USA Teams Go 4-0 on Opening Day of ITF Junior Davis Cup, Bille Jean King Cup and World Junior Tennis North and Central American Qualifying; David Filer Memorial Court Established at Lake Nona; JTCC, Minor Family Among USTA Grassroots Award Winners

The favored United States teams won all four of their matches Wednesday in the opening day of the ITF North and Central America and Caribbean qualifying for the U16 and U14 team events that take place later this summer and fall.

The USTA is hosting the three-day event at the National Campus in Lake Nona, with the top two finishers from the four-team events advancing to the international Junior Davis Cup, Junior Billie Jean King Cup and World Junior Tennis finals.

The United States won their first matches in the World Junior Tennis competition for 14-and-under players without any trouble, going 3-0 and losing only 11 games total. 

United States d. Mexico 3-0 WJT girls:

No. 2 singles: Maggie Sohns d. Monserrat Temprana Falco 6-2, 6-2 

No. 1 singles: Welles Newman d. Paula Velaquez Osornio 6-2, 6-1 

Doubles: Newman and Sohns d. Temprana Falo  and Monserrat Montano 6-0, 6-0

United States d. Canada 3-0 WJT boys:

No. 2 singles: Michael Antonius d. Julian Mahdavi 6-0. 6-1

No. 1 singles: Jordan Lee d. Callum Mackinnon 6-3, 6-1

Doubles: Michael Antonius and Teodor Davidov d. Mackinnon and Luca Vicol 6-0, 6-0

Matches were definitely more competitive for the United States in the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup. Keaton Hance, who was a late substitute for Jack Kennedy, partnered with Carel Ngounoue to win the deciding doubles point against Mexico, after Ngounoue had won at No. 2 singles and Jack Secord had lost at No. 1 singles.

United States d. Mexico 2-1 Junior Davis Cup 

No. 2 singles: Carel Ngounoue d. Luis Andres Flores Avila 6-0, 6-1

No. 1 singles: Mauricio Schtulmann Gasca d. Jack Secord 1-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(5)

Doubles: Ngounoue and Keaton Hance d. Flores Avila and Guillermo Antonio Narcio Vazquez 7-5, 6-4

United States d. Canada 3-0 Junior Billie Jean King Cup

No. 2 singles: Kristina Penickova d. Charlize Celebrini 6-2, 7-5

No. 1 singles: Shannon Lam d. Nadia Lagaev 6-4 ,7-5

Doubles: Penickova and Thea Frodin d. Celebrini and Clemence Mercier 3-6, 6-2, 10-4

The results of the other four matches not featuring teams from the United States can be found here.

Many of the players who are competing in this week's event, and who have been at the USTA National Campus in the past month, will have stopped by a recently dedicated court to pay their respects to the memory of David Filer, a top junior player who died of brain cancer just over a year ago, at the age of 16. A camp was held in Filer's honor and a TEAM USA court was designated to his memory. Below are photographs from that camp and ceremony.

Jacek Dabrowski, Pam Mozdzierz-Filer, David Filer IV, Eric Nunez

The USTA announced its Grassroots Awards today, and while I'm sure all winners are very much deserving of the recognition, I wanted to highlight two I have known personally, the Minor family and Junior Tennis Champions Center.

Family of the Year: The Minor Family - Chicago

 

This award was initiated in 1965 by Martin L. Tressel, president of the USTA in 1965-66, to emphasize the theme that "Tennis is a Family Game."  The award is awarded annually to the family who, in recent years, has done the most to promote amateur tennis, primarily on a volunteer basis. All members of the family should participate in some way, either as players or by offering their services in running programs or tournaments or in junior development activities. 

 

The Minor family from Chicago initially had little knowledge of the world of junior tennis–initially seeing it as a healthy sport with valuable life lessons for their three daughters. Discovering the girls' talent, they embarked on a family journey, traveling in their Chevy Suburban for junior tennis tournaments across the country. The daughters excelled, each earning Division I college tennis scholarships. Kristina became a lawyer; Jasmin, an Emmy-winning reporter; and Brienne, the first Black female to win an NCAA women’s singles individual championship, pursued a career on the pro tour. Inspired by their success, their parents, Kevin and Michelle, became mentors for other parents in Chicago on navigating tournament play. In 2022, Kevin tragically passed away, and at the time of his death, the Minor family rallied to solidify his legacy by creating a scholarship fund in his name. The scholarship fund raised nearly $30,000 within days of Kevin's death. Today, the Kevin Minor Legacy Fund awards $5,000 scholarships to junior female tennis players, supporting their journey from the junior circuit to college tennis.

