Kennedy and McNeil Claim ITF J100 Titles in Canada; Kudla Wins Columbus Challenger; Stakusic's Streak Continues with Berkeley $60K Title; Three Titles for Young Americans on ITF Men's Circuit; Team World Defends Laver Cup

Several players who competed in the J200 in Canada two weeks ago made the trip south to Houston for the ITF J300 Pan American Closed, but with a J100 in Quebec City this past week, others opted to stay closer to home, including the champions Jack Kennedy and Christasha McNeil, both from New York.

The 15-year-old Kennedy, seeded No. 3, won his third career ITF Junior Circuit singles title and the biggest to date, defeating No. 4 seed David Ekpenyong of Nigeria 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Kennedy and Keaton Hance also reached the finals in boys doubles.

The 16-year-old McNeil, the reigning USTA 18s Clay Courts champion, won an all-USA girls final, with the No. 4 seed beating No. 2 seed Thea Frodin 6-4, 6-3.  Like Kennedy, McNeil now has three ITF Junior Circuit singles titles, with the two she's won this year coming at the J100 level.

The ITF Junior Circuit in the United States stays in Texas, with a J60 in Corpus Christi this coming week. A few of the players from Houston are competing there, including boys top seed Abishek Thorat. The girl's top seed is Jane Dunyon. The tournament runs through Saturday, with 64-player draws in singles.

No. 2 seed Denis Kudla won the title at the ATP Challenger 75 in Columbus Ohio, with the 31-year-old beating Canadian Davis Cup star Alexis Galarneau(NC State), the No. 6 seed, 6-1, 6-2 in today's final. It's the first Challenger title for Kudla in over a year and puts him back in the ATP Top 200.  Wild cards Robert Cash and James Trotter, teammates at Ohio State last year, won the doubles title in Columbus, defeating top seeds Hans Hach Verdugo(Abilene Christian) of Mexico and Guido Andreozzi of Argentina 6-4, 2-6, 10-7 in the final. They defeated the No. 2 seeds in the quarterfinals and the No. 4 seeds in the semifinals.

Tristan Boyer(Stanford) reached his second ATP Challenger final this week at the 100 level event in Chile, with the unseeded 22-year-old falling to unseeded Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. Boyer is now inside the Top 300 in the ATP rankings, after starting the year at 1496.

The title at the women's $60,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Berkeley California went to 18-year-old Marina Stakusic of Canada, who won her first tournament earlier this month at a $25,000 ITF World Tennis Tour women's event in Spain. Stakusic, who reached the ITF Pan American Closed final in 2021, falling to Liv Hovde, avenged that loss in the first round in Berkeley and went on to beat top seed Madison Brengle in the quarterfinals, qualifier Ellie Douglas(TCU) in the semifinals and qualifier Allie Kiick in the final. Stakusic, now up to 301 in the WTA live rankings, defeated Kiick 6-3, 6-4 for her fifth straight-sets win of the week.

No. 2 seeds Jessie Aney(UNC) and Maria Fernandez Herazo Gonzalez of Colombia won the doubles title in Berkeley, beating the third-seeded Australian team of Elysia Bolton(UCLA) and Alexandra Bozovic.

Elsewhere on the ITF Men's Pro Circuit, Georgia Tech's Andres Martin won his first singles title on the Circuit at the $15,000 tournament in Monastir Tunisia. The unseeded 22-year-old senior defeated top seed Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine of France 6-2, 6-4 for the singles title, while also partnering with Georgia Tech teammate Keshav Chopra for the doubles title. 

Nineteen-year-old Bruno Kuzuhara won his first ITF men's World Tennis Tour tournament today at a $15,000 tournament on clay in Uruguay. The 2022 Australian Open boys singles and doubles champion, seeded No. 3, defeated top seed Alvaro Guillen Meza of Ecuador 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-3 in the final. 

Martin Damm, who turns 20 next Saturday, won an all-American ITF WTT men's final at the $25,000 tournament in Portugal, with Damm defeating unseeded 20-year-old Dali Blanch 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 in the final. It was the first final on the Pro Circuit for Blanch, Darwin and Ulises's brother, while Damm, the No. 6 seed, now has won four $25,000 level titles, including two this year.

The Laver Cup was played this weekend in Vancouver, with Team World rolling over Team Europe 13-2 to claim their second straight title. Ben Shelton(Florida) and Frances Tiafoe clinched the victory for Team World with a 7-6(4), 7-6(5) doubles victory over Hubert Hurkacz and Andrey Rublev. Team World also got singles victories from Shelton, Tiafoe, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz and Francisco Cerundolo(South Carolina). For more on the Team World title, see this article from the Laver Cup website.