All US Finals at Lubbock $15Ks; Tien, Miller Claim ITF J4 Titles in Corpus Christi; Junior Davis and BJK Cups Finals Sunday; Men's ITA All-American Pre-Qualifying Underway

The singles finals are set for the $15,000 men's and women's USTA Pro Circuit tournaments in Lubbock Texas, with two recent graduates and two current collegians, all from the US, competing for the titles.

Qualifier McCartney Kessler, a fifth-year senior at Florida, will face recent North Carolina State graduate Adriana Reami in the women's final, after Kessler defeated No. 5 seed Anhzelika Isaeva of Russia 6-4, 6-2 and Reami outlasted Oklahoma State freshman Mananchaya Sawangkaew, the No. 3 seed, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5). Reami has won two $15K titles, back in 2019, but Kessler, who has yet to drop a set, has never been past the quarterfinals in a Pro Circuit event until this week.

Recent UCLA graduate Keegan Smith, who was in intensive care after a skateboarding accident less than six months ago, returned to competition this week and is through to the final, where he'll play Ohio State junior Cannon Kingsley. Smith, the No. 7 seed, defeated Henry Patten(UNC-Asheville) of Great Britain 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5 in today's semifinals, while No. 8 seed Kingsley took out qualifier Sven Lah(Baylor) of Slovenia 6-2, 6-3. Neither Smith, who is 23, nor Kingsley, who is 20, have reached a Pro Circuit final before.

In the men's doubles final, Lah and his partner, former Baylor teammate Constantin Frantzen of Germany, lost to top seeds Sekou Bangoura(Florida) and Gijs Brouwer of the Netherlands. Bangoura and Brouwer defeated the unseeded Lah and Frantzen 6-4, 4-6, 10-5.

The women's doubles title in Lubbock went to No. 2 seeds Tiphanie Fiquet(Mississippi) of France and Fernanda Labrana(Texas) of Chile, who beat No. 3 seeds Carmen and Ivana Corley(Oklahoma) 6-4, 6-7(2), 10-8 in the final.

The ITF J4 in Corpus Christi Texas finished today with 15-year-old Learner Tien winning his first Junior Circuit singles title and ending the streak of Landon Ardila, who won last week's J5 in McKinney. Tien, the No. 6 seed, defeated the unseeded Ardila 6-7(2), 7-6(3), 6-1 in this morning's final. 

Seventeen-year-old Vivian Miller won her first ITF Junior Circuit title Friday, defeating Marley Lambert 6-1, 6-4 in Friday's singles final. Miller got a walkover in the semifinal from top seed Nevena Carton and Lambert got a a walkover in the other semifinal from No. 2 seed Elisabeth Jones, so the final could be played Friday instead of today.

In the boys doubles final, the unseeded team of Darwin Blanch and Sam Scherer defeated Ardila and his partner Grant Lothringer, also unseeded, 7-5, 7-5. The girls title went to unseeded Morgan Pyrz and Brooke Schafer, who defeated No. 4 seeds Katie Codd and Anya Murthy 6-2, 6-3 in the final. 

The ITF's 16-and-under team events, the Junior Billie Jean Cup and the Junior Davis Cup, will conclude Sunday in Antalya Turkey.

The Czech Republic, seeded No. 1 and the heavy favorites coming into the girls competition, have managed without their No. 1 player Nikola Bartunkova in both the quarterfinals and semifinals. Today Brenda Fruhvirtova and Sara Bejlik won their singles matches to defeat Germany and they will play No. 7 seed Japan for the title. Japan surprised No. 2 seeds Russia, with Sara Saito and Sayaka Ishii defeating Anastasiia Gureva and Elena Pridankina 6-4, 6-0 in the doubles match that decided the winner.

The Junior Davis Cup final will feature No. 2 seed France against unseeded Russia. France won the deciding doubles point to defeat No. 3 seed Mexico 2-1, while Russia won both singles points to ease past Argentina, also unseeded. 

For more on today's semifinals, see this ITF article on the boys and this article on the girls. 

The pre-qualifying for the men's ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa began today and is scheduled to be completed on Sunday. The qualifying for both the men in Tulsa and the women in Charleston begins on Monday. The women's qualifying draw is here.