Lopata Earns First Pro Circuit Title at Hilton Head; Monday Three-Peats in Norman; Qualifier Gojo Takes Sioux Falls Challenger Title; Jovic Drops W100 Tyler Final; Shelton, Dolehide and Kenin Fall Short in Finals

The good news is that Americans were in three finals on the USTA Pro Circuit and three more on the ATP and WTA Tours; the bad news is that none could secure a winner's trophy in today's championship matches.

University of Georgia junior Anastasiya Lopata won her first Pro Circuit title today, using her ITA Accelerator Program entry to capture the title at the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Hilton Head South Carolina. Lopata, who has yet to qualify for next month's NCAA tournament despite being the 2024 finalist, defeated top seed and WTA No. 304 Elvina Kalieva 6-3, 6-2. It was the only straight sets win of the week for the 19-year-old from Ukraine, who is 4-3 in W75s this fall and now 5-0 at the W35 level.

The only USTA Pro Circuit tournament without an American finalist was the $25,000 men's event in Norman Oklahoma, which saw Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest) and Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State) lose in Saturday's semifinals. Recent Tennessee graduate Johannus Monday of Great Britain, who was unseeded, continued his incredible form this month, winning his third consecutive title today with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over unseeded Canadian Juan Carlos Aguilar(Texas A&M, TCU). The 22-year-old left-hander won the Louisville $25K two weeks ago unseeded and the Harlingen $25K last week as the No. 5 seed, dropping just three sets in this three-week run. 

Gojo(left) and Smith receive Sioux Falls Challenger trophies

For the second consecutive week, a qualifier has won a North American Challenger 75, with Wake Forest's 2018 NCAA singles finalist Borna Gojo of Croatia defeating wild card Colton Smith 6-1, 7-5 in today final in Sioux Falls South Dakota. Media manager Greg Sharko provided this recap of today's final:

SIOUX FALLS – Croatian qualifier Borna Gojo captured the first professional tennis singles championship in the state of South Dakota on Sunday at the MarketBeat Open presented by USTA Northern as he defeated Univ. of Arizona wild card Colton Smith 6-1, 7-5.

The 26-year-old Gojo was sidelined for seven months earlier this year due to a back injury. After playing the first two weeks in January, Gojo didn’t return again until August.

“A lot of things people don’t really see after you get hurt for such a long time, for being at the top of your career and then going back to zero,” said Gojo, who finished a year-end best No. 72 last year but dropped to No. 422 coming into Sioux Falls.
“Mentally it wasn’t easy and I struggled but always kind of stayed positive and went to all the doctors in this world to find a solution. I’m happy right now that I’m feeling well and playing some good tennis.”

After rallying from a set down in his quarter-final win over No. 8 seed Brandon Holt, Gojo won the last six sets he played. In his last three matches he saved 18 of 20 break points, including four of five in the final.

It was Gojo’s second career ATP Challenger Tour title in his fifth final, almost two years since winning his maiden title in Ortisel, Italy on Oct. 30, 2022. At last year’s US Open he advanced to the fourth round as a qualifier (l. to Djokovic).

The 21-year-old Smith, a senior at Arizona, came in ranked No. 496 and he will jump to around No. 390. This was his first career Challenger final. Smith is the first week leader in the USTA/Australian Open Wild Card Challenge. The American with the most points in three of the four-week series of events, will earn a main draw WC into the 2025 Australian Open.

“I had a slow start and it’s attributed a little bit to nerves, having never been in this position before,” said Smith. “The guy played like a Top 50 player I think and I tried to find my way back into the match. Overall I couldn’t be more happy and I feel super blessed to be here in this position. It hasn’t been an easy road this week but to be able to get through a handful of really tough matches, helps me build the confidence and I am looking forward to kind of keeping this momentum the next couple of weeks.”

Smith added on being the wild card leader: “It’s pretty cool and I didn’t know about it at all until two days ago so to be in the lead it feels pretty nice but I think now going into these next couple of weeks it’s not something I will be thinking about. I just got to take it one match at a time.”

The $82,000 ATP Challenger Tour event was the first professional tennis tournament held in South Dakota as the Huether Family Match Pointe played host on the Sanford Sports Complex.

Both Smith and Gojo received special exempt entries into next week's Challenger 75 in Charlottesville Virginia. 

Sixteen-year-old Iva Jovic had never played a WTA Top 100 player until this spring, yet she had managed to post a 3-2 record in those encounters this summer and fall. Her sixth Top 100 match, against No. 71 Renata Zarazua of Mexico in today's final of the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Tyler Texas, brought her back to .500, with Zarazua earning a 6-4, 6-2 victory over the fifth seed.

On the WTA Tour, Caroline Dolehide lost 6-3, 6-1 to Olga Danilovic of Serbia in the final of the 250 in Guangzhou China.

Wild card Sofia Kenin was beaten by top seed Qinwen Zheng of China 7-6(5), 6-3 in Sunday's final of the WTA 500 in Tokyo.

Ben Shelton fell to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France in the final of the ATP 500 in Basel Switzerland 6-4, 7-6(4). Mpetshi Perricard had 22 aces and faced no break points in the championship match.