Both Junior Slam Champions Upset Victims Wednesday in College Park J300; Pareja One of Seven Americans Advancing to US Open Qualifying's Final Round; USO Doubles Wild Cards Announced

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

Australian Open girls champion Ksenia Efremova and Wimbledon girls champion Anna Pushkareva had their preparations for a second junior slam title cut short today at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, with both falling in the third round of the J300 after winning the opening set. And although those were the most prominent upsets, the day's action also featured two four-hour-plus matches and two matches decided in third-set tiebreakers.

Pushkareva, the No. 2 seed, lost to No. 14 seed Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, and 30 minutes later top seed Efremova was beaten by unseeded Adla Lopez 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

Sushkova said her coach told her changing her approach wasn't necessary, given how small the margins were in the first set.

"My coach said we had many opportunities, both of us, in the first set, to break each other, but she was just playing a bit better," said the 17-year-old, who trains at the Elite Tennis Center in Cannes France. "So just stick to my plan, and somehow get the win."

Sushkova said Pushkareva's level did drop in the second set, and with the temperatures in the mid-80s, staying in long rallies was difficult from a physical standpoint. Yet she held up well in the third set, with Pushkareva making the bulk of the errors that ended most of the rallies.

This is the first of two weeks of hard court preparation for the US Open Junior Championships after an injury at the J300 in Roehampton kept Sushkova out of Wimbledon, with the J300 in Repentigny Canada next week also on her schedule.

"I tore my abductor muscle in my right arm, and it was affecting my backhand," said Sushkova, No. 43 in the World Tennis junior rankings. "I spent a lot of time on the recovery and on the practice, so I guess it was worth the price."

Sushkova and Pushkareva did not shake hands after the match, which Sushkova said was nothing personal, but rather the instruction given to all Ukrainian tennis players by their federation.

"I'm not friends with her, but I can talk to her, and prepared her for that," Sushkova said.

She will face No. 5 seed Paola Pinera Celorio of Spain, who defeated No. 9 seed Yushan Shao of China 6-2, 1-6, 6-0.

While Pushkareva and Sushkova were battling on Center Court 17, Efremova and Lopez were entering a third set on Court 14.

Lopez said she started the match hitting with Efremova, but decided to switch strategies.

"In the first set I was really just trying to hit hard, go for big shots," said the 18-year-old left-hander from Florida. "She's a pretty big hitter and I was trying to play her game. So after the first set, I tried to calm myself down, go to the bathroom. Then I switched up my game by playing a little slower to slow her down and make the points longer and tire her out, and it worked."

At 4-all in the third, Lopez survived a score dispute, with Efremova claiming she had been up 40-15 serving in the game when Lopez hit two winners on the far sideline, while Lopez, and the spectators watching the match, were certain that Lopez had won those two points from a 30-all score.

"It was 30-all, I won that point for 40-30, and won the next point, so that's the game right?," Lopez said. "But she said it was 40-15, so the ref was like, tie it at 30-all."

Lopez won the next two points to take the game and then served out the match with no further drama, but Lopez was still baffled by Efremova's actions.

"She did it twice, once in the second set, too," said Lopez, who couldn't recall ever being in a similar situation in her junior career. "From someone at that level, No. 2 in the world, you wouldn't expect that."

Lopez will play her doubles partner, Maggie Sohns, who defeated Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann 7-6(4), 6-4.

It looked as if No. 3 seed Mariia Makarova might exit with Efremova and Pushkareva, when she was forced into a third-set tiebreaker with wild card Reiley Rhodes, who trains at the JTCC and had the support of the crowds on the veranda adjacent to Court 17. 

Makarova was up 5-4, 40-0 in the third set but double faulted three straight times and lost the game; despite being up throughout tiebreaker, Makarova again had trouble closing, making unforced errors on match points at 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7 until Rhodes, ranked 232 to Makarova's 7, tried an ill-advised drop shot on 9-8 that didn't clear the net.

Makarova will face No. 10 seed Yu Jun Lin of China, who defeated No. 7 seed Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

Qualifier Thara Gowda, the third American in the quarterfinals, continued her run with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Yu-Chen Lin of Taiwan, and will play No. 11 seed Maia Burcescu of Romania, who defeated No. 6 seed Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybas 6-4, 6-2.

The boys match that went to 7-6 in the third was a four-hour and 15-minute affair, with No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez defeating unseeded Teodor Davidov 7-6(7), 5-7, 7-6(6) while saving a match point in the third set tiebreaker.

Alvarez struggled throughout the match with his strategy, which is not surprising given Davidov has no backhand, switching the racquet from hand to hand to hit only forehands. Davidov, who celebrated his 16th birthday today, also serves both left-handed and right-handed.

"I was losing my mind," said the 18-year-old from Georgia, who represents Puerto Rico on the World Tennis junior circuit and is a member of the WT Grand Slam Touring Team. "I didn't show it, obviously, but it was inside my head. Every point I lost I literally didn't know what to do. I feel like it's such an advantage for him, you don't really know where to attack, you're running side to side, he doesn't miss much. It's hard. He's obviously a very tricky, good, talented player."

Alvarez had five match points at 5-4, 40-0 in the third with two ads, but when he didn't convert those, the next match point belonged to Davidov, at 6-5 in the tiebreaker, with Alvarez serving. Alvarez missed his first serve, but Davidov netted a pass attempt, then shanked a ball way out to give Alvarez another match point. This time he converted, with a backhand approach forcing an error.

Alvarez will face the only unseeded player remaining in the draw, Canadian Felix Roussel, who beat wild card Joseph Lee 6-2, 6-2.

No. 7 seed Tanishk Konduri ended the run of qualifier Antoine Genereux of Canada 6-4, 6-3 and will face top seed Vincent Reisach of Germany, who escaped a third set with No. 13 seed Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga of Colombia  6-3, 7-6(2).

No. 10 seed Vihaan Reddy won the other four-hour match today, defeating No. 6 seed Emilio Camacho 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5 in four hours and four minutes. Reddy's opponent in the quarterfinals is No. 4 seed Daniel Brand of Israel, who was cramping at the end of the second set of his match with No. 14 seed Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana but managed a 6-1, 7-6(5) victory. The third American boy in the quarterfinals is No. 15 seed Safir Azam, who defeated wild card Jerrid Gaines Jr. 6-1, 7-6(3). Azam's quarterfinal opponent is No. 9 seed Pedro Chabalgoity of Brazil, who beat No. 8 seed Connor Doig of South Africa 7-6(4), 6-2.

Of the 16 singles matches played today, nine had tiebreakers, with the Davidov-Alvarez match having two.

The doubles quarterfinals will be played Thursday afternoon, with boys top seeds Yannik Alvarez and Ryan Cozad and No. 2 seeds Daniel Brand and Emilio Camacho both winning their second round matches today in match tiebreakers.

No. 1 seeds in the girls draw, Ksenia Efremova and Paola Pinera Celorio won in straight sets today, as did No. 2 seeds Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybak and Anna Pushkareva.

Singles quarterfinals will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, with possible thunderstorms in the afternoon the reason for the earlier start.

Links to draws, live scoring and live streaming can be found here.

Only one of the nine teenagers competing in the US Open qualifying this week have advanced to Thursday's final round, and that's 17-year-old Julieta Pareja, who also made the final round of qualifying in 2024. Pareja defeated Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus 6-4, 6-2 today and will play No. 28 seed Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy, whom she beat in the second round of qualifying in 2024.

Michael Antonius lost to wild card Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 6-4 and spoke with Michael Lewis after his loss about playing the former US Open finalist on Court 17, a match that featured the second largest age gap in grand slam qualifying, second only to the Fernando Verdasco - Jerry Shang match in Australia in 2023.

"I'm really, you know, I'm just honored to be able to share a court with him on his final farewell tour, his farewell Grand Slam," said the 16-year-old from Buffalo New York."He's been around a long time, but he's an inspiration for all of us. I mean, the way he plays, you can see glimpses of it just as, like, the first point, why he was top five in the world.You felt it right away."

Andy Johnson lost to former University of Kentucky All-American Liam Draxl of Canada 6-4, 6-2, admitting in his conversation with Lewis that sustaining the level he displayed in winning the last five games of his first round match with Taro Daniel Tuesday night is what separates a junior from an ATP professional.

