Unseeded Lopez and Roussel Advance to Semifinals at College Park J300; Most US Open Final Round Qualifying Matches Postponed Due to Rain; Kennedy Draws Qualifier, Frodin Plays Rybakina in US Open Main Draw Debuts

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

Eighteen-year-old left-handers Felix Roussel of Canada and Adla Lopez of the United States were not seeded this week at the World Tennis J300 at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, but they have had impressive wins over more highly regarded opponents, and find themselves in the semifinals after straight-sets victories today.

Roussel, who defeated No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad in the second round, beat the other half of the top-seeded doubles team today, earning a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico. Alvarez had played over four hours in his win over Teodor Davidov in Wednesday's third round, but Roussel didn't detect any after-effects in his opponent's performance this morning.

"I thought it was a pretty good match," said Roussel, who lives in Toronto. "Probably both sides were a bit tired, but no, I think he was good."

Roussel credited his serve for keeping him on offense throughout the 82-minute match. 

"I thought I served really well today," said Roussel, who had four aces, no double faults and made 75 percent of his first serves. "I was dealing with some back issues early on (in the tournament) but it's starting to feel better now, so that was a positive. I thought I played my game well, being aggressive, following up at the net. Some mistakes here and there, but I stuck to it."

Back pain is not something that Roussel takes lightly after what he endured n 2025.

"Last year I had a back issue, and I was out for about nine months," said Roussel, who withdrew after entering doubles this week. "But I'm feeling better now, so that's good."

Roussel is committed to the University of Kentucky, a stronghold of Canadian talent, and he appreciates the continued support he received when he was unable to compete last year.

"Coach Cedric (Kauffmann) and Coach Matt(Gordon), they're amazing coaches and I really like the program," said Roussel, who will join the Wildcats in the fall of 2027.

Roussel, who made the final of the J300 Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica in January, said he doesn't look ahead in draws, but he will face No. 15 seed Safir Azam, who defeated No. 9 seed Pedro Chabalgoity of Brazil 6-3, 6-3 and has yet to drop a set this week.

Azam, who has reached two J300 semifinals this year, defeated Roussel 7-6(5), 6-4 in the first round of a J200 in the Dominican Republic in February.

The other boys semifinal will feature a first meeting between top seed Vincent Reisach of Germany and No. 4 seed Dan Brand of Israel, both of whom beat Americans in three sets.

Reisach, who has had his left leg heavily taped below the knee all week, took No. 7 seed Tanishk Konduri's best shots and stayed mentally engaged throughout to post a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win.  Brand completely lost his concentration in the second set, but regained his composure to earn a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 victory over No. 10 seed Vihaan Reddy, who, like Alvarez, had played over four hours in singles Wednesday.

Reisach, a semifinalist at Wimbledon this year, reached an M15 final earlier this month, but this will be his first appearance in a J300 semifinal.

For Lopez, her second J300 semifinal was similar to her first, back in March of 2025, when she also defeated Maggie Sohns in the Indian Wells quarterfinals.

Today, Lopez did not need three sets to down the unseeded Sohns, as she had in Indian Wells, closing out a 6-2, 6-4 win with a break of serve.

"I feel like because I played her last year at Indian Wells, I kind of knew her game style," said the Delray Beach resident, who beat top seed and Australian Open champion Ksenia Efremova of France 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 Wednesday. "Last year, it went to three sets because I was trying to hit hard, flat, and that's exactly what she likes. So today, I did the opposite of that, a really slow ball, heavy, to push her back, so I could create a short ball."

Lopez also employed the same strategy in the last two sets against Efremova, which she does strictly for the frustration it causes her opponents.

"Honestly, I like hitting fast, flat balls, but they also like that," Lopez said. "I don't mind the slower pace, I'm pretty athletic and I have enough stamina to stay in the points, and I enjoy the long points."

Lopez will have another opportunity to use those tactics against her opponent Friday, No. 3 seed Mariia Makarova of Russia, who defeated No. 10 seed Yu Jun Lin of China 6-3, 6-2. Makarova barely survived her match with wild card Reiley Rhodes Wednesday, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(8), with Rhodes' defense preventing her from hitting the winners she is accustomed to.

"I've seen her play and I know she likes fast, flat balls," Lopez said. "I know Reiley, she hits pretty heavy, a slower ball and that's going to be my strategy basically."

Lopez, ranked 116, was one of the last two players to receive entry into the main draw when the special exempts were not used, helping her avoid qualifying.

That left Thara Gowda as the top seed in qualifying, and her run came to an end today, when she lost to No. 11 seed Maia Burcescu of Romania 6-3, 6-2. Burcescu will face No. 5 seed Paola Pinera Celorio of Spain, who defeated No. 14 seed Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Four matches will be played at 10 a.m. Friday: three singles semifinals and one doubles match, to accommodate players traveling to Canada for the J300 there, which begins Saturday.

The doubles semifinals featured two seeded teams and two unseeded teams in both the boys and girls draws.

Top seeds Yannik Alvarez and Ryan Cozad will face unseeded Pedro Henrique Chabalgoity and Francisco Fontes Damorim of Brazil in the top half, and No. 3 seeds Kunanan Pantaratorn of Thailand and Arnav Paparkar of India will play unseeded Livas Eduardo De Carvalho Damazio of Brazil and Max Villar of Spain.

In the girls doubles, there were two extended match tiebreakers that decided the semifinalists, with both those winners unseeded Americans.

