Eight ITF Junior Circuit Titles for Americans Last Week; Vihaan Reddy Claims Fourth Straight J30 Championship in India; USTA Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge Returns

No ITF Junior Circuit tournament was played in the United States last week, with the Easter Bowl 18s reverting to USTA Level 1 status, when it had previously been a ITF regional closed. Yet American juniors who were not playing the Easter Bowl fanned out across North and Central America to compete, with eight J30 titles claimed during the week.

At the J30 in Bayamon Puerto Rico, Americans swept all four titles. Fifteen-year-old Benjamin Willwerth took both the boys singles and doubles, his first ITF Junior Circuit titles. The fifth-seeded Willwerth defeated No. 6 seed Nicolas Iantosca, also from the US, 6-1, 7-5 in the final; Willwerth partnered with Jon Gamble for the doubles title, with the unseeded team beating No. 2 seeds Sasha Colleu of France and Patrik Petera of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 in the final. 

Fourteen-yea-old Maria Aytoyan won the girls singles title in Bayamon; the No. 6 seed defeated last week's J60 champion Nicole Okhtenberg 6-3, 6-4 for her first ITF Junior Circuit title. Okhtenberg and her partner Lauren Kettlewell won a second straight doubles title in Puerto Rico, with the top seeds defeating unseeded Anna Bennett and Aoife Kuo 6-2, 6-1 in an all-USA final.

At the J30 in Honduras, 17-year-old Julie Bedard, seeded No. 3, won her first ITF Junior Circuit titles, beating 14-year-old Sara Stoyanov, the No. 5 seed, 7-6(5), 6-1 in singles and partnering with Nina Chavez Vincent of Guatemala for the doubles title. The top seeds defeated No. 2 seeds Michelle Irigoyen of El Salvador and Asia Sundas of Italy 2-6, 6-4, 11-9 in the final.

Seventeen-year-old Simone Kay won the girls singles title at the J30 in Mexico last week, her first title on the ITF Junior Circuit. The No. 4 seed recorded a 6-2, 6-1 victory over top seed Mariana Reding of Mexico in the championship match.

At the J30 in Trinidad and Tobago, 14-year-old Kayla Moore won her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title and a third doubles title. The No. 3 seed defeated No. 4 seed Mia Garber 6-0, 7-6 in the all-US final. No. 4 seeds Moore and Ligaya Murray defeated unseeded Ana Avramovic and Tia Messerli 6-4, 6-1 in the girls doubles final, another all-USA championship match. It's the first title for Murray on the ITF Junior Circuit.

Thirteen-year-old Vihaan Reddy, the reigning USTA Boys 12s champion and this year's 14s champion at the Winter Nationals, represents India in ITF tournaments, which he began playing last month. So far, his record is a perfect 21-0 in ITF Junior Circuit play; he has won four consecutive J30s in India, the most recent one last week. Regardless of the level of competition, winning four straight tournaments is an impressive accomplishment. Reddy junior ITF record can be found here.

Last Friday, the USTA announced their latest Wild Card Challenge, this one for 2023 Roland Garros. It begins this week, with all clay/Har-Tru results, from WTA/ATP tournaments to $25Ks and everything in between, counting towards the race. It's the best three results for both men and women; the women's window is the next five weeks beginning now; the men's window is four weeks, starting next week.

For the complete USTA release, click here.