Girls 18s Champion Jovic Defeats Linette on Good First Day for Americans at US Open; US Open Junior Wild Cards, Mixed Doubles Wild Cards Announced

Iva Jovic, who didn't drop a set in her seven victories at the USTA National 18s Championships in San Diego this month, continued her excellent form this evening at the US Open, defeating WTA No. 42 Magda Linette of Poland 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the second round.

Jovic looked extremely confident throughout the match, with the key game of the first set coming with the 16-year-old from Torrance California serving at 3-2. She fell behind 15-40, but won the next four points to keep her lead. I thought she might regret not converting her set point with Linette serving a 3-5, 30-40, but she closed it out on her serve on her second set point with a good first serve.

The second had just one break of serve, with Linette, who at 32 is twice Jovic's age, losing a long backhand to backhand rally on Jovic second break point of the game to fall behind 4-3. Jovic consolidated for 5-3, then went up 15-40 in Linette's service game, but lost those two match points, with a return error and forehand winner from Linette bringing it back to deuce. But Jovic earned another match point and didn't have to hit another ball, with Linette double faulting to end the match.

Jovic is the first National 18s champion to win a round at the US Open since Kayla Day in 2016, but in her press conference after the match, she sounded almost as if she had expected to win, and as the end of the match approached, Jovic managed to avoid getting tentative or showing any nervousness.

"I just had a plan for what I was going to do before we started, and there weren't many needs for crazy adjustments, because it was going well. I was sticking to it, taking one point at a time. I got a wild card into the tournament I didn't know I was going to play, so I'm surprised and not surprised, but obviously I'm happy."

Jovic, who will play the winner of the match between No. 29 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia and Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria, currently suspended by rain, was one of six American women to advance to the second round with wins today; five US men won their opening matches, including Brandon Nakashima(Virginia), who upset No. 15 seed Holger Rune of Denmark 6-2, 6-1, 6-4. 

Monday's first round matches featuring Americans:

Ben Shelton[13] d. Dominic Thiem[WC](AUT) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2

Taylor Fritz[12] d. Camilo Ugo Carabelli(ARG) 7-5, 6-1, 6-2

Frances Tiafoe[20] d. Aleks Kovacevic 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5

Lorenzo Musetti[18](ITA) d. Reilly Opelka 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-1 7-5

Arthur Rinderknech(FRA) d. Chris Eubanks[WC] 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(8)

Mitchell Krueger[Q] d. Hugo Grenier[Q](FRA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5

Brandon Nakashima d. Holger Rune[15](DEN) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4

Coco Gauff[3] d. Varvara Gracheva(FRA) 6-2, 6-0

Clara Burel(FRA) d. Sloane Stephens 0-6, 7-5, 7-5

Qinwen Zheng[7](CHN) d. Amanda Anisimova[WC] 4-6, 6-4, 6-2

Madison Keys[14] d. Katerina Siniakova(CZE) 6-4, 6-1

Emma Navarro[13] d. Anna Blinkova(RUS) 6-1, 6-1

Peyton Stearns d. Lesia Tsurenko(UKR) 6-1, 7-5

Ajla Tomljanovic(AUS) d. Ann Li[Q] 6-4, 6-4

Marta Kostyuk[10](UKR) d. McCartney Kessler[WC] 6-2, 6-3

Iva Jovic[WC] d. Magda Linette(POL) 6-4, 6-3

Taylor Townsend d. Martina Trevisan(ITA) 6-2, 7-5

Tuesday's first round matches featuring Americans:

Mackenzie McDonald v Jannik Sinner[1](ITA)

Eliot Spizzirri[Q] v Alex Michelsen

Learner Tien[WC] v Arthur Fils[24](FRA)

Tommy Paul[14] v Lorenzo Sonego(ITA)

Sebastian Korda[16] v Corentin Moutet(FRA)

Marcos Giron v Alex De Minaur[10](AUS)

Zachary Svajda[WC] v Matteo Arnaldi[30](ITA)

Matthew Forbes[WC] v Roman Safiullin(RUS)

Ashlyn Krueger v Shuai Zhang(CHN)

Danielle Collins[11] v Caroline Dolehide

Sofia Kenin v Emma Raducanu(GBR)

Jessica Pegula[6] v Shelby Rogers

Alexa Noel[WC] v Sara Sorribes Tormo(ESP)

Bernarda Pera v Anna Bondar(HUN)

Lauren Davis v Anna Kalinskaya[15](RUS)

Katie Volynets v Karolina Muchova(CZE)

Varvara Lepchenko[Q] v Brenda Fruhvirtova(CZE)

Tuesday's schedule for all matches is here.

The wild cards for the US Open Junior Championships have been awarded, although there still may be changes with late withdrawals before Sunday's main draw play.

Main draw:

Boys:

Matthew Forbes

Gus Grumet

Rudy Quan

Kase Schinnerer

Nikita Filin

Matisse Farzam

Benjamin Willwerth

Dominick Mosejczuk

Qualifying:

Kosuke Asada (Japan High School champion)

Krish Arora

Stiles Brockett

Maximus Dussault

Jack Secord

Keaton Hance

Girls:

Main draw:

Iva Jovic

Valerie Glozman

Ishika Ashar

Julieta Pareja

Annika Penickova

Anita Tu

Alanis Hamilton

Shannon Lam

Qualifying:

Hinata Chiba (Japan High School champion)

Welles Newman

Margaret Sohns

Raya Kotseva

Nancy Lee

US Open junior qualifying begins Thursday.

The USTA announced the mixed doubles wild cards, with Jovic, Tyra Grant, Clervie Ngounoue, Kaylan Bigun and Learner Tien the juniors receiving them. Thai Kwiatkowski, Virginia's 2017 NCAA singles champion, announced his retirement from professional tennis last week, and will make his final appearance in mixed doubles with Ashlyn Krueger.