Wild cards Aarini Bhattacharya and Shristi Selvan, who train at JTCC and played in the San Diego 16s final earlier this month, defeated No. 3 seeds Maia Burcescu of Romania and Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 17-15. They will play top seeds Ksenia Efremova of France and Paola Pinera Celorio of Spain in the semifinals.

Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann and Hannah Ayrault defeated No. 2 seeds Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybas and Anna Pushkareva of Russia 4-6, 6-4, 13-11 and will play No. 4 seeds Yihan Qu and Tushan Shao of China in the bottom half semifinal.

Links to draws, the order of play, live streaming and live scoring can be found here.

Rain did not hamper the schedule today in College Park, but further north, in New York, only 10 of the 32 US Open final round qualifying matches on the schedule were completed, with the remainder to be completed Friday. Two of the seven matches featuring Americans were completed, with resuls and Friday's matches below.

Americans in final round of qualifying:
Nishesh Basavareddy[32] v Arthur Gea[1](FRA)
Mackenzie McDonald[28] v Dalibor Svrcina[8](CZE)
Colton Smith v Hugo Gaston[3](FRA)

Robin Montgomery d. Carson Branstine(CAN) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
Lucrezia Stefanini[28](ITA) d. Julieta Pareja[WC] 6-4, 6-3
Mary Stoiana[17] v Yue Yuan[13](CHN)
Elvina Kalieva[8] v Vendula Valdmannova(CZE)

The men's and women's singles draws were revealed today and the USTA National 18s champions were at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Jack Kennedy will play a qualifier or lucky loser (currently two of the latter), while Thea Frodin has been drawn to play No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

USTA Collegiate Wild Card Playoff winners Reese Brantmeier(UNC) and Sebastian Gorzny(Texas) have both drawn unseeded opponents, with Brantmeier playing Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine and Gorzny facing Raphael Collignon of Belgium.  Currently there are 17 US men and 21 US women in the main draw, with five more possible from qualifying tomorrow.

Men:(17)

Michael Zheng[WC] v Fabian Marozsan(HUN)

Zachary Svajda v Daniel Altmaier(GER)

Marcos Giron v Ignacio Buse[32](PER)

Learner Tien[14] v Nuno Borges(POR)

Taylor Fritz[9] v Darwin Blanch[WC]

Sebastian Gorzny[WC] v Raphael Collignon(BEL)

Aleks Kovacevic v Valentin Vacherot[22](MON)

Martin Damm v Frances Tiafoe[11]

Brandon Nakashima[16] v Sebastian Baez(ARG)

Alex Michelsen v Q/LL

Ben Shelton[8] v Tallon Griekspoor(NED)

Jack Kennedy[WC] v Q/LL

JJ Wolf[WC] v Alexander Bublik[15](KAZ)

Tommy Paul[20] v Q/LL

Jenson Brooksby v Jaime Faria(POR)

Women: (20) + qualifier Robin Montgomery

Taylor Townsend v Maja Chwalinska[20](POL)

Alycia Parks v Taylah Preston[WC](AUS)

Sloane Stephens[WC] v Clara Tauson(DEN)

McCartney Kessler v Ekaterina Alexandrova[18](RUS)

Ann Li[29] v Antonia Ruzic(CRO)

Katie Volynets v Linda Noskova[6](CZE)

Jessica Pegula[3] v Elena-Gabriela Ruse(ROU)

Venus Williams[WC] v Sofia Kenin[WC]

Emma Navarro[26] v Lois Boisson(FRA)

Caty McNally v Q

Carol Lee[WC] v Katie Boulter

Ashlyn Krueger v Amanda Anisimova[10]

Iva Jovic[14] v Magdalena Frech(POL)

Reese Brantmeier[WC] v Oleksandra Oliynykova(UKR)

Coco Gauff[4] v Zeynep Sonmez(TUR)

Peyton Stearns v Q

Madison Keys[22] v Alina Korneeva(RUS)

Thea Frodin[WC] v Elena Rybakina[2](KAZ)

Both Junior Slam Champions Upset Victims Wednesday in College Park J300; Pareja One of Seven Americans Advancing to US Open Qualifying's Final Round; USO Doubles Wild Cards Announced

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

Australian Open girls champion Ksenia Efremova and Wimbledon girls champion Anna Pushkareva had their preparations for a second junior slam title cut short today at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, with both falling in the third round of the J300 after winning the opening set. And although those were the most prominent upsets, the day's action also featured two four-hour-plus matches and two matches decided in third-set tiebreakers.

Pushkareva, the No. 2 seed, lost to No. 14 seed Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, and 30 minutes later top seed Efremova was beaten by unseeded Adla Lopez 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

Sushkova said her coach told her changing her approach wasn't necessary, given how small the margins were in the first set.

"My coach said we had many opportunities, both of us, in the first set, to break each other, but she was just playing a bit better," said the 17-year-old, who trains at the Elite Tennis Center in Cannes France. "So just stick to my plan, and somehow get the win."

Sushkova said Pushkareva's level did drop in the second set, and with the temperatures in the mid-80s, staying in long rallies was difficult from a physical standpoint. Yet she held up well in the third set, with Pushkareva making the bulk of the errors that ended most of the rallies.

This is the first of two weeks of hard court preparation for the US Open Junior Championships after an injury at the J300 in Roehampton kept Sushkova out of Wimbledon, with the J300 in Repentigny Canada next week also on her schedule.

