Canada's Roussel and Spain's Pinera Celorio Claim First J300 Singles Title at College Park; Cozad Repeats as Doubles Champion, Chinese Pair Earns Girls Doubles Title; Fourteen Americans Play Sunday at US Open

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park Maryland--

Felix Roussel of Canada and Paola Pinera Celorio of Spain have a gap in the hard court experience that stems from the surfaces most common in their countries, yet both captured their first titles at the World Tennis J300 level today at the Junior Tennis Champions Center.

The fifth-seeded Pinera had the less arduous final on another warm and sunny day in the Washington DC area, defeating No. 3 seed Mariia Makarova of Russia 6-2, 6-4.

Pinera started slowly, losing 11 of the first 13 points as Makarova fired winners from every spot on the court.

"She played so good at the start, said the 15-year-old from Gijon Spain, who said she played even better today than she had in her 6-2, 6-1 semifinal win over Maia Burcescu of Romania Friday. "If she play like in the first two games all the match, it's ok, you win, too good."

But the match turned quickly with Makarova broken from 40-0 up, and Pinera winning six games in a row, with a lob winner on set point. Pinera showed early that she was not intimidated by the Makarova serve, returning Makarova's strongest serves with pace and depth, and Makarova began to struggle in the rare rallies that went past four shots.

"I started to make mistakes and I think I lost the first set in like 20 minutes after this start," said the 16-year-old from Moscow, who had beaten Pinera on clay in back-to-back weeks last fall. "I could not play normal. It's so tough, playing in a final when you lose six games in a row."

Makarova made that seven games in a row when she was broken to open the second set, but she got the break right back only to give up another break serving a 2-all. Makarova kept herself withing striking distance by saving a break point serving at 2-4, and had a break point to get back on serve at 3-4, but she missed a return and Pinera's forehand winners gave her the lead. 

Makarova won a rare easy game to force Pinera to serve for it, and the Spaniard went down 0-30, with a double fault to start the game.

"At 5-4, I'm so nervous, because it's 30-love," Pinera said. "But I said, come on, it's a final, focus, and I did. I'm so happy." 

At 30-all, Pinera hit a deep forehand that forced an error and claimed her first championship point when Makarova netted a first serve return.

"In last game, in my head, I think now I can do something, try to play better, but she had so good serve and I made mistakes on return," said Makarova, who is training in College Park for a few days before heading to New York for the US Open Junior Championships. "I thought I played better later, but I don't know, maybe it's time to change something before the US Open. She made all her mistakes in the first two games, and she played so good."

Pinera is also staying in College Park for a few days to rest and practice before heading to New York, where she is certain to be seeded after winning the title in the first junior event on hard courts she has played this year.

"In that last game I was nervous, but I played so good, and I am so happy to win," said Pinera, the first girl from Spain to win this tournament, which has been a J300 since 2013.

Roussel's 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 win over top seed Vincent Reisach of Germany put an exclamation point on his outstanding week, which also included a 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals.

Roussel wasn't able to find his form early in the match, and he admitted that he was not playing as aggressively as necessary at the beginning of his second J300 final. 

Reisach got 75 percent of his first serves in during the opening set and was able to dictate play, although he had to work to hold on to his break advantage for 3-1 and 4-2. But when he hit a passing shot winner for a 5-2 lead and served out the set comfortably, Roussel faced an uphill battle.

The 18-year-old left-hander from Canada was ready for it, despite feeling a twinge in his hamstring that required a medical timeout after the third game. Five of the first six games of the set went to deuce, there were back-to-back breaks early, and the drama increased especially in the ninth game, when Roussel saved two break points in a six-deuce game to hold. He had to come from 15-40 down in the 5-all game, but won four straight points to again put pressure back on Reisach, but the 17-year-old German held to force a tiebreaker.

Down 2-0, Roussel got back on serve with a volley winner and took control when he outlasted Reisach in a long rally, then ripped a forehand winner into the corner for a 6-3 lead. Roussel couldn't convert his first set point, netting a backhand, but Reisach netted a forehand on the next point to send the match to a third set after two hours and 10 minutes.

With the temperatures in the low 80s and not much breeze, both players were bound to begin feeling the effects of a week of daily matches and a lengthy final.

"Both my quads were cramping, especially my right one," said Roussel, who had the support of his future coach at the University of Kentucky Cedric Kaufman, who was among the several hundred spectators attending the final. "It was tough to explode up on the serve and run down balls, and I just pushed and it ended up working out."

Roussel said his physical issues weren't responsible for his more aggressive game style in the second set, but they did play a factor in the third set.

"In the first, I wasn't playing as aggressive as I normally do, and that's why I flipped it," said the Toronto resident. "In the third, I was extra aggressive, because I don't think my body could have handled longer points."

