San Diego Seeds; US Teams Win Again at 14-Under World Junior Tennis Event; Johnson Ousts Top Seed at Lexington Challenger; Six Americans Qualify for W100 Landisville; Kristina Penickova Beats No. 2 seed at W35 in Southaven MS

The seeds were announced today for the USTA 18s and 16s Girls National Championships in San Diego, with wild card Julieta Pareja the top seed in the 18s. Pareja, the No. 2 seed last year in San Diego, lost in the semifinals to Maya Iyengar.

Girls 18s Top 32 seeds:

1. Julieta Pareja
2. Bella Payne
3. Thea Frodin
4. Janae Preston
5. Kristina Penickova
6. Welles Newman
7. Carlota Moreno
8. Jordyn Hazelitt
9. Alexis Nguyen
10. Ellery Mendell
11. Alyson Shannon
12. Molly Widlansky
13. Carrie-Anne Hoo
14. Yilin Chen
15. Armira Kockinis
16. Thara Gowda
17. Lauren Nolan
17. Carolina Castro
17. Julia Seversen
17. Reagan Levine
17. Allison Wang
17. Reiley Rhodes
17. Alanna Ingalsbe
17. Kingsley Wolf
17. Kylie Liu
17. Lyla Messler
17. Alaina LiSanti
17. Gabriella Davydov
17. Maggie Sohns
17. Kasia Chen
17. Rose Biria
17. Kenzie Nguyen

Where are World Tennis junior Top 100 players Melije Clarke(53), Anita Tu(54), Lani Chang(56) Hannah Ayrault(73) Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann(82), Nancy Lee(86), Ireland O'Brien(91) and Emery Combs(96) and last week's W35 champion Annika Penickova, you might ask? Well, Clarke, Ayrault, Drenser-Hagmann, Lee, Combs and Penickova are in the 33-64 seeding range; Tu, Chang and O'Brien are not seeded at all. I don't understand how players who are 54 and 56 in the world are not among the top 64 players in the United States; it makes no sense.

The top three seeds are ordered by their WTA rankings (Penickova is now fourth in the WTA live rankings after her title last week), but it doesn't appear that WTN played much of a role in the seeding process, with UNC rising sophomore Anna Frey having one of the best six WTNs in the field, but was only given a 33 seed.

The 16s seeds are basically ordered by USTA national ranking, although Abigail Haile and Orange Bowl 16s champion Priscilla Sirichantho were moved into the Top 8 due to their WTNs, which are the best in the 16s field.

The seeds appear, not in order, under the Players tab.

Draws for the 16s will be out after 6 p.m. Pacific Wednesday and the 18s draws will be posted after 6 p.m. Thursday.

Top-seeded US girls beat Colombia 3-0 today in group play at the World Tennis 14-and-under team championships in Prostejov Czechia and are now 2-0 in group play. They play No. 5 seed Korea Wednesday, with Korea's loss today to Slovakia, giving them a 1-1 record. With their two 3-0 wins, the United States is nearly certain to advance to the quarterfinals regardless of their result Wednesday.

The sixth-seeded US boys also blanked their opponent today, beating Czechia 3-0, which put them in the quarterfinals regardless of their result against No. 2 seed Great Britain Wednesday. Both teams are 2-0, and Czechia and Egypt are both 0-2, so the loser will advance to the quarterfinals as well as the winner, no calculations necessary.

Live streaming, including replays, are available at the World Tennis junior video page. Live scoring is here. All results can be found here.

UCLA rising senior Spencer Johnson continues to post eye-catching results this summer on the USTA Pro Circuit. After qualifying at this week's ATP Challenger 75 in Lexington Kentucky, the 23-year-old left-hander today defeated top seed Moez Echargui(Nevada) of Tunisia 6-4, 6-3 to advanced the the second round. He will play Jay Friend of Japan, who won the all-Arizona Wildcat first round match with teammate Colton Smith 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3. Other Americans reaching the second round are qualifier Andres Martin(Georgia Tech), Andre Ilagan(Hawaii), Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas), Michael Mmoh, and wild card Ozan Baris(Michigan State).

The biggest tournament this week in the United States is the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Landisville Pennsylvania, where the qualifying was completed today. 

Six Americans have reached the main draw through qualifying: Reese Brantmeier(UNC), Carolyn Ansari(Auburn), Hanna Chang, Anna Rogers(NC State), Clervia Ngounoue and Madison Sieg(USC). Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) received entry into the main draw as a lucky loser.

Wild cards were given to Malaika Rapolu(Texas), Stephanie Yakoff(Harvard), and Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State). Lexington 75 finalist Ayana Akli received a special exemption into the main draw. 

Hanne Vandewinkel of Belgium is the top seed.

The other two USTA Pro Circuit events this week are joint tournaments in Southaven Mississippi.

At the W35, four Americans advanced to the main draw from qualifying: Katherine Hui(Stanford), Carlota Moreno(Tennesee), Aspen Schuman(Duke) and Alyssa Ahn(Stanford).

Wild cards were given to Riley Crowder(Ole Miss), Jo-Yee Chan(Oregon, San Diego State), Anne Christine Lutkemeyer(UCLA) and Kristina Penickova. Crowder lost to No. 4 seed Eunhye Lee of Korea 6-1, 6-1, but Penickova defeated No. 2 seed Antonia Vergara Rivera 6-2, 7-5 in the first round today. Annika Penickova received a special exempt into the main draw as the champion last week in Florence SC.

2023 NCAA champion Fangran Tian(UCLA) of China is the No. 1 seed.

At the M25, seven of the eight qualifiers are American: Sam Landau(Indiana, Duke), Logan Zapp(UNC), Tygen Goldammer(BYU), James Weber(Georgia), Jon Gamble(Illinois), Brandon Carpico(Ohio State) and Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes(Mississippi State). 

Wild cards were awarded to 2017 NCAA doubles champion Spencer Papa(Oklahoma), Max Dussault(TCU), Cooper Woestendick(TCU) and Patrick Maloney(Michigan).  In first round action today, USC rising sophomore Max Exsted defeated No. 3 seed Quinn Vandecasteele(Oregon) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Former Washington All-American Clement Chidekh of France is the top seed.

US Open Junior Boys Acceptance List Features All Three 2026 Slam Champions Plus Every Top 30 Boy; WT Junior No. 1, Australian Open and Wimbledon Champions Highlight Girls Field

The acceptances lists for the US Open Junior Championships, which run from September 6th to September 12th this year, were published today, with a boys field that includes the entire top 33 in the World Tennis junior rankings. The only boy in the Top 50 who did not enter is No. 34 Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands. With eight wild cards, eight qualifiers and two special exempt spots, the cutoff is 47; last year it was 49.

All three reigning junior slam champions have entered: Australian Open boys champion Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, Roland Garros Champion Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil and Jordan Lee of the United States.

Ten US boys have been accepted into the main draw: Roland Garros finalist Michael Antonius, Australian Open finalist Keaton Hance, Lee, Andy Johnson, Jack Kennedy, Jack Secord, Ryan Cozad, Tanishk Konduri, Vihaan Reddy and Gavin Goode.

Two US boys are in qualifying: Safir Azam, who is nine out of the main draw, and Marcel Latak. The initial qualifying cutoff is 77.

The girls acceptance list features a more typical number of absences, with two of the Top 10 missing (No. 8 Anastasiia Cetkovic of Serbia and No. 10 Alena Kovackova of Czechia) and seven other Top 50 players. Among those is No. 17 Kristina Penickova, who has said that San Diego will be her only junior event this summer.

Australian Open champion Ksenia Efremova of France and Wimbledon champion Anna Pushkareva will be in search of a rare second junior slam singles title, while World Tennis junior No. 1 Xinran Sun of China, the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist, hopes the third time will be the charm in her quest for a junior slam title. 

Kristina Liutova, who will be accepted into the women's singles qualifying field, has received entry based on her WTA ranking of 229. 

As was the case last year, just five US girls have been accepted into the main draw: Janae Preston, Jordyn Hazelitt, Welles Newman, Thea Frodin and Melije Clarke. The main draw cutoff this year is 54; it was 50 last year.