Taylor Townsend and Donald Young
Clervie Ngounoue and Learner Tien
Shelby Rogers and Rob Galloway
Alycia Parks and Jackson Withrow
Maria Mateas and Mackenzie McDonald
Ashlyn Krueger and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski
Tyra Grant and Aleks Kovacevic
Iva Jovic and Kaylan Bigun

Jovic Among 18 Americans in Action Monday at US Open; US Open Doubles Draws; Lammons and Withrow Defend Another ATP Title; Spizzirri Credits College Tennis Atmosphere with Assist in US Open Qualifying Run

USTA National 18s champion Iva Jovic is among 18 Americans on Monday's schedule as the 2024 US Open main draw gets underway at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows New York. The 16-year-old Jovic, currently 387 in the WTA rankings, will face 32-year-old Magda Linette of Poland, who is No. 40, as the third match scheduled for court 15. Coco Gauff begins her title defense on Arthur Ashe second on in the day session, with Ben Shelton opening play on Ashe against 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem of Austria.

Monday's first round matches featuring Americans:
Ben Shelton[13] v Dominic Thiem[WC](AUT)
Taylor Fritz[12] v Camilo Ugo Carabelli(ARG)
Aleks Kovacevic v Frances Tiafoe[20]
Reilly Opelka v Lorenzo Musetti[18](ITA)
Chris Eubanks[WC] v Arthur Rinderknech(FRA)
Mitchell Krueger[Q] v Hugo Grenier[Q](FRA)
Brandon Nakashima v Holger Rune[15](DEN)

Coco Gauff[3] v Varvara Gracheva(FRA)

Sloane Stephens v Clara Burel(FRA)

Amanda Anisimova[WC] v Qinwen Zheng[7](CHN)

Madison Keys[14] v Katerina Siniakova(CZE)

Emma Navarro[13] v Anna Blinkova(RUS)

Peyton Stearns v Lesia Tsurenko(UKR)

Ann Li[Q] v Ajla Tomljanovic(AUS)

McCartney Kessler[WC] v Marta Kostyuk[10](UKR)

Iva Jovic[WC] v Magda Linette(POL)

Taylor Townsend v Martina Trevisan(ITA)

The doubles wild cards were announced Friday, and, unlike the singles wild cards, all went to Americans:

Women's
Jessie Aney and Jessica Failla
Hailey Baptiste and Whitney Osuigwe
Carmen Corley and Ivana Corley
Tyra Grant and Iva Jovic
McCartney Kessler and Sabrina Santamaria
Robin Montgomery and Clervie Ngounoue
Anna Rogers and Alana Smith

Men's
Tristan Boyer and Emilio Nava
Robert Cash and JJ Tracy
Nikita Filin and Alex Razeghi
Christian Harrison and Vasil Kirkov
Mitchell Krueger and Reese Stalder
Alex Michelsen and Mackenzie McDonald
Ryan Seggerman and Patrik Trhac

Although doubles matches will not begin until Wednesday, the draws have been released, with Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horatio Zeballos of Argentina the top men's seeds, and Gabby Dabrowski of Canada and Erin Routliffe(Alabama) of New Zealand the top women's seeds.

Ohio State's NCAA champions Robert Cash and JJ Tracy will face Sumit Nagal of India and Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan in the first round.

Kalamazoo 18s champions Alex Razeghi and Nikita Filin will play Nicolas Barrientos of Colombia and Skander Mansouri of Tunisia in the first round.

San Diego 18s champions Jovic and Tyra Grant also drew an unseeded team in Anna Danilina(Florida) of Kazakhstan and Irina Khromacheva of Russia for their first round match.

Speaking of doubles, No. 13 seeds at the US Open, Jackson Withrow(Texas A&M) and Nathaniel Lammons(SMU), defended their title at the Winston-Salem Open yesterday, with the No. 4 seeds beating unseeded Julian Cash(Mississippi St, Oklahoma St) of Great Britain and Robert Galloway(Wofford) 6-4, 6-3 in the final. It's the third title of this summer's hard court season for Withrow and Lammons, who also defended their title in Atlanta and claimed their biggest title at the ATP 500 in Washington DC.

For more on their most recent title, see this article from the ATP website.

Alex Michelsen advanced to his first ATP final not on grass in Winston-Salem, but the 20-year-old from Southern California lost to Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 6-0, 6-3.

Michelsen's opponent in the US Open Tuesday will be qualifier Eliot Spizzirri, the two-time ITA National Player of the Year, who just completed his eligibility at Texas in May. A wild card into qualifying, Spizzirri defeated Gregoire Barrere of France, Joris DeLoore of Belgium and 2023 US Open boys champion Joao Fonseca of Brazil to reach the main draw for the first time in three attempts. 

This article from the US Open website quotes Spizzirri's reference to his college experience as helping him cope with the pro-Fonseca crowd, which. if you saw any of Fonseca's junior matches last year, you would agree is loud, passionate and formidable.

My colleague Michael Lewis(no relation), who was onsite covering the qualifying, also provided a quote from Spizzirri on the time he spend as a young junior at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, with a reference to 2013 Kalamazoo champion Collin Altamirano(Virginia), who played the US Open main draw that year and the qualifying tournament the following year.

Yeah it's crazy, I used to sneak around here all the time, I knew the entrances and exits to all the gyms; I've been going to this tournament since as young as I can remember.

Even my first-round qualies this year playing on 17; probably my most ingrained memory of watching US Open qualies was watching (Collin) Altamirano on that court when I was super young; And just being in awe of that level of tennis, and how badly I wanted to do that.

So for my first round here this year, to get a chance to do that, was already fulfilling a huge dream of mine. To make the main draw is surreal. I'm going to try to enjoy it.

