Kennedy Comes Back to Claim ITF J300 PanAm Closed Title; Iyengar Wins Girls Singles Championship in Marathon Final

©Colette Lewis 2024--

Spring Texas--

The heat was on Saturday morning for the ITF J300 Pan American Regional Championships singles finals, and the intensity was also turned up a notch, as 16-year-old Jack Kennedy won his second ITF J300 title and 17-year-old Maya Iyengar earned her first at that level, both picking up three-set victories under the clear blue skies over the Giammalva Racquet Club.

No. 4 seed Ian Mayew completely outplayed Kennedy in the first set, but the No. 3 seed stepped up his game late in the third to post a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 win.

Kennedy and Mayew had played in the ITF J300 final in San Diego in March, and Mayew had led 5-2 in the first set there before falling 7-5, 7-5. But despite Kennedy's best intentions, he was unable to make a dent in the power game Mayew was playing today.

"He came out today with pretty much guns blazing," said Kennedy, the 2024 Kalamazoo 18s finalist. "He came out with a lot of energy, he was playing really well, really smart, and I think I came out a little too passive, giving him opportunities to attack."

Kennedy said he knew had to attack more in the second set, and after saving four break points serving at 0-1, he did that, while Mayew's effectiveness, especially his first serve, dropped. After the second set, with Mayew returning to the court with drier clothes and renewed optimism, he had two break points in the first game, but Kennedy held that game and the next service game, as did Mayew.

Kennedy then threw in his worst game of the match, getting broken at love, and Mayew consolidated, getting every first serve in to hold at 40-15 for a 4-2 lead. 

The volley Mayew missed on break point in the next game, when he was on top of the net, is a classic tennis player's nightmare.

"It's the ball I wanted, it was the right shot, and if I had to do the point over again, I'd do the exact same thing and take that volley ten out of ten times," said Mayew, a 17-year-old from Cary  North Carolina. "It just so happened I missed it, but what can you do? He capitalized on it, didn't let me have it back, so credit to him, really."

"That was just all luck," said Kennedy, of Huntington, New York. "It happens to the best, you see Roger, you see Novak doing that, it happens. He played a really good point, and after I took a big sigh of relief, I had some momentum. I told myself he's got to be a little frustrated and a little rattled after he couldn't convert the double break."

Kennedy got a bit more luck in the next game, with a net cord winner at 30-all; Mayew double faulted to give back the break, but found himself with another break point in the next game, only to net a slice backhand. Kennedy held, and serving down 4-5, Mayew led 30-0 in the next game, but couldn't take either of his game points. He double faulted at the second deuce and then missed into the net to deliver the title to Kennedy.

"From 30-all, I think maybe he got a little nervous," Kennedy said. "It's tough serving down to stay in the match. He started really well that game, but the moment got to him and it's tough."

Mayew said it was just a point here and there that decided the title.

"It could have gone either way again," said Mayew, who has committed to North Carolina for the fall of 2025. "But it just slipped away from me in that third set. We both had our chances and it's not like one of us outplayed the other. It just came down to the wire and he was a few points better."

Kennedy said he didn't expect he would have the success he enjoyed this year, with now two J300 titles and the Kalamazoo 18s final.

"It's crazy to think about; only at 16, I never thought this was going to happen," Kennedy said. "But obviously with the work I'm putting in with coach Greg(Lumpkin) in New York and coach Jose(Caballeros) from USTA, we've had a really good year and are happy with what I've achieved. But as we like to say, we're not satisfied yet."

Kennedy's next big ITF junior event will be the Junior Davis Cup in Turkey, with teammates Jack Secord, a semifinalist this week, and Keaton Hance.

The boys match lasted a little over two hours, but Iyengar's 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over No. 6 seed Aspen Schuman exceeded that by almost a full hour, and serving for it 5-4, Iyengar decided it was now or never.