Unlike the boys, there are a host of US girls in qualifying, including Anita Tu, who is next in, Lani Chang, three out, and Olivia Traynor, eight out. The other US girls in qualifying are Hannah Ayrault, Maggie Sohns, Sarah Ye, Kennedy Drenser- Hagmann and Nancy Lee. The initial girls qualifying cutoff is 87.

The only special regional place awarded in either draw was in the girls qualifying, where No. 112 Jahnie Van Zyl of South Africa received entry after satisfying the criteria of being Top 150, with her region not otherwise represented in the acceptances.

Wimbledon Boys Champion Lee, Finalist Hewitt Receive Qualifying Wild Cards for ATP 500 in Washington DC; Baris and Chang Lead US Open Wild Card Race after Week 1; Quarterfinals Friday at Bloomfield Hills Challenger, W100 Evansville, W35 Santa Fe and M25 Champaign

The Mubadala DC Open, a joint WTA/ATP 500, announced yesterday that both boys who appeared in the Wimbledon boys final ten days ago have received wild cards into the ATP 500 Washington DC qualifying draws.  Champion Jordan Lee, who has never competed above the M15 level and has an ATP ranking of 1769, will be making his ATP-level debut; finalist Cruz Hewitt of Australia has played Australian Open qualifying the past two years and in 10 Challengers, most in Australia; his ATP ranking is currently 615.

The future is here 🔥

2026 Wimbledon boys’ singles champion Jordan Lee and finalist Cruz Hewitt have received qualifying wild cards and will both play their first match on Saturday!#MubadalaDCOpen pic.twitter.com/7uMWSk7iJq

— Mubadala DC Open (@mubadaladcopen) July 22, 2026

 

The USTA also distributed the first update on the US Open Wild Card Challenge, with Hanna Chang, who won the title at the W35 in Dallas last week, and Ozan Baris, who won the title at the M25 in Louisville last week, the leaders.

US Open Wild Card Challenge Standings Update

 

Hanna Chang, Ozan Baris Lead After Week 1

 

ORLANDO, Fla., July 22, 2026 – Twenty-eight-year old Hanna Chang and 22-year old Ozan Baris are the leaders of the USTA's US Open Wild Card Challenge after its first of four weeks for the women and five weeks for the men.

 

Chang, who has won three USTA Pro Circuit W35 singles titles already this year, leads the women’s standings after winning the W35 in Dallas on Sunday. Second-place Elizabeth Mandlik made the semifinals of the W75 in Granby, Canada.

 

Baris won his second USTA Pro Circuit M25 title of the year in Louisville, Ky., after winning the M25 Wichita event in June. He is just three points ahead of Murphy Cassone, who reached the semifinal at the Granby Challenger in Canada, and Spencer Johnson, who also reached a Challenger semifinal in Lincoln, Neb.

 

The top of the standings after Week 1:

 

Women's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

 

1. Hanna Chang (326) -- 35

2. Elizabeth Mandlik (169) -- 29
3. Lea Ma (274) -- 16

 

 

Men's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

 

1. Ozan Baris (586) -- 25
T2. Murphy Cassone (269) -- 22
T2. Spencer Johnson (524) -- 22

 

 

The men's wild card will go to the American with the highest cumulative total of ATP singles ranking points earned from their best four results over five weeks. The Men's Challenge counts outdoor and indoor hard-court events at the M25-level and above around the world.

 

The women's wild card will go to the American with the highest cumulative total of WTA singles ranking points earned from their best three results over four weeks. The Women's Challenge counts outdoor and indoor hard-court events at the W35-level and above around the world.

The quarterfinals are set at all four of the USTA Pro Circuit events this week.  At the Bloomfield Hills Challenger 125, lucky loser DK Suresh(Wake Forest) of India is through to the quarterfinals after defeating another Wake Forest alum, Borna Gojo of Croatia, 6-2, 6-4 today. Suresh will face 2025 finalist Andres Martin(Georgia Tech), who beat qualifier Roger Pascual(TCU) of Spain 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. 

Top seed Alex Michelsen will play 2025 champion Mark Lajal in the other quarterfinal in the top half.

In the bottom half, No. 6 seed Michael Zheng(Columbia) will play No. 2 seed Adam Walton(Tennessee) of Australia, and No. 8 seed Jake Fearnley(TCU) will face J.J. Wolf(Ohio State), who is into his first Challenger quarterfinal since his long injury layoff in 2025. Wolf defeated No. 3 seed Coleman Wong of Hong Kong 6-3, 7-5 today.

At the M25 in Champaign Illinois, three wild cards and a qualifier are through to the quarterfinals, with only two seeds remaining.

Top seed Karim Bennani of Morocco will face Will Jansen(UNC, Ohio State, Georgia); wild card Nikita Filin(Ohio State) will play No. 5 seed Naoya Honda of Japan; wild card William Mroz(Illinois) will face qualifier Mitchell Sheldon(Michigan State) and wild card Eli Stephenson(Kentucky) will play Evan Bynoe. Bynoe defeated No. 2 seed Yassine Dlimi(UCF) of Morocco 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the second round today.

The quarterfinals in the women's W100 in Evansville Indiana will feature three Americans, with one guaranteed to reach the semifinals when No. 7 seed Elvina Kalieva plays Caroline Dolehide. The other quarterfinal in the top half has top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico playing qualifier Yuki Naito of Japan, with Naito defeating wild card Fiona Crawley 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 in three hours and 10 minutes.  In the bottom half, unseeded Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy will play No. 3 seed Mananchaya Sawangkaew(Oklahoma State) of Thailand and No. 6 seed Mary Stoiana, who beat 17-year-old wild card Julieta Pareja 6-3, 6-4 today, will face unseeded Yeonwoo Ku of Korea. Ku prevented another Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia) meeting with Stoiana, with Ku beating the 2024 NCAA fall singles champion from Czechia 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round today.

Four Americans will play in Friday's quarterfinals of the W35 in Santa Fe New Mexico, with top seed Hina Inoue facing Kate Fakih(UCLA). Inoue beat Kolie Allen(Ohio State) 6-4, 7-6(2), while Fakih fought back against Tatum Evans(UNC) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Krisha Mahendran(USC) of India, who beat No. 3 seed Antonia Vergara Rivera of Chile 6-2, 7-5, will face Dana Guzman(Oklahoma) of Peru for a place in the semifinals. 

Fifth-seeded Malaika Rapolu(Texas) will play Mayu Crossley(UCLA) of Japan and qualifier McKenna Schaefbauer(Illinois) will face No. 2 seed Angelina Voloshchuk of Portugal.

My Wimbledon Junior Championships Recap; Kalamazoo and San Diego Acceptances; US Teams Announced for August's World Junior Tennis 14U Team Competition

My article on the Wimbledon Junior Championships is up today at Tennis Recruiting Network, so if you weren't able to follow along with my daily reports from the All England Lawn Tennis Club, this is your opportunity to get an overview of the nine-day event in abbreviated form. I also wrote a notebook-emptying post last Friday about the junior grass tournaments, with my observations on items big and small. My article on the 14-and-under event will be published Friday.

Entries closed late last week for the Kalamazoo 16s and 18s USTA National Championships and the San Diego 16s and 18s National Championships, so a look at those fields is in order.

Monday at Bloomfield Hills, I confirmed with Darwin Blanch, who is eligible to return to defend his title, that he would not be competing in Kalamazoo this year. He did not enter and I had heard he was not planning to play, so I'm not surprised, although he told me Monday that he had considered it.

Other than Blanch, all the top Americans boys have entered, with 15 in the World Tennis junior Top 100: Michael Antonius, Keaton Hance, Jordan Lee, Andy Johnson, Jack Kennedy, Jack Secord, Ryan Cozad, Tanishk Konduri, Vihaan Reddy, Gavin Goode, Safir Azam, Marcel Latak, Navneet Raghuram, Carel Ngounoue and Agassi Rusher. Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico is also entered this year; he did not play last year due to his commitment to the PanAmerican Games.