Most special thing is my friends and family being here also.

Spain's Jodar and Serbia's Kostovic Claim ITF J300 Titles at Prince George's County International Championships College Park; Kessler Wins WTA Title in Cleveland

©Colette Lewis 2024--
College Park MD--

Playing in International Tennis Federation J300 finals is nothing new for Spain's Rafael Jodar and Serbia's Teodora Kostovic, and they used that edge in experience to defeat their physically compromised opponents on a warm and sunny Saturday at the Junior Tennis Champions Center stadium court.

No. 5 seed Jodar is now a perfect four-for-four in ITF J300 finals, beating No. 14 seed Charlie Robertson of Great Britain 6-3, 6-1 to add a hard court J300 title to the grass court title he earned over Robertston last month at Roehampton.

Jodar got the break with Robertson serving at 2-3, and was not threatened on serve, with Robertson failing to get a look at a single break point in the match.

Robertson's speed makes employing the drop shot a tricky proposition, but with Jodar's penetrating ground strokes keeping Robertson back at the baseline, clean winners were the result of the handful of attempts Jodar made.  

After each player got a service hold to open the second set, Robertson was broken at love in the third game, with his service motion deteriorating on every attempt. He took a medical timeout and the trainer worked on his lower back, but the five-minute delay didn't bother Jodar, who held at love for a 3-1 lead.

"It's been through the whole week, but it kept getting worse and worse," the 17-year-old from Scotland said. "Having a three-setter yesterday made it worse, and I didn't feel great out there. My strength is my physicality on court and I couldn't really move. I would have put more balls in the court and mixed it up a bit more, that would have been my strategy, but it was tricky out there."

With his back problems, Robertson resorted to an underhand serve on a couple of occasions, which he said he had done before, but only when he has an injury, not when fully fit.

Those attempts didn't prove successful against Jodar, who continued to take advantage of the lack of pace on Robertson's serve, breaking him for the fourth time in the match to claim the title.

"Charlie is a good player so I knew it was going to be a hard match, but I felt I was playing good from the first point," said Jodar, who did not drop a set in his five victories. "I played really well, to be honest."

Jodar said that he hoped Robertson would be fully recovered for the US Open Junior Championships, which begin a week from tomorrow, while liking his own chances to contend in New York after this title.

"My confidence is very high," said Jodar, who turns 18 next month and is scheduled to enroll at the University of Virginia in January. "This is very good preparation for the US Open, that I could play five matches on hard court, with same conditions as New York, so it's going to be exciting to be there at US Open in my last grand slam. I'm proud of myself for all the work I've been doing the last couple of months, and hope to keep this level at the US Open."

The second-seeded Kostovic was playing in her seventh J300 final, and now has her fifth title with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over No. 12 seed Thea Frodin, who was feeling the affects of four consecutive three-set matches.

Kostovic led from the opening game, when she broke serve, although Frodin raised her game in the late stages of the first set, breaking Kostovic when she was serving for the set at 5-4.

Frodin couldn't take her first lead however, dropping serve to give Kostovic another chance to servei t out, and, with the help of a net cord ace, she held.

"I was trying to just stay calm," said Kostovic, who like, Jodar, won the singles title at the J300 in Roehampton last month. "I know I can play a good level of tennis all the time, but I'm still young and working on that. It's hard to be focused 100 percent, but if I drop my level a little bit, I come back, and that's what I did."

Frodin was again broken to open the second set, and again in the third game, with two doubles faults in each of those games contributing to the eventual 4-0 deficit she faced.

"I can't just blame it on my tiredness," said the 15-year-old from California. "There were some things that didn't go as well as I would have hoped in the finals, but Teodora is a good player, and it's hard when you get farther behind against a good player like her. I will blame my serving on my tiredness, I had a hard time pushing up because my legs were feeling it."

Frodin held for 4-1, despite another double fault, and got a break to make it 4-2, but Kostovic didn't seem fazed by losing the five-deuce game.

"I was ok about that," said Kostovic, who had beaten Frodin in the semifinals at the Indian Wells J300 in March. "If I lost two games, I know I'm going to take another one, just looking forward for the next point. I am very happy with my performance today."

Kostovic broke Frodin in the next game, after Frodin had led 40-0, and she closed out the title on her first match point.

Kostovic, who is traveling with the ITF Grand Slam Player Development Programme Touring Team, now turns her attention to the US Open, hoping to improve on her best finish at a junior slam, which was the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last month.

"I'm looking for the US Open to take that title," said the 17-year-old, who will train at the JTCC in the week prior to the US Open junior championships. "I don't care to celebrate here. I was here to pick up the base on the hard court from the clay court--I need to say that now I have a title on every surface--so now I have a lot of confidence in my tennis on every surface."

Frodin is heading to Orlando to prepare for the US Open with the National coaches who were assisting her in College Park.

"I going to take away all the positives from this tournament because there were a lot," said Frodin, who saved five match points in her third round win over No. 5 seed Sonja Zhiyenbayeva of Kazakhstan. "I'm going to the US Open with the same mindset, the same mentality as I did this tournament, because it got me far."

The girls doubles championship, played at the same time as the boys singles final, went to No. 4 seeds Maya Iyengar of the United States and Sonja Zhiyenbayeva of Kazakhstan, who defeated the unseeded American team of Claire An and Alanis Hamilton 7-6(5), 6-4. 

Iyengar, who reached the doubles final of the USTA National 18s in San Diego two weeks ago with Victoria Osuigwe, and Zhiyenbayeva had played together only once before, at last year's J300 in Canada the week before the US Open Junior Championships. They reached the semifinals there, so when Zhiyenbayeva was looking for a partner for the US hard court swing, she contacted Iyengar, and they clicked immediately this week.