"I always feel like I can play at that level and hopefully in the future stay at that level," said the 17-year-old from Rancho Palos Verdes California. "So it's a great experience and I'm just going to keep moving forward and trying to get better and better to stay at that level.  Yeah and also like staying at that level you know. You play at the high level and then you have to match it the next day. You know it takes a toll especially when I'm 17... So I've just got to keep getting better, keep working out."

Wednesday's second round matches:
Kei Nishikori[WC](JPN) d. Michael Antonius 6-4, 6-4
Liam Draxl(CAN) d. Andy Johnson 6-4, 6-2
Daniel Rincon(ESP) d. Jordan Lee 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
Julieta Pareja d. Iryna Shymanovich(BLR) 6-4, 6-2
Harriet Dart[29](GBR) d. Kristina Penickova 5-7, 6-0, 6-3

Elvina Kalieva[8] d. Sofia Costoulas(BEL) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Americans in Thursday's final round of qualifying:

MEN:
Nishesh Basavareddy[32] v Arthur Gea[1](FRA)
Mackenzie McDonald[28] v Dalibor Svrcina[8](CZE)
Colton Smith v Hugo Gaston[3](FRA)

WOMEN:
Robin Montgomery v Carson Branstine(CAN)
Julieta Pareja[WC] v Lucrezia Stefanini[28](ITA)
Mary Stoiana[17] v Yue Yuan[13](CHN)

Elvina Kalieva[8] v Vendula Valmannova(CZE)

The majority of the doubles wild cards have been announced, with today's release from the USTA:

Women's Doubles Wild Cards

 

Serena Williams and Venus Williams
Robin Montgomery and Ashlyn Krueger
Reese Brantmeier and Savannah Broadus
Claire Liu and Julieta Pareja
DJ Bennett and Ava Esposito (American Collegiate Player Wild Card Playoffs)
Bella Payne and Sara Shumate (USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships)
To be announced

Men's Doubles Wild Cards

 

Jackson Withrow and Nate Lammons
Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Damm
Mac Kiger and Aleks Kovacevic
Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin (American Collegiate Player Wild Card Playoffs)
Noah Johnston and Yannik Alvarez (USTA Boys’ 18s National Championship)
To be announced
To be announced

Gaines Ousts No. 3 Seed, Qualifier Gowda Beats No. 4 Seed in Second Round of College Park J300; Antonius, Johnson and Penickova Advance in US Open Qualifying; Kennedy Defers Enrollment at UVA Until January

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

Tuesday was the first day of action for the seeds at the World Tennis J300 in College Park and ten of them did not survive, with five boys seeds and five girls seeds falling to unseeded players on another perfect weather day at the Junior Tennis Champions Center.

And the upsets weren't confined to lower seeds, with Jerrid Gaines Jr. defeating No. 3 seed Arnav Paparkar of India 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and qualifier Thara Gowda eliminating No. 4 seed Ailina Sol Larraya Guidi of Argentina 6-4, 6-1.

Gaines, who had lost to Paparkar in three set May's J300 in Belgium on clay, didn't change his strategy, but did approach the match with a different mindset.

"I had to adjust a couple of things in terms of the mental," said the 17-year-old from Florida. "Just trusting myself, having that confidence. Sometimes I would lack confidence, but the key for me is to have that deep belief in those hard moments, because I do put in the work, and deserve to believe I can do whatever I put my mind to."

Gaines, a wild card, said he thought the court speed favored him more in this match than in their previous one, although he does like clay.

"I felt my ball was doing a little bit more on him," Gaines said. "So I was able to dictate the points a little bit more."

Gaines showed signs of frustration during the match, including several racquet tosses that went unnoticed by the roving officials, which he said was more physical than mental.

"I was playing great, but I was just a little bit worried because my knee started to hurt," Gaines said. "It was oh no, not now."

Gaines will face No. 15 seed Safir Azam in the only all-USA boys match in the third round. Azam, who defeated Rihards Neimanis of Latvia 6-4, 6-1 today, beat Gaines more than a year ago in their previous meeting in the third round of a J100 in the Dominican Republic, but Gaines is ready to extend his run this week.

"Obviously the tournament has a lot of great players," Gaines said. "But I think I could go deep in the tournament. You just have to put your head down and work, and just see what happens."

Gowda has had a much tougher journey to the third round, as the top seed in the qualifying tournament. She did receive a bye, but in the second round, her first match, she trailed Anastasia Pleskun 5-2 and 6-2 in the match tiebreaker before coming back for a 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 win.

"I was unusually calm in that tiebreaker to be honest," said Gowda, a 17-year-old from Michigan. "I don't really know why. But my dad just told me to make the balls, deep middle, huge margins, and that helped a lot. She was missing more than I was, and I should probably do that more often."

Gowda won her final round qualifying match with the loss of just four games, but had a three-set battle with Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia in the first round yesterday. It looked as if she was headed to another three-setter today, when she fell behind 3-0, but she rebounded to win six of the last seven games.

"In the first set I was just playing so solid, some of the best tennis I've played in a while, I wasn't really doing anything wrong," said Gowda, who has verbally committed to the University of Michigan for 2027. "In the second set, I have no idea what happened, I started shaking so much, and I wasn't moving my feet enough. How do you go from playing so good, to missing every ball? And then my dad coached me and said, get it in, move your feet, use bigger margins. And I gained some confidence, started playing better and I got back on serve. From there, she just started making more mistakes, and I pulled it out."

Gowda said her win today was her best in World Tennis junior circuit competition, with Larraya Guidi currently No. 14 in the world. 

"I don't know if I've played anyone in the Top 20 before, so she's the best player I've beaten," said Gowda, who was a quarterfinalist at the USTA National Championships in San Diego two weeks ago. "It's good to know I can be at that level."

Gowda acknowledges that the pressure she felt in qualifying is much different from what she felt today or in the USTA Pro Circuit events she has played. 

"In these higher level tournaments, I'm definitely the lower ranked player against whoever I play, so I just go out there, swing freely, with nothing to lose," said Gowda, who has a WTA ranking of 989. "I don't feel as nervous as playing qualifying, when I'm supposed to win; it's more relaxed than qualifying or a lower level tournament."

The other qualifier to advance to the third round is Antoine Genereux of Canada, who beat No. 11 seed Kirill Filaretov of Russia 7-6(5), 6-4.

Maggie Sohns defeated No. 8 seed Yihan Qu of China 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(1), while Adla Lopez's 6-0, 6-1 win over No. 13 seed Renee Alame of Australia was more than an hour shorter. Wild card Reiley Rhodes defeated No. 16 seed Olivia Traynor 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, but it was Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann's three-hour and 32-minute 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3) win over No. 12 seed Maria Pop of Romania that drew the crowds to Court 17, with the other second round matches concluding and the first round of boys doubles occupying most of the other courts.

Pop served for the match at 5-3 in the third, but couldn't finish off Drenser-Hagmann. In the tiebreaker, Pop took a 3-1 lead, but Drenser-Hagmann began to construct points to get the backhands she wanted, while also hitting a drop shot winner and an overhead winner as she claimed the last six points of the match.

Australian Open champion and top seed Ksenia Efremova of France defeated USTA National 16s champion Shristi Selvan, a wild card, 6-2, 7-5 and No. 2 seed and Wimbledon champion Anna Pushkareva of Russia survived a bruising first set before defeating Canadian wild card Clemence Mercier 7-6(10), 6-0.

In addition to Paparkar and Filaretov, the other boys seeds to fall on Tuesday were No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad, who lost to Felix Roussel of Canada 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; No. 12 seed Savva Rybkin of Russia, who retired against wild card Joseph Lee at 1-6, 7-5; and No. 16 seed Benjamin Azar of Canada, who was beaten by Teodor Davidov 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Top seed Vincent Reisach of Germany defeated wild card Mason Vaughan 6-2, 6-2 and No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez beat qualifier Kahven Singh 6-1, 6-0.

Singles will begin at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, with the second round of both boys and girls doubles in the afternoon, with the seeded teams playing for the first time.

Live scoring is available at iOnCourt; live streaming links and links to the order of play and draws are here.