NJTL of the Year Award – Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) - College Park, Md.

 

The NJTL of the Year Award is given to chapters that positively impact youth through the powerful combination of tennis and education. Founded in 1969 by Arthur Ashe, Charlie Pasarell, and Sheridan Snyder, the NJTL network is a nationwide group of more than 250 nonprofit youth development organizations. Supported by the USTA Foundation through financial grants, scholarship opportunities, curricula, technical assistance and training, the NJTL network provides free or low-cost tennis and education programming to more than 150,000 under-resourced youth nationwide.

 

The mission of the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) is to transform lives in the communities it serves through sport and education by providing tennis for everybody. For 25 years, JTCC has helped grow the sport of tennis by providing a comprehensive tennis pathway for players of all abilities that emphasizes excellence on the tennis court, in the classroom, and in the community. The pathway starts with ‘Game On!’, which delivers free tennis and education to K-12 youth in Maryland and Washington, D.C., providing students with a unique combination of athletic, academic and social learning. JTCC partners with D.C. Public Schools, Prince George’s County Public Schools, D.C. Parks and Recreation, Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning, and Prince George’s County Police Athletic League to identify schools and recreation centers for programming. The program served more than 800 youth between September 2022 and August 2023.

 

Today's release, with all eight award winners, can be found here.

Easter Bowl 18s Finals Videos; No Changes Atop ITA D-I Rankings Entering Home Stretch of Season; Roland Garros Entry Lists; Four Americans Competing at ITF J300 in France

It's time to put a bow on the 2024 Easter Bowl, with the last of the finals videos, the 18s, below. To see the 12s, 14s, and 16s videos, go to the tenniskalamazoo YouTube channel, where you'll also find videos of the ITF J300 boys and girls finals in Indian Wells and San Diego.

My Easter Bowl photo gallery is up at Tennis Recruiting Network, with links to my recaps of all the Southern Californian junior events last month available here.

There are only two more weeks of individual rankings (three for team rankings) left in the Division I season, and the top spots, which have been the same for many weeks now, are still occupied by the Ohio State men, the Oklahoma State women, Eliot Spizzirri of Texas and Mary Stoiana of Texas A & M.

I've expanded my list of rankings to include the Top 16 in team and individual, to get a better feel for who is in position to host the first two rounds of NCAAs and which players are likely to be seeded in the individual tournament. The full lists can be found by clicking on the headings.

The UCLA women are making a late push and this week they moved into the Top 10 for the first time, bumping USC down a spot. With UCLA, USC and Cal all so closely grouped, the Pac-12 conference tournament at Ojai next week will be especially interesting. It's good to see Fiona Crawley of North Carolina finally back in the Top 10.

ITA Division I Women's Team Top 16, April 16, 2024

1. Oklahoma State

2. Michigan

3. Stanford

4. Virginia

5. North Carolina

6. Georgia

7. Texas

8. Pepperdine

9. Cal

10. UCLA

11. Southern Cal

12. Texas A&M

13. NC State

14. Florida

15. Ohio State

16. Auburn

ITA Division I Women's Singles Top 16:

1. Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M

2. Ange Oby Kajuru, Oklahoma State

3. Kari Miller, Michigan

4. Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

5. Amelia Rajecki, NC State

6. Carolyn Ansari, Auburn

7. Fiona Crawaley, North Carolina

8. Rachel Gailis, Florida

9. Ayana Akli, South Carolina

10. Connie Ma, Stanford

11. Alexa Noel, Miami

12. Celia-Belle Mohr, Vanderbilt

13. Savannah Broadus, Pepperdine

14. Lisa Zaar, Pepperdine

15. Anastasiya Komar, Oklahoma State

16. Sarah Hamner, South Carolina

ITA Division I Women's Doubles Top 8:

1. Elizabeth Scotty and Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

2. Janice Tjen and Savannah Broadus, Pepperdine

3. Mary Stoiana and Mia Kupres, Texas A&M

4. Alina Shcherbinina and Dana Guzman, Oklahoma

5. Ange Oby Kajuru and Anastasiya Komar, Oklahoma State

6. Jaedan Brown and Kari Miller, Michigan

7. Metka Komac and Avelina Sayfetdinova, Texas Tech

8. Melodie Collard and Elaine Chervinsky, Virginia

In the men's rankings, the Columbia men defeated Harvard 4-3 (clinch score was 4-1) on Sunday in New York, and that was enough to lift them into the Top 8. But without a conference tournament, the Lions won't have the same opportunities for ranked wins as the other contenders for a Top 8 spot and will likely be passed in the next two weeks. NC State, who beat Duke and North Carolina last weekend, has made a big jump, from 16 to 11 and are in a good position now to host the first two rounds of the NCAAs.

UTR posted a tweet listing the Top 10 college men by their ratings and I thought I'd provide that along side the ITA rankings. There are definitely some discrepancies to ponder. I did not see a similar list for the women.

ITA Division I Men's Team Top 16, April 16, 2024

1. Ohio State

2. Virginia

3. TCU

4. Kentucky

5. Texas

6. Tennessee

7. Wake Forest

8. Columbia

9. Oklahoma

10. Arizona

11. NC State

12. Duke

13. Harvard

14. Texas A&M

15. Mississippi State

16. San Diego

ITA Division I Men's Singles Top 16:

1. Eliot Spizzirri, Texas

2. Johannus Monday, Tennessee

3. Micah Braswell, Texas

4. Chris Rodesch, Virginia

5. Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc, Florida State

6. Oliver Tarvet, San Diego

7. Alex Martinez, Oklahoma

8. Jake Fearnley, TCU

9. Murphy Cassone, Arizona State

10. Jack Pinnington Jones, TCU

11. Andres Martin, Georgia Tech

12. Ozan Baris, Michigan State

13. Cooper Williams, Harvard

14. Radu Papoe, Cornell

15. Toby Samuel, South Carolina

16. JJ Tracy, Ohio State

UTR Top 10

1. Nishesh Basavareddy, Stanford (ITA No. 19)

2. Jacob Fearnley, TCU (8)

3. Stefan Dostanic, Southern Cal (unranked)

4. Oliver Tarvet, San Diego (6)

5. Micah Braswell, Texas (3)

6. Murphy Cassone, Arizona State (9)

7. Eliot Spizzirri, Texas (1)

8. Cannon Kingsley, Ohio State (17)

9. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly, Texas (39)

10. Trevor Svajda, SMU (34)

ITA Division I Men's Doubles Top 8:

1. Garrett Johns and Pedro Rodenas, Duke

2. DK Suresh and Holden Koons, Wake Forest

3. Robert Cash and JJ Tracy, Ohio State

4. Johannus Monday and Angel Diaz, Tennessee

5. Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives, TCU

6. Hunter Heck and Karlis Ozolins, Illinois

7. Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer, Kentucky

8. Sebastian Dominiko and Jean Marc Malkowski, Notre Dame

The main draw entry lists for Roland Garros were published today, with 15 US women and 11 US men accepted into the main draw.The men's full list is here and the women's full list is here. The qualifying tournament entries will not be announced for another two weeks. 

US WOMEN: (15)

Coco Gauff

Jessica Pegula

Danielle Collins

Madison Keys

Emma Navarro

Sloane Stephens

Caroline Dolehide

Taylor Townsend

Sofia Kenin

Amanada Anisimova (protected ranking)

Ashlyn Krueger

Peyton Stearns

Bernarda Pera

Kayla Day

Emina Bektas

US MEN (11)

Ben Shelton

Taylor Fritz

Tommy Paul

Frances Tiafoe

Sebastian Korda

Christopher Eubanks

Marcos Giron

Alex Michelsen

Mackenzie McDonald

Brandon Nakashima

Aleks Kovacevic

This is usually the day I highlight the USTA Pro Circuit tournaments, but there aren't any this week, except for the Tallahassee Challenger, which I wrote about yesterday. Through the first 15 weeks of the year, USTA Pro Circuit tournaments for women are down to 9, from 13 in 2023; the men (not counting Challengers) are down to 7, from 11 in 2023. It goes without saying that this is not a positive development.