They lost only five games in their first two victories and knocked out top seeds Emerson Jones of Australia and Kostovic 6-0, 6-3 in Friday's semifinals. Although they were happy to get the win, they didn't feel their level was as high as it had been in the three previous victories.

"To be honest I don't think we played our best today," said Iyengar, a 17-year-old from Arizona. "The worst of the week I would say. I think because Alanis is poaching and serving and volleying a lot, it's a little bit different. But we did good in the tiebreaker."

"We don't really get negative," said Zhiyenbayeva, who beat Iyengar in the second round of singles. "We go down for a short period of time, but it's easy to get out of it," Iyengar added.

Even without much history, Iyengar and Zhiyenbayeva have found they mesh well.

"I think we're both pretty aggressive and we're both pretty chill," Iyengar said. "We're really calm, don't care really, just play," said Zhiyenbayeva.

"Together, we're calm," said Iyengar. "She's really calm, I think she's not even trying sometimes, but that helps me."

The pair hope to play together at the US Open but with Iyengar in qualifying there, they may not get in if she doesn't qualify.

The boys doubles champions are building quite a resume, with Alex Razeghi of the United States and Max Schoenhaus of Germany adding the College Park title to the Wimbledon championship they won last month.

Razeghi and Schoenhaus, the No. 3 seeds, defeated No. 5 seeds Oliver Bonding and Robertson of Great Britain 7-6(3), 6-3.

The tiebreaker went to Razeghi and Schoenhaus when Bonding missed a volley to make it 5-3 and Schoenhaus crushed a one-handed backhand return of a Bonding first serve for a winner that gave them three set points. They converted the first, took a 3-1 lead, lost the break, but immediately got it back and closed out their last two service games without losing a point.

The tournament ended for them much better than it started, when they drew Kalamazoo 18s semifinalists Ian Mayew and Kase Schinnerer in the second round, and trailed 6-1 in the second set tiebreaker before taking a 4-6, 7-6(7), 10-5 decision.

"We saved six match points in our first match, so it was a bit rough," said Razeghi, who partnered with Schoenhaus for the first time at Roland Garros and reached the semifinals. "But this is our time on a hard court together. We have good chemistry and there's just something inside of us, we just win."

"First tournament on hard court and it worked really well," said Schoenhaus. "Hopefully we can hold that level."

As for Bonding and Robertson, Schoenhaus said he was aware of the physical limitations of Robertson.

"They actually played pretty good, I heard of Charlie's back in the final, he had a big tournament in singles also," said Schoenhaus. "It's stress for him. I think they played a pretty decent level, but could have played better if Charlie wasn't in the final before."

Razeghi and Schoenhaus hope to continue their winning streak at the US Open junior championships, but before that, Razeghi will play in the main draw of the men's doubles next week, with Nikita Filin. Razeghi and Filin received the wild card for capturing the Kalamazoo 18s title, which puts Razeghi's personal doubles winning streak at 15 since the first of July.

For complete draws, see the JTCC ITF tournament page.

Replays of both singles finals and the boys doubles final can be found at the JTCC YouTube Channel.

Former Florida All-American McCartney Kessler received a wild card into the US Open after winning the W100 in Landesville Pennsylvania this month and reaching the WTA Top 100. That wild card allowed her to accept another one this week into the WTA 250 in Cleveland, rather than play in the US Open qualifying, and she made the most of it, winning the title today with a 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 win over top seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil. Four of Kessler's five wins came in three sets, three of them from a set down, but she is now up to 63 in the WTA live rankings.

Last fall I spoke with Kessler at the WTA 125 in Midland about her rapid rise since deciding to give pro tennis a try after her collegiate career ended, and compiled this interview with her for the Tennis Recruiting Network.

For more on today's final, see this article from the WTA website.

Jodar and Robertson Meet for ITF J300 Boys Title; Frodin and Kostovic Play for Girls Championship Saturday in College Park

©Colette Lewis 2024--
College Park Maryland--

No. 12 seed Thea Frodin of the United States and and No. 14 seed Charlie Robertson of Great Britain will be looking to avenge earlier losses this year when they face No. 2 seed Teodora Kostovic of Serbia and No. 5 seed Rafael Jodar of Spain in Saturday's finals at the ITF J300 at the Junior Tennis Champions Center.

Both reached the finals with three-set victories on a clear and comfortable Friday; Frodin took out unseeded Ksenia Efremova of France 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Robertson defeated No. 11 seed Thomas Faurel of France 6-1, 2-6, 6-0.

Robertson admitted he had a mental lapse that cost him the second set.

"I got off to a good start and then relaxed a bit too much and thought, no way this guy comes back," sais the 17-year-old from Scotland. "I just completely switched off, wasn't very good, but I reset and I'm happy with the way I finished."

Robertson didn't see any change in Faurel's level in the second set, so was confident he'd prevail if he could eliminate his errors.

"When I was serving well, being solid and when I was aggressive, I always hit a winner, he couldn't do much," said Robertson, who has a fan club of young players who train at JTCC. "All he had against me in the second set was I just missed. He didn't do anything, it was just all me. So I just flipped that around, was more patient, and when I had the opportunity I went with bigger margins and it worked."

Robertson garnered his fans with his third round win over top seed Rei Sakamoto, and they have continued to support him in his next two victories.

"When I won that match on Center Court, there were a lot of kids supporting me," Robertson said. "I went up to them, let them know I appreciated it and now they're all here and I'm absolutely loving them, it's so nice."

Robertson has been taken under the wing of another Scottish player, the recently retired Andy Murray.

"I got to spend time with Andy, which is pretty cool, and we've built a relationship," Robertson said. "He's a very generous guy, he's been helping me a lot. During the grass season I was hitting with him, obviously he was still playing, and I just got to be around him, it was cool to see how he works. He's an incredible player, obviously, and an incredible guy, so it's cool to be around him and take things I can fit into my game also."