The first round of qualifying at the US Open is now complete and five of the nine US teens given wild cards have advanced to the second round.

In addition to Jordan Lee and Julieta Pareja, who won their first round matches Monday, Michael Antonius, Andy Johnson and Kristina Penickova picked up wins today. Antonius started the day with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Great Britain's Henry Searle, with Penickova following with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Elli Mandlik. Andy Johnson closed out the evening for Americans with an improbably third set comeback on Court 17, beating ATP No. 160 Taro Daniel of Japan 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 after trailing 4-1 in the final set. Johnson, who turned 17 on Sunday, hit 35 winners to Daniel's 10, with most of those coming in the final five games, when he could do no wrong, riding the support of the crowd to the second round. All three boys on the USA's champion Junior Davis Cup team last fall have posted victories in their first US Open men's qualifying competition.

Tuesday's results of US teens:

Michael Antonius d. Henry Searle(GBR) 6-1, 6-2

Tristan Schoolkate(AUS) d. Jack Secord 6-3, 6-2 

Andy Johnson d. Taro Daniel(JPN) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4

Kristina Penickova d. Elli Mandlik 7-5, 6-2

Nao Hibino d. Janae Preston 7-6(4), 6-1

Harriet Dart[29](GBR) d. Jordyn Hazelitt 6-0, 6-7(1), 6-1

Martyna Kubka(POL) d. Annika Penickova 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2

Wednesday's second round matches for US teens:

Michael Antonius v Kei Nishikori[WC](JPN)

Andy Johnson v Liam Draxl(CAN)

Jordan Lee v Daniel Rincon(ESP)

Julieta Pareja v Iryna Shymanovich(BLR)

Kristina Penickova v Harriet Dart[29](GBR)

The ITA released its preseason and newcomer rankings today (men here; women here) and when Kalamazoo 18s champion Jack Kennedy didn't appear on the newcomers list for men, the speculation as to why began. I reached out to Jack Kennedy and this is his statement:

"I can confirm that I have deferred my enrollment to UVA until January. My decision is about wanting to utilize as many wild cards that I have earned and finish this year with a focus on playing as many main draw Challengers as possible. I started the year at 975 and I'm now 386. I want to see how I can finish the year playing mostly a pro schedule." 

Although there is no reference to it in his statement, the $140,000 prize money he'll earn in a first round appearance at the US Open, money he could not accept if he were enrolled this fall at Virginia, was also certainly a factor in his decision. 

Singh and Genereux Survive Brutal Qualifying Days, Advance to Second Round at WT J300 College Park; Lee and Pareja Win Opening US Open Qualifying Matches, Seven More US Teens Play First Round Matches Tuesday

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

The seeds begins play Tuesday at the World Tennis J300 at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, and several of them will take on opponents who have already proven their toughness and competitive spirit over the last three days. 

No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico will find himself facing Kahven Singh, who was cramping himself when his opponent retired with cramps in his second match of qualifying Sunday, and today came back from 6-0, 4-1, 40-0 down to defeat Kunanan Pantaratorn of Thailand 0-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Singh had beaten No. 4 seed Tyler Lee in the first round of qualifying Saturday 2-6, 6-1, 10-6 and J100 Chestertown champion Sebastian Godoy 3-6, 6-2, 10-3 in his first qualifying match Sunday morning. Against Eliot Awomoyi, Singh managed to win the first set 6-4, but the match became a battle of attrition shortly thereafter, with Awomoyi retiring with Singh up 4-3 in the second set.

"It was definitely tough physically," said the 16-year-old from Bethesda Maryland, who reached the Kalamazoo 16s doubles final a week ago Saturday. "I started cramping at the end of the first set, but then he cramped and I got through it."

Singh said he used every tool at his disposal to try to recover for today's match.

"I took an ice bath, compression boots, ate a lot and hydrated a lot and I definitely needed that," Singh said, who did not get on court for today's first round match until after 5 p.m. "A lot of waiting today for my court, which helped me a little bit, but was tiring mentally, I would say."

Singh didn't assign any blame for the first set score on his fatigue or his wait. 

"The guy really hot, he was playing really, really well, but me and my coaches (Mateo Cevallos and Vince Pulupa of OSSA) were just like, keep fighting, try to find a way, maybe he'll drop his level a little bit and I could play a little better," Singh said. "That ended up happening, I found some great chances and executed them pretty well. I pulled away in the third set, definitely long, long games, but I got through it."

Singh said he was "flowing a little bit" by the third set and didn't feel it as much physically as he might have.

"I was just playing really well, stepping in and making him play everything, one extra ball, and that really helped me," Singh said. "I thought that I fought pretty well today."

Antoine Genereux of Canada had an even more difficult weekend than Singh, as he lost in the final of the J100 in Chestertown Saturday morning and had to play his first round of qualifying in College Park that afternoon.

"I played Saturday morning at 8 o'clock at an indoor facility(due to rain)," said the 17-year-old from Quebec City. "After the final I had to drive here and I actually played at 7 o'clock at night. There were no lights on my court, so we had to switch courts and had to wait, come back at 8:20 on one of the courts with lights. It was a hell of a day, finished at like 10 o'clock."

Genereux avoided a match tiebreaker until his second qualifying match Sunday, when he defeated fellow Canadian Samuel Pelletier 6-0, 4-6, 10-7. But four matches in two days took their toll, especially after playing four three-set matches last week in Chestertown.

"I'm so tired," said Genereux, who defeated fellow qualifier Charles Minvielle 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 today in two hours and 40 minutes. "I wake up every day and I'm feeling fine, but when I go on court--I'm usually good in long rallies, keeping a heavy ball and putting pressure on my opponents--but now I'm getting tired quicker than usual so it was harder in my match today."

Genereux said he has been working to improve his transition game, and that proved valuable today against Minvielle.

"I've worked on it a lot and got more comfortable doing it recently," said the rising high school senior, who is talking with college coaches now to determine the right fit for him. "I've worked on it a lot the past few years, but it's never been something I'm comfortable with. But I feel like recently, it's been clicking a little bit more and I try to use it, especially against opponents like him."

Genereux's opponent in Tuesday's second round is No. 11 seed Kirill Filaretov of Russia.

"I actually played him in Bulgaria," said Genereux, who won their second round match at the J300 this spring 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(6). "It was an amazing match, and he's an amazing player so I don't take anything for granted."

Genereux is one of four Canadian boys who advanced to the second round with wins today, with No. 16 seed Benjamin Azar playing his first match tomorrow.

The final match of the day also had to be moved to a lighted court, with wild card Joseph Lee, who earned his wild card via the playoff held each year at the JTCC, defeating Livas Eduardo Carvalho Damazio of Brazil 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 after 8 p.m. Monday night.

Three girls qualifiers reached the second round: Thara Gowda, Brooke Wallman and Clemence Mercier of Canada, with lucky loser Scarlett Fagan also earning a victory in the first round today.

The seeds take the court for the first time Tuesday, beginning with the boys. The first round of girls doubles was played today, with the first round of boys doubles scheduled for Tuesday evening. Seeded doubles teams in both genders will play for the first time Wednesday.

Live scoring is available at iOnCourt, with live streaming on courts 13, 14 and 17, with links here.

Kalamazoo finalist Jordan Lee won his first round US Open men's qualifying match today in New York, defeating ATP 152 Mark Lajal of Estonia, a former College Park J300 champion, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. He will face Daniel Rincon of Spain in Wednesday's second round.

San Diego semifinalist Julieta Pareja defeated No. 9 seed Kayla Day 6-3, 6-1 and will face Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus in the second round Wednesday. Tuesday's first round matches for American teenagers:

Michael Antonius v Henry Searle(GBR)

Jack Secord v Tristan Schoolkate(AUS)

Andy Johnson v Taro Daniel(JPN)

Kristina Penickova v. Elli Mandlik 

Janae Preston v Nao Hibino(JPN)

Jordyn Hazelitt v Harriet Dart[29](GBR)

Annika Penickova v Martyna Kubka(POL)

Secord and Hazelitt Win US Open Qualifying Wild Card Playoffs, Join Seven US Teens In Qualifying; Few Seeded Americans at College Park J300, Colombo Beats Top Seed to Qualify; Gauff Wins Cincinnati Open

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

Men's and women's qualifying begins Monday at the US Open, with two US juniors joining five of their counterparts in the draw after winning two matches today in the new qualifying wild card playoff.