"I tore my abductor muscle in my right arm, and it was affecting my backhand," said Sushkova, No. 43 in the World Tennis junior rankings. "I spent a lot of time on the recovery and on the practice, so I guess it was worth the price."

Sushkova and Pushkareva did not shake hands after the match, which Sushkova said was nothing personal, but rather the instruction given to all Ukrainian tennis players by their federation.

"I'm not friends with her, but I can talk to her, and prepared her for that," Sushkova said.

She will face No. 5 seed Paola Pinera Celorio of Spain, who defeated No. 9 seed Yushan Shao of China 6-2, 1-6, 6-0.

While Pushkareva and Sushkova were battling on Center Court 17, Efremova and Lopez were entering a third set on Court 14.

Lopez said she started the match hitting with Efremova, but decided to switch strategies.

"In the first set I was really just trying to hit hard, go for big shots," said the 18-year-old left-hander from Florida. "She's a pretty big hitter and I was trying to play her game. So after the first set, I tried to calm myself down, go to the bathroom. Then I switched up my game by playing a little slower to slow her down and make the points longer and tire her out, and it worked."

At 4-all in the third, Lopez survived a score dispute, with Efremova claiming she had been up 40-15 serving in the game when Lopez hit two winners on the far sideline, while Lopez, and the spectators watching the match, were certain that Lopez had won those two points from a 30-all score.

"It was 30-all, I won that point for 40-30, and won the next point, so that's the game right?," Lopez said. "But she said it was 40-15, so the ref was like, tie it at 30-all."

Lopez won the next two points to take the game and then served out the match with no further drama, but Lopez was still baffled by Efremova's actions.

"She did it twice, once in the second set, too," said Lopez, who couldn't recall ever being in a similar situation in her junior career. "From someone at that level, No. 2 in the world, you wouldn't expect that."

Lopez will play her doubles partner, Maggie Sohns, who defeated Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann 7-6(4), 6-4.

It looked as if No. 3 seed Mariia Makarova might exit with Efremova and Pushkareva, when she was forced into a third-set tiebreaker with wild card Reiley Rhodes, who trains at the JTCC and had the support of the crowds on the veranda adjacent to Court 17. 

Makarova was up 5-4, 40-0 in the third set but double faulted three straight times and lost the game; despite being up throughout tiebreaker, Makarova again had trouble closing, making unforced errors on match points at 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7 until Rhodes, ranked 232 to Makarova's 7, tried an ill-advised drop shot on 9-8 that didn't clear the net.

Makarova will face No. 10 seed Yu Jun Lin of China, who defeated No. 7 seed Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

Qualifier Thara Gowda, the third American in the quarterfinals, continued her run with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Yu-Chen Lin of Taiwan, and will play No. 11 seed Maia Burcescu of Romania, who defeated No. 6 seed Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybas 6-4, 6-2.

The boys match that went to 7-6 in the third was a four-hour and 15-minute affair, with No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez defeating unseeded Teodor Davidov 7-6(7), 5-7, 7-6(6) while saving a match point in the third set tiebreaker.

Alvarez struggled throughout the match with his strategy, which is not surprising given Davidov has no backhand, switching the racquet from hand to hand to hit only forehands. Davidov, who celebrated his 16th birthday today, also serves both left-handed and right-handed.

"I was losing my mind," said the 18-year-old from Georgia, who represents Puerto Rico on the World Tennis junior circuit and is a member of the WT Grand Slam Touring Team. "I didn't show it, obviously, but it was inside my head. Every point I lost I literally didn't know what to do. I feel like it's such an advantage for him, you don't really know where to attack, you're running side to side, he doesn't miss much. It's hard. He's obviously a very tricky, good, talented player."

Alvarez had five match points at 5-4, 40-0 in the third with two ads, but when he didn't convert those, the next match point belonged to Davidov, at 6-5 in the tiebreaker, with Alvarez serving. Alvarez missed his first serve, but Davidov netted a pass attempt, then shanked a ball way out to give Alvarez another match point. This time he converted, with a backhand approach forcing an error.

Alvarez will face the only unseeded player remaining in the draw, Canadian Felix Roussel, who beat wild card Joseph Lee 6-2, 6-2.

No. 7 seed Tanishk Konduri ended the run of qualifier Antoine Genereux of Canada 6-4, 6-3 and will face top seed Vincent Reisach of Germany, who escaped a third set with No. 13 seed Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga of Colombia  6-3, 7-6(2).

No. 10 seed Vihaan Reddy won the other four-hour match today, defeating No. 6 seed Emilio Camacho 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5 in four hours and four minutes. Reddy's opponent in the quarterfinals is No. 4 seed Daniel Brand of Israel, who was cramping at the end of the second set of his match with No. 14 seed Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana but managed a 6-1, 7-6(5) victory. The third American boy in the quarterfinals is No. 15 seed Safir Azam, who defeated wild card Jerrid Gaines Jr. 6-1, 7-6(3). Azam's quarterfinal opponent is No. 9 seed Pedro Chabalgoity of Brazil, who beat No. 8 seed Connor Doig of South Africa 7-6(4), 6-2.

Of the 16 singles matches played today, nine had tiebreakers, with the Davidov-Alvarez match having two.

The doubles quarterfinals will be played Thursday afternoon, with boys top seeds Yannik Alvarez and Ryan Cozad and No. 2 seeds Daniel Brand and Emilio Camacho both winning their second round matches today in match tiebreakers.