Reisach had requested the physio for the next changeover after the first game of the third set, and he received attention on his left leg, which was retaped, while Roussel was had a visit for his left calf during the same changeover.

Reisach admitted that he began to wear down early in the third.

"Physically, I'm not feeling too good," said Reisach, who lives in a small town in Bavaria. "Honestly, it was the hardest match physically. "I made the mistake that I was running after every ball, even was I was down 0-40, and it got me in the third set. I just didn't have the energy on the important points, to get to one more ball and give him the chance to make an unforced error."

Reisach said he wasn't expecting Roussel's backhand to be so effective.

"His backhand, he could really go down the line, pretty fast and with not much unforced, always got it over the net," said Reisach, a Wimbledon semifinalist who was playing in his first J300 final. 

Roussel was happy to win his first J300 title after falling in the final in the J300 in Costa Rica in January.

"It feels amazing, winning a big title here, especially from one set down, in my last year of juniors," said Roussel, who joins Felix Auger-Aliassime as the only Canadian singles champion in College Park. "It's something I'll remember for a long time."

Roussel said he met Auger-Aliassime, the College Park champion in 2015, at Wimbledon this year.

"He's a nice guy and hopefully I'll follow in his footsteps," Roussel said. "I'd love to be No. 3 in the world."

Rather than rest, Roussel is headed to the J300 in Canada, where he'll play his first round match tomorrow. 

"I'm excited, I love competing," Roussel said.

Reisach will rest this week, although he is heading to New York Sunday to be a spectator on the first day of the US Open.

"We're flying tomorrow to New York, and we're going to watch the match with (Alexander) Bublik in the night session," Reisach said. "My coach knows someone who is with Bublik. I'm looking forward to it, see how the pros are playing, so I can see something I can use there."

Boys doubles champion Yannik Alvarez is also heading to the US Open, where he'll compete in the main draw of men's doubles next week, and he and Ryan Cozad, last year's doubles champion, provided a confidence boost for that match with a title today. The top seeds defeated No. 3 seeds Kunanan Pantaratorn of Thailand and Arnav Paparkar of India 6-3, 6-2, without facing a break point.

"We knew they were going to return well, serve well," said Alvarez, who, alongside Noah Johnston, won the Kalamazoo 18s doubles title and with it, the US Open wild card. "We just kept staying aggressive, moving at the net, planning every point out and staying in every game, even if we were down, putting pressure on in every single game, not giving them any hope."

"We were just trying to make first serves, like we do always and a bunch of returns," said Cozad, who won last year's title here with Gavin Goode. "And like he said, stay in the games, when we were down returning, being aggressive at the net and just going for it."

After dropping the opening set in their first match in the second round, Alvarez, who represents Puerto Rico World Tennis junior competition, and Cozad didn't face another match tiebreaker the rest of the week.

"We played well the whole week," said Alvarez, who will be partnering with Cozad at the US Open Junior Championships, with Johnston no long eligible for junior slams.

Seventeen-year-olds Cozad and Alvarez won a USTA Pro Circuit M15 men's doubles title back in April, while girls doubles champions Yihan Qu and Yushan Shao of China, also both 17, earned a W35 title on the World Tennis women's circuit in Spain in June.

That title convinced them they should continue playing as a team, after a rough start, and they won their first junior title together today, beating JTCC wild cards Shristi Selvan and Aarini Bhattacharya 6-3, 6-3.

"The first and second time we play, the result is not good, actually," Qu said. "So our coach said, maybe we try this year, and it's getting better."

"We know each other since very well since we were really young," said Shao, who lost in the final last year with current World No. 1 Xinran Sun of China as her partner. "Then playing in some women's tournaments, we feel pretty good, won a 35K, so we decided to play here."

Shao believed they had a major advantage over Selvan and Bhattacharya, who were playing together for the first time.

"The service games, I think, we do better," Shao said.

The pair are planning to play together at the US Open Junior Championships, after staying in College Park to practice for the next several days.

Full replays of the finals, including coverage of the doubles finals can be found on the Cracked Racquets YouTube Channel.

The first round of the US Open begins at 11 a.m. Sunday, with 14 Americans in action, including Kalamazoo 18s champion Jack Kennedy, who will play qualifier Lloyd Harris second match on Court 12. Collegiate Playoff winner Sebastian Gorzny will play Raphael Collignon of Belgium fourth match on Court 11.