Robertson will be looking to avenge his loss in the only other J300 final he's played, falling to Jodar 7-6(7), 6-4 two months ago at Roehampton.

Jodar earned his fourth trip to a J300 final, finishing as champion in his first three, with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over No. 4 seed Jagger Leach.

The margins were exceedingly thin in the first set, with Leach failing to convert two break points in the only deuce game of the set, with Jodar serving at 3-3.

With both players serving well and ending points with winners, there was no clear advantage to either, but when Jodar earned his first break point, with Leach serving at 5-6, he converted it with a backhand winner, a shot that is as dangerous as any in junior tennis right now.

Jodar held in a deuce game to open the second set, and again was able to convert his first break point in the second game of the set to take a 2-0 lead. Jodar began to find his rhythm on return and by continuing to keep his big groundstrokes deep, he gave Leach little opportunity to attack.

Leach eventually did break Jodar, but the 17-year-old from Spain led 4-0 by that time and broke Leach for the fourth time in the match to end it.

"I handled the important moments very well and I'm happy with my level today," said the 17-year-old, who is expected to join the Virginia Cavaliers in January.  "In the first set, it was just one chance and I made it. I knew from the first that it was going to be very tough match, because he served really well. I was just trying to get the return in."

Jodar's win over Robertson in the Roehampton final was indoors, after rain forced the move from the grass.

"We had to go indoors, so it's going to be a different match," Jodar said. "The same opponent but different conditions, so we'll see how it goes."

Frodin has dropped the first set in her last three matches, but she's shown her resilience each time, including in her 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over unseeded Ksenia Efremova of France. 

The two 15-year-olds were at 4-4 in the third set, with Efremova serving, when the drama began to build. Efremova had three game points to take a 5-4 lead, but Frodin saved two with forehand winners, while Efremova made an unforced error on the forehand on the other. After one long rally, Efremova walked to her chair for no discernable reason, taking a drink before returning to her position, but didn't appear to have been given a time violation by the chair umpire, although one was clearly warranted.

Frodin appeared completely unbothered by the pause, perhaps grateful herself for the chance to reset after the grueling point, but she was also determined not to display any emotions that might fuel Efremova.

"I strongly believe that if I overreact, I just give her more than she's already taking from me," Frodin said. "In the moment it's tough to hold yourself composed, but as much as I want to let out how I'm feeling I know that if I at least pretend I'm not bothered by it, it almost helps me believe it."

After the fourth deuce, Efremova double faulted, then made a backhand error, giving Frodin the chance to serve for the match.

The game started with a double fault, but Frodin got it to 40-30, only to have Efremova deny that match point with a backhand winner and earn a break point with a good return. But Frodin hung tough, hitting forehand winner to save it, and getting a error from Efremova when she had earned another break point. A good first serve gave Frodin a second match point, and this time she converted it with her forehand forcing an error from Efremova.

"I realized at the end that she was waiting for me to miss," said Frodin, who has advanced to her second J300 final with the win. "So if I could keep the ball in play until I had the right shot, I'd be all right. Most of the points she had towards the end was because I was going for too much, or I was missing. So I tried to put the ball in the court in the beginning of the point until I found a ball to really go for it on."

Frodin has been working on her mental game and is proud of how it has held up under pressure.

"She can get in your head, but honestly, kudos to her," Frodin said. "She finds every way to win, and that's tennis and that's what you have to do. She's a super good player, she grinds and fights until the end, so I think you have to be tough, mentally strong to play her. It takes a lot to get to that point."

Frodin will play Kostovic for a second time, having lost to her 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals of the ITF J300 in Indian Wells in March. 

"I like to think I've improved since the last time I played her," Frodin said. "But I'm going to watch a couple of her matches from the past, see how I want to go into it."

Kostovic is going into the final with confidence, with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 3 seed Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria, who had beaten her in their two previous meetings.

"The last time, it was semifinal J300 also, in Bulgaria, but I am working very hard on my mentality and my tennis game. Today I was very focused from the first point, and that's the only way to beat players like her, good on the baseline, put every ball back in the court, I feel sometimes I am playing against the wall."

Dencheva got very few first serves in, which gave Kostovic the opportunities she was looking for.

"Her serve is same as two years ago or one year ago," Kostovic said. "But you need to approach that serve, you need to be aggressive, because if you're not aggressive, she'll take the ball and move you around, so you need to take action."

Kostovic didn't know she would be facing Frodin again, but was not concerned about her opponent in the final.

"For me it doesn't matter," said Kostovic. "I'm focused on my game and what I can do on the court, not on the opponent, not on the referees, just on myself. I improve a lot, physically, mentally, but especially mentally and I'm proud of that. A lot of people have come to me and told me that and I'm very happy about that."

The doubles finals are set, with three seeded teams advancing to the championship matches Sunday.

In the girls doubles final, No. 4 seeds Maya Iyengar of the United States and Sonja Zhiyenbayeva of Kazakhstan will face the unseeded team of Alanis Hamilton and Claire An for the title. Iyengar and Zhiyenbayeva defeated top seeds Emerson Jones of Australia and Kostovic 6-0, 6-3, while Hamilton and An took out another unseeded American team, Eva Oxford and Isabelle De Luccia 6-2, 6-2.

Wimbledon boys doubles champions Alex Razeghi of the United States and Max Schoenhaus of Germany will try to extend their winning streak, after the No. 3 seeds beat No. 2 seeds Faurel and Rei Sakamoto of Japan 6-3, 6-2. Since their title in London, Razeghi also has won the USTA 18s Nationals, with Nikita Filin, and will be playing next week in the men's main draw at the US Open.