After last week's ITF Junior Circuit tournament in Bulgaria, there is another J300 in Europe this week, in France, with four Americans competing in the main draw. This is another of the unfortunate 32-player draws, which really shouldn't be allowed in J300 events; the ITF can continue to "recommend" 48-main 24-qualifying draws (which provides eight more playing opportunities in each draw), but unless they require it for their biggest events, tournaments will continue to do as they please, from what I've seen so far this year.

Noah Johnston was the only American boy in the draw, and he drew top seed and ITF No. 4 Nikolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway and lost 6-0, 6-2. The three US girls in the draw all advanced to the round of 16: Leena Friedman, Katie Rolls[5] and Tyra Grant[2]. Top seed Emerson Jones of Australia lost her first round match to Daphnee Mpetshi Perricard of France 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(3).

First ITF Junior Circuit Titles for Mekhael, Ikwueme and Ahmad; USTA Roland Garros WC Challenge Standings; Searle Beats Top Seed Wolf, Kuzuhara and Lilov Qualify at Tallahassee Challenger; Easter Bowl 16s Finals Videos

In addition to the three titles won by Americans at the J200 in Canada last week, which I covered on Friday and Saturday, six more titles were claimed by US players in J30s and J60s last week on the ITF Junior Circuit.  The three singles titles earned were the first ITF Junior Circuit titles for 13-year-old Izyan Ahmad, 15-year-old Ariana Ikwueme and 16-year-old Nicholas Mekhael.

Ahmad, who was a B14s finalist last month at the USTA Easter Bowl, was making his ITF Junior Circuit debut last week at the J30 in Mexico City. I'm not sure how he made the main draw without a wild card, but unseeded, Ahmad won six matches, five in straight sets, to claim the title. In the championship match, he beat unseeded Nicolas Rivera Paz of Mexico 7-6(1), 6-2.

At the J30 in Trinidad and Tobago, Ikwueme also won her first title without the benefit of a seed, although it was the ninth ITF Junior Circuit tournament she's played. The five-star freshman from Virginia defeated No. 7 seed Ciara Harding 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the all-US final. Harding did capture the girls doubles, with partner Tajaswini Narala. The unseeded American pair defeated No. 2 seeds Daisy Clifford of Great Britain and Jordane Dookie of Trinidad and Tobago 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 in the final. Colter Amey took out the top seed in the boys draw and reached the final. 

At the J60 in the Dominican Republic, Americans won three titles, including Mekhael's in boys singles. After defeating the top seed in the second round, Mekhael cruised into the final without dropping a set, while receiving two retirements. In the all-US championship match, the five-star junior from New Jersey defeated No. 12 seed Matthew Shaprio 6-2, 6-2.

Thirteen-year-old Lani Chang, daughter of Michael Chang and Amber Liu, made her ITF Junior Circuit debut and reached the final. There was no qualifying for the girls, so she was directly into the main draw, where she beat four seeds, including a victory over the top seed in the semifinals, before falling to No. 8 seed Yihan Qu of China 6-1, 6-0. 

Jordan Papadopoulos and his partner Xingyu Chan won the doubles title in the Dominican Republic, with the eighth-seeded pair beating No. 2 seeds Giancarlo Rosario and Jossting Cruz of the Dominican Republic 7-5, 6-3 in the final. The unseeded team of Regina Alcobe Garibay and Briley Rhoden won the girls doubles title, beating top seeds Ika Raju Kanumuri of Indian and Yasmin Vavrova of Slovakia 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 in the final. 

Last week's W35 in Boca Raton had an impact on the USTA's Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge standings, although Katie Volynets retains her lead from the week before. But two good weeks from Katrina Scott and Akasha Urhobo put them in the Top 5; Liv Hovde also moved into the top 4 with her title last week.

There was little change in the men's rankings, with Nicolas Moreno de Alboran(UC-Santa Barbara) continuing to lead, although Tennys Sandgren did move into the top 5 with his semifinal run at the Sarasota Challenger last week. There are two more weeks for the men (including this week) and three more weeks for the women to earn ATP/WTA points, with the best three results counting in the race.

