Lam Claims ITF J300 Coffee Bowl Title in Costa Rica; Antonius Advances to Les Petits As Singles Final, Ahmad and Davidov Claim Doubles Title; Seggerman and Trhac Add Another Challenger Title; Big Upsets Highlight Men's Kickoff Weekend

After a very late night Friday watching the Australian Open Junior finals, and an early morning Sunday for Les Petits As finals in France, I'm not going to be able to stay up for the results of the boys singles and doubles  at the ITF J300 Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica, but the girls finals are finished. No. 7 seed Shannon Lam won her first J300 final, beating 14-year-old Kristina Penickova 6-3, 7-5 in this afternoon's championship match. Prior to this week, the 15-year-old Lam's best showing at J300 was a quarterfinal. Any time a player picks up a J300 title, they are in good position to move into the Top 50 and begin thinking about direct entry into junior slams; Lam will also pick up more points for her doubles  title, with she and Thea Frodin beating No. 4 seeds Ema Mravcova and Mia Pohankova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-2 in this evening's final.

I'll have the boys singles and doubles results Sunday.

Michael Antonius will play for the Les Petits As title Sunday, with the 13-year-old from Buffalo New York taking on No. 11 seed Izan Banares Lasala of Spain.  Antonius defeated fellow American Tabb Tuck 6-2, 6-3 in today's semifinal, but Tuck can take heart from the fact that his five games are more than Antonius lost in his previous four matches. Banares Lasala prevented an all-US final by defeating No. 3 seed Jordan Lee 6-3, 6-2.

Americans can sweep the boys titles with a win by Antonius Sunday, as Izyan Ahmad and Teodor Davidov collected the boys doubles title Saturday. The unseeded pair defeated Quentin Dodin and Thomas Grevoul of France, also unseeded, 2-6, 6-1, 10-6 in the final. 

The girls singles final Sunday will feature the girls doubles champions facing off against each other. No. 7 seed Mariia Makarova will face fellow Russian Kseniia Ruchina, the No. 2 seed, for the title after two eerily similar semifinal victories.

Makarova defeated No. 5 seed Anna Pircher of Austria 7-6(3), 7-5, while Ruchina beat No. 16 seed Nauhany Leme da Silva of Brazil 7-6(1), 7-5.

After the singles semifinals, Makarova and Ruchina teamed up to take the doubles title, with the top seeds beating No. 6 seeds Jana Kovackova and Katerina Zajickova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 3-6, 10-5.

Welles Newman fell in the final of the consolation draw (for those losing in the first round) to Sakino Miyazawa of Japan 1-4, 4-0, 5-3.

Links to live streaming and live scoring are available here. Draws are here.

Top seed Zachary Svajda and unseeded Blaise Bicknell(Florida/Tennessee) of Jamaica will play for the title at the Southern California Open Challenger 50 Sunday in Indian Wells.  Svajda defeated Sebastian Fanselow(Pepperdine) of Germany 6-2, 6-4, while Bicknell advanced to his second career Challenger final with a 7-6(5), 6-4 win over qualifier Andre Ilagan(Hawaii).

In the doubles final today, Ryan Seggerman and Patrik Trhac did it again, taking their second consecutive title in as many weeks in Indian Wells, and their 12th pro title since agreeing to partner last July in SoCal Pro Series. The top seeds defeated unseeded Thomas Fancutt of Australia and Ajeet Rai of New Zealand 6-4, 3-6, 10-3 for their fourth Challenger title. 

Steve Pratt wrote a feature article, which came out prior to the two SoCal sponsored tournaments in Indian Wells, with lots of details on how the two San Diego residents managed to get together despite their prickly relationship as juniors. 

For more on their doubles title and the singles semifinals today, see this article, also by Pratt.

Ten women's teams earned their spots in next month's Division I Team Indoor Championships in Seattle, with two of those, Auburn and Southern California, getting wins over hosts. The other five women's regional finals are set for Sunday, with another host, Iowa State, already out after losing to No. 4 seed Old Dominion 4-0 today.

Saturday's Kickoff Weekend regional finals results:

(upsets in bold)

Michigan[1] d. Arkansas[2] 4-0

Virginia[1] d. Georgia Tech[2] 4-0

Auburn[2] d. Duke[1] 4-2 

Pepperdine[1] d. LSU[2] 4-0

North Carolina[1] d. Kentucky[3] 4-0

Southern California[3] d. Tennessee[1] 4-2

Texas[1] d. Florida State[2] 4-0

Stanford[1] d. Maryland[2] 4-0

Georgia[1] d. South Carolina[2] 4-1

Ohio State[1] d. Arizona State[3] 4-0

Last year all 15 men's hosts advanced to the National Team Indoors (only 11 women's hosts did in 2023); that will not be the case this year, with three already out despite most of the finals not being played until Sunday.

One men's regional final was played today and that saw host Kentucky lose to No. 2 seed Alabama 4-2. That was a surprise, with Kentucky No. 10 in the current rankings and Alabama unranked, but another host lost their first match against a No. 4 seed, with 12th-ranked Mississippi State falling to Virginia Commonwealth 4-3 in Starkville. So in that final Sunday, No. 4 seed VCU will play No. 3 seed Arizona State, who beat No. 2 seed Florida State 4-3 today.

The third host to bow out was North Carolina, in what was widely considered the most competitive men's region going in. The Tar Heels were beaten by No. 4 seed Illinois 4-3, and will face No. 2 seed Wake Forest, who beat No. 3 seed Florida 4-1.

Updated brackets and a live scoreboard can be found at Slam Tennis. Cracked Racquets will continue to provide coverage on their YouTube channel and on ESPN+ Sunday, with one regional final Monday, hosted by the Georgia men.