No. 1 seeds in the girls draw, Ksenia Efremova and Paola Pinera Celorio won in straight sets today, as did No. 2 seeds Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybak and Anna Pushkareva.

Singles quarterfinals will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, with possible thunderstorms in the afternoon the reason for the earlier start.

Links to draws, live scoring and live streaming can be found here.

Only one of the nine teenagers competing in the US Open qualifying this week have advanced to Thursday's final round, and that's 17-year-old Julieta Pareja, who also made the final round of qualifying in 2024. Pareja defeated Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus 6-4, 6-2 today and will play No. 28 seed Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy, whom she beat in the second round of qualifying in 2024.

Michael Antonius lost to wild card Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 6-4 and spoke with Michael Lewis after his loss about playing the former US Open finalist on Court 17, a match that featured the second largest age gap in grand slam qualifying, second only to the Fernando Verdasco - Jerry Shang match in Australia in 2023.

"I'm really, you know, I'm just honored to be able to share a court with him on his final farewell tour, his farewell Grand Slam," said the 16-year-old from Buffalo New York."He's been around a long time, but he's an inspiration for all of us. I mean, the way he plays, you can see glimpses of it just as, like, the first point, why he was top five in the world.You felt it right away."

Andy Johnson lost to former University of Kentucky All-American Liam Draxl of Canada 6-4, 6-2, admitting in his conversation with Lewis that sustaining the level he displayed in winning the last five games of his first round match with Taro Daniel Tuesday night is what separates a junior from an ATP professional.

"I always feel like I can play at that level and hopefully in the future stay at that level," said the 17-year-old from Rancho Palos Verdes California. "So it's a great experience and I'm just going to keep moving forward and trying to get better and better to stay at that level.  Yeah and also like staying at that level you know. You play at the high level and then you have to match it the next day. You know it takes a toll especially when I'm 17... So I've just got to keep getting better, keep working out."

Wednesday's second round matches:
Kei Nishikori[WC](JPN) d. Michael Antonius 6-4, 6-4
Liam Draxl(CAN) d. Andy Johnson 6-4, 6-2
Daniel Rincon(ESP) d. Jordan Lee 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
Julieta Pareja d. Iryna Shymanovich(BLR) 6-4, 6-2
Harriet Dart[29](GBR) d. Kristina Penickova 5-7, 6-0, 6-3

Elvina Kalieva[8] d. Sofia Costoulas(BEL) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Americans in Thursday's final round of qualifying:

MEN:
Nishesh Basavareddy[32] v Arthur Gea[1](FRA)
Mackenzie McDonald[28] v Dalibor Svrcina[8](CZE)
Colton Smith v Hugo Gaston[3](FRA)

WOMEN:

Robin Montgomery v Carson Branstine(CAN)
Julieta Pareja[WC] v Lucrezia Stefanini[28](ITA)
Mary Stoiana[17] v Yue Yuan[13](CHN)

Elvina Kalieva[8] v Vendula Valdmannova(CZE)

The majority of the doubles wild cards have been announced, with today's release from the USTA:

Women's Doubles Wild Cards

 

Serena Williams and Venus Williams
Robin Montgomery and Ashlyn Krueger
Reese Brantmeier and Savannah Broadus
Claire Liu and Julieta Pareja
DJ Bennett and Ava Esposito (American Collegiate Player Wild Card Playoffs)
Bella Payne and Sara Shumate (USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships)
To be announced

Men's Doubles Wild Cards

 

Jackson Withrow and Nate Lammons
Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Damm
Mac Kiger and Aleks Kovacevic
Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin (American Collegiate Player Wild Card Playoffs)
Noah Johnston and Yannik Alvarez (USTA Boys’ 18s National Championship)
To be announced
To be announced

Gaines Ousts No. 3 Seed, Qualifier Gowda Beats No. 4 Seed in Second Round of College Park J300; Antonius, Johnson and Penickova Advance in US Open Qualifying; Kennedy Defers Enrollment at UVA Until January

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

Tuesday was the first day of action for the seeds at the World Tennis J300 in College Park and ten of them did not survive, with five boys seeds and five girls seeds falling to unseeded players on another perfect weather day at the Junior Tennis Champions Center.

And the upsets weren't confined to lower seeds, with Jerrid Gaines Jr. defeating No. 3 seed Arnav Paparkar of India 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and qualifier Thara Gowda eliminating No. 4 seed Ailina Sol Larraya Guidi of Argentina 6-4, 6-1.

Gaines, who had lost to Paparkar in three set May's J300 in Belgium on clay, didn't change his strategy, but did approach the match with a different mindset.

"I had to adjust a couple of things in terms of the mental," said the 17-year-old from Florida. "Just trusting myself, having that confidence. Sometimes I would lack confidence, but the key for me is to have that deep belief in those hard moments, because I do put in the work, and deserve to believe I can do whatever I put my mind to."

Gaines, a wild card, said he thought the court speed favored him more in this match than in their previous one, although he does like clay.

"I felt my ball was doing a little bit more on him," Gaines said. "So I was able to dictate the points a little bit more."

Gaines showed signs of frustration during the match, including several racquet tosses that went unnoticed by the roving officials, which he said was more physical than mental.

"I was playing great, but I was just a little bit worried because my knee started to hurt," Gaines said. "It was oh no, not now."

Gaines will face No. 15 seed Safir Azam in the only all-USA boys match in the third round. Azam, who defeated Rihards Neimanis of Latvia 6-4, 6-1 today, beat Gaines more than a year ago in their previous meeting in the third round of a J100 in the Dominican Republic, but Gaines is ready to extend his run this week.