US Open First Round Matches Sunday Featuring Americans:

Women:

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

Venus Williams[WC] v Sofia Kenin[WC]

Carol Lee[WC] v Katie Boulter(GBR)

Emma Navarro[26] v Lois Boisson(FRA)

McCartney Kessler v Ekaterina Alexandrova[18](RUS)

Elvina Kalieva[Q] v Lanlana Tararudee(THA)

Alycia Parks v Taylah Preston[WC](AUS)

Men:

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

Sebastian Gorzny[WC] v Raphael Collignon(BEL)

Tommy Paul[20] v Coleman Wong[Q]

Jack Kennedy[WC] v Lloyd Harris(RSA)

Jenson Brooksby v Jaime Faria(POR)

Alex Michelsen v Federico Cina[Q](ITA)

Roussel Faces Top Seed Reisach in J300 College Park Boys Final; Makarova and Pinera Celorio Play for Girls Title Saturday; Four Americans, Liutova Qualify for US Open Main Draw

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

The four finalists at the World Tennis J300 in College Park have varying relationships with hard courts, yet all are happy with their performances this week at the Junior Tennis Champions Center as they prepare for the US Open Championships in New York.

Girls finalists Paola Pinera Celorio of Spain and Mariia Makarova of Russia are both making their first trips to the United States for this hard court swing, and both have had their challenges this week, but their routine semifinal wins today were a welcome break from the drama during the week.

Pinera, the No. 5 seed, defeated Maia Burcescu of Romania 6-2, 6-1 in 70 minutes, and after a grueling 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 quarterfinal victory yesterday over No. 14 seed Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine, and a three-set win in the third round over No. 9 seed Yushan Shao of China, Pinera said she was not expecting a quick match today.

"But today I play so good, I am very happy, so fast the match," said the 15-year-old, who has played only two matches all year on hard courts until this week. "I am playing so focused, all match. It's my first final on hard courts, and I'm excited."

Pinera did not serve well, but when she had an opportunity, she pounced, winning six of 13 break points, while Burcescu, who made a considerable number of unforced errors, won only one of her seven break points.

Pinera has had her left leg heavily taped all week, but said it is no longer giving her trouble, with the taping more preventative than necessary now.

"It's ok," said Pinera, who trains with Esteban Carril in Gijon Spain. "In the second match, I feel bad, third match better, and now, I think it's good. I put the tape because I want to stay confident, but it's good now."

Pinera's opponent in the final, No. 3 seed Mariia Makarova, owns two wins over Pinera at J200s on clay last fall, but Makarova prefers faster surfaces, the better to take advantage of her serve.

Today against unseeded Adla Lopez, Makarova needed some time to find her rhythm on that shot, but it was a key reason Lopez could not pull off another upset.

"After Wimbledon my coach and my physical coach, we change something in my serve," said the 16-year-old from Moscow, who was not planning to play the US Open Junior Championships, but unexpectedly received a visa. "In the first three games, I had some double faults, but after that I served so good. I'm so shocked; after the match I come to my mom and say, 'oh my god, I served so good today.'"

Although she had just two aces and made only 50 percent of her first serves, those stats don't reveal the number of service winners or short returns to put away her serve produced throughout the match.

Lopez had planned to use the strategy that had helped her beat top seed Ksenia Efremova of France in the third round, not matching the pace of her opponent and prolonging rallies, but Makarova seldom allowed her to get an opportunity to construct a point.

Makarova was down three match points to wild card Reiley Rhodes in the third round, and needed 12 match points to earn the 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(8) victory, so she is grateful to be able to play for her second J300 title Saturday, with the first also coming on hard courts.

"It's normal in tennis, you can win and you can lose," Makarova said of her narrow escape against Rhodes. "Your game today could be so wonderful and then you play so bad. I'm a girl, only 16, so maybe next time I don't do the stupid mistakes. It's tennis, it's life, it's ok."

Although boys top seed Vincent Reisach is No. 11 in the World Tennis junior rankings, the 17-year-old from Germany will be in new territory in tomorrow's final after defeating No. 4 seed Dan Brand of Israel 6-2, 6-4.

Although Reisach won the Roland Garros doubles title this summer, reached the singles semifinals at Wimbledon, and recently advanced to his first men's WT final at an M15 on hard courts earlier this month, he had played only three J300s and had not advanced beyond the quarterfinals until this week. 

Today against Brand, Reisach didn't face a break point in the first set, and saved all six against him in the second set, including coming from 0-40 down serving for the match at 5-4.

"I felt pretty good today, especially when I was serving, felt confident with my shots from the back," said Reisach, who lives in a small town in Bavaria and travels to Munich weekly for training and competition. "I had a little problem with returning today, but I worked into it and it got better and better."

Like Pinera, Reisach has been playing with heavy taping all week below his left knee.

"I'm fine, since Wimbledon I'm feeling my knee a little bit," Reisach said. "I fell on it, but it's nothing serious. It goes away by itself, so I can't make it worse. It's just with the tape, it feels a little bit better."

Reisach's unseeded opponent Saturday has reached a J300 final, with Felix Roussel of Canada advancing to the championship match of the J300 Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica at the start of the year. A few weeks later he lost to his semifinal opponent today, No. 15 seed Safir Azam, in the first round of a J200, but he turned the tables today by a 7-5, 6-2 score.

