Tien Advances to Australian Open Boys Final; Stefani Claims AO Mixed Doubles Title; Three Americans Reach Les Petits As Quarterfinals; Hamilton and Jovic Meet in Costa Rica ITF J300 Semifinals

Learner Tien has reached the final of the Australian Open Junior Championships, defeating unseeded Tomasz Berkieta of Poland 6-4, 6-2 Friday in Melbourne.

Tien, who had breezed through his quarterfinal match against No. 2 seed Ilyan Radulov of Bulgaria 6-0, 6-0 in 40 minutes Thursday, had more of a challenge in Friday's semifinal, but the 17-year-old left-hander didn't face a break point until he was up 3-0 in the second set, and he saved both of those. Berkieta, playing in his first junior slam, hit 25 winners compared to 15 for Tien, but the powerful 16-year-old had 38 unforced errors, while Tien had only 13.

Tien will play No. 3 seed Alexander Blockx of Belgium, who defeated No. 11 seed Yi Zhou of China 6-4, 6-1, with both boys semifinals playing out quite similarly. 

Blockx is the first Belgian to reach the boys singles final in Australia, while Tien is the second American to do so in as many years, after Bruno Kuzuhara won both the singles and doubles in Melbourne last January. 

Tien has also reached the doubles final, with partner Cooper Williams, with two wins on Thursday. The No. 7 seeds defeated unseeded Ruslan Tiukaev of Russia and Tianhui Zhang of China 3-6, 6-1, 10-8 in the quarterfinals and unseeded Matic Kriznik of Slovenia and Federico Bondioli of Italy 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals. Kriznik and Bondioli had beaten Alexander Frusina and his partner Jan Hradzil of the Czech Republic 7-6(10), 5-7, 10-7 in the quarterfinals.

Tien and Williams face top seeds Blockx and Joao Fonseca of Brazil for the doubles title, which would be the third straight for an American team at a junior slam.

In the mixed doubles final Friday, former Pepperdine standout Luisa Stefani of Brazil claimed her first major title, with partner Rafael Matos, also of Brazil. The unseeded pair defeated Sania Mirza, playing in the one of the final matches of her career, and Rohan Bopanna of India, 7-6(2), 6-2 in the championship match. Stefani had a serious knee injury, suffered in the wome's doubles semifinals at the 2021 US Open, keeping her out of competition for nearly a year.

Another former collegian will be a first time slam champion when Jan Zielinski(Georgia) of Poland and his partner Hugo Nys of Monaco take on Australian wild cards Rinky Hijikata(North Carolina) and his partner Jason Kubler for the men's doubles title Saturday.

Ena Shibihara(UCLA) is also in the women's doubles semifinals, later tonight, with partner Shuko Aoyama of Japan.

Kristina Penickova, Julieta Pareja and Marcel Latak have advanced to the quarterfinals of the Les Petits As Super Category 14U tournament this week in Tarbes France after wins in Thursday's third round. Penickova, the No. 7 seed, defeated No. 9 seed Kali Supova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal match with top seed Ksenia Efremova of Russia. Pareja, the No. 8 seed, defeated No. 12 seed Sara Oliveriusova of the Czech Republic 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3. Pareja will play No. 2 seed Giulia Popa of Romania, who posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Pareja in the semifinals of the Bolton warmup tournament last week.

All eight girls quarterfinalists are seeded, with seven of the top eight advancing. 

Latak, the No. 7 seed, earned his third round win past 9 p.m. tonight, beating unseeded Andy Tchinda Kepche of Canada 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Latak, who reached the Bolton final last week, will face No. 4 seed Jan Urbanski of Poland next.

Top seed Savva Rybkin of Russia was upset by No. 16 seed Emilio Camacho of Ecuador 7-5, 7-6(3) but he and Jordan Lee[8] are the only top eight seeds missing from the quarterfinals.

Kristina and twin sister Annika have advanced to the doubles semifinals, as have Michael Antonius and Izyan Ahmad. Both teams are unseeded, despite the Penickovas' title last week in Bolton. Antonius also reached the doubles final in Bolton, playing with Lee.

Live streaming and live scoring are available at the tournament website.

Last year's Les Petits As boys champion Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands has had a remarkable run in ITF Junior Circuit play, winning four straight titles in four weeks last fall, then starting 2023 with a J200 title in Slovakia. Playing in his first J300 tournament this week in Costa Rica, the 14-year-old has just kept on winning, beating No. 4 seed and 2021 Kalamazoo 16s champion Alexander Razeghi 6-2, 6-2 in today's quarterfinals. That is 28 straight ITF Junior Circuit victories for Boogaard, who also won the European 14s championship last year.

Nikita Filin won his late second round match to reach the quarterfinals, but lost to No. 7 seed Henry Searle of Great Britain. That loss leaves No. 5 seed Roy Horovitz, a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 winner over Petr Brunclik of the Czech Republic as the only American boy in the quarterfinals, pending the result of the night match between qualifier Max Exsted and Benjamin Torrealba of Chile. 

Alanis Hamilton and No. 3 seed Iva Jovic will play in the girls semifinals Friday, after Hamilton defeated No. 6 seed Valeria Ray 6-2, 6-3 and Jovic advanced when her doubles partner, qualifier Tyra Grant, retired trailing 6-2, 3-0.  

The girls doubles final will be an all-USA affair, with Orange Bowl champions Jovic and Grant taking on Hamilton and Claire An. Neither team is seeded.