In addition there are several players who were World Tennis Top 100 who are no longer eligible for a WT junior ranking, but can play in Kalamazoo: Stanford rising freshman Ronit Karki and University of Georgia rising sophomore Noah Johnston. 2024 Kalamazoo 16s champion Gus Grumet has also entered and been accepted.

Players entered but currently on the alternate list are Nick Stoot, who has seven ATP points, and 2024 16s finalist Arin Pallegar. The only notable player I can think of who did not enter, aside from Blanch, is 2025 Orange Bowl 16s champion Matias Reyniak, who recently made an M15 final in Turkey and has eight ATP points. The wild card selections will be announced next week.

The 16s field includes several players who were accepted into the 18s, but decided to play 16s, most likely for the US Open Juniors wild card that goes to the winner, including Izyan Ahmad, currently 119 in the WT junior rankings.

The full list of Kalamazoo acceptances can be found here.

The San Diego entries do not include 17-year-old Julieta Pareja, the most notable absence in the 18s, with Olivia Traynor, WT junior No. 64, and Sarah Ye, WT No. 77, also not entered. But unlike Kalamazoo, a number of top players entered but were not accepted, meaning they are on the alternate list: Alexis Nguyen, WTA 719; Bella Payne, WTA 569; Shannon Lam WTA 669; Annika Penickova and Texas rising sophomore Elizabeth Ionescu. 

The 17 Top 100 WT junior girls from the United States on the acceptance list:  Janae Preston, Kristina Penickova, Jordyn Hazelitt, Welles Newman, Thea Frodin, Melije Clarke, Anita Tu, Lani Chang, Hannah Ayrault, Maggie Sohns, Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann, Nancy Lee, Carrie-Anne Hoo, Ireland O'Brien, Emery Combs, Armira Kockinis and Yael Saffar.

WT junior 101 Olivia De Los Reyes is playing the 16s, as is 16s Orange Bowl champion Priscilla Sirichantho.

The full list of San Diego acceptances can be found here.

The top 14-year-olds do not get an opportunity to play the USTA Nationals, with the World Tennis 14-and-under Junior Tennis team event always conflicting with the National Championships in August.

The teams representing the United States in August in Prostejov Czechia are the same as those who played in the qualifying this spring.

US Boys World Tennis 14&U:
Nathan Lee (13; Tustin, Calif.)
Rex Kulman (14; Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Maxwell Smith (13; Orlando, FL)
Captain: Jon Glover

US Girls World Tennis 14&U:
Isha Manchala (13; Hilton Head Island, S.C.)
Anna Kapanadze (14; Staten Island, N.Y.)
Nadia Poznick (14; Ann Arbor, Mich.)

Captain: Celeste Frey

The team members and captains for the other countries in the 16-team competition have been posted at the WT junior website, with the boys here, and the girls here.

My Thoughts on the 2026 Wimbledon Junior Championships

Last year's post-Wimbledon article of opinions and observations helped me put a bow on the gift of covering my 12th Junior Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club(I covered 2021 remotely) and also drew a surprisingly large number of readers. In year 13, I also had a variety of items that didn't make it into the daily posts, so at the risk of repeating myself (the schedule, the schedule, the schedule) here is the second edition:

Roehampton revisited:

Before I dig into Wimbledon, the J300 in Roehampton deserves mention. I had not been to that event since 2017 and had no intention of returning, but the stars aligned: an early landing Friday morning in London, good weather and two singles and one doubles finalist from the United States. Although the grounds are not easily accessible by public transportation, we managed to arrive before the start of play, which also includes the final round of Wimbledon Junior qualifying. Again, Americans were prevalent in that competition, with six qualifying and one more making the Wimbledon Junior Championships main draw as a lucky loser, so there was no dearth of matches to watch. I focused on the Roehampton finals, all unfortunately scheduled at the same time, and was able to speak to both Michael Antonius and Janae Preston about their titles and their success in J300s going into Wimbledon. 

The Roehampton grounds have changed so much from my visit nine years ago as to be practically unrecognizable, with several stadium courts and much improved player spaces and amenities, although the courts for the Wimbledon Junior qualifying looked very familiar—just a strip of courts with little seating delineated by green temporary fencing. And, in a major drawback, there was no live scoring, in contrast to the J300 in Roehampton, which had live scoring all week. For families and fans unable to attend, the inability to follow along during the match that would decide a place in the Wimbledon Junior Championships had to be frustrating, and even if you were on the grounds, scores were nearly impossible to find.

The difference in the surfaces from Roehampton to AELTC is always a topic of conversation, with the consensus that Roehampton, having seen more wear-and-tear during the men's and women's qualifying, are faster. Whether this matters is open to debate, and the correlation between Roehampton champions and Wimbledon Junior champions varies.

It's rare for boys to win the only two major grass events on the junior calendar back-to-back, with only four accomplishing that this century, with the most recent ten years ago, when Denis Shapovalov of Canada swept both. In contrast, ten girls have won both, most recently American Liv Hovde in 2022 and Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia in 2023. From 2010 to 2019, seven girls won Roehampton and then the Wimbledon girls title, and only one boy did, so trends are, as of now, gender specific.

Where were all the college coaches?



I can think of no more striking indication of the change in Division I tennis than the dearth of head coaches at Roehampton and the Wimbledon Junior Championships this year. In past years, many head coaches of Top 25 programs attended qualifying at Roehampton and spent several days assessing talent at Wimbledon, but this year I saw almost none of the top coaches I regularly chatted with, although I'm sure I missed some who made brief appearances. Instead of scouting the potential of 18-and-under players, those coaches have directed their attention to players they may have seen and/or recruited two or three years ago at Wimbledon, who rebuffed their offer of a scholarship offer then and went on to play pro tennis, but are now open to returning in the era of NIL.

The TCU connection to Great Britain is showing no signs of diminishing, with both David Roditi and Devin Bowen on site, and Stanford's Paul Goldstein joined assistant Harrison Adams for the late stages of the Arthur Fery run. Texas A&M's Steve Denton, a member of the Wimbledon Final Eight club, and Duke's Ramsey Smith, whose father Stan won the men's title in 1972, are regularly in attendance and were again this year, but even counting the many assistant coaches I don't know, I estimate that this year's tournament drew less than half the usual number of college coaches.

Arizona State's Jamea Jackson was the most visible women's head coach on site, but as with the men, there was a noticeably reduced number of women's coaches from the Top 25 onsite.

The silver lining to an unexpected loss:

No. 3 seed Keaton Hance, who reached the final of the Australian Open and the semifinals of Roland Garros, bowed out in the second of the Wimbledon Junior Championships to Arnav Paparkar of India 6-2, 6-3. Given his previous success this year at junior slams, Hance was certainly disappointed that he was unable to equal his third round performance at Wimbledon last year, but he had the consolation of being available to attend his sister's wedding, half a world away in Hawaii. Hance, the 2025 US Open boys doubles champion, did not enter the Wimbledon doubles to avoid a second possible dilemma, so after his singles loss, he was able to catch a flight and enjoy the festivities when Kimmi Hance, the former UCLA star, married Las Vegas Raiders guard Jackson Powers-Johnson Saturday.

Arthur Fery, junior version:



I had never heard of Oliver Page before the Wimbledon Junior Championships, and I'll admit to not paying much attention to yet another British wild card(all eight wild cards went to British players), even after he defeated qualifier Oluwasean Peter Ogunsakin of Nigeria, who had generated some buzz at Roehampton with two routine wins in qualifying. But when the 18-year-old from Wales beat No. 4 seed and Australian Open champion Ziga Sesko of Slovenia 6-4, 6-4 in the second round and followed it up with 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 15 seed Kuan-Shou Chen of Taiwan, the parallels between his run in the juniors and wild card Arthur Fery's run in men's singles were impossible to ignore. Page dropped his quarterfinal match to No. 11 seed Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands, falling short of equaling Fery's semifinal appearance, but he will begin his college career at Wichita State this fall with a newfound confidence.