 

Saturday they will play No. 5 seeds Robertson and Oliver Bonding of Great Britain, who defeated the unseeded Canadian team of Mikael and Nicolas Arseneault 6-7(6), 6-2, 10-7.

Live streaming of the singles finals, which begin at 10 a.m. with the boys final, will be available at the JTCC ITF 300 YouTube channel. The links to live scoring, draws and the order of play can be found at the JTCC ITF tournament page.

Faurel Saves Three Match Points to Advance to Semifinals at ITF J300 College Park; USA's Frodin and Leach Advance to Final Four; Four Americans Qualify for US Open; 38 Americans in Men's and Women's Singles Draws

©Colette Lewis 2024--

College Park MD--

There's been no dearth of third-set tiebreakers this week at the ITF J300 at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, and that trend continued today, with No. 11 seed Thomas Faurel of France saving three match points in his 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(2) win over No. 3 seed Amir Omarkhanov of Kazakhstan.

Faurel could have let down emotionally after Omarkhanov saved four match points serving at 4-5 in the third set, but the shots that Omarkhanov hit to save the match points--a forehand that forced an error, a service winner, an ace and a backhand volley winner--mitigated any frustration he might have felt.

"It's always easier to forget about it when the other person played well and there isn't really much you could do," said the 18-year-old, who plans to join the Kentucky Wildcats in January.

"The four match points he had he made four great first serves, two of them were aces, I'm pretty sure."

Faurel was then broken, giving Omarkhanov the chance to serve for the set, but his first serve deserted him after getting to 40-15 with a first serve and plus-one forehand winner. Faurel saved those two match points with an overhead winner and a forehand that forced an error, but had to save another after Omarkhanov's forehand forced an error from him. But Omarkhanov shanked a forehand, and missed his next four first serves, which was instrumental in Faurel taking control in the tiebreaker. 

"When he was serving at 6-5, he barely made any first serves, and for the rest of the match," Faurel saidl. "It was a great help for me, because I was able to immediately get off to a good start in the point, attacking his second serve, so that definitely helped."

Having fought off three match points, Faurel was a bit more relaxed heading into the tiebreaker. 

"I definitely felt loose," Faurel said. "Especially when you save match points on your opponent's serve you play the tiebreak like you have nothing to lose. You're just going for it, and today it all worked."

Omarkhanov's serve went from bad to worse in the tiebreaker, with two double faults giving Faurel a 5-1 lead. Down 6-1, Omarkhanov hit a forehand winner to save his fifth match point of the day, but Faurel ended the three-hour match with a good first serve that Omarkhanov couldn't get in play.

He will play No. 14 seed Charlie Robertson of Great Britain, who defeated 2023 College Park finalist Alex Razeghi, the No. 10 seed, 7-5, 6-2.  Robertson defeated Faurel 6-1, 6-1 in the second round of the Orange Bowl last December in their only meeting on the ITF Junior Circuit.

No. 5 seed Rafael Jodar of Spain took out No. 2 seed Hayden Jones 7-5, 6-3, with University of Virginia head coach Andres Pedroso watching his January 2025 recruit from the sidelines. Jodar will face No. 4 seed Jagger Leach, who overcame a slight hiccup in late stages of his quarterfinal with No. 7 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia 6-1, 7-5.

After saving five match points in her round of 16 win over No. 5 seed Sonja Zhiyenbayeva of Kazakhstan, No. 12 seed Thea Frodin had a less dramatic finish to her match today with No. 4 seed Antonia Vergara Rivera of Chile. Frodin trailed 4-1 early and lost the first set 6-3, but came back to take the next two sets 6-2, 6-1 to advance to her fourth J300 semifinal of the year.  

It will be a battle of 15-year-olds in the top half semifinal, when Frodin takes on unseeded Ksenia Efremova of France. Efremova, who took out top seed Emerson Jones of Australia in the second round, beat unseeded Alanis Hamilton 6-4, 7-5.

In the bottom half, No. 2 seed Teodora Kostovic of Serbia and No. 3 seed Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria will renew their rivalry, which dates back to 2022. Kostovic defeated No. 7 seed Yelyzaveta Kotliar of Ukraine 6-4, 6-0 in today's quarterfinals, while Dencheva beat unseeded Shiho Tsujioka of Japan 6-3, 6-2. Dencheva and Kostovic have played four times, all at J300 or higher events, with Kostovic winning the first two meetings and Dencheva the most recent two, including in the semifinals of a J300 in Bulgaria in April. 

The doubles semifinals are also on tap for Friday, with three of the eight remaining teams unseeded.

Jones and Kostovic, the No. 1 seeds, will face No. 4 seeds Maya Iyengar and Zhiyenbayeva in one semifinal; in the other, unseeded Claire An and Alanis Hamilton will play unseeded Isabelle DeLuccia and Eva Oxford.

In the boys semifinals, Wimbledon champions and No. 3 seeds Max Schoenhaus and Razeghi will play No. 2 seeds Rei Sakamoto of Japan and Faurel. The unseeded team of Nicolas and Mikael Arseneault of Canada, who defeated No. 4 seeds and Australian Open champions Cooper Woestendick and Max Exsted, will face No. 5 seeds Oliver Bonding and Robertson, who took out top seeds Leach and Jones 7-6(5), 7-6(6).

Links to live streaming, live scoring, draws and Friday's order of play can be found at the JTCC ITF tournament page.

Four of the forty Americans who began US Open qualifying this week have advanced to the main draw: Mitchell Krueger, Eliot Spizzirri, Ann Li and Varvara Lepchenko. 

Krueger defeated Maximilian Marterer of Germany 6-4, 6-2 to reach his first slam main draw since the US Open in 2020. The 30-year-old Texan will play fellow qualifier Hugo Grenier of France in the first round.

