Mandell and Renata Pacheco Lopez of Mexico, who were unseeded, beat No. 2 seeds Marissa Rios of Mexico and Demers 6-4, 6-4 in the final. 

In Honduras, the second-seeded Gonzalez Alvarez defeated No. 5 seed Isabella Giraldo of Colombia 6-1, 6-1 to extend her winning streak in Honduras to eight matches.

Top seeds Sofia Mills and Mexico's Maria Jose Gil Castillo won the girls doubles, defeating No. 2 seeds Luciana Mejia Arce and Sofia Tejada of Guatemala 7-6(6), 6-1 in the final.

At the J30 in Belgium, 15-year-old Nicole Alexandrovich and 16-year-old Malaika Chinyerere won their first World Tennis junior titles, with the unseeded pair defeating top seeds Noor Ceulemans and Ella Van Gestel of Belgium 6-1, 6-3 in the final.

Raya Kotseva and Ana Avramovic won the girls doubles title at the J100 in Germany, with the No. 4 seed defeating No. 6 seeds Camilla Olga Castracani and Viola Severi of Itlay 6-3, 7-6(6) in the final.

The first round of singles at Wimbledon is cut exactly in half for the 36 Americans, with 18 on Monday's schedule and 18 on Tuesday's schedule.

Monday's Wimbledon first round matches featuring Americans:

Jessica Pegula[4] v Dasha Vidmanova(CZE)

Coco Gauff[7] v Tamara Korpatsch(GER)

Alycia Parks v Alicia Dudeney(GBR)

McCartney Kessler v Oleksandra Oliynykova(UKR)

Peyton Stearns v Nikola Bartunkova(CZE)

Claire Liu[Q] v Hanne Vandewindel(BEL)

Iva Jovic[16] v Jaqueline Cristian(ROU)

Ann Li[28] v Zeynep Sonmez(TUR)

Michael Zheng[Q] v Cam Norrie[26](GBR)

Brandon Nakashima[28] v Jack Pinnington Jones[WC]

Tommy Paul[21] v Alexandre Muller(FRA)

Emilio Nava v Ignacio Buse[31](PER)

Martin Damm v Marco Trungelliti(ARG)

Aleks Kovacevic v Botic van De Zandschulp(NED)

Tristan Boyer[Q] v Nuno Borges(POR)

Jenson Brooksby v Aleks Vukic(AUS)

Ethan Quinn v Luciano Darderi[14](ITA)

Learner Tien[16] v Dalibor Svrcina(CZE)

Tuesday's Wimbledon first round matches featuring Americans:

Taylor Townsend v Iga Swiatek[3](POL)

Serena Williams[WC] v Maya Joint(AUS)

Amanda Anisimova[6] v Lina Gjorcheska[Q](MKD)

Robin Montgomery[Q] v Jasmine Paolini[13](ITA)

Kayla Day[Q] v Madison Keys[26]

Caty McNally v Elena-Gabriela Ruse(ROU)

Sofia Kenin v Petra Marcinko(CRO)

Ashlyn Krueger[Q] v Donna Vekic[31](CRO)

Emma Navarro[23] v Paul Badosa(ESP)

Taylor Fritz[6] v Jack Draper(GBR)

Ben Shelton[4] v Otto Virtanen[Q](FIN)

Frances Tiafoe[17] v Terence Atmane(FRA)

Marcos Giron v Corentin Moutet(FRA)

Zachary Svajda v Pablo Llamas Ruiz[LL](ESP)

Patrick Kypson v Mackenzie McDonald[Q]

Alex Michelsen v Jacob Fearnley[WC](GBR)

Twenty-one Americans Begin Play Sunday at Roehampton J300; All-Teen Final at Claremont W15; Johnson Plays for Another SoCal Pro Series Title at M15 Claremont; All-USA Final at Rome W35; Keys Wins Third Eastbourne Title; BBC Looks at Tennis Parenting

The World Tennis J300 Wimbledon warmup tournament begins Sunday in Roehampton, with ten US boys and 11 US girls in the main draw. Marcel Latak and Sarah Ye qualified for the main draw with wins today.

World Tennis junior No. 1 Xinran Sun of China withdrew several weeks ago, although the Roland Garros finalist is still entered at Wimbledon. Roland Garros girls champion Alisa Oktibreva, who did not enter Roehampton, withdrew from Wimbledon Juniors at the deadline Tuesday. The top girls seed at Roehampton is Ksenia Efremova of France, who won the Giorgi Armani Invitational yesterday at the Hurlingham Club in London. 