Men's Standings after Week 2 (current rankings in parentheses):

1. Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (140) -- 63
2. Michael Mmoh (111) -- 50
T3. JJ Wolf (102) -- 25
T3. Aleks Kovacevic (97) -- 25
5. Tennys Sandgren (264) -- 22

Women's Standings after Week 2:

1. Katie Volynets (104) -- 57
2. Katrina Scott (412) -- 49
3. Akasha Urhobo (641) -- 37
4. Liv Hovde (272) -- 35
T5. Amanda Anisimova (238) -- 32
T5. Shelby Rogers (350) -- 32

The qualifying is complete and first round action has begun at the ATP Challenger 75 in Tallahassee Florida, with a big upset to start the tournament this evening.  2023 Wimbledon boys champion Henry Searle of Great Britain, currently 764 in the ATP rankings, took on top seed JJ Wolf(Ohio State) tonight and came away with the 7-5, 7-6(6) victory in a tense, well-played first round match.

Wolf, currently 102 in the ATP rankings, has lost in the first round as the top seed in the USTA Pro Circuit Challengers two weeks in a row now and is in danger of not making the main draw of Roland Garros this year.  Searle was granted a place in the main draw by virtue of the ATP/ITF Accelerator Program; ITF World No. 1 junior Joel Schwaerzler of Austria, utilizing his second straight Accelerator spot in a Challenger main draw, also got a victory today, his first, by beating Giovanni Fonio of Italy 6-2, 6-4. The two 18-year-olds will play each other in the second round Wednesday.

Young Americans Bruno Kuzuhara and Victor Lilov advanced to the main draw with final round qualifying wins over Alex Rybakov(TCU) and Ajeet Rai of New Zealand, respectively. 

Three top American juniors received wild cards into qualifying Alexander Razeghi, Roy Horovitz and Ian Mayew. Alexander Frusina and Australian Open boys champion Rei Sakamoto of Japan were also in qualifying via the Accelerator program. But only Mayew managed to win his first round match Sunday, beating former Baylor All-American Adrian Boitan of Romania 6-4, 6-4.  Mayew lost to No. 3 seed Corentin Denolly of France 7-6(4), 6-3 after leading 4-1 in the first set tiebreaker in today's final round of qualifying.

Wild cards were awarded to Stefan Kozlov, who beat 2022 Orange Bowl champion Gerard Campana Lee of Korea 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the first round today; Kaylan Bigun, who won a round last week in Sarasota as a qualifier; and Duarte Vale(Florida) of Portugal. I'm surprised no current Florida State players or alums are among the wild cards. No. 3 seed Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M) lost to Calvin Hemery of France 7-6(2), 6-3 in first round action today. 

Videos of the Easter Bowl 16s finals are below. The boys 16s is considerable longer than the girls because the boys final was played a day early and was therefore the only final going at the time, while the girls final was played while the 18s final were also in progress.  My photo gallery from the Easter Bowl is up at the Tennis Recruiting Network and can be found here.

Hovde Claims Fourth USTA Pro Circuit Title at W35 in Boca Raton; Sarasota Challenger Doubles Title for Boyer; Kentucky Men Earn SEC Championship with 4-3 Win Over Tennessee; Easter Bowl Gallery, 14s Finals Videos

Liv Hovde won her fourth USTA Pro Circuit title in her fifth final today at the W35 in Boca Raton Florida, with the 18-year-old defeating 17-year-old wild card Akasha Urhobo 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Hovde, the No. 5 seed, didn't hold serve until the fourth game of the second set, despite getting 80 percent of her first serves in; Urhobo was also unable to take advantage after that first set, however, holding just once in the final set. 

Hovde, the 2022 Wimbledon girls champion, should be close to the top 250 when the points are added, which may give her a chance at the qualifying at Roland Garros.

At the ATP Challenger 75 this week in Sarasota, unseeded Tennys Sandgren(Tennessee) was the last American competing in singles and he lost Saturday in the semifinals to No. 4 seed Zizou Bergs of Belgium 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. He then was scheduled to play both his semifinal and final matches in doubles that same afternoon, with Ethan Quinn(Georgia). Quinn and Sandgren won their semifinal, but lost in the final last night, to Tristan Boyer(Stanford) and Oliver Crawford(Florida) of Great Britain 6-4, 6-2.  It's Boyer's first doubles title as a pro, at any level; Crawford has one other doubles title, claimed nearly five years ago at a $25K. 

No. 3 seed Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia won the singles title, beating Bergs 6-3, 1-6, 6-0. 