"Obviously the tournament has a lot of great players," Gaines said. "But I think I could go deep in the tournament. You just have to put your head down and work, and just see what happens."

Gowda has had a much tougher journey to the third round, as the top seed in the qualifying tournament. She did receive a bye, but in the second round, her first match, she trailed Anastasia Pleskun 5-2 and 6-2 in the match tiebreaker before coming back for a 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 win.

"I was unusually calm in that tiebreaker to be honest," said Gowda, a 17-year-old from Michigan. "I don't really know why. But my dad just told me to make the balls, deep middle, huge margins, and that helped a lot. She was missing more than I was, and I should probably do that more often."

Gowda won her final round qualifying match with the loss of just four games, but had a three-set battle with Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia in the first round yesterday. It looked as if she was headed to another three-setter today, when she fell behind 3-0, but she rebounded to win six of the last seven games.

"In the first set I was just playing so solid, some of the best tennis I've played in a while, I wasn't really doing anything wrong," said Gowda, who has verbally committed to the University of Michigan for 2027. "In the second set, I have no idea what happened, I started shaking so much, and I wasn't moving my feet enough. How do you go from playing so good, to missing every ball? And then my dad coached me and said, get it in, move your feet, use bigger margins. And I gained some confidence, started playing better and I got back on serve. From there, she just started making more mistakes, and I pulled it out."

Gowda said her win today was her best in World Tennis junior circuit competition, with Larraya Guidi currently No. 14 in the world. 

"I don't know if I've played anyone in the Top 20 before, so she's the best player I've beaten," said Gowda, who was a quarterfinalist at the USTA National Championships in San Diego two weeks ago. "It's good to know I can be at that level."

Gowda acknowledges that the pressure she felt in qualifying is much different from what she felt today or in the USTA Pro Circuit events she has played. 

"In these higher level tournaments, I'm definitely the lower ranked player against whoever I play, so I just go out there, swing freely, with nothing to lose," said Gowda, who has a WTA ranking of 989. "I don't feel as nervous as playing qualifying, when I'm supposed to win; it's more relaxed than qualifying or a lower level tournament."

The other qualifier to advance to the third round is Antoine Genereux of Canada, who beat No. 11 seed Kirill Filaretov of Russia 7-6(5), 6-4.

Maggie Sohns defeated No. 8 seed Yihan Qu of China 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(1), while Adla Lopez's 6-0, 6-1 win over No. 13 seed Renee Alame of Australia was more than an hour shorter. Wild card Reiley Rhodes defeated No. 16 seed Olivia Traynor 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, but it was Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann's three-hour and 32-minute 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3) win over No. 12 seed Maria Pop of Romania that drew the crowds to Court 17, with the other second round matches concluding and the first round of boys doubles occupying most of the other courts.

Pop served for the match at 5-3 in the third, but couldn't finish off Drenser-Hagmann. In the tiebreaker, Pop took a 3-1 lead, but Drenser-Hagmann began to construct points to get the backhands she wanted, while also hitting a drop shot winner and an overhead winner as she claimed the last six points of the match.

Australian Open champion and top seed Ksenia Efremova of France defeated USTA National 16s champion Shristi Selvan, a wild card, 6-2, 7-5 and No. 2 seed and Wimbledon champion Anna Pushkareva of Russia survived a bruising first set before defeating Canadian wild card Clemence Mercier 7-6(10), 6-0.

In addition to Paparkar and Filaretov, the other boys seeds to fall on Tuesday were No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad, who lost to Felix Roussel of Canada 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; No. 12 seed Savva Rybkin of Russia, who retired against wild card Joseph Lee at 1-6, 7-5; and No. 16 seed Benjamin Azar of Canada, who was beaten by Teodor Davidov 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Top seed Vincent Reisach of Germany defeated wild card Mason Vaughan 6-2, 6-2 and No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez beat qualifier Kahven Singh 6-1, 6-0.

Singles will begin at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, with the second round of both boys and girls doubles in the afternoon, with the seeded teams playing for the first time.

Live scoring is available at iOnCourt; live streaming links and links to the order of play and draws are here.

The first round of qualifying at the US Open is now complete and five of the nine US teens given wild cards have advanced to the second round.

In addition to Jordan Lee and Julieta Pareja, who won their first round matches Monday, Michael Antonius, Andy Johnson and Kristina Penickova picked up wins today. Antonius started the day with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Great Britain's Henry Searle, with Penickova following with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Elli Mandlik. Andy Johnson closed out the evening for Americans with an improbably third set comeback on Court 17, beating ATP No. 160 Taro Daniel of Japan 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 after trailing 4-1 in the final set. Johnson, who turned 17 on Sunday, hit 35 winners to Daniel's 10, with most of those coming in the final five games, when he could do no wrong, riding the support of the crowd to the second round. All three boys on the USA's champion Junior Davis Cup team last fall have posted victories in their first US Open men's qualifying competition.

