Rahman Captures ITF Grade 4 in Costa Rica; Crawford and Kodat Reach Finals at $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour Tournaments; Black Earns First Pro Title, in Doubles

This will be a short post today, to catch up on the other ITF tournaments last week I wasn't able to follow as I focused on the Grade A Orange Bowl.

With the Orange Bowl drawing most of the Americans last week, and the number of events on the ITF Junior Circuit dwindling, there was just three US champions last week, aside from Orange Bowl champions Ashlyn Krueger, Reese Brantmeier and Kimmi Hance.

That was 17-year-old Yannik Rahman, a blue chip from Miami, who won his first ITF Junior Circuit title last week at the ITF Grade 4 in Costa Rica. The third-seeded Rahman, who reached the final of the Grade 4 in Guatemala last month, defeated No. 2 seed Timothy Phung, also of the United States, 7-5, 6-0 in the final. Rahman also advanced to the doubles final with Costa Rica's Julian Rozano, with the No. 2 seeds losing to unseeded Hans Christian Bustiman Gonzalez of Chile and Costa Rica's Paulo Pocasangre 5-7, 6-4, 14-12 in the final. 

Unseeded Americans Ria Bhakta and Sage Loudon won the girls doubles title in Costa Rica, beating No. 4 seeds Sarah L'Allier and Martyna Ostrzygalo of Canada 2-6, 6-1, 10-3 in the final. Bhakta reached the semifinals in singles, falling to Ostrzygalo, who went on to claim the title.

Oliver Crawford reached his second consecutive final at the back-to-back $15,000 tournament in the Dominican Republic, but unlike two weeks ago, he was not able to win the last match. The unseeded 21-year-old, who turned pro this spring after his junior year, lost to No. 6 seed Nick Hardt of the Dominican Republic 6-4, 6-0 in the final. 

Hardt also won the doubles title, with Japan's Shintaro Mochizuki, with the No. 3 seeds claiming their second straight doubles championship by virtue of a 4-6, 7-6(2), 10-5 decision over Nick Chappell(TCU) and Keegan Smith(UCLA).

At the $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour event in Egypt, two teenagers met in the final, with Argentina's Juan Bautista Torres defeating American Toby Kodat 6-3, 6-3. The 18-year-old Torres, who made the final of the Orange Bowl last year, did not drop a set in collecting his first Pro Circuit title. The 17-year-old Kodat, who reached the 2019 French Open boys final, was competing in a ITF World Tennis Tour singles final for the first time. Both used ITF Junior exemptions for entry.

The $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour tournament in Turkey last week was the site of Hurricane Tyra Black's first professional title. The 19-year-old from Florida and her partner Svenja Ochsner of Switzerland took the doubles championship, with the unseeded pair defeating No. 4 seeds Gergana Topalova of Bulgaria and Daniela Vismane of Latvia 7-6(2), 7-5 in the final.