"I wish they had grass courts there to train on, but unfortunately I don't think that will be the case," said Page, whose A-Level exams this year reduced his opportunity to play a full slate of World Tennis junior events.

Yet Page never doubted that Division I tennis in the United States was in his future.

"A lot of people in a similar situation to me take the college route," Page said. "We kind of knew we'd take that route. My agent Pippa(Lane) put my profile out to people and college coaches reached out to me. I spoke to quite a few, visited some. I have a friend who went there, so it's good to have someone there I know. I just got in contact with the coach, me and my dad visited, and I liked the team, I liked the campus and in about a month, I'm going. It's exciting."

Agents abound:

While Page referred to his agent, and is technically correct in doing so, those who are principals in companies that find roster spots for players in US colleges, as Lane does, have been a part of the collegiate recruiting landscape for decades. Top juniors with more high-profile agents—be it IMG, Octagon, Topnotch or other sports management companies—are also not rare, although few Americans had them previously, when signing with an agency rendered them ineligible to compete in college. That is no longer the case with the new NIL rules that govern NCAA sports, so, unlike college coaches, they are as numerous as ever on the outside courts, watching juniors they have signed or hope to sign, regardless of nationality.

Not all sponsorships are global:

Janae Preston has had an astounding 2026, winning four J300 titles, most recently in Roehampton, then reaching the semifinals at Junior Wimbledon unseeded. Now up to 6 in the latest World Tennis junior rankings, the soon-to-be 16-year-old is sporting a logo unique to her hometown of Henderson Nevada: that of the Four Seasons luxury hotel chain.

"A family friend of my dad wants to invest more in tennis, and he is currently building Four Seasons Las Vegas residences there," Preston said. "He wants to start sponsoring athletes, and I managed to be one of those athletes. I'm very honored."

Celebrity brings the spotlight to boys final:



Although always well-attended by the tennis-loving British public, the Wimbledon junior tennis finals rarely garner any interest from the media onsite, and that was again the case this year for the girls final. After Russian Anna Pushkareva upset top seed and Roland Garros finalist Xinran Sun of China 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, with 8000 fans filling Court One to watch the longest girls final since records have been kept, a grand total of two journalists attended her press conference in the 100-seat Media Theatre: me and Ross McLean of World Tennis.

In contrast, boys finalist Cruz Hewitt, the son of 2002 Wimbledon men's singles champion Lleyton Hewitt, was in demand with the press throughout the week, routinely drawing a half dozen journalists after each match. I am usually the only journalist to interview the player that loses in a junior final, at a hightop in the media pavilion lobby; this year Hewitt drew at least three times as many journalists as the five whom champion Jordan Lee spoke to in his press conference in the Media Theatre.

Unsurprisingly the majority of those interested in Hewitt were from the Australian press, in a room with enough seats to accommodate most of them and a door that could be closed, and the questions were less about the final itself than about Hewitt's reaction to losing, his father's role in the player's box and his future plans.



Usually I can count on one hand the number of occupants in the press seats on Court One for a junior final; for the boys this year, they were nearly full. And although the quality of the match was excellent, with twists and turns and the requisite suspense late in the third set, I know that wasn't what attracted all the journalists. Unless Hewitt makes another junior slam final (and he's not expected to play in his last opportunity in juniors at the US Open), I'm confident the interest in junior finals will return to its previous levels.

The schedule:



There were several reasons the junior finals were played in front of near-capacity crowds on Court One, and one of them is the scheduling of the matches not before 1 p.m. with the women's and men's finals now scheduled for a 4 p.m. start. Pushing back the previous 2 p.m. start time for the men's and women's singles hasn't been particularly popular, but it has increased the window for exposure to the junior finals.

Although extremely hot throughout the second week, rain delays were non-existent, providing a leisurely pace to complete the 64-player singles and 32-team doubles draws in nine days. The girls draws and both doubles draws are finished in eight days, with the finals on Saturday; the boys receive an extra day of rest before the final, but all players get a day off from singles during the week.

"I love it, I love it," said Janae Preston, who played six singles matches in six days in Roehampton the previous week. "It's nice to let my body recover, relax a little bit, avoid the stress."

Boys champion Jordan Lee, who came through qualifying, was happy to have the day before the boys final to recuperate.

"I'll get some good sleep, try to rest and recover as best as I can," said Lee, who planned to make his way into Court One to observe the atmosphere. "I'll hit once, but I've played a lot of tennis, so I don't think I need to play too much tomorrow."

As I mentioned last year when praising the Wimbledon junior schedule, the US Open and Roland Garros cram their Junior Championships into seven days (the Australian Open uses eight days) for reasons I have never understood, limiting the fans' exposure to junior tennis and adding to everyone's stress if the weather is not perfect. There are many things Wimbledon does better than any other slam; junior scheduling is definitely one of them.

Qualifier Lee's Wimbledon Debut Ends with Comeback Win Over Hewitt; Manchala Claims Girls 14U Title on Championship Sunday at Wimbledon

©Colette Lewis 2026--

Wimbledon--

For the first six games of the Wimbledon boys final, 16-year-old Jordan Lee looked as if the seven-victory journey to the championship match had taken its toll, falling behind 5-1 in the opening set against Australian Cruz Hewitt, before rebounding to claim the title in a tense two-hour battle 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

As the crowd, eventually in excess of 9000, continued to build on the All England Lawn Tennis Club's celebrated Court One, so too did Lee's confidence. Hewitt, the son of 2002 Wimbledon men's champion Lleyton Hewitt, did hold off Lee's charge to take the first set, but needed four set points to edge ahead.

"He started out off very well, very aggressive," said Lee, who admitted he was a bit nervous when he arrived on one of the sport's biggest stages. "Yeah, a couple of unforced errors, but I managed to get my level back. And once I got it back, once the second set started, I kind of felt like, okay, I've got him and I'm here....I was going in with full confidence in the second set."

Lee took a 2-0 lead in the second set when Hewitt couldn't hold from 40-15 up, with a double fault giving Lee a break point and a video review of a not-up call from the chair, which confirmed that Hewitt did not reach Lee's drop shot on one bounce, deciding the game in Lee's favor.

The next game was a battle of forehand winners, which Hewitt eventually won, getting the break back, but he struggled in the next game and was broken again. Lee had two set points with Hewitt serving at 2-5, but Hewitt, who received entry into the Wimbledon Juniors by virtue of his ATP ranking of 606, held to force Lee to serve out the set. Lee played one of his worst games of the match, committing several unforced errors that led to a break.

Yet despite his lack of experience, Lee didn't concede, and Hewitt couldn't close out the game, with two of his nine double faults giving Lee free points. Hewitt saved a third set point, but when Lee hit an inside out backhand winner to set up a fourth, Hewitt finally succumbed, with his backhand error giving Lee the set.

Lee played a loose game to open the third set, and with Hewitt's easy hold, the 17-year-old Australian had a lead to protect. As Lee, a year younger and with less professional experience, began to show signs of fatigue, Hewitt had a chance to put him away, with a break point as Lee served at 1-3. But after Hewitt's unforced error and two poor second serve returns, Lee had held to stay within range.

Down 4-2, Lee held and broke Hewitt to pull even, never doubting that he could erase that deficit.

"I don't think I'll ever envision losing a match," Lee answered when asked if he was contemplating a loss. "I think there's always a chance to win it no matter what the score is, I've seen it plenty of times, watching Rafa(Nadal) down 5-1, 40-love, finding a way."

That belief and composure was on display when Lee saved a break point to go up 5-4, with Hewitt again failing to get second serve return in play. In the position of having to hold serve to stay in the match, Hewitt did so easily, but after Lee made it 6-5 just as quickly, the pressure was back on Hewitt, who made two unforced errors on the backhand sandwiched around a double fault to give Lee three match points. He needed only one, ripping a backhand winner down the line, then falling to his knees, before doing a celebration shimmy made famous by Manchester United forward Matheus Cunha.

Hewitt was disappointed in the result, but recognized that reaching the Wimbledon boys final was an accomplishment he can be proud of, even if the result was not what he had hoped.

