Montoya Sweeps J100 Titles in Mexico; Johnson and Lee Claim Second Singles Titles on ITF Junior Circuit; Florida State Seeking Candidates for PhD in Tennis Research, Teaching

The fall ITF Junior Circuit in the United States features a tournament every week from September 30 to November 18, including last week's J60 in Rome Georgia. But the biggest singles titles for Americans came south of the border, with 16-year-old Kori Montoya and 15-year-old Andrew Johnson capturing the championships at the J100 in Mexico last week.

Montoya, a blue chip high school junior from Texas, won her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title early this month at the J60 in Corpus Christi as the top seed. This past week, seeded No. 4, Montoya avenged her semifinal loss at the previous week's J100 to top seed Hikari Yamamoto of Japan to advance to the final, where she defeated 13-year-old Hannah Ayrault[14] 7-6(1), 7-5. Ayrault had lost to Yamamoto in last week's final. 

Montoya also claimed her second ITF Junior Circuit doubles title, with partner Ika RajuKanumuri of India. The No. 2 seeds defeated top seeds Carolina Alonso and Marianne Angel of Mexico 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 in the final.

Johnson also won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title three weeks ago in Corpus Christi, then followed it up with a title in Mexico this week. The No. 9 seed, Johnson defeated No. 5 seed Miko Lapalme of Canada 6-4, 6-0 in the final, after defeating No. 2 seed Felix Roussel of Canada 6-1, 7-5 in the semifinals. Johnson did not lose a set in his five victories. 

Fourteen-year-old Jordan Lee won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title last month in Bosnia on clay; his first in the United States came in Rome Georgia last week. The second seed, Lee didn't lose more than three games in his first four victories (Rome was a rare 64-player draw), then beat No. 4 seed William Zhang 7-6(4), 6-3 in the semifinals. In the final, Lee defeated 15-year-old Navneet Raghuram, the No. 8 seed, 6-2, 6-2.

Unseeded Connor Plunkett and Zen David Uehling won the boys doubles title, defeating unseeded Jonah Hill and Malhar Patel 7-5, 1-6, 10-5 in the all-USA final.

Californian Aishi Bisht, who represents India on the ITF Junior Circuit, swept the girls titles in Rome. The No. 3 seed defeated Ellery Mendell 6-4, 6-0 in the singles final. Bisht partnered with Emerey Gross for the doubles title, with the No. 5 seeds defeating No. 2 seeds Nicole Okhtenberg and Addison Iacono 6-3 6-4 in the final. 

Doubles titles were more plentiful for Americans last week, with five more championships in addition to those mentioned above.

At the J200 in Santa Cruz Bolivia, No. 5 seeds Nancy Lee and Welles Newman defeated No. 3 seeds Nauhany Leme Da Silva and Pietra Rivoli of Brazil 2-6, 6-0, 10-1 in the final. Nischal Spurling and El Salvador's Cesar Cruz, finalists two weeks ago at the LaPaz J200, took the boys doubles title, with the No. 7 seeds defeating unseeded Juan Ignacio Gallego of Argentina and Santiago Lora of Bolivia 6-1, 6-1 in the final.

Dillon Beckles won the boys doubles title at the J60 in Botswana, with Czech partner Sebastian Chodura. The No. 2 seeds defeated No. 3 seeds Joshua Aston of Great Britain and Jayden Summers of South Africa 6-4, 7-6(4) in the final. Younger brother David Beckles won the doubles title at the J30 in Cameroon with Daniel Ekango of Cameroon. The top seeds defeated Anas Ben Youssef of Tunisia and Fadil Adam Zambou of Cameroon 6-4, 6-3 in the championship match. It's the first title on the ITF Junior Circuit for 15-year-old David Beckles.

Kashish Kant earned her second straight J30 doubles title in Ethiopia, again partnering with Presha Shanthamoorthi of India. The top seeds defeated unseeded Beatriz Dias and Bruna Liotto de Carvalho of Brazil in the final for a second straight week, this time by a score of 6-3, 6-2. 

This week the ITF Junior Circuit moves south to the J60 in Boca Raton Florida. Prathinav Chunduru and Jordan Lee are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the boys draw; Ameia Sorey and Daniela Chica are the top two girls seeds. Seeds begin play Tuesday in the 48-player singles draws.

If you are a current or former collegiate player interested in post-graduate work in the sport of tennis, Florida State has a fully funded doctoral student position available for the fall of 2025. Here is a brief description of the position and contact information for more details.

Florida State University: Tennis-Specific PhD/Doctoral Student Position

Starting Fall 2025, Florida State University will offer a fully-funded PhD/doctoral student position (tuition waiver, stipend, and health insurance) for one individual looking to do tennis-specific research and teaching. The position will have both on-court and off-court elements, including co-authorship publication potential. College and professional tennis players are encouraged to apply. All applicants must provide a current GRE score. The deadline to apply is February 15, 2025. For further details, please contact Dr. Ryan Rodenberg:

Ryan Rodenberg, JD/PhD
Professor
Florida State University
rrodenberg "at" fsu.edu