Unseeded Lopez and Roussel Advance to Semifinals at College Park J300; Most US Open Final Round Qualifying Matches Postponed Due to Rain; Kennedy Draws Qualifier, Frodin Plays Rybakina in US Open Main Draw Debuts

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

Eighteen-year-old left-handers Felix Roussel of Canada and Adla Lopez of the United States were not seeded this week at the World Tennis J300 at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, but they have had impressive wins over more highly regarded opponents, and find themselves in the semifinals after straight-sets victories today.

Roussel, who defeated No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad in the second round, beat the other half of the top-seeded doubles team today, earning a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico. Alvarez had played over four hours in his win over Teodor Davidov in Wednesday's third round, but Roussel didn't detect any after-effects in his opponent's performance this morning.

"I thought it was a pretty good match," said Roussel, who lives in Toronto. "Probably both sides were a bit tired, but no, I think he was good."

Roussel credited his serve for keeping him on offense throughout the 82-minute match. 

"I thought I served really well today," said Roussel, who had four aces, no double faults and made 75 percent of his first serves. "I was dealing with some back issues early on (in the tournament) but it's starting to feel better now, so that was a positive. I thought I played my game well, being aggressive, following up at the net. Some mistakes here and there, but I stuck to it."

Back pain is not something that Roussel takes lightly after what he endured n 2025.

"Last year I had a back issue, and I was out for about nine months," said Roussel, who withdrew after entering doubles this week. "But I'm feeling better now, so that's good."

Roussel is committed to the University of Kentucky, a stronghold of Canadian talent, and he appreciates the continued support he received when he was unable to compete last year.

"Coach Cedric (Kauffmann) and Coach Matt(Gordon), they're amazing coaches and I really like the program," said Roussel, who will join the Wildcats in the fall of 2027.

Roussel, who made the final of the J300 Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica in January, said he doesn't look ahead in draws, but he will face No. 15 seed Safir Azam, who defeated No. 9 seed Pedro Chabalgoity of Brazil 6-3, 6-3 and has yet to drop a set this week.

Azam, who has reached two J300 semifinals this year, defeated Roussel 7-6(5), 6-4 in the first round of a J200 in the Dominican Republic in February.

The other boys semifinal will feature a first meeting between top seed Vincent Reisach of Germany and No. 4 seed Dan Brand of Israel, both of whom beat Americans in three sets.

Reisach, who has had his left leg heavily taped below the knee all week, took No. 7 seed Tanishk Konduri's best shots and stayed mentally engaged throughout to post a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win.  Brand completely lost his concentration in the second set, but regained his composure to earn a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 victory over No. 10 seed Vihaan Reddy, who, like Alvarez, had played over four hours in singles Wednesday.

Reisach, a semifinalist at Wimbledon this year, reached an M15 final earlier this month, but this will be his first appearance in a J300 semifinal.

For Lopez, her second J300 semifinal was similar to her first, back in March of 2025, when she also defeated Maggie Sohns in the Indian Wells quarterfinals.

Today, Lopez did not need three sets to down the unseeded Sohns, as she had in Indian Wells, closing out a 6-2, 6-4 win with a break of serve.

"I feel like because I played her last year at Indian Wells, I kind of knew her game style," said the Delray Beach resident, who beat top seed and Australian Open champion Ksenia Efremova of France 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 Wednesday. "Last year, it went to three sets because I was trying to hit hard, flat, and that's exactly what she likes. So today, I did the opposite of that, a really slow ball, heavy, to push her back, so I could create a short ball."

Lopez also employed the same strategy in the last two sets against Efremova, which she does strictly for the frustration it causes her opponents.

"Honestly, I like hitting fast, flat balls, but they also like that," Lopez said. "I don't mind the slower pace, I'm pretty athletic and I have enough stamina to stay in the points, and I enjoy the long points."

Lopez will have another opportunity to use those tactics against her opponent Friday, No. 3 seed Mariia Makarova of Russia, who defeated No. 10 seed Yu Jun Lin of China 6-3, 6-2. Makarova barely survived her match with wild card Reiley Rhodes Wednesday, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(8), with Rhodes' defense preventing her from hitting the winners she is accustomed to.

"I've seen her play and I know she likes fast, flat balls," Lopez said. "I know Reiley, she hits pretty heavy, a slower ball and that's going to be my strategy basically."

Lopez, ranked 116, was one of the last two players to receive entry into the main draw when the special exempts were not used, helping her avoid qualifying.

That left Thara Gowda as the top seed in qualifying, and her run came to an end today, when she lost to No. 11 seed Maia Burcescu of Romania 6-3, 6-2. Burcescu will face No. 5 seed Paola Pinera Celorio of Spain, who defeated No. 14 seed Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Four matches will be played at 10 a.m. Friday: three singles semifinals and one doubles match, to accommodate players traveling to Canada for the J300 there, which begins Saturday.