"Playing for the Wimbledon trophy in the final, there's a lot of emotions going around," said Hewitt, whose father was providing encouragement from the players box. "I could have maybe handled it a little better, but I thought I competed well, left it all out there. I could have executed a few shots better, but that's tennis. Jordan's a great competitor, a great player and I wish him all the best. He played a great match today and he deserved the win in the end."

Few players, especially a 16-year-old returning from a wrist injury that kept him out for seven months in 2025, have ever won the first junior slam they've played, yet Lee is adamant that it will not change his outlook or plans.

"Obviously, I really happy I won this title," said Lee, who is coached by Felipe Mantilla and Sylvain Guichard at the USTA's National Campus in Orlando. "It's a big title and I'm happy to be here. For me, the mentality going forward is I know I can do it. I know there's a long journey ahead of me, and I'm ready for it."

Although Lee has recently gone viral on social media with his resemblance to 19-year-old Spanish soccer star Lamine Yamal, Lee did not choose Yamal's team when answering the inevitable question from the British journalists on who he was supporting in next week's World Cup semifinals.

"France and England," said Lee, who maintains he had the Yamal hairstyle first. "I think I got the cut before he got the cut. Maybe he saw one post and copied me," Lee joked.

Lee is planning to compete at the USTA 18s National championships in Kalamazoo next month, where a men's main draw US Open wild card in on the line, but he already has secured Wimbledon traditional qualifying wild card for the previous year's junior champion.

"I had no clue," Lee said, when asked if he was aware of that tradition before the taking the court today. "It's pretty nice."

Hewitt, who turns 18 in December, will continue to concentrate on pro tennis, as he has for the past year, and will probably not play any more junior events.

Lee was actually the second American Wimbledon champion crowned on Sunday, with 13-year-old Isha Manchala taking the girls 14-and-under title with a 7-5, 2-6, 10-8 victory over Mariia Kochenzhenko of Ukraine.

Manchala, the first US girl to advance to the semifinals of the event, now in it's fifth year, struggled to find her form in the opening stages of the match on show court 12.

"I was definitely very nervous for this match because you're in the finals of Wimbledon," said Manchala, who fell behind 4-1 and missed her first seven first serves. "But you just have to accept it. I think I was thinking too much of the outcome, instead of just playing the point, and because of that I was just rushing the serve."

Manchala got the break back with Kochenzhenko serving at 4-2, and then survived a 10-deuce game after leading it 40-love to level the first set.

"That game was very important because at 4-all you never know what can happen," said Manchala, who is coached by Derek Porter at the Van Der Meer Academy in Hilton Head South Carolina. "I was really trying to push myself to get that game. I lost the next game to go down 4-5, but on that changeover I calmed my brain, told myself to have no regrets, because I've only got one 14-U Wimbledon, so I just want to put all out there."

Manchala said Kochenzhenko's depth improved in the second set, and her own footwork kept her from responding.  "Her balls were hitting the lines and I don't think I was in the right headspace," Manchala said. "So the set just slipped away from me."

The match tiebreaker that would decide the title was more errors than winners from both girls, but at the end of it, Manchala was able to raise her game.

With Kocherenko up 7-6, Manchala drew even with a good deep serve and two big forehands in the next point gave her a lead. Then a bit of good fortune came her way, in the form of a net cord return winner that gave her two match points.

"I got a little lucky on the return to go up 9-7, got a let cord," Manchala said. "At 9-7 we had a long point and I framed a backhand out, and I told myself, right here, first serve. I placed the first serve, hit my plus-one cross and then went open court and she missed."

Manchala described her emotion at the match's conclusion as more relief than joy.

"All the pressure is off of this match, and I'm a Wimbledon champion."

Next for Manchala is representing the United States in the World Tennis Junior team competition for 14-and-under players next month in Czechia.

"It's a definitely a great privilege to play for the USA and for the USTA to give me opportunities to play for Team USA," Manchala said. "I'm very honored to be part of that team."

Manchala is planning a modest celebration after her win today.

"Probably ice cream," said Manchala, who may gravitate to strawberry, not her favorite flavor caramel, after today's title.

The boys 14-and-under title was also decided in a match tiebreaker with Jonas Waelti of Switzerland defeating Lyoma Hotelier of Japan 3-6, 6-1, 10-6 in the final.

The girls 14-and-under draws are here; the boys draws are here.

Thinking Less and Winning More, Pushkareva Claims Wimbledon Girls Championship; Kovackova Makes Junior Tennis History with Doubles Title; Sesko and Miguel Earn Boys Crown; Manchala Reaches 14U Final; Patten Claims Second Men's Doubles Title

©Colette Lewis 2026--

Wimbledon--

Anna Pushkareva has learned that thinking on court doesn't help her play her best tennis, so on one of the biggest stages of the sport Saturday afternoon, the 17-year-old from Moscow cleared her mind and raised her level to defeat top seed and World Tennis No. 1 Xinran Sun 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to capture the Wimbledon girls title.

"My biggest secret is actually that I just try to not think," said Pushkareva, seeded 14th in her Wimbledon junior debut. "I just tried every time, because when I don't think it's easy for me to explain. Just go to court, just do your job, and that's all. Just not thinking so much."

On of the thoughts she wanted to avoid was her losses in her only two previous meetings with Sun. And despite that history, it was Pushkareva who had the more confident start on the sun-baked grass of Court One of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. 

 

For most of the first set, Pushkareva was holding serve comfortably, while every Sun service game went to deuce, until Pushkareva finally converted her seventh break point in the eighth game. But serving for the set at 5-3, Pushkareva faltered, with Sun saving a set point in a long backhand rally, and four games later Pushkareva had lost a set she controlled.

Down 2-0 in the second set, Pushkareva might have considered her opportunity gone, but that would have required thinking, not reacting. Instead of dwelling on her situation, she rededicated herself to her power game, stepping into the court and putting a usually aggressive Sun on defense to reel off five straight games, then holding to even the match.

The crowd began to fill the 12,000 plus Court One seats as the third set began, with those arriving for the women's final on Centre Court encouraging both the underdog and the top seed in their quest for the girls title.  As the champaign corks popped, and the frequently entertaining points applauded, there was no clear favorite until at 3-all, Sun dropped serve, then took a medical timeout for an arm injury. Looking to consolidate the break, Pushkareva fell behind 15-30 serving at 4-3, but kept blasting her forehand, closing out a deuce game with a forehand winner, a good second serve and another forehand winner.

Pushkareva had her first match point with Sun serving at 30-40, but the 15-year-old from China saved it with a great serve, and went on to hold the four-deuce game to force Pushkareva to serve it out.

Up 40-0, Pushkareva seemed well on her way to victory, but three more match points came and went, with a double fault at 40-30 drawing audible groans from the near-capacity crowd. 

"So many pressure," said the effervescent Pushkareva in the Wimbledon Media Theatre press conference after the match. "I'm just not breathing. I'm not breathing really. Okay, I need to serve. I do the double-fault on championship point. Like, okay. I just tried to not think so much. Actually so many pressure, so many nervous."

Just doing her job, rather than considering the implications of a deflating double fault on match point, Pushkareva closed the net and hit crisp backhand volley winner to earn her fifth match point. She then survived a long, tense rally by forcing Sun into a backhand error, ending the two-hour and 22-minute match, a record for a girls final since duration times began being recorded in 2001.

Collapsing on the baseline, Pushkareva spent a moment on her knees to consider her accomplishment before embracing Sun at the net, then climbing up to the player's box to celebrate with her coach and father Nikolai Pushkarev.

An hour later, Pushkareva was still trying to process her emotions.

"I just need the time to realize the fact that I'm a Wimbledon champion," said Pushkareva, who is expecting to play the US Open Junior Championships in September. "Like, it sounds crazy really. For me, I just can't realize for now. I just need the time."

It was a second disappointment in a junior slam final for Sun, who lost to Alisa Oktiabreva in the Roland Garros championship match last month.