Sixteen-year-old Jordyn Hazelitt defeated Shannon Lam 6-2, 7-6(2) in the first match and Melije Clarke 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 to earn her wild card into women's qualifying. 

She joins 17-year-old Julieta Pareja and 16-year-olds Janae Preston, Kristina Penickova and Annika Penickova in the draw.

Seventeen-year-old Jack Secord, a semifinalist in Kalamazoo last week, defeated Ozan Baris(Michigan State) 3-6, 6-2, 11-9 and Dali Blanch 6-4, 6-2 to win the men's qualifying wild card playoff, joining 17-year-old Andy Johnson and 16-year-olds Jordan Lee and Michael Antonius in the draw.

Only two of the seven US juniors will be in action Monday: Pareja faces No. 9 seed Kayla Day and Lee plays Mark Lajal of Estonia, both at 11 a.m.

The full qualifying schedule is here.

The mixed doubles qualifying also begins Monday.

With the qualifying at the World Tennis J300 College Park now complete, with two rounds played today at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, the draws have been released. Below are the seeds, wild cards and qualifiers. Jordyn Hazelitt was a late withdrawal, due to winning the women's qualifying playoff (Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann, who lost to Clarke in the first round this morning did make the trip from New York and will play here tomorrow. Scarlett Fagan is the lucky loser in for Hazelitt. 

There are only four Americans seeded, in total, primarily because so many are in qualifying in New York.

The seeds do not play until Tuesday, but all those who won two matches today to advance to the main draw are on Monday's schedule.

College Park J300 seeds
Boys
1. Vincent Reisach(GER)
2. Yannik Alvarex(PUR)
3. Arnav Paparkar(IND)
4. Dan Brand(ISR)
5. Ryan Cozad(USA)
6. Emilio Camacho(ECU)
7. Tanishk Konduri(USA)
8. Conner Doig(RSA)
9. Pedro Henrique Chabalgoity(BRA)
10. Vihaan Reddy(USA)
11. Kirill Filaretov(RUS)
12. Savva Rybkin(RUS)
13. Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga(COL)
14. Ntungamili Raguin(BOT)
15. Safir Azam(USA)
16. Benjamin Azar(CAN)

Wild cards: (all USA)

Mason Vaughan

Kamil Stolarczyk

Nicolas Pedraza

Erik Schinnerer

Jerrid Gains Jr

Joseph Lee

Qualifiers: (USA unless noted)

Kayden Colombo

Antoine Genereux(CAN)

Antoine Clavel(CAN)

Kahven Singh

Charles Minvielle

Tomas Laukys

Girls

1. Ksenia Efremova(FRA)

2. Anna Pushkareva(RUS)

3. Mariia Makarova(RUS)

4. Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi(ARG)

5. Paola Pinera Celorio(ESP)

6. Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybas(RUS)

7. Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi(IND)

8. Yihan Qu(CHN)

9. Yushan Shao(CHN)

10. Yu Jun Lin(CHN)

11. Maia Ilinca Burcescu(ROU)

12. Maria Valentina Pop(ROU)

13. Renee Alame(AUS)

14. Antonina Sushkova(UKR)

15. Yu-Chen Lin(TPE)

16. Olivia Traynor(USA)

Wild cards (all USA):

Shristi Selvan

Camille Allegre

Reiley Rhodes

Priscilla Sirichantho

Sadira Ouyang

Aarini Bhattacharya

Qualifiers (USA unless noted):

Thara Gowda

Carlota Moreno

Brooke Wallman

Clemence Mercier(CAN)

Sera Park(KOR)

Rose Biria

WT junior No. 120 Thara Gowda, the top seed in the girls qualifying, trailed 6-2 in the match tiebreaker in her second round match with Anastasia Pleskun, but won eight of the next 10 points to move on to the final round of qualifying, where she defeated Sena Yoon 6-4, 6-0.

Kai Thompson of Hong Kong, the top seed in the boys qualifying, wasn't as fortunate, falling to Kayden Colombo 6-2, 6-2 in the final round after escaping with a 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 win in the second round over Dhakshish Aryan Basavaraju. Thompson, No. 34 in the WT junior rankings was automatically withdrawn from the junior event when he received entry into an M15, so his only route to compete in College Park was as a wild card in qualifying, but Colombo's big serve and powerful ground strokes were too much for him this afternoon.

"I've been working on my serve and kind of made a few changes," said the 6-foot-5 17-year-old from Marietta Georgia, who is training at the USTA Campus in Lake Nona with National Coach Troy Hahn. "I liked how I hit the serve today. He's a great player, his level is definitely there for the main draw, but I played pretty good today."

Colombo said he has not had his serve clocked, but estimates it could be "in the 130 range maybe." When that shot is clicking, he believes he can compete with anyone, and he is not ruling out a deep run in the main draw.

"I think I definitely have the game, I have what it takes to win this tournament," said Colombo, who admits his resemblance to Tommy Paul had been remarked on at the USTA National Campus. "It's not going to be easy, there is a ton of great players. But I'm going to go out there, compete, play the right way, look to come forward, serve and volley, play that big style of tennis that can hopefully translate to the pros one day. I'm ready to play anyone, anywhere, anytime. Let's go."

Colombo will face Oluwaseun Peter Ogunsakin of Nigeria in the first round Monday.

Live scoring is available (not point by point until matches are chaired) at iOnCourt.

At the Cincinnati Open today, Coco Gauff won her second WTA 1000 title in that city, beating Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-4 in the final. The last time Gauff won Cincinnati, in 2023, she went on to win her first major at the US Open.

In the men's final, Arthur Fils of France won his first ATP Masters 1000 title, beating Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0. 

Rhodes, Godoy Win J100 Chestertown Titles; Two Rounds of College Park Qualifying Set for Sunday; Pegula and Gauff Meet for Cincinnati Title; Tiafoe Beats Nakashima, Faces Fils in Cincy Final; Kenin, Kypson Receive US Open Wild Cards

The warmup tournament for the World Tennis J300 in College Park is a J100 in Chestertown Maryland and Sebastian Inaki Godoy played both of them, claiming his second title of the year at the 100 level, then required to play qualifying on the same day in College Park.

The 16-year-old Texan, seeded No. 6. defeated top seed Antoine Genereaux of Canada 6-4, 6-3 in today's Chestertown final, then drove the 90-minutes to College Park, where he beat Nikita Garfurov of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-0. Godoy could play two more matches on Sunday, with the second and third round of qualifying on Sunday. Usually two rounds of qualifying are played Saturday, but with wet courts that wasn't possible and it gave Godoy a realistic opportunity to compete in both tournaments; three matches in a day, including a final, might have been too much to ask.

The girls singles title in Chestertown went to 16-year-old Reiley Rhodes, who picked up her second J100 title with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Kalista Papadopoulos. Rhodes didn't lose more than four games in any of her five victories this week. Like Godoy, Papadopoulos also was in the qualifying at College Park; she lost to Kathryn Cragg 6-4, 6-3. Rhodes was listed in the qualifying, but she may have received a wild card into the main draw.

The girls doubles title went to unseeded Anna Scott Laney and Daniella Sales, who beat No. 4 seeds Kaya Baker and Canadaian Elisabeth Djabourian 6-2, 7-6(4) in the final.

Genereux and Rafael Bote of Canada, the top seds in boys doubles, won the title with a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 8 seeds Achyuth Binu and Chase Bowden.

When we arrived in College Park this evening, the wet weather had passed but the first round of the qualifying was still going, finishing after 9 p.m. due to wet weather in the area earlier in the day. The girls second round of qualifying has an 8:30 a.m. start Sunday, with top seed Thara Gowda and No. 2 seed Carlota Moreno taking the courts for the first time. Boys top qualifying seed Kai Thompson of Hong Kong, who received a wild card into qualifying, defeated Oscar Puyplat 6-2, 6-3 in his first round qualifying match. Two rounds will be played, and those who qualify will play again on Monday.

