Preston and Penickova to Meet in Las Vegas W35 Quarterfinals; ITA Division I Regionals Underway; Zenniz Electronic Line Calling Gets Rave Review; USTA Feature on Carpico and Filin; Note on Daily Emails

Janae Preston has been a main character here on Zootennis throughout most of 2026 due to her junior results, and she has continued to earn recognition this fall with her results on the USTA Pro Circuit. After reaching the final of the W50 in Berkeley last month as a qualifier, the 16-year-old from Henderson Nevada is through to the quarterfinals this week at W35 in Las Vegas, again after coming through qualifying.

Preston, who reached the Wimbledon Junior semifinals and the quarterfinals at the US Open Juniors last month, defeated No. 3 seed Hanna Chang 6-3, 6-2 in the second round today. Her opponent in Friday's quarterfinal will be 17-year-old Annika Penickova, who defeated Victoria Rodriguez of Mexico 6-2, 6-2. Penickova and Preston have not met in WT juniors, but Preston won their quarterfinal match in the USTA National 18s in San Diego this year 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Penickova defeated Preston in last fall in the semifinals of a W15 in Hilton Head 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

They are the only two Americans remaining the draw in Las Vegas, with 17-year-old wild card Thea Frodin losing to No. 7 seed Diletta Cherubini of Italy 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6). Kristinia Penickova lost to former Georgia All-American Mell Reasco of Ecuador, the No. 6 seed, 7-5, 6-0 today. UCLA junior Kate Fakih, a wild card, lost to No. 2 seed Francesca Pace of Italy 7-6(6), 6-3 and qualifier Lexington Reed, the Texas A&M junior, lost to Edda Mamedova(Oklahoma) of Russia 6-4, 6-4. Reed had beaten top seed Katrina Scott(Tennessee) 7-6(1), 3-1, ret. in the first round.

There are four Americans in the quarterfinals of the Lexington South Carolina's W50, with wild card Kaitlyn Carnicella, a senior at South Carolina, one of them. Carnicella, who beat No. 5 seed Kajsa Rinaldo Persson of Sweden 6-1, 6-3, will play ITA preseason No. 1 Lucciana Perez, a senior at Texas A&M in the quarterfinals. Perez beat No. 2 seed Maria Carle(Georgia) of Argentina 6-2, 0-6, 6-3 in the second round today. The other Americans are top seed Madison Brengle, who plays No. 8 seed Lea Ma(Georgia) and No. 3 seed Whitney Osuigwe. 

Twenty-six more men and women will qualify for next month's NCAA individual championships during the next two weeks, with the Division I regionals now underway. The winners and finalists of each of the 13 regionals will earn a place in the 64-player draws in Athens, joining the 10 players who have already qualified on the basis of their results at last month's ITA All-American Championships. 

The eight men's Regionals this weekend are Atlantic(Virginia Tech), Carolina(South Carolina), Central(Nebraska), Mountain(BYU), New England(Harvard), Ohio Valley(Farm & Forge Club), Southern(Auburn) and Texas(TCU).

There are seven women's Regionals this weekend: Midwest(Illinois), New England(Yale), Northwest(Stanford), Ohio Valley(Cincinnati and Miami OH), Southeast(Miami), Southern(LSU) and Texas(Baylor).

See the ITA Division I Regional Tournament page for links to the draws.

Tennis Recruiting Network has published an article today on the Zenniz Electronic Line Calling system that Tom Walker has introduced at the Grand Rapids Racquet Club, and he couldn't be happier with it. I am not familiar with that system, as I've only seen the Play/Replay system at collegiate events, but having competition in that space can only help in accelerating adoption.

The USTA's Inside American Tennis newsletter today featured  the ITA All-American and Columbus Challenger doubles champions Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin of Ohio State, with questions ranging from what makes them a good team to which celebrity they would like as a doubles partner.