Roland Garros boys champion Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil is the top seed in Roehampton, with Jamie Mackenzie of Germany the No. 2 seed. 

Vihaan Reddy, who is through to Sunday's final at the J200 in Czechia, obviously can't play in the first round of Roehampton tomorrow, but he is still entered in Wimbledon qualifying, which begins next Thursday. Lani Chang withdrew from Roehampton, but is still entered at Wimbledon.

Americans competing in Roehampton Monday:
Jordan Lee
Michael Antonius[6]
Ryan Cozad
Andy Johnson[10]
Gavin Goode
Safir Azam
Keaton Hance[3]
Marcel Latak[Q]
Jack Secord
Tanishk Konduri

Jordyn Hazelitt[14]
Sarah Ye[Q]
Thea Frodin
Maggie Sohns[A]
Hannah Ayrault
Nancy Lee
Melije Clarke
Janae Preston[15]
Olivia Traynor
Welles Newman[16]
Anita Tu

Live scoring is available here. 

The SoCal Pro Series in Claremont California this week, will have three new finalists and a player going for his second straight title Sunday.

The women's W15 final will feature rising North Carolina freshman Alexis Nguyen , the No. 5 seed and rising Stanford sophomore and No. 7 seed Alyssa Ahn, the 2025 USTA Nationals 18s champion. The 19-year-old Ahn defeated unseeded Midori Castillo Meza of Mexico 6-2, 6-4 in today's semifinal, while the 18-year-old Nguyen beat top seed Alexandra Vagramov of Canada 6-4, 6-2. 

Ahn defeated Nguyen 6-1, 6-7(1), 7-5 in the semifinals in San Diego last year, but Nguyen has won both of their previous meetings during the SoCal Pro Series, in 2023 and 2025, in straight sets. It will be a first Pro Circuit title for Sunday's champion.

Spencer Johnson, the UCLA rising senior who swept the titles in Irvine last week, defeated top seed Aidan Kim of Ohio State in Friday's Claremont M15 quarterfinal 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Today he took out wild card Jagger Leach, the rising Stanford sophomore, 7-6(4), 6-4, setting up a final against unseeded Sasha Rozin(Arizona) of Canada. Rozin defeated 2025 Kalamazoo 18s finalist Jack Satterfield(Vanderbilt) 6-1, 6-1 in today's bottom half semifinal. 

In the all-USA women's doubles final today in Claremont, unseeded UCLA teammates Kayla Chung and Ahmani Guichard won their first Pro Circuit title, defeating top seeds Paola Lopez and Amy Zhu(Michigan) 6-3, 6-2.

In the men's doubles final, unseeded Matt Kuhar(Bryant) and Henry Lieberman(Charlotte, UNC) beat (correction) Michael Blando(UC Riverside, Utah) and Hugo Hashimoto(Columbia) 7-5, 6-1. 

At the W35 in Rome Georgia, No. 6 seed Amelia Honer and No. 2 seed Ayana Akli will play for the first time on the Pro Circuit with the title on the line. Honer, the former UC-Santa Barbara All-American, who defeated No. 4 seed Sahaja Yamalapalli(Sam Houston) of India 6-3, 6-4 today, had beaten top seed Madison Brengle 6-5, retired in Friday's quarterfinals. Akli defeated qualifier Jo-Yee Chan(Oregon, San Diego State) 7-6(3), 6-1.

In the doubles final today, unseeded Jaeda Daniel(Auburn, NC State) and Lily Fairclough(USC) defeated No. 2 seeds Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) and Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State) 7-5, 6-4.

Madison Keys won the WTA 250 in Eastbourne for the third time today, with the No. 2 seed defeating Tatjana Maria of Germany 7-5, 6-4 in the final. For more on Keys' eleventh WTA title, see this article from the BBC.

Ethan Quinn(Georgia) lost in the final of the ATP 250 in Mallorca, with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain winning his first ATP title in his sixth appearance in a final. Davidovich Fokina's serve was the difference in his 7-6(4), 6-3 win, making 70 percent of his first serves to Quinn's 51 percent, and coming up with huge first serves in his last two service games to take a Quinn comeback out of the equation. For more on this final, and Davidovich Fokina's struggles in earlier championship matches, see this article from the ATP website.

The BBC published a lengthy feature yesterday titled How To Be A Good Tennis Parent. It contains valuable information for those new to that role, and for those who might need a reminder of the best practices for encouraging and nuturing a child's love of the sport.