It will be an all-American final at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open Sunday, after No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula defeated No. 7 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 this afternoon, and No. 4 seed Coco Gauff beat unseeed Sara Bejlek of Czechia 6-4, 6-1 to close out the night.

Tonight in Cincinnati, No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe reached a second ATP Masters 1000 final with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Brandon Nakashima(Virginia), the 27 seed. Tiafoe, a finalist in Cincinnati two years ago, losing to champion Jannik Sinner, has never won an ATP Masters 1000 title.

Tiafoe will face No. 21 seed Arthur Fils of France, who defeated No. 7 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-3, 6-4.

The USTA announced today that Sofia Kenin and Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M) are the last wild card recipients for the US Open main draw, although Kenin is close to direct entry and there could be other withdrawals before qualifying begins Monday.

In the pre-qualifying event tomorrow at the USTA BJK National Tennis Center, Shannon Lam has replaced Welles Newman and will play Jordyn Hazelitt, while Melije Clarke will face Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann. 

For the men's qualifying wild card playoff, Jack Secord will play Ozan Baris(Michigan State) and Keaton Hance will face Dali Blanch.

My Recap of Kalamazoo 18 Championships; College Park J300 Qualifying Begins Saturday; NCAA Wins Stay of Ruling Extending Eligibility; Nakashima Beats Fritz, Faces Tiafoe in Cincinnati Open Semifinal; Blanch Receives Winston-Salem and US Open Main Draw Wild Cards

The last two recaps of National Championships week at Tennis Recruiting Network were published today, with my article on the titles for Jack Kennedy in singles and Noah Johnston and Yannik Alvarez in doubles going up this morning, and Rhiannon Potkey's article on Thea Frodin and Bella Payne and Sara Shumate's titles in San Diego following this afternoon.

As I mentioned yesterday, because the 18s final lasted only three games, there will be no videos this year on my YouTube channel. There is a recording of what did transpire at the livestream page.

Michael J. Lewis (no relation) is a New York-based journalist who follows the local juniors, and he had plenty to write about this week, with the National titles for Kamil Stolarczyk, Kennedy and Gabby Villegas.

His Long Island Press article on Kennedy is here, and his article of 14s champion Villegas is here. Look for one on Stolarczyk next month.

I'll be covering the ITF J300 in College Park Maryland for the 12th year beginning on Sunday, but the qualifying will begin Saturday and is scheduled for six indoor courts at the Junior Tennis Champions Center due to expected rain. The 48-player draw for the boys is full; the girls has only two byes, and all eight of the seeds in both girls and boys draws are in the World Tennis Top 200. Kai Thompson of Hong Kong, No. 34 in the WT junior rankings, is the top seed in boys qualifying. Thara Gowda, a quarterfinalist at last week's USTA 18s Nationals in San Diego, is the top seed; she and Carlota Moreno have the first round byes.

There was an important ruling today in the NCAA's Wisne case, in which a Colorado judge approved a fifth year of eligibility for those who completed their eligibility in 2026 before the adoption of a five-for-five standard set to begin in 2027. This is not likely to be the end of the court battles, but the NCAA provided this statement on X after the ruling.

There is no other statement from the NCAA that I can find, but some college tennis rosters for this fall may look different than they did a week ago with this stay.

Brandon Nakashima and Frances Tiafoe will face off in Saturday's semifinals of the ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati Open after No. 27 seed Nakashima, a finalist at the Montreal 1000 two weeks ago, defeated No. 6 seed Taylor Fritz 7-6(9), 4-6, 6-3 this afternoon, and No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe beat No. 10 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 7-6(2), 7-5 tonight. The winner of that match will play the winner of Saturday's other semifinal between No. 7 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy and No. 21 seed Arthur Fils of France in Sunday's final

Jessica Pegula[3] will face Iga Swiatek[7] of Poland in one of Saturday's semifinals; the winner of the Coco Gauff[4] and Marta Kostyuk[7] quarterfinal tonight will play Sara Bejlek of Czechia, who beat Madison Keys[20] 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) this afternoon.

2025 Kalamazoo 18s champion Darwin Blanch received a US Open main draw wild card according to today's USTA announcement; Martin Damm moved into the main draw on his own ranking after the withdrawals of Ethan Quinn(Georgia) and Canadian Gabriel Diallo(Kentucky), and Blanch was given Damm's previously announced wild card. There is still one men's main draw wild card to be announced.

Blanch also received a wild card into next week's Winston-Salem Open ATP 250, which he could not have used if he were playing in US Open qualifying. Damm also received a Winston-Salem wild card, as did Wimbledon boys finalist Cruz Hewitt, who will not be competing in New York.

Qualifying for Winston-Salem begins tomorrow, with Wake Forest's DK Suresh, Luca Pow and Mees Rottgering in the 16-player field, with Pow and US Open Collegiate playoff winner Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas) receiving qualifying wild cards. TCU's rising junior Roger Pascual of Spain is also in the qualifying field. 

Poling Earns First Pro Circuit Singles Title at M25 in East Lansing; Ilagan Falls in Brownsburg Challenger 75 Final; World Tennis Junior Circuit Update; Shelton, Paul, Fritz and Harrison Named to Davis Cup Team; US Open Mixed Doubles Field Takes Shape

With the 2026 USTA National Boys 18s and 16s Championships in Kalamazoo concluding yesterday, and the announcement of the US Open wild cards expected Wednesday, today is a good time to catch up on what happened on the USTA Pro Circuit last week, and on the World Tennis junior circuit during the past two weeks.

After the Landisville W100 and W35 in Mississippi the first week of August, the women's USTA Pro Circuit is on hiatus until the W50 in Berkeley California the week of September 21st. But the men had a new Challenger 75 in Brownsburg Indiana last week and an M25 in East Lansing Michigan, and will have an M15 in Champaign Illinois next week during US Open qualifying and a Challenger 125 in Tiburon California the week after the US Open.

Karl Poling, the former standout at Princeton and North Carolina, won his first Pro Circuit singles title yesterday in East Lansing. Seeded No. 2, the 27-year-old from New York defeated unseeded Luis Alvarez of Mexico, a recent Oklahoma graduate, 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-4, saving two match points in the tiebreaker of the three-hour, 11-minute final.

Poling will be at a career-high ATP ranking around 450 when the points are added.

Alvarez won the doubles title, with Alan Magadan(UTSA, Texas A&M) of Mexico, with the second-seeded pair beating the unseeded Okonkwo brothers Oliver(Illinois) and Alex(Tulsa, Ohio State) 4-6, 6-4, 11-9 in the final. 

At the Brownsburg Challenger, which had numerous heat, rain and severe weather delays throughout the week, former ATP Top 40 player Lloyd Harris won the singles title. The 29-year-old South African, seeded No. 7, defeated unseeded Andre Ilagan(Hawaii)  6-2, 7-6(6) in the final. Ilagan also reached the final of the Challenger 75 in Lexington Kentucky the week before and will break into the ATP Top 200 for the first time when the rankings are updated after the Cincinnati Masters.

Unseeded Gonzalo Escobar(Texas Tech) of Ecuador and Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha of India, who also won the Lexington Challenger doubles title, defeated No. 2 seeds Robert Cash(Ohio State) and Bart Stevens of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-1 in the final.

Because so many of the juniors in the United States were competing at the National Championships, there were not a lot of titles won on the World Tennis junior circuit in the past two weeks. 

The biggest title went to Diego Custodio Wagner, a 16-year-old from Florida, who won the J60 in Macedonia two weeks ago, his first WT junior circuit singles title. Custodio, seeded No. 3, defeated top seed Matija Putic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4 in the final. He also reach the doubles final that week, and the final of the singles last week a the second J60 in Macedonia. 

No. 2 seed Camelot Carnello won the J30 in Angola two weeks ago, with the 14-year-old from Florida defeating No. 1 seed Jinxuan Cheng of China 6-1, 1-6, 7-5 for his first WT junior circuit singles title. 

At last week's J30 in El Salvador, 14-year-old Annalyn McKee of Florida won her first WT junior circuit title, with the No. 8 seed defeated No. 6 seed Luciana Roa Munevar of Colombia 6-0, 6-3 in the final. 