Tuesday's results of US teens:

Michael Antonius d. Henry Searle(GBR) 6-1, 6-2

Tristan Schoolkate(AUS) d. Jack Secord 6-3, 6-2 

Andy Johnson d. Taro Daniel(JPN) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4

Kristina Penickova d. Elli Mandlik 7-5, 6-2

Nao Hibino d. Janae Preston 7-6(4), 6-1

Harriet Dart[29](GBR) d. Jordyn Hazelitt 6-0, 6-7(1), 6-1

Martyna Kubka(POL) d. Annika Penickova 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2

Wednesday's second round matches for US teens:

Michael Antonius v Kei Nishikori[WC](JPN)

Andy Johnson v Liam Draxl(CAN)

Jordan Lee v Daniel Rincon(ESP)

Julieta Pareja v Iryna Shymanovich(BLR)

Kristina Penickova v Harriet Dart[29](GBR)

The ITA released its preseason and newcomer rankings today (men here; women here) and when Kalamazoo 18s champion Jack Kennedy didn't appear on the newcomers list for men, the speculation as to why began. I reached out to Jack Kennedy and this is his statement:

"I can confirm that I have deferred my enrollment to UVA until January. My decision is about wanting to utilize as many wild cards that I have earned and finish this year with a focus on playing as many main draw Challengers as possible. I started the year at 975 and I'm now 386. I want to see how I can finish the year playing mostly a pro schedule." 

Although there is no reference to it in his statement, the $140,000 prize money he'll earn in a first round appearance at the US Open, money he could not accept if he were enrolled this fall at Virginia, was also certainly a factor in his decision. 

Singh and Genereux Survive Brutal Qualifying Days, Advance to Second Round at WT J300 College Park; Lee and Pareja Win Opening US Open Qualifying Matches, Seven More US Teens Play First Round Matches Tuesday

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

The seeds begins play Tuesday at the World Tennis J300 at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, and several of them will take on opponents who have already proven their toughness and competitive spirit over the last three days. 

No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico will find himself facing Kahven Singh, who was cramping himself when his opponent retired with cramps in his second match of qualifying Sunday, and today came back from 6-0, 4-1, 40-0 down to defeat Kunanan Pantaratorn of Thailand 0-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Singh had beaten No. 4 seed Tyler Lee in the first round of qualifying Saturday 2-6, 6-1, 10-6 and J100 Chestertown champion Sebastian Godoy 3-6, 6-2, 10-3 in his first qualifying match Sunday morning. Against Eliot Awomoyi, Singh managed to win the first set 6-4, but the match became a battle of attrition shortly thereafter, with Awomoyi retiring with Singh up 4-3 in the second set.

"It was definitely tough physically," said the 16-year-old from Bethesda Maryland, who reached the Kalamazoo 16s doubles final a week ago Saturday. "I started cramping at the end of the first set, but then he cramped and I got through it."

Singh said he used every tool at his disposal to try to recover for today's match.

"I took an ice bath, compression boots, ate a lot and hydrated a lot and I definitely needed that," Singh said, who did not get on court for today's first round match until after 5 p.m. "A lot of waiting today for my court, which helped me a little bit, but was tiring mentally, I would say."

Singh didn't assign any blame for the first set score on his fatigue or his wait. 

"The guy really hot, he was playing really, really well, but me and my coaches (Mateo Cevallos and Vince Pulupa of OSSA) were just like, keep fighting, try to find a way, maybe he'll drop his level a little bit and I could play a little better," Singh said. "That ended up happening, I found some great chances and executed them pretty well. I pulled away in the third set, definitely long, long games, but I got through it."

Singh said he was "flowing a little bit" by the third set and didn't feel it as much physically as he might have.

"I was just playing really well, stepping in and making him play everything, one extra ball, and that really helped me," Singh said. "I thought that I fought pretty well today."

Antoine Genereux of Canada had an even more difficult weekend than Singh, as he lost in the final of the J100 in Chestertown Saturday morning and had to play his first round of qualifying in College Park that afternoon.

"I played Saturday morning at 8 o'clock at an indoor facility(due to rain)," said the 17-year-old from Quebec City. "After the final I had to drive here and I actually played at 7 o'clock at night. There were no lights on my court, so we had to switch courts and had to wait, come back at 8:20 on one of the courts with lights. It was a hell of a day, finished at like 10 o'clock."

Genereux avoided a match tiebreaker until his second qualifying match Sunday, when he defeated fellow Canadian Samuel Pelletier 6-0, 4-6, 10-7. But four matches in two days took their toll, especially after playing four three-set matches last week in Chestertown.

"I'm so tired," said Genereux, who defeated fellow qualifier Charles Minvielle 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 today in two hours and 40 minutes. "I wake up every day and I'm feeling fine, but when I go on court--I'm usually good in long rallies, keeping a heavy ball and putting pressure on my opponents--but now I'm getting tired quicker than usual so it was harder in my match today."

Genereux said he has been working to improve his transition game, and that proved valuable today against Minvielle.

"I've worked on it a lot and got more comfortable doing it recently," said the rising high school senior, who is talking with college coaches now to determine the right fit for him. "I've worked on it a lot the past few years, but it's never been something I'm comfortable with. But I feel like recently, it's been clicking a little bit more and I try to use it, especially against opponents like him."

Genereux's opponent in Tuesday's second round is No. 11 seed Kirill Filaretov of Russia.

"I actually played him in Bulgaria," said Genereux, who won their second round match at the J300 this spring 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(6). "It was an amazing match, and he's an amazing player so I don't take anything for granted."

Genereux is one of four Canadian boys who advanced to the second round with wins today, with No. 16 seed Benjamin Azar playing his first match tomorrow.

The final match of the day also had to be moved to a lighted court, with wild card Joseph Lee, who earned his wild card via the playoff held each year at the JTCC, defeating Livas Eduardo Carvalho Damazio of Brazil 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 after 8 p.m. Monday night.