There was nothing to separate the two in the first ten games, but Roussel was holding serve more easily than Azam. Serving at 5-6, Azam made an unforced error to give Roussel a set point, which was the best point of the match. After a 20-plus shot rally, with neither player giving any ground or even changing the pace, Azam eventually sent a backhand long to give Roussel the set.

"I think I served really well," said Roussel, who was out from February to October of last year with a back injury. "And then I started to find the rhythm on my return and I got my chance and I took it."

Roussel had displayed an impressive transition game yesterday in his 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez, but didn't employ that strategy with any frequency today against Azam.

"I wasn't feeling my volleys too well in the warmup," said the 18-year-old left-hander from Toronto. "And also I know he has really good passing shots, so I was trying to only come in when I had a really easy ball."

Roussel broke in the fourth game of the second set, and from there took control, with Azam getting no break point opportunities after the first set.

"He's a really good player, really solid," said Roussel, who earned his first two ATP points this summer at M15s. "I knew I had to be solid, grind through every point, because I was not getting any points for free. That's the mentality I had, and it worked."

Roussel and Reisach have never played and with a year's age difference between them, don't know much about each other.

"I don't know anything about him either," Roussel said when told Reisach was unfamiliar with his game. "But it will be a fun match, and I'm excited."

The doubles finals are set for Saturday, with the top seeds splitting their decisions in the semifinals this afternoon.

Boys No. 1 seeds Ryan Cozad, last year's doubles champion, and Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico defeated unseeded Pedro Henrique Chabalgoity and Francisco Fontes Damorim of Brazil 6-4, 6-0. They will play No. 3 seeds Kunanan Pantaratorn of Thailand and Arnav Paparkar of India, who beat unseeded Max Villar of Spain and Livas Eduardo de Carvalho Damazio of Brazil 6-4, 7-5.

Girls top seeds Ksenia Efremova of France and Paola Pinera Celorio of Spain lost to the JTCC wild card team of Shristi Selvan and Aarini Bhattacharya 5-7, 6-4, 10-8. Selvan and Bhattacharya will play No. 4 seed Yihan Qu and Yushan Shao of China, who defeated unseeded Kennedy Drenser-Hagemann and Hannah Ayrault 7-5, 6-2.  Shao reached the girls doubles final here last year with partner Xinran Sun.

The finals begin at 10 a.m. with the girls singles final on Court 17 and boys doubles final on Court 13.  There will be a 30-minute wheelchair tennis exhibition prior to the boys singles final on Court 17; the girls doubles final will follow the boys on Court 13.

Cracked Racquets will have coverage of all four finals at their YouTube Channel, with Chris Halioris providing commentary. Links to streams, live scoring and the order of play is here.

After rain postponed 23 US Open qualifying matches yesterday, those matches were played or continued today, with four Americans earning their spots in the main draw. Robin Montgomery had finished her 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Carson Branstine(Texas A&M) before the postponement Thursday; those qualifying today are Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford), Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) and Elvina Kalieva. 

Sixteen-year-old Seattle-area resident Kristina Liutova will be the first player born in the 2010s to play in a major after she defeated Martyna Kubka of Poland 6-4, 6-0 to qualify. Liutova will play fellow qualifier Qinwen Zheng of China in the first round.

Final round US Open qualifying results of Americans:

Nishesh Basavareddy[32] d. Arthur Gea[1](FRA) 6-3, 6-1

Dalibor Svrcina[8](CZE) d. Mackenzie McDonald[28] 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 

Hugo Gaston[3](FRA) d. Colton Smith 1-6, 6-4, 6-2

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] d. Yue Yuan[13](CHN) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4

Elvina Kalieva[8] d. Vendula Valdmannova(CZE) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

Below are the main draw matchups for Americans with the qualifiers placed. Kalamazoo 18s champion Jack Kennedy will play fomer ATP No. 31 Lloyd Harris of South Africa, who qualified today.

Americans in US Open main draw:

Men:(18)

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 Federico Cina[Q](ITA)

Ben Shelton[8] v Tallon Griekspoor(NED)

Jack Kennedy[WC] v Lloyd Harris(RSA)

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

Tommy Paul[20] v Coleman Wong[Q]

Jenson Brooksby v Jaime Faria(POR)

Nishesh Basavareddy[Q] v Tristan Schoolkate[Q](AUS)

Women: (23)

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 Anouk Koevermans[Q](NED)

Carol Lee[WC] v Katie Boulter(GBR)

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 Harriet Dart[Q]

Madison Keys[22] v Alina Korneeva(RUS)

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

Elvina Kalieva[Q] v Lanlana Tararudee(THA)

Mary Stoiana[Q] v Alexandra Eala[17](PHI)

Robin Montgomery[Q] v Maria Sakkari[32](GRE)

Sunday's schedule is here.

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 results 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(GBR)

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)