A NOTE FOR EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:

You may have noticed that emails have not been duplicated or not at their usual time this week. There have been changes at the email marketing service I use, and I am attempting to figure out options to cut the costs of continuing with them. In the next few days, I will be sending out an email to all subscribers asking for their preference in the frequency of the Zootennis emails, which now go out daily. Please take the survey that is included in that email so I will have a better idea of how to move forward with scheduling.

Hance, Lee and Preston Set to Play in World Tennis Junior Finals in China This Month; Tennis Europe 14s and 16s Masters Fields Announced; Registration Deadline Next Week for IMG Academy International Event

The annual World Tennis Tour Junior Finals are set to begin in two weeks in Chengdu China, and unlike the WTA and ATP Finals, where all who qualify are certain to play, there is always some doubt regarding which juniors will make the long trip, even when their qualification has been determined. The points awarded are the same as junior slams, with 1000 points to the winner, and there is prize money in the form of travel grants, but that is often not enough to compensate for the disruption to fall training blocks or pro tournaments on juniors' schedules.

With the WT's announcement of the field today, we now know that two girls and four (and a half) boys have opted out. WT No. 1 junior and Roland Garros champion Guto Miguel of Brazil is not playing, nor is No. 4 Michael Antonius, No. 8 Marcel Latak and No. 9 Duke freshman Yannick Alexandrescou of France. (These are the rankings at the conclusion of the US Open Juniors, not current rankings). No. 13 Andy Johnson was offered the alternate spot, but he declined.

The girls from the Top 10 who are missing the event are the Brazilian duo of No. 4 Victoria Barros and No. 7 Nana Leme Da Silva.

Keaton Hance and Jordan Lee, Orlando April 2026

The boys field (Sept. 14 ranking in brackets):

• Jamie Mackenzie[2], Germany
• Thilo Behrmann[3], Austria
• Keaton Hance[5], USA
• Jordan Lee[6], USA
• Ziga Sesko[7], Slovenia
• Dimitar Kisimov[10], Bulgaria
• Vincent Reisach[11], Germany
• Yannik Alvarez[12], Puerto Rico

No, 14 Matias Domenc of France is the boys alternate. There is no Chinese boy in the Top 75, so there is no representation for the home country, even as an alternate, in the boys field.

The girls field (Sept. 14 ranking in brackets):

• Xinran Sun[1], China
• Anna Pushkareva[2], Russia
• Jana Kovackova[3], Czechia
• Ksenia Efremova[5], France
• Janae Preston[6], USA
• Mariia Makarova[8], Russia
• Anastasija Cvetkovic[9], Serbia
• Polina Skliar[10], Ukraine

Because she is in the Top 75, Ruien Zhang of China, No. 43, will serve as the girls alternate. There are three other Chinese girls ranked above Zhang--Yushan Shao Yu Jun Lin and Yihan Qu--so they must have declined the alternate position.

With her decision to play in China, Preston may have opted out of the Junior Billie Jean King Cup because it starts in Egypt barely a week after the Junior Finals conclude. Skliar and Kovackova are scheduled to play both events.

The format is two groups of four, competing in round robin play, with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the semifinals.

Sun is obviously the favorite going into the event, particularly given her third round appearance at the WTA 1000 in Beijing. Steve Tignor wrote about Sun's first big result in a WTA tournament for his new Substack newsletter.

While the Junior Finals are taking place in China, Tennis Europe will be holding its annual Masters Tournament for the 14s and 16s age divisions in Monte Carlo. The fields are the same, with eight boys and eight girls competing in each division, but the format is completed in four days, with no semifinals; the two groups' top finishers meet in the final. 

The full list of competitors can be found in this announcement of the fields from Tennis Europe.

For a recap of the European 16s Championships, which concluded on September 26th, see this Tennis Europe article.

The IMG Academy International Tennis Championships are less than two months away, with qualifying beginning on Tuesday November 24th. The deadline for entry for the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions is next Tuesday, October 13th. The entry deadline for the J300 in Bradenton the week of November 30th is November 10th.

See the tournament website for the requirements for entry and the event's key dates.