The doubles semifinals featured two seeded teams and two unseeded teams in both the boys and girls draws.

Top seeds Yannik Alvarez and Ryan Cozad will face unseeded Pedro Henrique Chabalgoity and Francisco Fontes Damorim of Brazil in the top half, and No. 3 seeds Kunanan Pantaratorn of Thailand and Arnav Paparkar of India will play unseeded Livas Eduardo De Carvalho Damazio of Brazil and Max Villar of Spain.

In the girls doubles, there were two extended match tiebreakers that decided the semifinalists, with both those winners unseeded Americans.

Wild cards Aarini Bhattacharya and Shristi Selvan, who train at JTCC and played in the San Diego 16s final earlier this month, defeated No. 3 seeds Maia Burcescu of Romania and Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 17-15. They will play top seeds Ksenia Efremova of France and Paola Pinera Celorio of Spain in the semifinals.

Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann and Hannah Ayrault defeated No. 2 seeds Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybas and Anna Pushkareva of Russia 4-6, 6-4, 13-11 and will play No. 4 seeds Yihan Qu and Tushan Shao of China in the bottom half semifinal.

Links to draws, the order of play, live streaming and live scoring can be found here.

Rain did not hamper the schedule today in College Park, but further north, in New York, only 10 of the 32 US Open final round qualifying matches on the schedule were completed, with the remainder to be completed Friday. Two of the seven matches featuring Americans were completed, with resuls and Friday's matches below.

Americans in final round of qualifying:
Nishesh Basavareddy[32] v Arthur Gea[1](FRA)
Mackenzie McDonald[28] v Dalibor Svrcina[8](CZE)
Colton Smith v Hugo Gaston[3](FRA)

Robin Montgomery d. Carson Branstine(CAN) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
Lucrezia Stefanini[28](ITA) d. Julieta Pareja[WC] 6-4, 6-3
Mary Stoiana[17] v Yue Yuan[13](CHN)
Elvina Kalieva[8] v Vendula Valdmannova(CZE)

The men's and women's singles draws were revealed today and the USTA National 18s champions were at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Jack Kennedy will play a qualifier or lucky loser (currently two of the latter), while Thea Frodin has been drawn to play No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

USTA Collegiate Wild Card Playoff winners Reese Brantmeier(UNC) and Sebastian Gorzny(Texas) have both drawn unseeded opponents, with Brantmeier playing Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine and Gorzny facing Raphael Collignon of Belgium.  Currently there are 17 US men and 21 US women in the main draw, with five more possible from qualifying tomorrow.

Men:(17)

Michael Zheng[WC] v Fabian Marozsan(HUN)

Zachary Svajda v Daniel Altmaier(GER)

Marcos Giron v Ignacio Buse[32](PER)

Learner Tien[14] v Nuno Borges(POR)

Taylor Fritz[9] v Darwin Blanch[WC]

Sebastian Gorzny[WC] v Raphael Collignon(BEL)

Aleks Kovacevic v Valentin Vacherot[22](MON)

Martin Damm v Frances Tiafoe[11]

Brandon Nakashima[16] v Sebastian Baez(ARG)

Alex Michelsen v Q/LL

Ben Shelton[8] v Tallon Griekspoor(NED)

Jack Kennedy[WC] v Q/LL

JJ Wolf[WC] v Alexander Bublik[15](KAZ)

Tommy Paul[20] v Q/LL

Jenson Brooksby v Jaime Faria(POR)

Women: (20) + qualifier Robin Montgomery

Taylor Townsend v Maja Chwalinska[20](POL)

Alycia Parks v Taylah Preston[WC](AUS)

Sloane Stephens[WC] v Clara Tauson(DEN)

McCartney Kessler v Ekaterina Alexandrova[18](RUS)

Ann Li[29] v Antonia Ruzic(CRO)

Katie Volynets v Linda Noskova[6](CZE)

Jessica Pegula[3] v Elena-Gabriela Ruse(ROU)

Venus Williams[WC] v Sofia Kenin[WC]

Emma Navarro[26] v Lois Boisson(FRA)

Caty McNally v Q

Carol Lee[WC] v Katie Boulter

Ashlyn Krueger v Amanda Anisimova[10]

Iva Jovic[14] v Magdalena Frech(POL)

Reese Brantmeier[WC] v Oleksandra Oliynykova(UKR)

Coco Gauff[4] v Zeynep Sonmez(TUR)

Peyton Stearns v Q

Madison Keys[22] v Alina Korneeva(RUS)

Thea Frodin[WC] v Elena Rybakina[2](KAZ)