Easter Bowl 18s Videos; Gowda and Ngounoue Claim ITF J100s, Four Other Singles Titles for Americans on Junior Circuit; ITF J500 Offenbach Underway with Six American Entries

The final USTA Level 1 Easter Bowl videos are now available, with the 18s finals below. Videos of the 12s, 14s and 16s can be viewed at the tenniskalamazoo YouTube Channel.

Last week was a busy one on the ITF Junior Circuit, with 31 tournaments from J30s to a J300 across the globe. Americans won six singles last week, with two at J100s, one a a J60 and three at J30s, along with five doubles titles.

Sixteen-year-old Carel Ngounoue picked up his biggest title and second of the month at the J100 in Tunisia. The unseeded Ngounoue defeated the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds en route to the final, where he beat top seed Siu Chi Nicholas Cheng of Hong Kong 6-3, 6-3. After playing just one tournament since April of 2024, Ngounoue is 11-1 after returning to competition in March of this year.

Sixteen-year-old Thara Gowda also won her second and biggest title of the year last week at the J100 in Canada. Seeded No. 2, Gowda defeated No. 6 seed Havana Kadi of Canada 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the singles final; Gowda and Kaya Moe, the top seeds, won the doubles title, defeating unseeded Sophie Dement and Alexie Normandin of Canada 6-2, 6-4 in the final.

Lani Chang won her second J60 title in as many weeks, this time in Panama, with the 14-year-old daughter of Michael Chang, seeded No. 2, beating top seed Isabella Collazos of Colombia 6-3, 6-0 in the final. As was the case two weeks ago in Trinidad and Tobago, Chang did not lose a set all week and is now on an eight-match winning streak this month.

At the J30 in Barbados, 13-year-old London Evans won her first two titles on the ITF Junior Circuit in just her second tournament. Evans, unseeded, defeated No. 6 seed Charlotte Tait of Australia 6-2, 6-0 in the singles final, not dropping a set in her five victories.  In doubles, Evans partnered with Jolie Mastre of Canada, with the unseeded pair defeating No. 2 seeds Kealani Agbulos of the United States and Sweden's Greta Baerlund 6-2, 6-4 in the final. 

Fifteen-year-old Tristan Stratton, a finalist last month in the Easter Bowl 16s, also won his first ITF title in Barbados. Stratton, the No. 3 seed, beat 14-year-old qualifier Ved Vanga, playing in his first ITF Junior Circuit event, 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 in the final.

At the J30 in Cuba, which is hosting ITF Junior Circuit events for the first time since the pandemic, 16-year-old Annabelle Janczyk swept the titles, her first two on the ITF Junior Circuit. Janczyk, the No. 4 seed, beat compatriot and doubles partner Adriana Khomyakova 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the singles finals. The unseeded pair won the doubles title, beating the top-seeded Mexican team of Maribel Aguilar Gasperin and Mar Miramontes 6-2, 7-6(5) in the final. 

At the J200 in Florence, Ford McCollum and Nischal Spurling won the doubles title, with the No. 4 seeds beating unseeded Cody Atkinson of New Zealand and Iker Ibarrondo Suarez of Spain 7-5, 6-2 in the final. 

Thirteen-year-old Leigh Oyeboh Anisah and Cameroon's Charnelle Fozo won their second J30 doubles title in as many weeks in Cameroon, with the No. 2 seeds beating top seeds Jannat Chiripal of Indian and Lea Dube of South Africa 6-4, 6-3 in the final. 

The green clay swing in the Florida begins this week at the J100 in Delray Beach, followed by a J100 in Coral Gables and an upgraded J200 in Plantation.

In Delray Beach this week, Zavier Augustin is the No. 1 seed in the boys draw, with Ava Rodriguez the top seed in the girls draw. Zaire Clarke, who qualified and won a round at the W50 in Zephyrhills last week, is the No. 2 seed. Nikolas Stoot, the Easter Bowl 18s champion (see above video), is seeded No. 8. These three events feature the rare 64-player qualifying and main draws, so a lot of players will get their first opportunities to compete at J100s and above in this three-week stretch.

This is the last week that results from the ITF Junior Circuit will count for Roland Garros acceptances, and the biggest impact will come from the J500 this week in Offenbach Germany.

Andres Santamarta Roig, who has won the last two J500s he's played(Orange Bowl, Banana Bowl), is the top seed, with Alexander Vasilev of Bulgaria the No. 2 seed. Three US boys are in the draw: Maxwell Exsted[9], Dominick Mosejczuk[14] and Jacob Olar.

Fourteen-year-old Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic, who won a W35 last month in Turkey, is the top girls seed, with her older sister Alena the No. 2 seed. Three US girls are in the draw: Shannon Lam, Anita Tu and Capucine Jauffret.