Three girls qualifiers reached the second round: Thara Gowda, Brooke Wallman and Clemence Mercier of Canada, with lucky loser Scarlett Fagan also earning a victory in the first round today.

The seeds take the court for the first time Tuesday, beginning with the boys. The first round of girls doubles was played today, with the first round of boys doubles scheduled for Tuesday evening. Seeded doubles teams in both genders will play for the first time Wednesday.

Live scoring is available at iOnCourt, with live streaming on courts 13, 14 and 17, with links here.

Kalamazoo finalist Jordan Lee won his first round US Open men's qualifying match today in New York, defeating ATP 152 Mark Lajal of Estonia, a former College Park J300 champion, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. He will face Daniel Rincon of Spain in Wednesday's second round.

San Diego semifinalist Julieta Pareja defeated No. 9 seed Kayla Day 6-3, 6-1 and will face Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus in the second round Wednesday. Tuesday's first round matches for American teenagers:

Michael Antonius v Henry Searle(GBR)

Jack Secord v Tristan Schoolkate(AUS)

Andy Johnson v Taro Daniel(JPN)

Kristina Penickova v. Elli Mandlik 

Janae Preston v Nao Hibino(JPN)

Jordyn Hazelitt v Harriet Dart[29](GBR)

Annika Penickova v Martyna Kubka(POL)

Secord and Hazelitt Win US Open Qualifying Wild Card Playoffs, Join Seven US Teens In Qualifying; Few Seeded Americans at College Park J300, Colombo Beats Top Seed to Qualify; Gauff Wins Cincinnati Open

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

Men's and women's qualifying begins Monday at the US Open, with two US juniors joining five of their counterparts in the draw after winning two matches today in the new qualifying wild card playoff.

Sixteen-year-old Jordyn Hazelitt defeated Shannon Lam 6-2, 7-6(2) in the first match and Melije Clarke 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 to earn her wild card into women's qualifying. 

She joins 17-year-old Julieta Pareja and 16-year-olds Janae Preston, Kristina Penickova and Annika Penickova in the draw.

Seventeen-year-old Jack Secord, a semifinalist in Kalamazoo last week, defeated Ozan Baris(Michigan State) 3-6, 6-2, 11-9 and Dali Blanch 6-4, 6-2 to win the men's qualifying wild card playoff, joining 17-year-old Andy Johnson and 16-year-olds Jordan Lee and Michael Antonius in the draw.

Only two of the seven US juniors will be in action Monday: Pareja faces No. 9 seed Kayla Day and Lee plays Mark Lajal of Estonia, both at 11 a.m.

The full qualifying schedule is here.

The mixed doubles qualifying also begins Monday.

With the qualifying at the World Tennis J300 College Park now complete, with two rounds played today at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, the draws have been released. Below are the seeds, wild cards and qualifiers. Jordyn Hazelitt was a late withdrawal, due to winning the women's qualifying playoff (Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann, who lost to Clarke in the first round this morning did make the trip from New York and will play here tomorrow. Scarlett Fagan is the lucky loser in for Hazelitt. 

There are only four Americans seeded, in total, primarily because so many are in qualifying in New York.

The seeds do not play until Tuesday, but all those who won two matches today to advance to the main draw are on Monday's schedule.

College Park J300 seeds
Boys
1. Vincent Reisach(GER)
2. Yannik Alvarex(PUR)
3. Arnav Paparkar(IND)
4. Dan Brand(ISR)
5. Ryan Cozad(USA)
6. Emilio Camacho(ECU)
7. Tanishk Konduri(USA)
8. Conner Doig(RSA)
9. Pedro Henrique Chabalgoity(BRA)
10. Vihaan Reddy(USA)
11. Kirill Filaretov(RUS)
12. Savva Rybkin(RUS)
13. Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga(COL)
14. Ntungamili Raguin(BOT)
15. Safir Azam(USA)
16. Benjamin Azar(CAN)

Wild cards: (all USA)

Mason Vaughan

Kamil Stolarczyk

Nicolas Pedraza

Erik Schinnerer

Jerrid Gains Jr

Joseph Lee

Qualifiers: (USA unless noted)

Kayden Colombo

Antoine Genereux(CAN)

Antoine Clavel(CAN)

Kahven Singh

Charles Minvielle

Tomas Laukys

Girls

1. Ksenia Efremova(FRA)

2. Anna Pushkareva(RUS)

3. Mariia Makarova(RUS)

4. Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi(ARG)

5. Paola Pinera Celorio(ESP)

6. Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybas(RUS)

7. Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi(IND)

8. Yihan Qu(CHN)

9. Yushan Shao(CHN)

10. Yu Jun Lin(CHN)

11. Maia Ilinca Burcescu(ROU)

12. Maria Valentina Pop(ROU)

13. Renee Alame(AUS)

14. Antonina Sushkova(UKR)

15. Yu-Chen Lin(TPE)

16. Olivia Traynor(USA)

Wild cards (all USA):

Shristi Selvan

Camille Allegre

Reiley Rhodes

Priscilla Sirichantho

Sadira Ouyang

Aarini Bhattacharya

Qualifiers (USA unless noted):

Thara Gowda

Carlota Moreno

Brooke Wallman

Clemence Mercier(CAN)

Sera Park(KOR)

Rose Biria

WT junior No. 120 Thara Gowda, the top seed in the girls qualifying, trailed 6-2 in the match tiebreaker in her second round match with Anastasia Pleskun, but won eight of the next 10 points to move on to the final round of qualifying, where she defeated Sena Yoon 6-4, 6-0.