In St. Vincent and the Grenadines J30 last week, top seed Sydney Wright won her fourth WT junior singles title, beating No. 2 seed Charlotte Perks of Great Britain 6-4, 6-7(0), 6-4 in the final. The 16-year-old from Maryland also reached the semifinals in doubles.

Unseeded Kylie Gordon and her partner Hoi Hei Hui of Hong Kong won the doubles title, defeating No. 2 seeds Cyra Ramcharan and Suri Ramcharan of Trinidad and Tobago 6-1, 6-0 in the final. It's the first WT junior title for the 15-year-old from New York.

At the J30 in Nicaragua, 18-year-old David Madero won the doubles title with Brandon Bridgewater of Curacao, with the top seeds beating No. 2 seeds Chukwudubem Amasiani of Nigeria and Gustavo Vasconcellos of Brazil 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 in the final. 

Sixteen-year-old Enya Neagu, who reached the girls singles final, won the doubles title with Luciana Roa Munevar. The No. 2 seeds defeated top seeds Jaiya Siffrard and Mexico's Reagan Stanley 6-2, 6-1 in the final. It's Neagu's first WT junior circuit title.

The USTA announced four of the members of the Davis Cup team that will compete for the United States in the World Group qualifying round September 18-19 against Czechia in Prague.

Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Christian Harrison will compete for Captain Bob Bryan. The release from today:

ORLANDO, Fla., August 17, 2026 – The USTA and U.S. Davis Cup Captain Bob Bryan today announced that Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Christian Harrison have been named to compete for the U.S. in its Davis Cup Qualifying Second Round tie vs. Czechia September 18-19 at the O2 Arena (indoor hard court) in Prague.

 

The Second Round Qualifying tie is a best-of-five match series that will begin with two singles matches on Friday, September 18, then continue with a doubles match and two more singles matches beginning on Saturday, September 19. The first nation between the USA and Czechia to win three out of those five matches wins the Qualifier and will advance to the eight-nation Davis Cup Final 8 to compete for this year’s championship November 24-29 in Bologna, Italy. Tennis Channel will carry coverage in the U.S.

 

Captains may name up to five players to their rosters and make up to three combined substitutions / additions up until the day prior to the competition starting.

 

This tie is a rematch of last year’s Second Round Qualifier, when a strong Czech team led by Jakub Mensik and Jiri Lehecka overcame an injured but resilient American side, 3-2, on home soil in Delray Beach, Fla. Paul and Harrison, along with Ethan Quinn, Austin Krajicek and Emilio Nava, got the U.S. through the first round of Qualifying this year with a 4-0 sweep of Hungary on the road in February.

Shelton, 23, ranked No. 6 in singles, last week won his second consecutive Canada ATP Masters 1000 title. This would mark his second Davis Cup appearance, after debuting in the 2024 Finals. He was nominated to play last year vs. Czechia but had to withdraw due to injury.

Fritz, 28, ranked No. 9 in singles, recently won the Washington, D.C., ATP 500 singles title. He’s played in 11 Davis Cup ties for the U.S. since debuting in 2019 and carries an 8-4 singles record. Fritz went 1-1 in singles in the tie vs. Czechia last year while battling an illness.

Paul, 29, ranked No. 24 in singles, has played in 11 ties for the U.S. since debuting in 2020, carrying a 6-3 singles record. He was also set to play in the tie vs. Czechia last year but was also forced to withdraw due to injury.

Harrison, 32, is the top-ranked American man in doubles at No. 12. He made his Davis Cup debut this February in the Qualifying tie vs. Hungary – a week after winning the Australian Open men’s doubles title – and clinched victory for the Americans with Austin Krajicek.

 

The second edition of the US Open's revamped mixed doubles tournament begins next week, with a new qualifying event providing an opportunity for the established doubles players on the WTA and ATP tours to earn a spot in the 16-team main draw. This graphic shows the current teams, as well as the vacant wild card spots.

Kennedy Acknowledges High Expectations as Kalamazoo 18s Top Seed; All Top 16 Seeds Advance to Third Round in Both Divisions; Switzerland Boys, Italy Girls Win World Tennis 14U Team Titles; Penickova Reaches Second Straight W35 Final

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Kalamazoo MI--

Jack Kennedy was a surprise finalist in the Kalamazoo 18s division  in 2024 and finished third last year, but he admits there's been a change in perception as he makes his final appearance in the USTA National Championships as the No. 1 seed.

"A lot of expectations going into this match, a lot more eyes on me this year, than in the previous years," said the 18-year-old New Yorker, who defeated Lucas Smith 6-4, 6-3 in his first match in the second round of singles Saturday. "The one seed, a lot of people are talking about it, a lot of people are watching. I'm trying not to focus on it too much. Obviously, it's a tough thing not to think about, but I'm going to try my best not to think about it."

Kennedy and Smith were at 4-all in the first set, when Smith had a brief letdown and Kennedy took advantage.

"Luke played a great match, a very high level in the first set," Kennedy said. "I think maybe the nerves hit him at 4-all, didn't play the greatest service game. And then I kind of relaxed a little bit. My level was pretty good, but it wasn't my cleanest match. I'm just happy to get through it. First round at any tournament, but especially here, is never easy, with all the nerves, everything going on, it's just good to get through."

Kennedy acknowledges that the field is not far behind him, although his ATP ranking of 384 is more than 300 points more than No. 2 seed Michael Antonius, who has the next best ATP ranking in the field.

"Honestly, it gets stronger and stronger every year, which I don't personally like," Kennedy joked. "But we have some great guys out there, my doubles partner Keaton, Michael, who has had great success, not just in the juniors but in the pros, winning a 25 in singles and doubles and a 15 recently. Of course, Jordan Lee, winning Wimbledon, I was really happy for him. He played a really great tournament, and what a great final it was, Cruz also, a great level, what a show they put on. The level here obviously is really high; it's not going to be easy whatsoever. And we haven't seen guys like Ronit Karki(the No. 5 seed) and Noah Johnston(the No. 7 seed) in a while, because they're aged out (of World Tennis junior competition). But it's really a great opportunity to play at another high level and keep learning from every match."

When Kennedy begins his collegiate career at the University of Virginia this September after the US Open Junior Championships, he'll use the remarkable rise of former Cavalier Rafael Jodar as inspiration.

"I think UVA has helped him so much to develop, not only the tennis, but also as a person," Kennedy said. "But I don't think the guy is even real; he's gone from 650 to 15 in a year. He's set the bar for us. It makes me even more excited to go to UVA, get a taste of what he got, what he saw from the coaches and the guys and take it all in. We'll see if I go a year, or four, we'll have to play it out, but super excited to get to work with those guys at Virginia and be with the guys, it's going to be great."

On Sunday, Kennedy will face unseeded Nihal Narisetty, the Midwest Closed champion, who beat wild card Izyan Ahman, a 33 seed, 6-2, 6-2.

No. 2 seed Antonius needed only 49 minutes and lost only nine points in his 6-0, 6-0 win over Shayne Joglekar; Hance[4], Andy Johnson[3], Karki, Lee and Johnston all won in straight sets.

In the 16s division, top seed Kamil Stolarczyk defeated Vijay Smyan 6-3, 6-1 and No. 2 seed Sulaiman Syed beat Mason Menyhart 6-1, 6-0.

All Top 16 seeds in each age group advanced to the third round, with just two Top 32 seeds falling in both the 18s and the 16s divisions. Charles Pettinelli defeated No. 25 seed Peter Jorniak 6-2, 6-3 and Justin Zhang beat No. 26 seed Alexander Suhanitski 6-4, 6-4 in the 18s. In the 16s, Alexander Lerman defeated No. 17 seed Michael Chervenkov 6-2, 6-4 and Chance Rozpedski defeated No. 28 seed Griffin Goode 6-2, 6-1.

The only Top 8 seeds in doubles to fall on Saturday afternoon were the No. 6 seeds in both age divisions.  In the 16s, Anay Kulkarni and John Murphy defeated Braylon Desquitado and Trishiv Premanand 6-0, 4-6, 11-9; in the 18s, Jacob Lee and Mason Taube beat Theo Hegarty and Erik Schinnerer 7-5, 6-3.

No. 2 seed in the 18s, Yannik Alvarez and Noah Johnston, were down a set and a break to Michael Lorenzetti and Connor Plunkett Saturday night, but managed to eke out a 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 win to advance to the third round.