Spizzirri won one of the most exciting matches of the qualifying today, beating 2023 US Open boys champion Joao Fonseca of Brazil 7-6(8), 6-7(5), 6-4 on a packed show court five. The two-time ITA Player of the Year at Texas will make his slam debut against Alex Michelsen.

Ann Li, 24, defeated Lea Boskovic of Croatia 7-5, 6-3 to make her first slam main draw since 2022; she will play Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in the first round. Varvara Lepchenko, 38, is back in the main draw of a slam for the first time since 2021, beating Despina Papamichail of Greece 6-3, 6-3 in the final round of qualifying today. She will face 17-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic in the first round.

Another qualifier of note is Maya Joint of Australia, who is scheduled to enroll at the University of Texas. The 18-year-old, who grew up in Michigan and switched to representing Australia last year, defeated Hailey Baptiste 6-2, 6-1 to earn her first berth in a slam main draw. Joint, who lost in the final round of qualifying at the Australian Open this year, will play 36-year-old Laura Siegemund of Germany in the first round.

The singles draws for both men and women were released today, with the men's here and the women's here.

The first round matches for all 38 Americans, 21 women and 18 men:

Ashlyn Krueger v Shuai Zhang(CHN)

Danielle Collins[11] v Caroline Dolehide

Sofia Kenin v Emma Raducanu(GBR)

Jessica Pegula[6] v Shelby Rogers

Alexa Noel[WC] v Sara Sorribes Tormo(ESP)

Bernarda Pera v Anna Bondar(HUN)

Lauren Davis v Anna Kalinskaya(RUS)

Katie Volynets v Karolina Muchova(CZE)

Varvara Lepchenko[Q] v Brenda Fruhvirtova(CZE)

Taylor Townsend v Martina Trevisan(ITA)

Sloane Stephens v Clara Burel(FRA)

Emma Navarro[13] v Anna Blinkova(RUS)

McCartney Kessler[WC] v Marta Kostyuk[19](UKR)

Coco Gauff[3] v Varvara Gracheva(FRA)

Amanda Anisimova[WC] v Qinwen Zheng[7](CHN)

Peyton Stearns v Lesia Tsurenko(UKR)

Madison Keys[14] v Katerina Siniakova(CZE)

Ann Li[Q] v Ajla Tomljanovic(AUS)

Iva Jovic[WC] v Magda Linette(POL)

Men:

Mackenzie McDonald v Jannik Sinner[1](ITA)

Eliot Spizzirri[Q] v Alex Michelsen

Learner Tien[WC] v Arthur Fils[24](FRA)

Tommy Paul[14] v Lorenzo Sonego(ITA)

Sebastian Korda[16] v Corentin Moutet(FRA)

Marcos Giron v Alex De Minaur[10](AUS)

Zachary Svajda[WC] v Matteo Arnaldi[30](ITA)

Matthew Forbes[WC] v Roman Safiullin(RUS)

Taylor Fritz[12] v Camilo Ugo Carabelli(ARG)

Brandon Nakashima v Holger Rune[15](DEN)

Reilly Opelka v Lorenzo Musetti[18](ITA)

Christopher Eubanks[WC] v Arthur Rinderknech(FRA)

Mitchell Krueger[Q] v Hugo Grenier[Q](FRA)

Ben Shelton[13] v Dominic Thiem[WC](AUT)

Aleks Kovacevic v Frances Tiafoe

Robertson Defeats Top Seed Sakamoto, Frodin Saves Five Match Points to Reach ITF J300 College Park Quarterfinals; 15-Year-Old Pareja Makes Final Round of US Open Qualifying; Tien Advances to Quarterfinals at ATP Winston-Salem

©Colette Lewis 2024--
College Park MD--

The hot and humid conditions that competitors in the ITF J300 in College Park usually confront have been absent the past two days, with ideal weather Wednesday for the first meeting between seeds.  A day after top seed and two-time girls slam finalist Emerson Jones exited, the No. 1 boys seed, Australian Open champion Rei Sakamoto of Japan was eliminated, with No. 14 seed Charlie Robertson of Great Britain coming back from 4-0 down in the third set to claim a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) victory.

Robertson managed to stay positive when he was down early in the third set, and he won five games in a row to put all the pressure back on Sakamoto.

"All the games were really tight, I had a couple of chances, break points, so I knew I was close," said the 17-year-old from Scotland, who is No. 30 in the ITF junior rankings. "I stuck in and kept going and the games started going my way and I turned the match around."

Although Sakamoto is much more physically imposing than Robertson, Robertson was the one more interested in prolonging points.

"I felt like at the start there were a few points where I made some cheap mistakes, but I started to become more solid," Robertson said. "I got more physical on court and he didn't like that as much and he started to miss, so that's what changed the match a little bit."

Robertson also changed his strategy when it came to handling Sakamoto's potent serve.

"At the start, I was more up on the court and I was struggling with that," said Robertson, who hadn't played Sakamoto before today. "And then I began to go further back and I made a lot more returns, got me in points and that's where I was doing the damage."

After Sakamoto held to force the tiebreaker, the first three points went to the returner before Robertson held his two serves for a 4-1 lead. Sakamoto got as close as 4-3, but Robertson stayed in front with a deep second serve that Sakamoto couldn't get back in play.  Robertson's unexpected backhand stop volley winner, perfectly executed, gave him three match points and he converted the first, with Sakamoto's backhand going wide.

"I thought I played some brave points and also some very solid points, which I'm pretty happy with," Robertson said of his level in the tiebreaker. "To get it pretty comfy in the tiebreak, I was really happy."