Teens Abound in USTA Pro Circuit W35 Las Vegas and W50 Lexington SC; Full ELC Ready for Rollout in Division I Tennis? Former Collegians Win Both ATP 500 Doubles Titles in Asia

It's a relatively quiet week on the USTA Pro Circuit, with no men's tournaments at all and two women's events: the W35 in Las Vegas and the W50 in Lexington South Carolina.

Qualifying has concluded at both events, with two Americans advancing to the main draw, top qualifying seed Janae Preston, who beat No. 10 seed Jenna DeFalco 6-3, 6-1 and Texas A&M junior Lexington Reed, the No. 13 seed in qualifying. Reed, defeated No. 8 seed Amelie Van Impe of Belgium, a sophomore at SMU who just qualified for the NCAA championships by reaching the quarterfinals at the ITA All-American Championships last month. Reed will play top seed Katrina Scott(Tennessee) in the first round.

The other qualifiers are Maryland junior Emma Ghirardato of Italy, Pepperdine junior Duru Soke of Turkey, who beat Wimbledon girls champion Anna Pushkareva of Russia 6-3, 6-1 today, Yekaterina Dmitrichenko(Texas Tech) of Kazakhstan, Auburn senior Emma Kamper of Denmark, Francesca Mattioli of Argentina, a junior at Tennessee, and Maria Sholokhova(Wisconsin) of Russia.

I'm surprised that Janae Preston didn't receive a wild card into the main draw, as she is a resident of nearby Henderson and reached the final of W50 two weeks ago in Berkeley California as a qualifier. 

Fellow 16-year-old Henderson resident Jordyn Hazelitt did receive a wild card, but lost to 17-year-old Annika Penickova 6-0, 6-2 in one of six first round matches played today. Penickova's twin sister Kristina also advanced to the second round today, beating Alina Shcherbinina(Baylor, Oklahoma) of Russia 6-3, 7-6(4).

Others receiving wild cards are San Diego USTA 18s champion Thea Frodin, 17-year-old Natalie Kha, a USC recruit, and UCLA junior Kate Fakih. 

In Lexington, Mia Slama, a junior at NC State, and Alexis Nguyen, a freshman at North Carolina and McKeena Schaefbauer( South Carolina, Illinios) were the four Americans to qualify, with No. 7 seed Slama defeating Mississippi recruit Jensen Diianni 6-0, 6-3, Schaefbauer defeating Isabella Morton of Canada 6-4, 6-2, Nguyen defeating Auburn sophomore Eva Maria Ionescu of Romania 6-3, 6-1 and South Carolina sophomore Jane Dunyon defeating Francoise Abanda of Canada 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Schaefbauer will play top seed and Berkeley W50 champion Madison Brengle, who reached the final of the W100 in Templeton last week.

Astra Sharma(Vanderbilt) of Australia won the W15 in Nashville on Sunday and on Monday was in Lexington for her qualifying match. Despite that quick turn around, she did advance to the main draw, beating Lavinia Tanasie(NC State) of Romania 6-1, 6-1 in the first round and Misa Malkin(South Carolina) 6-3, 6-0 today.

The winner of that match will face one of two 19-year-old Duke teammates: wild card Aspen Schuman, a sophomore, and freshman Mimi Xu of Great Britain, the finalist at last month's ITA All-American Championships.

In addition to Schuman, wild card entrants are Melije Clarke, the recent US Open girls semifinalist and South Carolina senior Kaitlyn Carnicella.

Daniel Susann of the Division I Tennis website has news on the Electronic Line Calling trial that was conducted last month at the men's ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa Oklahoma. After two years of using the PlayReplay system at the men's and women's National Indoor Championships and at this year's NCAAs in Athens (and elsewhere) as a way to challenge an opponent's call, the move to automated line calling of every ball appears to be on its way. 

Susann gets quotes from Tulsa's men's head coach Vince Westbrook and Anthony Montero, the ITA's director of officiating about the pilot. One of the big sticking points I heard two years ago was calibrating the audio so not to disrupt nearby courts, which can be very close together at collegiate facilities, but apparently that has been resolved. From the article, it appears that the cost is now the major impediment for full adoption; it would be a shame if that can't be overcome.