Top seeds in the 16s, Mikaeel Alibaig and Ivan Rybak also needed a match tiebreaker to advance, beating Charlie Barton and Miles Olmeda 3-6, 6-1, 10-7.

There are no main draw 16s singles Sunday, with the third round in 18s singles, and the first day of consolation play, with two rounds of consolation matches on the schedule. No doubles are on the schedule for Sunday.

Live streaming is available on all 11 Stowe Stadium courts, at this link. Point-by-point real-time live scoring is available via ionCourt.

The World Tennis 14-and-under Team championships concluded today in Prostejov Czechia, with Switzerland's boys and Italy's girls claiming the titles. 

Switzerland, the No. 5 seed, defeated unseeded Brazil 2-1 in the final, with No. 7 seed Italy beating No. 2 seed Japan 2-1. It's the first WJT title for the Italian girls.

The top-seeded US girls finished fourth, falling to unseeded Czechia 2-1. The sixth-seeded US boys lost to No. 7 seed Colombia 2-1 to finish eighth.

For more on the finals, see this recap from the World Tennis junior site.

Annika Penickova is through to her second straight W35 final this week in Southaven Mississippi. After her title in Florence last week, the 16-year-old left-hander received a special exempt spot in the main draw and today beat wild card Anne Christine Lutkemeyer(UCLA) 6-1, 7-5 to reach the final. Penickova, who is scheduled to play her first match in San Diego on Monday at noon Pacific time, will face unseeed Dana Guzman(Oklahoma) of Peru. Guzman defeated No. 4 seed Eunhye Lee of Korea 6-2, 6-1.

My Kalamazoo Preview; Alternate Rosett Earns Two Wins in Final Kalamazoo Appearance; USTA National B12s Seeds; USA Girls Fall to Japan in World Tennis 14-U Team Semifinals

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Kalamazoo MI--

My annual preview of the Kalamazoo Nationals is up today at Tennis Recruiting Network, with all the players mentioned beginning their singles tournaments on Saturday, with seeds receiving first round byes. The B18s field features four players who have won USTA Pro Circuit events this year, in addition to Jordan Lee's title last month at the Wimbledon Junior Championships.

While all those players were searching for practice courts today with the 31 WMU and Stowe Stadium courts in use for first round action today, the unseeded players were meeting for their shot at a seed on Saturday.

One of those moving through to the main draw is Abraham Rosett, who didn't know until four days ago whether he would get an opportunity to compete in his fourth and final year at the Nationals.

The fact that Rosett is from Bloomfield Hills Michigan, just a two-and-a-half hour drive from Kalamazoo, meant that he didn't have to make complicated last-minute travel arrangements when he received the call informing him of a withdrawal that moved him into the main draw. The short notice didn't faze him mentally either, as he felt he was ready for the level he would face.

"When this list came out I was shocked I didn't get in," said the 18-year-old, who defeated Colin Cerminara 6-4, 6-2 on the Stowe Stadium's renowned George Acker Center Court. "I guess it's just based on the USTA points, but I was hoping I would get in. I knew I belonged here, I thought I could be dangerous in this tournament. I do have a chip on my shoulder, but I'm treating every match like I'm going to win. I'm not really thinking about it; I'm in the tournament, so I'm just competing now."

Rosett admitted that he would have been disappointed to miss out on his last chance to play Kalamazoo.

"I've played both years in 16s, last year I played 18s, so I wanted to complete the four years here," Rosett said. "I know I belong here, so I would have been pretty disappointed if I didn't come and compete and show what I got."

Players from Michigan usually are scheduled to play their main draw matches at Stowe Stadium, and Rosett has benefitted from that tradition, but today was his first opportunity to play a singles match on Acker Court.

"Us Michiganders get some privileges," Rosett said. "I've played doubles there; every year I've played my first round singles on like the fifth court, the last court on the first bank. But never singles on center court, so that was pretty cool. A lot of nerves coming out, but I got through it, and I think my best tennis is ahead of me in this tournament."

Rosett, who will play No. 33 seed Bryan Assi at Stowe Stadium Saturday, has committed to the University of Illinois for the fall of 2027.

"My assistant coach, Tim Kopinski, TK, was watching me, so nerves there as well, wanting to impress the coach," Rosset said. "But I'm super excited. I love the guys on the team, the culture that Brad(head coach Dancer) has built, and I'm so excited to get my butt over there."

Rosett and partner Henry Lessard also advanced in doubles this afternoon, beating Deepinder Singh and Darren Wei 6-4, 6-3.

Live streaming is available on all 11 Stowe Stadium courts, at this link.  Point-by-point real-time live scoring is available via ionCourt.

Cracked Racquets will be providing four hours of daily coverage of the USTA Girls 18s and 16s National Championships in San Diego beginning tomorrow with the G16s first round. See their YouTube channel for times for the free live streaming each day.

The seeds and draws for the USTA National Boys 12s Championships in Mobile Alabama are out. I'm posting the Top 16 below; I will also add them to my post from Thursday, so all the 12s and 14s seeds and links are available on one page.

B12s Top 16 seeds (Mobile Alabama):
1. William Zhou

2. Zephyr Zwicker
3. Caique Cavalcanti
4. Thomas Gamble
5. Jesse Goldman
6. Zachary Burunov
7. Aleksander Denisov
8. John Benedict
9. Louis Lu
10. Dylan Kivov
11. Kevin Wang
12. Satvik Arja
13. Isaac Milner
14. Alexander Yang
15. Reed Kuai
16. AJ Williams

The top-seeded USA girls team lost in the semifinals of the World Tennis 14-and-under championships today in Prostejov Czechia, falling to No. 2 seed Japan 2-1.

Ayaka Iwasa of Japan defeated Anna Kapanadze at No. 2 singles 6-3, 6-4, with Isha Manchala tying it up witha 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 win over Shina Okuyama at No. 1 singles. That sent the match to a deciding doubles match, which Iwasa and Okuyama won 7-6(2), 6-3 to send Japan, who finished second in its group, to the finals.

They will play No. 7 seed Italy, who defeated unseeded Czechia 2-0.  The USA will play Czechia for third place Saturday.

The boys final will feature No. 5 seed Switzerland and unseeded Brazil. Switzerland defeated No. 3 seed Australia 2-1, with the doubles deciding that one, while Brazil beat unseeded Bulgaria 2-0.

The USA boys, seeded sixth, lost to No. 4 seed Slovakia 2-1 today and will play No. 7 seed Colombia for seventh place Saturday.

US Girls Advance to Semis of World Tennis 14-U Team Event, Boys Fall in Quarterfinals; Seeds for G12s, B14s and G14s Nationals; Talking Kalamazoo and San Diego on Great Shot Podcast; Texas Girls, Missouri Valley Boys Win Battle of Sections

The semifinals are set for Friday at the annual World Tennis 14-and-under team championships in Prostejov Czechia, with the top-seeded US girls once again blanking their opponents to advance, beating No. 4 seed China. 

At No. 2 singles, Anna Kapanadze defeated Yanke Wang 6-2, 6-2, with Isha Manchala following at No. 1 singles with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Jinyu Zhou. In a shortened doubles match, probably due to the USA clinch in singles, Kapanadze and Nadia Poznick  beat Wang and Xinran Yan 4-0, 4-2.

The girls will face No. 2 seed Japan, who defeated No. 3 seed Ukraine 2-1, advancing with a win in the doubles after the teams had split the singles matches.

The other girls semifinal will feature unseeded Czechia, a 2-0 winner of unseeded Sweden, and No. 7 seed Italy, who beat unseeded Slovakia 3-0.

The sixth-seeded US boys lost to No. 3 seed Australia 2-1. Evaan Mohan defeated Christopher Manton 6-4, 7-6(5) at No. 2 singles to give the US a 1-0 lead, but Novak Palombo beat Rex Kulman at No. 1 singles 6-1, 6-1 to send the match to a deciding doubles rubber. Palombo and Sebastian Lavorato beat Mohan and Max Smith 7-6(6), 6-3 to earn Australia's place in the semifinals. 