"I was up 2-0, but she still fights, she plays really good, she doesn't give up. I think this is her best level," said Sun, who could not match Pushkareva's 39 winners. "She's an amazing player and it's unbelievable to do on the Wimbledon final. At this important time, she plays better, that's unbelievable."

Sun, who turns 16 later this month, is also planning to compete at the US Open in September.

Until today, no junior girl has ever won all four junior slams, but Jana Kovackova of Czechia now holds that distinction, with the 16-year-old claiming the only doubles title she had lacked today on show court 18. Partnering with Katerina Zajcikova, the No. 5 seeds defeated top seeds Victoria Barros and Nana Leme Da Silva of Brazil 7-6(7), 6-7(5), 10-6 to complete the Paris-London doubles double.

After winning last year's US Open and this year's Australian Open with her older sister Alena, Kovackova had to find a new partner for Roland Garros this year. When her best friend Zajcikova qualified, Kovackova, who had considered skipping doubles in Paris, signed up, and they took the title over the American team of Welles Newman and Jordyn Hazelitt, setting Kovackova up for history this week at Wimbledon.

"We had played together in Milan two weeks before Roland Garros and it was bad," said Zajcikova, also 16. "We won one match, but it was no good."

That was the last match they lost, taking the Roland Garros title and last week's J300 title in Roehampton, but they are still not sure why the partnership has worked so well.

"We know each other really good," Zajcikova said. "We're best friends," added Kovackova, who is the confident volleyer of the two. "I'm a little scared of the net," Zajcikova said.

Although they had not been forced into a match tiebreaker in lieu of a third set this week, they did have close matches, which prepared them for the stress of the three tiebreakers in today's final. 

But despite all her positive experience in major finals, Kovackova admitted to nerves, with the tension rising after they failed to convert three match points in the second set on the Brazilians' serve. Even as they slowly built a lead in the second half of the match tiebreaker, the jitters continued.

"We were shaking so much," said Kovackova, who was not aware of the history she was attempting to write in today's final, which perhaps explained the muted celebration after Kovackova closed out her career slam with a backhand volley winner.

"It's amazing, but it would be better in singles," Kovackova said.

While the No. 1 seeds in girls doubles fell at the final hurdle, the boys doubles champions were on the precipice of defeat in the second round, with Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia saving four match points in their epic 18-16 third set tiebreaker against Kunanan Pantaratorn of Thailand and Arnav Paparkar of India.

"We got a bit lucky there, I need to say," said the 17-year-old Sesko, who won the Australian Open boys singles title this year. "But the energy was definitely going up, match by match. For sure, today was the best match we played this week."

Facing No. 2 seeds Michael Antonius and Andy Johnson of the United States, Sesko and Miguel took a 3-1 lead in the first and stayed committed to assertive tennis throughout their 6-1, 6-4 victory.

"That was for sure the plan," said the 17-year-old Miguel, who won the Roland Garros boys singles title last month. "Me and Ziga we played more aggressive tennis. As much as we pressure the opponents is better for us, and today we had an amazing day. Everything was really good. But it's the energy we have had not only today but the whole week together; we have played a year already and are connected in doubles and that's really important."

Sixteen-year-olds Antonius and Johnson were back on their heels for most of the first set.

"They came out with guns firing," said Johnson, from Southern California. "And I'd say we were ready for it, but they played some unbelievable points. But hats off to them, they served ridiculous, served really well."

"They served well, they got to the net well," said Antonius, who often trains at the USTA National Campus with Johnson. "They were hitting deep on the grass court, and deep, flat balls, you can't do much when they're closing in. I don't know what changes really we could have made."

Both teams are unsure of their plans for the last major on the junior calendar, but Antonius and Johnson are planning to partner in Kalamazoo next month.

The last match of the Wimbledon Junior Championships will be Sunday's boys final between qualifier Jordan Lee of the United States and Australia's Cruz Hewitt. That match is also on Court One, not before 1 p.m.

While just one match remains in the Junior Championships, the 14-and-under event continues with the finals and additional consolation matches.

Isha Manchala was the first American girl to reach the semifinals in the tournament's five-year history, and the 13-year-old from South Carolina is now the first girls finalist, after her 6-1, 6-0 victory over Lyubov Pronenko of Russia. Manchala will face Mariia Kocherzhenko of Ukraine in Sunday's 11 a.m. final, with Kocherzhenko defeating Eduarda Gomes of Brazil 6-3, 7-5.

The boys final, to follow the girls championship match on show court 12, will feature Lyoma Hotelier of Japan and Jonas Waelti of Switzerland. Hotelier, the reigning Les Petits As champion, defeated Noah Honsberger of Switzerland 7-6(3), 3-6, 11-9, while Waelti got by Novak Palombo of Australia 6-4, 1-6, 10-7.

In consolation play, David Bender of the United States defeated Martin Adamca of Slovakia 6-3, 3-6 10-8; Beata Maresova of Czechia defeated Anna Kapanadze of the United States 6-4, 6-3.

Great Britain's Henry Patten, the former All-American at University of North Carolina-Asheville, delivered a second Wimbledon title for his home country today. Patten and Harri Heliovaara of Finland, the 2024 Wimbledon champions, defeated No. 6 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia 7-6(4), 7-6(3) in the men's doubles final this afternoon. For more on that final, see this article from the Wimbledon website.

Qualifier Lee Faces Hewitt for Boys Wimbledon Title; Top Seed Sun Reaches Second Straight Slam Final; Antonius and Johnson Advance to Boys Doubles Championship; Manchala Moves On in 14U Event

©Colette Lewis 2026--

Wimbledon--

Experience on grass may be an advantage, but two Wimbledon debutants will play for the junior singles championships this weekend at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Qualifier Jordan Lee, playing not only in his first Wimbledon this week, but in his first junior slam, breezed past unseeded Vincent Reisach of Germany 6-3, 6-2 today on show court 12 and will play unseeded Cruz Hewitt of Australia in Sunday's boys final.

Hewitt, the son of 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt, defeated No. 11 seed Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4 to continue his straight-sets run through the field this week.

Lee defused the power of the big-serving Reisach, who didn't help his cause by making fewer than 50% of his first serves in the opening set. With Lee serving for the first set at 5-4, he double faulted for 30-all, but unfazed, hit a tough overhead winner to earn a set point, then converted it with a good first serve.

"I played him in doubles last week and got destroyed, but every day is different," said the 16-year-old from Orlando, the youngest player in the boys draw. "So either he wasn't hitting his spots as well or I was returning well, could read it."

Lee has faced only one seed this week, taking out No. 5 seed Yannick Alexandrescou of France 6-0, 6-2 in the opening round, but he knows that Cruz, whose ATP ranking of 606 is second best in the field, will be a formidable opponent on Sunday.

"Obviously, he's a good player, he's in the final," said Lee, who recalled their only meeting being a doubles match four years ago at the Eddie Herr in Bradenton Florida. "Beat him then, but that doesn't matter. I really don't know much about him. The guy's good. I saw a couple of points against Thijs this morning, looked like both were playing well."

Hewitt trailed 3-1 in the second set, but fought back to earn a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Boogaard, who has the best ATP ranking of the boys field at 525.

"I think I played a loose game to get broken," Hewitt said of the fourth game of the second set. "But I was very happy to switch straight back on in my mind and break straight back. I think that was big; I didn't let him get the momentum, kept it pretty well, and from there on was able to keep holding, and then put pressure on his service games from there."

Boogaard double faulted six times and had twice as many unforced errors as winners, unable to summon the level he had displayed in the quarterfinals against British wild card Oliver Page Thursday. Hewitt looked comfortable on the grass, with a semifinal and a final on the surface in M15s in Australia this spring, and he fed off the support of Wayne Arthurs and his father throughout the match.

"My main coach is Wayne Arthurs, but my dad does help me a lot," said the 17-year-old, who is playing his first junior tournament this year. "He's in my corner, he's coaching a little bit, but he's just there to support. Every time I look over at him, he's showing positivity, so that gets me up and about as well  and I use that. He gives me positive things, nothing too specific."