While it has always been difficult for me to follow the ATP and WTA Asian swing, with the time zone issue and the odd schedules, I did see that three former collegians, including two past NCAA doubles champions, won ATP 500 doubles titles in Tokyo Japan and Beijing China.

In Tokyo, Texas A&M's 2011 NCAA doubles champion Austin Krajicek won the title with partner Nikola Mektic of Croatia. The No. 4 seeds defeated No. 2 seeds Theo Arribage and Albano Olivetti of France 7-6(5), 5-7, 10-6 to win their second title of the year and their first since taking the Delray Beach 250 title in February.

Great Britain's Lloyd Glasspool, who won the NCAA doubles title in 2015 at Texas, partnered with compatriot Julian Cash, who competed at Mississippi State and Oklahoma State, to take the title in Beijing. The No. 2 seeds defeated Sander Arends and David Pel of the Netherlands 6-3, 3-6, 10-6 to win their third title of the year, with their first two also at the 500 level in Barcelona and Washington DC. 

Both teams are still in the running for the ATP Finals in Turin Italy in November. Read more about these titles in this article from the ATP website.

Late last month in Asia, JJ Tracy(Ohio State) won an ATP 250 title with partner Francisco Cabal of Portugal as did Jan Zielinski(Georgia) of Poland and Luke Johnson(Clemson) of Great Britain. See this ATP article for details on those titles.

Teams Announced for Next Month's Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup, Hazelitt and Davidov Lead US Teams; Wright Wins J100 Title in Ghana

World Tennis announced the player nominations for the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cups late last week, with the 16-and-under international team competition scheduled to take place in Egypt November 2nd through November 8th. 

The United States is the two-time defending champion in both events; the USA's Junior Billie Jean King Cup team has won the championship the past four years. 

This year's girls team will be led by Jordyn Hazelitt, who swept both titles at the J500 in Osaka last month, results that boosted her junior ranking to a career-high of 11.

She will be joined by Welles Newman, who should be ready after being out with an injury since the Nationals in San Diego. Newman is currently No. 32 in the WT junior rankings. The third member of the team is Hannah Ayrault, who is No. 68 in the junior rankings.  Janae Preston, No. 5 in the junior rankings and No. 589 in the WTA rankings, declined her invitation.

Dave Secker, the women's associate head coach at North Carolina State for the past nine years, accepted a position this summer as a USTA women's national coach, and will be the captain of the girls team.

Both WT junior No. 5 Michael Antonius and No. 6 Jordan Lee, who were on the championship team last year, along with Andy Johnson, a year older, will not be competing again this year, although they are still eligible with 2010 birth years. Pan American J300 champion Teodor Davidov will lead the team this year; his ranking is now up to 73 after his title run last week. Izyan Ahmad, ranked 124, and Tomas Laukys, 231, round out the boys team, which will again be captained by USTA national coach Sylvain Guichard.

The list of players and captains nominated to represent all 16 Billie Jean King Cup teams is here; the Junior Davis Cup team nominations are here.

It was a quiet week for Americans on the World Tennis Junior Circuit, after most were in Houston for the J300 Pan American Closed and all four titles were won by US juniors.

The only other singles titles for an American came at the J100 in Ghana, with 16-year-old Sydney Wright of Maryland winning the biggest of her five WT junior singles titles. Wright, the No. 3 seed, defeated top seed Alisha Ndukwu of Poland 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4) in a match that lasted more than three hours.

David Beckles, who had won two J60s in Ghana last month, saw his winning streak end at 15 when the No. 4 seed lost to No. 6 seed Om Verman of India in the final 6-3, 6-3. 

No. 2 seed Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann reached the final of the J200 in Chile, where she lost to No. 3 seed Camila Rodero of Chile 6-4, 0-6, 6-2. Hannah Ayrault was the top seed; she lost to Rodero 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals. 