Australia will play No. 5 seed Switzerland, who beat No. 4 seed Slovakia 2-1. The other boys semifinal is between two unseeded teams, with Brazil facing Bulgaria. The US boys will play Slovakia in a fifth-place playoff match Friday.

Brazil beat No. 7 seed Colombia 2-0 and Bulgaria beat No. 2 seed Great Britain by the same score. 

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

The seeds for the Girls 12s National Championships, the Girls 14s National Championships and the Boys 14s National Championships have been posted; the Boys 12s seeds will not be revealed until the draw comes out Friday. Below are the Top 16 seeds for the other three divisions; click on the header to go to the USTA tournament website.

B14s Top 16 Seeds(Mobile Alabama):

1. Krish Advani

2. Sebastian Cheaney

3. Matthew Finn

4. Jason Ye

5. London Slaton

6. Artem Vlasov

7. David Bender

8. Daniel Gardality

9. Novak Masteller

10. Blount Williams

11. Ciaran O'Donnell

12. Daksh Bharadwaj

13. Reyansh Pant

14. Benjamin Inukai

15. Alex Salloum

16. Selwyn Olufemi-Owoeye

G14s Top 16 Seeds (Rome Georgia):

1. Noa Boar

2. Gabrielle Villegas

3. Jessie Janiak

4. Daniella Yogumyan

5. Harshitha Thirugnanam

6. LuLu Shiozawa

7. Emma Li

8. Ashley Wu

9. Christina Li

10. Mary Podkhyneychenko

11. Aarna Patel

12. Chloe Anthony

13. Violetta Li

14. Mikayla Noel

15. Valentina Arlati

16. Victoria Park

G12s Top 16 Seeds (Norcross Georgia)

1. Valentina Singh Carvajal

2. Evita Barjolo

3. Lola Looney

4. Jordyn Cheung

5. Reya Mahadoo

6. Lolita Paley

7. Miyue Tao

8. Grace Goode

9. Aya Iwata

10. Lailah Cowgill

11. Ryan Wilson

12. Audrina Goodman

13. Mandy Wei

14. Nicole Zhang

15. Mia Lurigio

16. Sarah Lee

B12s Top 16 seeds (Mobile Alabama):
1. William Zhou

2. Zephyr Zwicker
3. Caique Cavalcanti
4. Thomas Gamble
5. Jesse Goldman
6. Zachary Burunov
7. Aleksander Denisov
8. John Benedict
9. Louis Lu
10. Dylan Kivov
11. Kevin Wang
12. Satvik Arja
13. Isaac Milner
14. Alexander Yang
15. Reed Kuai
16. AJ Williams

I joined Cracked Racquets' Alex Gruskin yesterday on the Great Shot Podcast to preview the Kalamazoo 16s and 18s and the San Diego 16s and 18s National Championships. That conversation, which begins with the boys, is here.

2026 banners of current ATP Top 100 players when they competed in Kalamazoo
photos courtesy YourGameFace.com

Kalamazoo begins tomorrow morning with first round singles in 16s and 18s in the morning and first round doubles for both divisions in the afternoon. Seeded players and teams will not play until Saturday.

The Girls 16s draw is up now, and the Girls 18s draw should be up shortly.

The USTA's Battle of the Sections concluded this week, with the Missouri Valley boys beating Eastern 4-3 and the Texas girls beating Northern California 7-0 in the finals.

The members of the winning teams are below. Click on the heading to go to the USTA tournament site, which is very difficult to follow for an event like this one.

Missouri Valley[4] d. Eastern[3] 4-3

Coach: Jared Ward

18s:

Micah Ward

Hunter Nelson

Anish Poojari

Austin Potter

16s:

Connor Feehan

Damian Gutheil

Andrew Beltran

Wyatt Markham

Texas[2] d. Northern California[4] 7-0

Coach: John Nallon

18s 

Emily Golovanov

Lauren Nolan

Autumn Xu

Kayden Johnson

16s

Enya Hamilton

Bentley Sparks

Reena Alavalapati

Kshetra Jinukala

USA Teams Advance to Quarterfinals at 14-Under World Tennis Team Event; Kennedy and Hance Top Seeds in Kalamazoo Doubles Draw; San Diego Preview; Wolf and Kalieva Lead USTA's US Open Wild Card Race

The US girls continued their fine form today at the World Tennis 14-and-under team event in Prostejov Czechia, finishing at the top of their group with a 3-0 win over No. 5 seed Korea.  The top-seeded Americans--Nadia Poznick, Isha Manchala and Anna Kapanadze--have yet to lose a match after also blanking Slovakia and Colombia.

Korea did not make the quarterfinals, with Slovakia the other team from the group to advance; other seeded girls teams that did not advance are No. 6 Germany and No. 8 Brazil. No. 2 seed Japan and No. 4 seed did not finish first in their groups, so all four of the top seeds are in the top half, and three of the teams in the bottom half are unseeded.

Girls World Junior Tennis quarterfinals:
USA[1] v China[4]
Japan[2] v Ukraine[3]
Czechia v Sweden
Slovakia v Italy[7]

Japan, the top seed in the boys tournament, did not make it out of group play, losing the tiebreaker to Switzerland and Bulgaria after all three went 2-1 in group play. The other seeded team that did not make the quarterfinals was No. 8 France.

The sixth-seeded boys team from the US--Rex Kuhlman, Max Smith and Evaan Mohan--lost to No. 2 seed Great Britain today 3-0, but they advanced to the quarterfinals as the runnerup in group play.

Boys World Junior Tennis quarterfinals:

Switzerland[5] v Slovakia[4]

USA[6] v Australia[3]

Colombia[7] v Brazil

Great Britain[2] v Bulgaria

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

The doubles draws are out for the USTA Boys 18s and 16s National Championships in Kalamazoo, with 2025 US Open boys doubles champions Keaton Hance and Jack Kennedy the top seeds.  The Top 8 seeds, with the winners receiving a main draw wild card for the US Open men's doubles.

1. Keaton Hance and Jack Kennedy

2. Yannik Alvarez and Noah Johnston

3. Ryan Cozad and Gavin Goode

4. Michael Antonius and Andy Johnson

5. Tanishk Konduri and Marcel Latak

6. Theo Hegarty and Erik Schinnerer

7. Wesley Cotton and William McEwan

8. Ford McCollum and Jack Secord

The Top 8 seeds in the 16 doubles:

1. Mikaeel Alibaig and Ivan Rybak

2. Daniel Malacek and Kamil Stolarczyk

3. Rafael Pawar and Zesen Wang

4. Ethan Turunen and Dylan Warn

5. Alexander Lerman and Aryan Ponugoti

6. Braylon Desquitado and Trishiv Premanand

7. Gadin Arun and Arjun Krishnan

8. Colter Amey and Eli Kaminski

PDFs of the draws can be found at ustaboys.com.

A preview of the USTA Girls 18s and 16s National Championships in San Diego is available here. I need to note that Anita Tu and Lani Chang both withdrew, and I'm not certain of the timing of those withdrawals, so that could be why they were not seeded. But my point stands that a 33 seed or no seeding for Top 100 World Tennis junior players is problematic.

My Kalamazoo preview will be out Friday at the Tennis Recruiting Network.

There are new leaders in the USTA's US Open Wild Card Challenge, with JJ Wolf(Ohio State) taking over the men's top spot after winning the ATP Challenger 125 in Vancouver last weekend. Wolf leads Michael Zheng(Columbia) and Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) with two more weeks to go in the men's race. Zheng qualified for Montreal, but lost in the first round; Martin is playing the Challenger 75 in Lexington this week.

Elivina Kalieva's run to the semifinals of the WTA 250 in Memphis last week moved her past Caroline Dolehide, but just barely, and Kalieva lost in the first round today at the W100 in Landisville Pennsylvania, while Dolehide won her first round match, as did Ayana Akli, now in third place after reaching the final last week at the W75 in Lexington. This is the last week for the women to earn points.

The top of the standings after Week 3:

 

Women's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

 

1. Elvina Kalieva (121) -- 119

2. Caroline Dolehide (256) -- 101
3. Ayana Akli (242) -- 66

 

 

Men's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

 

1. J.J. Wolf (282) -- 147
2. Michael Zheng (113) -- 60
3. Andres Martin (340) -- 57