Kai Thompson of Hong Kong, the top seed in the boys qualifying, wasn't as fortunate, falling to Kayden Colombo 6-2, 6-2 in the final round after escaping with a 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 win in the second round over Dhakshish Aryan Basavaraju. Thompson, No. 34 in the WT junior rankings was automatically withdrawn from the junior event when he received entry into an M15, so his only route to compete in College Park was as a wild card in qualifying, but Colombo's big serve and powerful ground strokes were too much for him this afternoon.

"I've been working on my serve and kind of made a few changes," said the 6-foot-5 17-year-old from Marietta Georgia, who is training at the USTA Campus in Lake Nona with National Coach Troy Hahn. "I liked how I hit the serve today. He's a great player, his level is definitely there for the main draw, but I played pretty good today."

Colombo said he has not had his serve clocked, but estimates it could be "in the 130 range maybe." When that shot is clicking, he believes he can compete with anyone, and he is not ruling out a deep run in the main draw.

"I think I definitely have the game, I have what it takes to win this tournament," said Colombo, who admits his resemblance to Tommy Paul had been remarked on at the USTA National Campus. "It's not going to be easy, there is a ton of great players. But I'm going to go out there, compete, play the right way, look to come forward, serve and volley, play that big style of tennis that can hopefully translate to the pros one day. I'm ready to play anyone, anywhere, anytime. Let's go."

Colombo will face Oluwaseun Peter Ogunsakin of Nigeria in the first round Monday.

Live scoring is available (not point by point until matches are chaired) at iOnCourt.

At the Cincinnati Open today, Coco Gauff won her second WTA 1000 title in that city, beating Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-4 in the final. The last time Gauff won Cincinnati, in 2023, she went on to win her first major at the US Open.

In the men's final, Arthur Fils of France won his first ATP Masters 1000 title, beating Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0. 

Rhodes, Godoy Win J100 Chestertown Titles; Two Rounds of College Park Qualifying Set for Sunday; Pegula and Gauff Meet for Cincinnati Title; Tiafoe Beats Nakashima, Faces Fils in Cincy Final; Kenin, Kypson Receive US Open Wild Cards

The warmup tournament for the World Tennis J300 in College Park is a J100 in Chestertown Maryland and Sebastian Inaki Godoy played both of them, claiming his second title of the year at the 100 level, then required to play qualifying on the same day in College Park.

The 16-year-old Texan, seeded No. 6. defeated top seed Antoine Genereaux of Canada 6-4, 6-3 in today's Chestertown final, then drove the 90-minutes to College Park, where he beat Nikita Garfurov of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-0. Godoy could play two more matches on Sunday, with the second and third round of qualifying on Sunday. Usually two rounds of qualifying are played Saturday, but with wet courts that wasn't possible and it gave Godoy a realistic opportunity to compete in both tournaments; three matches in a day, including a final, might have been too much to ask.

The girls singles title in Chestertown went to 16-year-old Reiley Rhodes, who picked up her second J100 title with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Kalista Papadopoulos. Rhodes didn't lose more than four games in any of her five victories this week. Like Godoy, Papadopoulos also was in the qualifying at College Park; she lost to Kathryn Cragg 6-4, 6-3. Rhodes was listed in the qualifying, but she may have received a wild card into the main draw.

The girls doubles title went to unseeded Anna Scott Laney and Daniella Sales, who beat No. 4 seeds Kaya Baker and Canadaian Elisabeth Djabourian 6-2, 7-6(4) in the final.

Genereux and Rafael Bote of Canada, the top seds in boys doubles, won the title with a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 8 seeds Achyuth Binu and Chase Bowden.

When we arrived in College Park this evening, the wet weather had passed but the first round of the qualifying was still going, finishing after 9 p.m. due to wet weather in the area earlier in the day. The girls second round of qualifying has an 8:30 a.m. start Sunday, with top seed Thara Gowda and No. 2 seed Carlota Moreno taking the courts for the first time. Boys top qualifying seed Kai Thompson of Hong Kong, who received a wild card into qualifying, defeated Oscar Puyplat 6-2, 6-3 in his first round qualifying match. Two rounds will be played, and those who qualify will play again on Monday.

It will be an all-American final at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open Sunday, after No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula defeated No. 7 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 this afternoon, and No. 4 seed Coco Gauff beat unseeed Sara Bejlek of Czechia 6-4, 6-1 to close out the night.

Tonight in Cincinnati, No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe reached a second ATP Masters 1000 final with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Brandon Nakashima(Virginia), the 27 seed. Tiafoe, a finalist in Cincinnati two years ago, losing to champion Jannik Sinner, has never won an ATP Masters 1000 title.

Tiafoe will face No. 21 seed Arthur Fils of France, who defeated No. 7 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-3, 6-4.

The USTA announced today that Sofia Kenin and Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M) are the last wild card recipients for the US Open main draw, although Kenin is close to direct entry and there could be other withdrawals before qualifying begins Monday.

In the pre-qualifying event tomorrow at the USTA BJK National Tennis Center, Shannon Lam has replaced Welles Newman and will play Jordyn Hazelitt, while Melije Clarke will face Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann. 

For the men's qualifying wild card playoff, Jack Secord will play Ozan Baris(Michigan State) and Keaton Hance will face Dali Blanch.