Two 14-year-olds who are just beginning to play WT junior events won the doubles title at the J30 in the Dominican Republic. Unseeded Nathan Lee and Wyatt Markham defeated top seeds Joao Pedro Nardi of Italy and Brody Lee Stafford of Ireland 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 in the final for their first WT junior titles.

Fifteen-year-old Angelique Llano and 16-year-old Amanda Rodriguez won the girls doubles title, with the unseeded pair winning their first WT junior titles with a 4-6, 6-4, 10-2 victory in the final over unseeded Diana Brustur of Canada and Gabriella Moracci.

US Open Junior Photo Gallery; Current Collegians Win All Three Men's Singles Titles in This Week's US Pro Tournaments; Filin and Carpico Extend Winning Streak with First Challenger Title; Maria Defeats Brengle in Templeton W100 Final

As promised, the US Open Junior Championships gallery is up today at Tennis Recruiting Network, featuring all of the American juniors who competed in singles and the majority of those who played in the doubles portion of the tournament. 

With most of my attention focused on the WT J300 in Houston, I wasn't able to follow the five professional events in the US as closely as I would have liked, now is a great day to review them all, with the singles champions crowned.

The biggest men's event was the ATP Challenger 75 in Columbus Ohio, with unseeded Dylan Dietrich, a senior at the University of Virginia, winning his first Challenger title today. The 22-year-old from Switzerland beat top seed and Tiburon Challenger 125 champion Darwin Blanch 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals, one of his four victories over seeds this week. Dietrich, who is the preseason No. 1 in the ITA rankings, reached the semifinals of the San Diego Challenger 75 last week.

In today's final, Dietrich defeated No. 7 seed Abdullah Shelbayh(Florida) of Jordan 6-3, 6-2, completing his week of competition without dropping a set. He is now up to 264 in the ATP live rankings.

Ohio State players have traditionally done well in this event, and this year is no exception, with Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin claiming the doubles title. After their run to the third round of the US Open last month, the pair didn't need a wild card into the draw, freeing up the two wild cards for two other Ohio State teams, with Matt Forbes and Denis Petak winning their first round match, while Preston Stearns and Alex Okonkwo won two matches before losing to Carpico and Filin 7-6(9), 6-3 in the semifinals. 

In Saturday's final, Carpico, a senior, and Filin, a junior, defeated top seeds Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) and Braden Shick(NC State) 7-6(3), 2-6, 10-4, and the 2025 NCAA doubles finalists are now inside the ATP's Top 250 in doubles. With their ITA All-American title last Sunday, they now have a nine-match winning streak, although their first round match this week in Columbus was a walkover.

Dominick Mosejczuk, a sophomore at Wake Forest, won his first pro title today at the M15 in Fayetteville Arkansas. The 19-year-old from New York, who reached the semifinals of the ITA All-American Championships as a qualifier, continued his breakout fall with a 6-3, 6-3 win over top seed Theo Papamalamis of France, a junior at Texas A&M, in the final. 

The doubles title in Fayetteville went to the unseeded pair of JC Roddick(UCF, Texas A&M) and Togan Tokac(Florida, Texas A&M), who defeated current Arizona teammates and No. 4 seeds Alejandro Arcila of Colombia and Sasha Rozin 7-5, 6-4 in the final.

At the M15 in Ann Arbor Michigan, redshirt sophomore Max Dahlin claimed his first pro singles title on his home courts. The 20-year-old from Sweden, who didn't drop a set all week, ended the nine-match winning streak of TCU sophomore Oliver Bonding of Great Britain with a 6-4, 6-4 victory today. Bonding had won last week's M15 in South Carolina. Dahlin is No. 4 in the ITA preseason rankings.

Recent college graduates Max Shelton(Michigan State) and Bjorn Swenson(Michigan) won the doubles title, with the unseeded pair defeating top seeds Jeffrey Fradkin(UCLA) and Matt Kuhar(Bryant) 4-6, 6-1, 10-5 in the final.