Hewitt, who last competed in a junior event at the US Open in September, has already outdone his father by making a junior slam final. Lleyton Hewitt, who won his first ATP title at age 16, had his best finish in a junior slam by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open boys singles in 1997.

When top seed Xinran Sun of China heard the girls final would be played on Court One Saturday, she had to confirm that she had not misunderstood.

"There? me? really?," said the 15-year-old World Tennis junior No. 1. "I thought you talk about the other one. I don't what to say."

Playing on show court 12 today, Sun looked as if she would have performed just fine on that court in the women's draw last week, displaying powerful groundstrokes and deft drop shots in her 6-1, 6-3 win over unseeded Janae Preston.

Sun jumped out to a 4-0 lead, and, for the second consecutive day, won the opening set in 21 minutes. Roehampton champion Preston had won ten matches in a row on grass, with her four previous Wimbledon victories in straight sets, but she couldn't locate any facet of Sun's game to attack.

Preston did break Sun to get on the board at 4-1, but was immediately broken back with Sun crushing a first serve return winner for a 5-1 lead, then holding at love for the set.

Preston dug in to open the second set with a service hold, which elicited an encouraging cheer from the crowd, and when Preston broke back after dropping her serve in the third game, the possibility of a comeback surfaced. But Sun brought out the devastating counter to her powerful groundstrokes and high percentage of first serves made: her dropshot.

"That's my favorite shot, I think, even on grass," said Sun, who knew Preston's speed would require nearly perfect execution of that shot. "I think that helped me a lot."

Preston kept pace after that, and had a glimpse of a break at 15-30 with Sun serving at 4-3, but Sun raised her level as needed and took advantage of Preston's two untimely double faults, including one on game point, to become the first Chinese junior to reach a Wimbledon singles final.

Preston credited Sun for playing well, but was not as generous with herself.

"I don't know why my confidence wasn't there today, because I've just won my last ten matches," said the 15-year-old from Nevada. "It wasn't that I didn't have any, but I didn't have enough. I knew it was going to be a tough match, I wasn't scared of it, but I played not to lose, rather than to win, and that's not the mindset to go into the match with. I'm still happy with the great two weeks I had, and I learned a lot. I'm not happy I lost this match, but I'm happy I learned some things about myself, and things I need to work on."

Sun, who lost in the final at Roland Garros last month, feels she has an advantage over her opponent, Anna Pushkareva of Russia, who defeated Polina Skliar of Ukraine 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in the other semifinal.

"When you're going to the first grand slam final it's always hard," said Sun, who trains in Belgrade Serbia. "You are nervous, it's hard for everybody. But now, second time, I think I have more experience than the others, so I think that's good."

In addition to the experience advantage over Pushkareva, who is playing her first Wimbledon, Sun also has beaten the 17-year-old from Moscow twice in the past ten months: once in the final of an W15 in last November in Egypt, and in the third round of the J500 in Milan in May. 

But the 14th-seeded Pushkareva has been on a revenge tour this week, beating Melije Clarke in the third round after losing to her in the first round of Roehampton, and today avenging a loss last year to Skliar, a trend she hopes will continue Saturday.

Pushkareva is adamant that hard courts are her best surface, and with little practice on grass after that first round loss last week, she is surprised by her success this week.

"I just feel so mixed on this surface," said Pushkareva, who trains in Moscow with her father Nikolai Pushkarev. "I just can't understand it. But for now, I think I start to understand it, and I do like it more than clay courts."

Pushkareva is also not interested in talking tactics or strategy, which often disrupt her performance.

"I'm not really about tactics," Pushkareva said. "I just do what I do in a situation. I just prefer not thinking so much; it's difficult for me when I think so much, it's just pressure for me."

And although she has reservations about the surface, she has none about the tournament.

"I'm so excited," Pushkareva said of the prospect of playing on Court One. "This atmosphere is really amazing, it's really good experience to play here, the most historic slam. I can't explain the atmosphere here, it's just so great. To have this tournament in the juniors, it's a good situation for us, to see the pro players here and you say, yeah, I need work more for this level."

The girls final is scheduled for not before 1 p.m., following the men's wheelchair doubles final. 

The boys doubles final will also be on Court One again this year, with the top two seeds squaring off for the title. 

No. 1 seeds Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia will face No. 2 seeds Michael Antonius and Andy Johnson following the girls final. 

Miguel and Sesko defeated unseeded Oluwaseun Ogunsakin of Nigeria and Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana 6-3, 6-7(6), 10-6 on court 12 Friday, while Antonius and Johnson beat unseeded Raffaele Ciurnelli of Italy and Leon Sloboda of Slovakia 7-6(4), 7-5 on court 18.

The girls doubles final will be on court 18 Saturday, not before 12:30 p.m., with top seeds Victoria Barros and Nana Leme Da Silva of Brazil playing the fifth-seeded Czech team of Jana Kovackova and Katerina Zajickova. Barros and Leme Da Silva defeated unseeded Polina Berezina of Russia and Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-2, 10-1 in the semifinals today. Roland Garros champion Kovackova and Zajickova, who beat No. 8 seed Ida Wobker of Germany and Denisa Zoldakova of Czechia 6-4, 6-1 today, are not only going for the rare Paris-London double, but Kovackova is bidding to become the first girl to win all four junior slams, having claimed the 2025 US Open and 2026 Australian Open titles with her older sister Alena.

Former Stanford All-American Arthur Fery's magical Wimbledon run came to end today, with the wild card from Great Britain losing to Roland Garros champion Alexander Zverev of Germany 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals. Fery has gone from outside the Top 100 to 36 in the ATP live rankings after his inspiring run during the fortnight.

Former Pepperdine All-American Luisa Stefani of Brazil will play in her first women's doubles final at a major Sunday, after she and partner Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada, the No. 2 seeds, defeated No. 13 seeds Shuko Aoyama of Japan and En-Shuo Liang of Taiwan 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals today. They will play No. 10 seeds Hanyu Guo of China and Kristina Mladenovic of France, who beat unseeded Xinyu Jiang and Yifan Xu of China 7-6(5), 6-4. 

The semifinals are set for the Wimbledon 14-and-under event, with Isha Manchala of the United States advancing to the semifinals with a perfect 3-0 record in her group. Manchala is the first American girl to reach the semifinals in the tournament's five-year history. 

Results of Americans in 14-and-under group play Friday:

Oskar Laskowski(GBR) d. David Bender 7-6(4), 6-2

Lyoma Hotelier(JPN) d. David Bender 6-2, 6-2

Isha Manchala d. Ayaka Iwasa(JPN) 6-2, 6-2

Shristi Kiran(IND) d. Anna Kapanadze 7-6(4), 6-4

The 14-and under semifinals Saturday:

Girls:

Isha Manchala(USA) v Lyubov Pronenko(RUS)

Eduarda Gomes(BRA) v Mariia Kocherzhenko UKR)

Boys:

Novak Palombo(AUS) v Jonas Waelti(SUI)

Noah Honsberger(SUI) v Lyoma Hotelier(JPN)

Results of the girls group play are here; the boys results are here.

Lee and Preston Reach Wimbledon Junior Championships Singles Semifinals; Antonius and Johnson Advance to Boys Doubles Semis; Manchala Earns Two Wins to Start 14U Tournament; Gauff Falls in Third Set Tiebreaker; Arevalo Claims Wimbledon Mixed Title

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Wimbledon--

Sixteen-year-old Jordan Lee is making his junior slam debut a memorable one, while 15-year-old Janae Preston has fashioned a ten-match winning streak on grass, after the American pair posted straight-sets Wimbledon Junior Championships quarterfinal victories on another blistering day at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Lee took to show court 18 first, after the Men's Invitational doubles match, which featured Lleyton Hewitt, the father of Lee's potential opponent in the boys final, Cruz Hewitt. 

If Lleyton Hewitt stuck around to do some scouting, he would have witnessed Lee's third win in the last two months over unseeded Arnav Paparkar of India, this time by a score of 6-2, 7-5.

