Halbauer Wins Hilton Head $10K; Bellis, Fritz Take ITF Grade 4 Titles in Wichita Falls

Before play starts here in Tulsa at the ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed, (draws and order of play can be found here), a brief update on other events finishing this weekend.

Sixteen-year-old Ellie Halbauer won the $10,000 Hilton Head Island Pro Circuit event, defeating No. 4 seed Alexandra Mueller in the final 7-6(5), 7-5. Halbauer, who was unseeded, lost to Mueller in the quarterfinals of Amelia Island the previous week, which had been Halbauer's best showing in a Pro Circuit event prior to her win on Sunday.  Mueller and former Georgia Tech star Jillian O'Neill of Canada, the No. 4 seeds, won the doubles title, defeating former Ole Miss teammates Abigail Guthrie and Kristie Boxx, the No. 2 seeds, 6-4, 6-1.

CiCi Bellis and Taylor Fritz won the ITF Grade 4 singles titles in Wichita Falls Saturday.  The top-seeded Bellis, 14, defeated Emma Higuchi, seeded 13th, 6-0, 6-2 in the final.  No. 11 seed Fritz, who will be 16 later this month, downed wild card Kalman Boyd 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 to claim his first ITF title.  Both Bellis and Fritz are in the draws here in Tulsa and both are unseeded.

Fritz also claimed the doubles title with Nathan Ponwith. The No. 4 seeds won the final over unseeded John McNally and Gianni Ross in a walkover. Rebekah Anderson and Meredith Xepoleas won the girls doubles title 4-6, 6-1, 10-4 over Jada Hart and Stephanie Hazell. Both teams were unseeded.

At the $100,000 Pro Circuit event in Sacramento, Donald Young won his second straight title, defeating Tim Smyczek 7-5, 6-3 in the final. That puts Young at 103 in the ATP rankings, which bodes well for his direct entry into the Australian Open in January. Australians JP Smith and Matt Reid, the No. 2 seeds, won the doubles title, defeating unseeded Young and Jarmere Jenkins 7-6(1), 4-6, 14-12.

For more on Jamie Loeb's title run at the ITA Women's All-American Championships in California, see this recap from the ITA and this article from the Daily Tar Heel.