There was also a women's tournament at the 15 level, a new event in Nashville, where former Vanderbilt All-American Astra Sharma of Australia won the title.

The 31-year-old Sharma, who was in the WTA Top 100 as recently as 2022, just returned to competition in August after being out for a full year, with her ranking now outside the Top 1000. Today she defeated No. 3 seed Rose Marie Nijkamp of the Netherlands, who is a junior at Texas, 6-3, 6-1 in the final.

Current Vanderbilt teammates Erin Pearce of Great Britain and Mia Yamakita took the doubles title, beating Auburn teammates Emma Kamper of Denmark and Isabella Krueger of South Africa, 1-6, 6-2, 10-8 in the final. 

At the W100 in Templeton California, the veterans prevailed over the young players in last night's semifinals, with top seed Tatjana Maria of Germany getting a walkover from qualifier Ella McDonald of Great Britain, a junior at LSU. No. 8 seed Madison Brengle put an end to the run of  17-year-old former World Tennis junior No. 1 Julieta Pareja in the semifinals 6-1, 7-6(1). Maria defeated Brengle today 6-3, 6-4 in the final. 

No. 3 seeds Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) and Allura Zamarripa(Texas) won the doubles title, defeating Whitney Osuigwe and Akasha Urhobo 7-5, 6-2 in the final. Broadus(146) and Zamarripa(104) are at new career highs in the WTA rankings with this title. 

For more on the Templeton singles final, see this article from Steve Pratt.

Davidov Earns Boys World Tennis J300 Pan American Closed Title, Kockinis Claims Girls Singles Championship

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Spring Texas--

After a week of heat and humidity, the finals of the World Tennis Pan American Closed Saturday morning were the last step for a first J300 title for all four finalists, but that achievement took a back seat to survival, according to both winners and losers.

No. 5 seed Armira Kockinis's goal against No. 4 seed Emery Combs was to avoid a repeat of her quarterfinal 6-4 6-3 loss to Combs at the J300 in Tucson last March, and with a 6-2, 6-3 victory today, proved that she had learned from that loss.

"I think in Tucson, I missed way more, wasn't as consistent," said the 16-year-old from La Habra Heights California. "This time I went in knowing how she was going to play, kind of crafty, and I tried to just make a lot of balls."

Combs agreed that Kockinis, who calls her game style "slap and pray," showed much more control than she had in Tucson.

"She has done a much better job of being more consistent and being a little more solid, and I definitely had more trouble with that," said the 15-year-old from Conway South Carolina, who won the doubles title Friday night and is known for her skill at the net. "When she's hitting the ball so hard and making it in, it makes it difficult to counterpunch or neutralize."

Kockinis served well throughout the match, which was a key reason she could keep the aggressive Combs from finding any rhythm.

"I played pretty steady and was serving really, really well, said Kockinis, who lost serve just twice in the match. "I went into the match knowing she has a good serve and she likes to come in off of it, so I thought if I could hold my serve, then maybe I could get a couple games."

It was Combs who struggled with that shot, with a twinge in her arm and overall fatigue playing a role in her managing just three service holds.

"I've had some problems with my arm this week, maybe a little tennis elbow, and I didn't want it to get any worse," said Combs, who took a medical time out at the 2-1 changeover in the second set. "I think we were both tired, you could see that at the beginning of the match, but she ended up handling it better. My first service games were pretty good, but then I started feeling it in my legs and shoulders."

Kockinis was up 6-2, 4-1 in the second set, matching the scenario of her semifinal match with Ellery Mendell, who took the second set before Kockinis finally closed out the match 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4, and Kockinis hadn't forgotten.

"I was thinking about that as soon as I went up 4-1," Kockinis said. "And it was 4-3 again, but luckily at 5-3 this time, I got it."

 

Combs credited Kockinis for her performance, but was not happy with her own. 

"I was just having some trouble today, making a lot of unforced errors, I was just tired."

Kockinis is hoping this title sets her up for playing the junior slams next year.