Lee was in control throughout the first set, with Paparkar struggling to stay in the rallies when he didn't get his first serve in. 

The second was much tighter, with Paparkar, who had lost to Lee on clay at the J300 Belgium in May and last week in Roehampton, taking a 3-1 lead before Lee broke back for 3-all and held to take a 6-5 lead. Down 0-30 serving to stay in the match, the 18-year-old Paparkar hit a 128 mph ace to relieve some of the pressure, but Lee's superior depth on his groundstrokes forced an error to set up two match points. Paparkar saved the first by controlling the rally from corner to corner before Lee made and error, and got a gift from Lee to save the second when Lee couldn't get a second serve return back in play. But an ill-advised drop shot attempt that didn't clear the net gave Lee a third opportunity, which he converted when Paparkar made an unforced error on the backhand.

Lee has now played six singles matches in the past seven days, with each day warmer than the previous one, but the Orlando resident said he's experiencing no repercussions from that.

"I feel fine," said Lee, who was out with a wrist injury for most of 2025, but says that issue is now resolved. "And I'm hungry for more. I'm ready for whatever comes my way and I'll deal with it as best as possible."

Lee says he is not surprised by his run this week.

"No, I've put in a lot of work to this point," said Lee, who works with USTA national coaches Felipe Mantilla and Sylvain Guichard in Orlando. "And with the injuries. it was not easy at all, but this is where I belong. I feel confident in my game and I feel I can never get enough."

An unseeded boys finalist is guaranteed, when Lee takes on Vincent Reisach of Germany Friday, after Reisach defeated Jack Secord 6-3, 6-3 on show court 12.

Reisach lost in the first round at Roehampton last week, which was his first tournament on grass, but the 17-year-old from Bavaria is averaging 124 mph on his first serve and using his flat backhand to maximum effect as the courts get faster with the 90 degree temperatures.

"It's a little bit slower here, I think, but my serve is pretty good here," said Reisach, who has struck 137 mph first serve sin each of his last two matches. "I like the serve plus one, come to the net, and I have that flat backhand and I think that's a good game for grass."

Unlike Lee, Reisach admits this is an unexpected result for him.

"At the beginning of the tournament, I just wanted to have fun here, find out where I am in the juniors, get the experience." said Reisach, who won the Roland Garros boys doubles title with Jamie Mackenzie last month. "So yes, it surprises me, of course."

Reisach and Lee met in the doubles semifinals last week in Roehampton, with Reisach and Mackenzie winning 6-1, 6-2, but that is the only time they have played.

"I know he's (birth year) 2010, he plays amazing for 2010," Reisach said. "And now he's in semis. We haven't played in singles yet, but I'm looking forward to it."

The semifinal in the bottom half will feature No. 11 seed Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands and Hewitt, with both posting routine victories. Boogaard ended the run of British wild card Oliver Page 6-3, 6-1, who had, of course, the majority of the support on show court 12, but fell short of producing the junior version of Arthur Fery.

"I watched his match after mine yesterday," said 18-year-old from Wales, who will start his collegiate career next month at Wichita State. "Obviously yesterday when I won I was in the quarters and I was watching him play the quarters. He definitely gave me inspiration that I could win today, but it didn't go that way. But still an incredible run here, being a wild card."

Page, who beat No. 4 seed and Australian Open champion Ziga Sesko in the second round and No. 15 seed Kuan-Shou Chen of Taiwan in the third round, saw a different level from Boogaard today.

"From point one, you could tell he is ready to play, and has got the ability to play, men's tennis," said Page, who lost the winners battle 20 to 4. "Playing against him is like a different level from the juniors. You can tell he's adapting to the men's game and is ready to play men's tennis."

Boogaard and Cruz will be meeting for the first time in Friday's semifinal.

Preston followed Lee on Court 18, but she didn't spend much time there, beating unseeded Emily Eigelsbach of Germany 6-3, 6-1 in 64 minutes.

As the temperature continued to rise, Preston detected a weakness she could exploit and did not shy away from doing so.

"I didn't play my best, but I think I played smart today," said the 15-year-old from Nevada, who had 22 winner and 13 unforced errors. "I build the points pretty well; I don't know if the heat was getting to her, but whenever we had longer points I managed to get them, so I was trying to move her a little more."

Preston will aim for her eleventh consecutive win on grass when she plays top seed and World Tennis junior No. 1 Xinran Sun of China, who overwhelmed Austrian qualifier Anna Pircher 6-0, 6-3 in 53 minutes.

"I know she's super solid," said the Roehampton champion, who has not played against Sun, the Roland Garros finalist. "She gets every ball back, but she's also super aggressive. She definitely knows her game and she trusts it; I would say that's a big thing."

Although she's a long way from her home town of Henderson Nevada, Preston said she's feeling the support from the Las Vegas suburb.

"People at home, they're going crazy," said Preston, who wouldn't be surprised if her grandparents organized a watch party. "I try not to read too much into it, but they're really happy for me and excited."

The other girls semifinal will feature 15-year-old Polina Skliar of Ukraine, the No. 15 seed, against No. 14 seed Anna Pushkareva of Russia. Skliar won the day's longest junior match, beating No. 7 seed Mariia Marakova of Russia 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4, while Pushkareva, 17, defeated unseeded Yihan Qu 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

The doubles semifinals are also set for Friday, with one US team remaining. No. 2 seeds Michael Antonius and Andy Johnson will face unseeded Raffaele Ciurnelli of Italy and Leon Sloboda of Slovakia in the bottom half semifinal; top seeds Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia will face unseeded Oluwaseun Ogunsakin of Nigeria and Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana.

Top seeds Victoria Barros and Nana Leme Da Silva of Brazil will face the unseeded team of Polina Berezina of Russia and Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia in the top half of the girls doubles draw. No. 8 seeds Ida Wobker of Germany and Denisa Zoldakova of Czechia will face No. 5 seeds Jana Kovackova and Katerina Zajickova of Czechia. Kovackova currently holds all three junior girls doubles titles and will make history as the only girl to win all four if she takes the title here on Saturday.

Doubles quarterfinal results of Americans:

Victoria Barros and Nana Leme Da Silva(BRA)[1] d. Thea Frodin 

and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi(IND)[7] 3-6, 6-4, 10-6

Polina Berezina(RUS) and Anastasija Cvetkovic(SRB) d. Jordyn Hazelitt and Welles Newman 6-2, 6-2

Michael Antonius and Andy Johnson[2] d. Hyu Kawanishi and Kanta Watanabe(JPN) 6-4, 6-2

The 14 and under tournament began today, with Isha Manchala picking up two wins in Group A and David Bender getting a victory in Group B.  Anna Kapanadze lost both of her matches in Group D. Bender will play twice tomorrow, with Manchala and Kapanadze playing once, after which the group winners will be determined, and move into Saturday's semifinals.

Group play results of Americans in 14U tournament:

Isha Manchala d. Ke-Chieh Hsu(TPE) 6-1, 6-2

Isha Manchala d. Isabella Rebel(GBR) 7-5, 6-2

Nishta Kesavan(GBR) d. Anna Kapanadze 7-6(2), 6-4

Lyubov Pronenko(RUS) d. Anna Kapanadze 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-4

David Bender d. Mathias Gonzalez Osorio(COL) 6-2, 6-2

The boys draw is here; the girls draw is here.

Friday's order of play is here.

Coco Gauff's bid for a third major final was agonizingly close Thursday, but she couldn't convert her match point in the third set tiebreaker, falling to Karolina Muchova of Czechia 6-2, 1-6 7-6(10). For more on that semifinal, see this article from the BBC. 

Former Tulsa standout Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador won his third major doubles title tonight on Wimbledon's Centre Court. No. 2 seeds Arevalo and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated the unseeded Australian team of Marc Polmans and Storm Hunter 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the mixed doubles championship match. Arevalo, who won the 2022 and 2024 Roland Garros men's doubles title, will play for the men's doubles title Saturday with partner Mate Pavic of Croatia. They will face top seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten(UNC-Asheville) of Great Britain in final Saturday.