Ngounoue Advances to USTA Pro Circuit W35 Quarterfinals in Naples; Thirteen US Juniors Begin Play at ITF J300 in Traralgon; Joint's Run Continues in Australian Open Qualifying; Twenty-nine Americans in Australian Open Main Draw

Clervie Ngounoue is through to Friday's quarterfinals at the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Naples Florida this week, after the unseeded 17-year-old defeated Maria Kozyreva(St. Mary's) of Russia 6-2, 6-3. Ngounoue, the 2023 Wimbledon girls champion, will face No. 4 seed Varvara Lepchenko, who at 37 is more than twice her age, tomorrow. 

The match of the day was unquestionably the one between qualifier Angella Okutoyi of Kenya and wild card Alexa Noel. Okutoyi, a sophomore at Auburn who is just returning to the US after winning a $25K in her home country last month, took out the Miami junior 7-6(3), 0-6, 7-5 in three hours and 15 minutes. Okutoyi will play 2023 NCAA singles finalist Layne Sleeth(Florida/Oklahoma) in the quarterfinals. Sleeth defeated qualifier Allura Zamarripa(Texas) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The ITF J300 in Traralgon Australia begins Friday(tonight in the United States) with seven US girls and six US boys in the main draw. Olivia Center was the sole qualifier from the United States, she joins Iva Jovic[4], Tyra Grant[5], Alanis Hamilton, Mia Slama, Kate Fakih and Aspen Schuman in the main draw. The US boys in the main draw are Kaylan Bigun[5], Alex Razeghi[6], Roy Horovitz[12], Cooper Woestendick, Max Exsted and Jagger Leach.

Federico Cina of Italy is the top boys seed, with Orange Bowl champion Hannah Klugman of Great Britain the No. 1 seed in the girls draw. ITF No. 3 Sara Saito of Japan, who is entered in the Australian Open Junior Championships but not Traralgon, reached the final of the W50 in Thailand last week and is in the quarterfinals of another W50 in Thailand this week. ITF No. 4 Laura Samson(f/k/a Samsonova) of the Czech Republic withdrew from the Australian Open juniors last week.

Maya Joint was scheduled to play in Traralgon, but the 17-year-old had to withdraw yesterday after she reached the final round of qualifying at the Australian Open. The Michigan native, who now represents Australia, received a wild card into the qualifying after reaching the quarterfinals of the WTA 125 in Canberra last week, and she has won two matches, beating Darja Semenistaja of Latvia 6-1, 7-6(4) on Thursday. Friday(tonight in the US), the Texas signee plays No. 1 qualifying seed Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine for a spot in the main draw.

The Australian Open men's and women's singles draws were revealed Thursday in Melbourne, with 11 US men and 18 US women competing for the titles, with four more possible US entrants from Friday's final round of qualifying.This year, for the first time, the tournament begins on Sunday, with the first round matches being played over three days. 

The schedule is not yet out, but players who are scheduled to compete on Sunday were notified, so I've indicated those on the list below. The top half of the men's draw and the bottom half of the women's draw will play first round matches Sunday and Monday; the bottom half of the men's draw and the top half of the women's draw will play first round matches Monday and Tuesday. 

The four Americans competing in the final round of qualifying Friday are Katie Volynets[3], Hailey Baptiste[19], Emilio Nava, and Aleks Kovacevic[7]. (Nava just lost to Terence Atmane of France 7-6(5), 7-6(3).

2023 Australian Open girls champion Alina Korneeva has qualified for the main draw, defeating No. 11 seed Anna Bondar of Hungary 6-3, 6-3 Friday. In 2018, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who had won the 2017 AO girls title, qualified for the main draw and reached the third round. 

Australian Open first round matches featuring Americans:

MEN:
Ben Shelton[16] v Roberto Bautista Agut(ESP)
*Taylor Fritz[12] v Facundo Diaz Acosta(ARG)
*JJ Wolf v Sebastian Baez[26](ARG)
*Frances Tiafoe[17] v Borna Coric(CRO)
Sebastian Korda[29] v qualifier
Christopher Eubanks v Taro Daniel(JPN)
Patrick Kypson[WC] v Emil Ruusuvuori(FIN)
Alex Michelsen v James McCabe[WC](AUS)
Tommy Paul[14] v Gregoire Barrere(FRA)
Marcos Giron v Jack Draper
Mackenzie McDonald v Jerry Shang[WC](CHN)

WOMEN:

Sofia Kenin v Iga Swiatek[1](POL)

Danielle Collins v Angelique Kerber(GER)

McCartney Kessler[WC] v qualifier

Kayla Day v Viktoriya Tomova(BUL)

Emma Navarro[27] v Xiyu Wang(CHN)

Sloane Stephens v Olivia Gadecki[WC](AUS)

Peyton Stearns v Daria Kasatkina[14](RUS)

Ashlyn Krueger v Qinwen Zheng[12](CHN)

Shelby Rogers v Emma Raducanu(GBR)

Jessica Pegula[5] v qualifier

Claire Liu v Marta Kostyuk(UKR)

*Alycia Parks v qualifier

*Caroline Dolehide v qualifier

Coco Gauff[4] v Anna Karolina Schmiedlova(SVK)

Bernarda Pera v Mirra Andreeva(RUS)

*Emina Bektas v Kamilla Rakhimova(RUS)

*Amanda Anisimova v Liudmila Samsonova[13](RUS)

Taylor Townsend v Paula Badosa(ESP)

*to be played Sunday