"This means a lot," Kockinis said of adding a J300 title to the two J100s and one J200 she has won in 2026. "By next year this should put me around 40, so that's great going into slams, so hopefully I can keep it rolling."

Both finalists are planning to rest in the next couple of weeks, with Combs planning to compete in the two W15s in South Carolina in late October and early November and Kockinis looking to play the J500 in Mexico as well as the Bradenton J300 and Orange Bowl to close out the year.

While the girls were playing their final on Court 11, No. 10 seed Teodor Davidov was facing No. 2 seed Tanishk Konduri on Court 1, where Davidov had outlasted top seed Andy Johnson in a four-hour and 15-minute semifinal.

Davidov was a point away from playing a fifth consecutive three-setter, but he came up big late in the second set to score another upset, beating Konduri 6-4, 7-6(4).

Davidov had to save two break points serving for the first set at 5-4 15-40, but won the next four points to secure the set.

The second set was close throughout, with Konduri getting increasingly frustrated with the chair umpire's calls and having trouble getting anything past Davidov, who continued to keep the ball deep with his right-handed and left-handed forehands.

Konduri finally had his opportunity with Davidov serving at 5-6, 15-40, but Davidov hit a good first serve to save the first set point. On the second, Konduri was in control of the point, pinning Davidov into the corner, but Davidov came up with a perfectly dipped pass as Konduri approached the net.

"I couldn't really think much," said the 16-year-old from Bradenton Florida. "I'm so depleted, I couldn't really think about anything. I didn't even really care to be honest, I was so tired. (On that second match point) I don't even really know what happened, but I'm glad I got it through."

At deuce, a right-handed forehand forced an error from Konduri and another good first serve sent the set to a tiebreaker. By that stage of the match, nearly two hours in, both boys were suffering from mental and physical fatigue, so the tiebreaker produced mostly second serves and unforced errors.

Serving at 3-4, Konduri didn't make either first serve and lost both points, one on a passing shot winner and the next on a netted forehand. Davidov then hit a big forehand on the sideline closest to the chair umpire, and when he made the palm down good sign, Konduri vigorously disputed that call, which stood, giving Davidov two championship points. He only needed one, with Konduri's backhand going long to give Davidov his first J300 title.

Konduri said he sensed both he and Davidov were nervous at the start of the final.

"I was a little tight because I don't know how much I had in me, physically," said the 17-year-old from Cupertino California. "I played a pretty trash first set, but he did a good job of staying solid in the important moments. I had chances, but he didn't give them to me, I didn't get anything for free."

Like Davidov, Konduri was unable to think clearly in the second set. 

"Honestly, I was completely out of it, I didn't care at all about what was happening," Konduri said. "I got a little frustrated that I didn't get the set at 6-5, and I was like, I'm out of here. But he played very well."

Davidov, who could be seen shaking out his legs late in the second set, was still feeling the aftereffect of his marathon semifinal against Johnson less than 24 hours before.

"Yesterday I was cramping so much, my whole leg," said Davidov. "And today it felt like it was about to cramp, I was getting really scared. At one point I couldn't really serve, because it was starting to feel like it was cramping, but overall, I was serving really well today."

Konduri said his own serve wasn't bad, but he was unable to come up with big serves when he needed them, which was not a problem for Davidov. 

"He was on and off serving to be honest," Davidov said. "He was also getting distracted with the ref and other small things. I saw that and just used it."

Davidov will return to Bradenton, where he trains with his father Kalin at the Inspiration Tennis Academy, with a USTA Pro Circuit event in either Austin or Lexington next on his schedule, before the Bradenton J300 and Orange Bowl at the end of the year.

Konduri is taking some time off, as he attempts to heal a nagging foot injury, but is expecting to play the Las Vegas M25 at the end of the month.

"Physically, I'm pretty exhausted and I'm pretty behind on school as well," said Konduri, who has verbally committed to Stanford for next fall. "I just need to reset a bit and come back."

Konduri is also expecting to compete at the last two World Tennis junior events in Florida in December.