Link to USTA National 16s and 18s Highlight Show Featured on Tennis Channel; Roversi Goes Back-to-Back on ITF Junior Circuit; Emerson Jones Rises to Top Spot in ITF Junior Rankings; World Junior Tennis Tour Finals Qualification Rankings
The highlight show of the USTA 16s and 18s National Championships last month in San Diego debuted Saturday on Tennis Channel, and is now available to everyone at this link: Breaking Barriers 2024. There is also a two-minute recap of the Boys 18s final in Kalamazoo at the 40-minute mark. The highlight show can be accessed throughout the year by clicking on the Southern California Tennis Association Foundation banner on the left of the zootennis.com home page.
With the US Open Junior Championships taking all of my attention last two weeks, I wasn't able to follow the other result on the ITF Junior Circuit until today, but there were four singles titles claimed by three American girls the past two weekends. Unseeded 14-year-old Janae Preston, the 2023 USTA 14s Clay Court Champion, won her first ITF Junior Circuit title at the J30 in Panama. Preston defeated, the No. 2 and No. 4 seeds to reach the final, where she beat No. 5 seed Maria Suarez of Colombia 6-1, 6-0. Suarez was one of four Preston opponents to lose a set 6-0.
At the J30 in Honduras, 15-year-old Adelie Osher won her second ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the No. 1 seed defeating No. 6 seed Ashvini Tara Gopalan of Canada 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final.
Sixteen-year-old Floridian Marcella Roversi won her first two ITF Junior Circuit titles at the J30 in Trinidad and Tobago two weeks ago; as the No. 4 seed in singles and unseeded in doubles. Roversi lost only seven games in her three victories, beating Mildalyn D'aguilar of the United States 6-4, 6-1 in the final and partnering with Shiloh Walker of Trinidad and Tobago in the doubles.
She then played the J60 in Colombia last week and took the singles title there as a qualifier. After winning two qualifying matches, Roversi advanced to the final by beating Americans Gabriella Kellner[2] and Isabella Pisarczyk in the quarterfinals and semifinals. She defeated No. 3 seed Daniela Chica of the United States 7-5, 6-3 in the championship match, her seventh straight-sets victory of the week.
Donald Stoot of the United States, seeded seventh, reached the boys singles final, retiring in the third set against wild card Pablo Robledo Hoyos of Colombia.
The post-US Open junior rankings were published today by the ITF, with a new No. 1 in Australia's Emerson Jones. Jones would be the first to admit that her last two tournaments have been disappointing, with a second round loss in College Park and a third round loss in New York, but the 52-week rolling system isn't meant to track current momentum, just overall points earned. When Wimbledon girls champion Renata Jamrichova did not defend her 2023 semifinal points at the US Open, and Jones added points after losing in the first round in 2023, Jones took over the top spot.
Iva Jovic has moved up to No. 2, her career high, with Tyra Grant remaining at No. 4. USO girls finalist Wakana Sonobe of Japan is up to No. 6, her career high, and champion Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain jumped 25 spots to No. 8.
Annika Penickova, who made the USO quarterfinals, moved from 91 to 48.
The top 3 boys remained the same, with Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway, Kaylan Bigun of the United States and Rei Sakamoto of Japan maintaining their positions. US Open champion Rafael Jodar of Spain moved to No. 4, with Great Britain's Charlie Robertson, a US Open semifinalist, entering the Top 10 for the first time.
The US Open Junior Championships mark the end of the race for the World Junior Tennis Tour Finals, which will be held in Chengdu China October 14-20.
Here are the top eight boys and girls in the final qualification rankings, but the likelihood that they all play is small. I asked several of the top boys about their participation and the only one who enthusiastically said he would be accepting his invitation was Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic.
2. Kaylan Bigun, United States
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