Robertson will next play 2023 College Park finalist and No. 10 seed Alex Razeghi, who played a level of tennis in his 6-4, 6-3 win over Marko Maksimovic that had the eighth-seeded Serbian often gesturing in frustration. The two played in the second round of Roland Garros this year, with Robertson winning 6-2, 7-6(4).

In the other quarterfinal in the top half, No. 3 seed Amir Omarkhanov will face No. 11 seed Thomas Faurel of France. Omarkhanov survived a serious bout of cramps in the final set to take a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 decision over unseeded Nicolas Arseneault of Canada in a three-hour and 10-minute marathon.  Faurel, a risng freshman at Kentucky, defeated No. 6 seed Cooper Woestendick 6-4, 6-3.

No. 4 seed Jagger Leach, recovered from the elbow injury that kept him from playing Kalamazoo earlier this month, defeated No. 16 seed Daniil Sarksian of Russia 6-3, 7-6(3) and will play No. 7 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia. Tobon beat Tianhui Zhang of China 6-4, 6-4. 

In the bottom quarter, No. 2 seed Hayden Jones of Australia will play No. 5 seed Rafael Jodar of Spain after Jones defeated unseeded Ludwig Hede of Sweden 7-5, 6-4 and Jodar, who is joining the University of Virginia this coming January, beating No. 9 seed Max Schoenhaus of Germany 6-3, 6-1.

The other round of 16 match that finished in a third set tiebreaker came in the girls draw, and it was even more dramatic. No. 5 seed Sonja Zhiyenbayeva of Kazakhstan was serving at 5-4 40-0 in the third set against No. 12 seed Thea Frodin, but Frodin escaped with a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5) victory.

"At 40-0 she was serving, I got it back to deuce and then she had two more ad-ins," said Frodin, a 15-year-old from California, who trains with the USTA in Orlando. "I managed to save them both, I don't know how I did it."

Frodin didn't start the deciding tiebreaker auspiciously, with a double fault, but her backhand began heating up at 2-all, with two clean winners and a forced error from her backhand making it 5-2. Zhiyenbayeva got one of the mini-breaks back with a forehand winner, but Frodin earned three match points with a forehand winner of her own. Zhiyenbayeva held both her serves to save the first two match points, but Frodin's topspin forehand deep in deuce corner sealed the win.

Being so close to a loss, Frodin said she learned a lot from this particular win.

"Matches in the past, where I've been down, I've kind of given up a little bit," Frodin said. "Having that feeling of not wanting to play anymore because I'm quote unquote too far away to come back.  But this match showed that anything can happen, and there's a lot of positives to take away from the match. I'm proud of myself because I fought until the end. And I think I need to get used to doing that more."

Frodin's opponent in the quarterfinals is No. 4 seed Antonia Vergara Rivera of Chile, who also had to come from a set down, beating USC rising freshman Jana Hossam Salah of Egypt 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. 

The other American girl in the quarterfinals is unseeded Alanis Hamilton, who ended the run of qualifier Brooke Wallman 6-1, 6-4. Hamilton will play unseeded Ksenia Efremova of France, who defeated No. 16 seed Claire An 6-4, 6-3. 

The third unseeded player is in the bottom half, with Shiho Tsujioka of Japan advancing to a meeting with No. 3 seed Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria. Tsujioka defeated unseeded Trinetra Vijayakumar 6-3, 6-2 and Dencheva beat No. 14 seed Nellie Taraba Wallberg of Sweden 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.

The only quarterfinal that is as projected by the seeds is No. 2 seed Teodora Kostovic of Serbia against No. 7 seed Yelyzaveta Kotliar of Ukraine. Kostovic defeated No. 15 seed Shannon Lam 6-4, 6-3 and Kotliar took out qualifier Kristina Liutova of Russia 6-2, 6-2.

The seeded doubles teams were in action for the first time in today's second round, with four girls and one boys seeds losing. 

Isabelle DeLuccia and Eva Oxford, the last team accepted into the main draw, defeated No. 2 seeds Dencheva and Vergara Rivera 6-3, 6-2, and An and Hamilton beat No. 3 seeds Kotliar and Monika Stankiewicz of Poland 3-6, 6-0, 10-6.

Links to Thursday's draws, order of play, live scoring and live streaming are available at the JTCC ITF tournament page.

Among the ten Americans to advance to Thursday's final round of qualifying at the US Open are two teenage wild cards.  Fifteen-year-old Julieta Pareja, who has yet to crack the ITF Junior Top 100, defeated WTA 164 Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-4 to reach the final round of women's qualifying, where she'll play Kimberly Birrell of Australia. 

Nineteen-year-old Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford), who was playing in the US Open junior championships at this time last year, defeated Alex Bolt of Australia 7-6(4), 7-6(2) to advance to a meeting with Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia for a place in the main draw. The men's qualifying draw is here.

Other Americans to advance to the final round of qualifying are recent Texas graduate Eliot Spizzirri, Mitchell Krueger, Maxime Cressy(UCLA), Usue Arconada, Ann Li, Varvara Lepchenko, Hailey Baptise and Elli Mandlik. Baptiste will play rising University of Texas freshman Maya Joint of Australia and Spizzirri's opponent is 2023 US Open boys champion Joao Fonseca of Brazil.

Thursday's order of play is here.

Two-time Kalamazoo champions went 1-1 in the round of 16 today at the ATP 250 Winston-Salem. Zachary Svjada, a lucky loser, was beaten by No. 15 seed Pavel Kotov of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; qualifier Learner Tien(USC) defeated Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil 6-4, 6-3. Tien, who has now broken into the ATP Top 200 in the live rankings, plays the winner of tonight's late match between wild card Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain and Aleks Vukic(Illinois) of Australia.

For more on the Americans' wins today, including that of No. 11 seed Alex Michelsen, who, like Tien, trains at the Tier 1 Performance Tennis Academy in Southern California, see this article from the ATP website.