Lyutova Wins 29th Straight Match to Claim ITF J60 Corpus Christi Title, Gaskell Earns Boys Title; Sonobe Reaches $15K Final; Two Gators Advance to Charleston Challenger Final

Christina Lyutova, a 13-year-old from Russia, who lives and trains in the Seattle area, has lost three matches this year, all at two tournaments this spring. She lost in the third round of the Las Vegas ITF J60, her first ITF Junior Circuit tournament, to Emily Robertson. A few weeks later, she lost in the first round of the Easter Bowl 16s to Kenzie Nguyen, then lost her first backdraw match, to Addison Lanton. Lyutova has not lost since, reeling off 29 straight wins, including the USTA 16s Clay Court and Hard Court Championships, with the last six at the J60 in Corpus Christi this week.

Lyutova, unseeded, did not drop a set in claiming her first ITF Junior Circuit title, beating unseeded Kaia Giribalan 6-2, 6-0 in today's final.

Kalamazoo 16s finalist Lachlan Gaskell also won his first ITF Junior Circuit title in Corpus Christi, with the unseeded 16-year-old defeating No. 5 seed Prathinav Chunduru 6-3, 6-3.  

The boys doubles title went to top seeds Xavier Calvelo and Andre Alcantara, who beat unseeded Gaskell and Simon Caldwell 6-4, 6-3. The unseeded team of Lani Brotman and Katiana Gonzalez won the girls doubles title, beating No. 7 seeds Lyla Middleton and Welles Newman 6-2, 6-4 in the final. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for the 16-year-old Brotman and 15-year-old Gonzalez.

Fifteen-year-old Wakana Sonobe of Japan has won only three ITF Junior Circuit matches since claiming her first J300 title in June, but she has made her second ITF women's World Tennis Tour final of her career at the $15,000 tournament in Hilton Head South Carolina. Sonobe, who received entry via the ITF's Junior Reserved program, defeated 2023 NCAA singles finalist Layne Sleeth(Florida/Oklahoma) of Canada, the No. 5 seed, 7-6(5), 6-4 in today's semifinals. She will play qualifier Sophia Biolay of France, a junior at Central Florida, for the title Sunday. Biolay defeated University of Oklahoma senior Florencia Urrutia of Argentina 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the other semifinal today.

Sonobe also reached today's doubles final, with Texas A&M freshman Lucciana Perez Alarcon of Peru. The unseeded pair lost to top seeds Mia Yamakita and Connie Hsu(Penn) of Taiwan 6-2 7-5.

Two former University of Florida Gators will face off tomorrow at the ATP Challenger 75 in Charleston South Carolina, with the winner earning his first ATP Challenger title.

Wild card Oliver Crawford, an All-American at Florida in 2019 and 2020, advanced to his first Challenger final today when qualifier Ernesto Escobedo of Mexico retired trailing 6-4, 2-1. Crawford will face unseeded 19-year-old Abdullah Shelbayh of Jordan, who reached his second ATP Challenger final with 1 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over unseeded Ryan Peniston(Memphis) of Great Britain. Shelbahy turned pro after his 2021-22 freshman year in Gainesville.

The doubles title in Charleston went to No. 2 seeds Luke Johnson(Clemson) of Great Britain and Skander Mansouri(Wake Forest) of Tunisia, who beat alternates Crawford and Nicholas Bybel(Bucknell) 6-4, 6-4 in this afternoon's final.

The third, and most recent Florida Gator to play for a title Sunday is 2023 graduate Will Grant, who advanced to his second USTA men's $15,000 final in the past three weeks with a win today in Albuquerque New Mexico. The 22-year-old qualifier defeated No. 5 seed Jaimee Floyd Angele of France 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 and will play No. 2 seed Liam Draxl(Kentucky) of Canada, who beat No. 4 seed Keegan Smith(UCLA) 6-4, 6-3.  Draxl and Grant met two weeks ago in the Champaign $15K final, with Draxl earning a 6-1, 6-3 victory.

Smith and Colin Markes(Texas), the No. 3 seeds, took the doubles title in Albuquerque, beating the unseeded team of Andrew Fenty(Michigan) and Axel Nefve(Notre Dame/Florida) 7-5, 6-4 in this afternoon's final.

2022 University of Florida graduate Mccartney Kessler wasn't able to make it a quartet of Gators in USTA Pro Circuit singles finals Sunday, as the wild card lost to top seed Taylor Townsend 7-5, 6-4 today in the semifinals of the $60,000 women's tournament in Templeton California. Townsend will face No. 8 seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico, who defeated No. 4 seed Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus 6-3, 6-4.

It will be NC State Wolfpack teammates against each other for the doubles title in Templeton, with Kessler and Alana Smith playing 2022 NCAA doubles champion Jaeda Daniel and Jessie Aney(UNC). Both teams are unseeded.

A third NC State alum, Diana Shnaider of Russia, lost in her first WTA final today in Ningbo China to top seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, 6-2, 6-1.