My Coverage of USTA Midwest Closed; Roehampton J300 Qualifying Underway; Wallman Sweeps Titles at J200 in Mexico; Thirty-Six Americans in Men's and Women's Singles at Wimbledon; Quinn Reaches First ATP Final

With school out and  the Level I tournaments coming up soon, the USTA junior circuit is in full swing now, and I took the opportunity to cover the Boys 18s and 16s Midwest Closed Tuesday in Byron Center, less than an hour from my Kalamazoo home.

It was the first time I've been to a USTA tournament below a Level 2 in several years, but I enjoyed getting to watch several of the top players in the section compete in the semifinals and finals in ideal weather conditions for tennis. I was also struck by the camaraderie and the sportsmanship, which I assume is partly due to the familiarity with each other after years of competing in the same sectional events.

My Tennis Recruiting Network article on the sweeps by Nihal Narisetty and Joseph Garrean can be found here.

The World Tennis junior grass season has officially begun with the start today of the qualifying at the World Tennis J300 in Roehampton. The top three seeds in the boys qualifying draw have already lost; Marcel Latak[12] and Agassi Rusher are the only two US boys in qualifying, with Latak winning and Rusher falling to No. 7 seed Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana 3-6, 6-1, 10-8.  Jordan Lee was one out of the main draw and he is not in qualifying, so I presume he moved into the main draw.  Vihaan Reddy was listed in qualifying, but he is in the semifinals of a J200, on clay, in Czechia this week, so I don't know if he got a special exempt, or is not planning to play Roehampton.

Seven US girls were in qualifying as of the freeze date, but Nancy Lee and Maggie Sohns are not in the draw, so they likely moved into the main draw.

Sarah Ye, the No. 2 seed, advanced to the final round of qualifying, as did No. 7 seed Carrie-Anne Hoo and No. 12 seed Emery Combs. No. 8 seed Yael Saffar and No. 9 seed Ireland O'Brien lost their first round qualifying matches today.

At today's finals of the Giorgi Armani Junior Invitational at the Hurlingham Club in London, Michael Antonius lost to Cruz Hewitt of Australia 2-6, 6-2, 10-7, while Ksenia Efremova of France beat Nana Leme Da Silva of Brazil 6-3, 6-4.

Eighteen-year-old Brooke Wallman swept the titles today at the World Tennis J200 in Puerto Escondido Mexico. The unseeded Texas A&M recruit defeated No. 8 seed Scarlett Fagan, 15, 6-1, 6-4 in the singles final for her second, and biggest, World Tennis junior title. She then partnered with future teammate Kori Montoya for the doubles title, with the No. 4 seeds defeating No. 2 seeds Olivia De Los Reyes and Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann 6-3, 7-5. It's the seventh World Tennis doubles title for Wallman, with all three this year at the J200 level, while Montoya now has five WT junior doubles titles.

Mason Vaughan won the boys doubles title today, with Samim Filiz of Turkey. The No. 4 seeds defeated top seeds Junseo Jang of Korea and Koki Nara of Japan 6-2, 6-2 in the final. No. 2 seed Nara won the boys singles title, beating No. 5 seed Eito Komada 6-2, 6-3 in the all-Japan final.

The men's and women's singles draws were released today at Wimbledon, with 18 Americans in each draw. That's the most in 30 years; 37 made the Wimbledon main draw in 1996. The list is below; I'll post the matchups Sunday.

Men:
Tristan Boyer[Q]
Jenson Brooksby
Emilio Nava
Ethan Quinn
Tommy Paul[21]
Brandon Nakashima[28]
Zachary Svajda
Ben Shelton[4]

Michael Zheng[Q]

Learner Tien[16]

Aleks Kovacevic

Martin Damm

Taylor Fritz[6]

Patrick Kypson

Mackenzie McDonald[Q]

Frances Tiafoe[17]

Alex Michelsen

Marcos Giron

Women:

McCartney Kessler

Alycia Parks

Peyton Stearns

Ashlyn Krueger[Q]

Emma Navarro[23]

Robin Montgomery[Q]

Serena Williams[WC]

Taylor Townsend

Jessica Pegula[4]

Iva Jovic[16]

Ann Li[28]

Claire Liu[Q]

Coco Gauff[7]

Amanda Anisimova[6]

Sofia Kenin

Kayla Day[Q]

Madison Keys[26]

Caty McNally

The doubles draws were also released today, with the men's draw here and the women's draw here.

Ethan Quinn, the 2023 NCAA singles champion while at Georgia, is through to his first ATP final at the 250 in Mallorca Spain. The 22-year-old from California, who is unseeded this week, defeated Nuno Borges(Mississippi State) 6-1, 6-2 in today's semifinals. He will face No. 2 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain Saturday's final.