After watching a 5-2 lead slip away in the semifinals against No. 2 seed Annika Penickova Friday and needing six match points to secure her 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory, Iyengar was again on shaky ground in that final game.

Down 15-40, Iyengar made the decision to trust her first serve, and on her second match point, she ended her drought in finals against the opponent who had beaten her twice this summer.

"I think in the third set I served great and that really helped," said the 17-year-old from Paradise Valley Arizona. "In that last game, if I'm losing here, I don't think I can make this last push, so I have to serve. And it really helped. I told myself to go for it."

Schuman got a racquet on Iyengar's do-or-die serves in the final game, but the returns didn't stay in the court.

"I recognized that I needed to serve there," said Iyengar, who is coached by Jeremy Coll and Vera Leontieva at Eurotennis Academy in Scottsdale Arizona. "And that's something I've been working on, recognizing those big games."

Iyengar was convinced she had to win the match in that last game.

"I would have lost, I'm sure, if I'd not won that game," Iyengar said. "I felt like she was starting to get back into it, and I'd missed some easy shots too, so I knew it was definitely in my control."

The first set featured seven consecutive breaks of serve from 1-0 Iyengar to 5-3 Iyengar. A ten-deuce game with Schuman serving at 3-4 resulted in that seventh break and Iyengar took her opportunity on her first set point.

Schuman went up 2-0 and 4-2 in the second set, but couldn't close until she broke Iyengar from 40-15 up in a five-deuce game at 4-5. 

Holds were the norm in the third set as the heat and humidity began to take its toll, and the 20-shot rallies that were the norm decreased in frequency. Schuman was called on to play another 10-deuce game in that third set, but she held this one for a 2-1 lead. The sole break of the set came at 3-all, with Schuman dropping serve at love, and Iyengar didn't let that lead slip away.

"Maya played great," said Schuman, who defeated Iyengar in two tiebreakers in a June J200 semifinal and 6-3, 7-5 in a J200 final the following week in Mexico. "We've played very competitive matches in the past and I think she played amazing. So credit to her, she definitely earned it today. I tried to get through it by competing, but it wasn't an on day for me."

Iyengar was on something of a revenge tour this week, beating Leena Friedman and Nadia Lagaev in the third round and quarterfinals, after losing to them in previous meetings.

"I hadn't been able to win these matches in a row," said Iyengar. "I'd lost to Nadia, lost to Leena last year. So for it to come together this week, it was really nice to see all the hard work pay off. Everyone told me it would pay off eventually, and I think it's starting to, but there's so much work that needs to be done. Which I think is a good thing also. I'm doing well, but there's so much that I can improve."

With her title here, Iyengar can look forward to competing at the Australian Open Junior Championships in January, and has the luxury of evaluating her year-end schedule.

"I might do the 35 in (Hilton Head) South Carolina, but I'm going to be in qualies, and I'm tired obviously," Iyengar said. "If not maybe the $15K at Clemson and if not, the (ITF junior circuit) clay swing. I might play all four (Mexico, IMG, Orange Bowl), but since I got a lot of points here, I may just play the 500, but I need a warmup on clay, I'm not the best on it."

Schuman was disappointed to fall short in her second ITF J300 final, but having come in without much match play due to a nagging foot injury, she is encouraged by her results this week.

"I think I'll look back on this week as a great experience," said the 17-year-old from Menlo Park California. "I'm really glad I was able to play. It gave me a lot of confidence. The three-hour matches, I've won a lot, I've also lost some, so it comes down to a few points each time. You've just got to keep trying and come back for the next one."

Tournament director Victor Pinones is looking forward to continuing to host the tournament every fall, after stepping in at the last minute last year.

"I think we got better from last year, everything was smoother, we planned better," said Pinones, who is president and owner of the Giammalva Racquet Club. "We had more time to prepare in contrast to last year. Our goal is to make this the home of the Pan American for the next 20 years, as long as I'm alive, or at least have the club. That's the goal for the future."