At the ATP Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, former collegians Joran Vliegen(East Carolina) and Sander Gille(E Tennessee St) of Belgium won their eighth ATP title, and first Masters title, beating Marcelo Melo of Brazil and Alexander Zverev of Germany 5-7, 6-3, 10-5 in the final. With the title, the pair are back into the ATP Top 20, tied for 19th and just off their career-highs of 17 and 18. For more on their title, see this article from the ATP website.

Today was the last day of regular season play for the SEC, Big 12 and ACC, with regular season conference champions crowned. The Oklahoma State women finished a perfect 24-0, capturing the B12 regular season title for the first time since 2017. The Texas men went 7-0 in the Big 12 to claim the men's regular season title.

In the ACC, the Virginia men won their fourth straight conference title, all of them with perfect 12-0 records. The senior class of Chris Rodesch, Inaki Montes, Jeffrey von der Schulenburg and Alex Kiefer are 48-0 in conference play during their four years, a remarkable accomplishment. The Virginia women will share the conference regular season title with North Carolina; both teams suffered one loss, UNC to NC State and Virginia to UNC. North Carolina receives the top seed in next week's ACC conference tournament.

The SEC women also have a shared title, with Texas A&M and Georgia both finishing the year with one conference loss. The Aggies lost to Georgia; Georgia fell to Auburn.

The men's SEC title came down to today's match between No. 5 Kentucky and No. 6 Tennessee. Kentucky had already clinched a share of the title, with Tennessee having a loss to Texas A&M, but a win today in Lexington would give the Wildcats a perfect conference record and the outright conference championship. The match was as close as anticipated, with Kentucky winning the doubles point in a tiebreaker at line 3 after the teams had split lines 1 and 2 by 7-5 scores. 

Tennessee took the first two points in singles, with Johannus Monday at 1 and Angel Diaz at 6 getting straight-sets victories over Taha Baadi and Eli Stephenson, but Kentucky tied it up when Charlelie Cosnet beat Nicholas Kobelt 7-6(7), 6-3 at line 4. That was the last match decided in straight sets, with lines 2, 3 and 5 all going three. Tennessee got the flip they needed at line 2, with Shunsuke Matsui beating Joshua Lapadat 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, but Jaden Weekes brought the Wildcats to 3-all with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Christopher Li. That meant two freshman left-handers would decide the match at line 5, with Jack Loutit leading Filip Pieczonka 3-1 when all the attention went to that match. Pieczonka, down 2 breaks, got one break back and a had a deciding point with Loutit serving at 4-3, but he made an unforced error early in the point, giving Loutit the hold and a 5-3 lead. Pieczonka forced him to serve it out, but he did, finishing off the match with a spectacular passing shot.

For more on the Kentucky conference title and this match, see this UK Athletics article.

The Tennis Recruiting Network published my Easter Bowl Photo Gallery today, which includes shots of the top eight finishers in all eight divisions. 

I processed the 14s videos, which, due to the simultaneous nature of the finals of the 12s and 14s divisions, are not as long as I would like. Expect the 16s and 18s videos next week.

Urhobo and Hovde Reach Boca Raton W35 Final; Exsted Wins ITF J200 in Canada; USA Advances to Billie Jean King Cup Finals; Easter Bowl 12s Finals Videos

Seventeen-year-old wild card Akasha Urhobo will play in her first USTA Pro Circuit final Sunday at the W35 in Boca Raton Florida against 18-year-old Liv Hovde, who will be competing in a USTA Pro Circuit final for the fifth time, after each posted tough straight-sets victories in today's semfinals.

Urhobo, from Ft. Lauderdale Florida, defeated No. 8 seed Maya Joint of Australia 6-4, 7-5 in just under two hours; Hovde, the No. 5 seed, ended the winning streak of last week's W35 champion in Mississippi, 19-year-old Katrina Scott, 6-4, 6-4.

Hovde, the 2022 Wimbledon girls champion, has won three Pro Circuit titles, two W35s and one W15, with her last one a W35 11 months ago. Hovde and Urhobo met a year ago in the first round of the W100 in Charleston, with Hovde winning 6-0, 6-0, so motivation should not be a problem for Urhobo.

In the doubles final, two former UCLA Bruins, Robin Anderson and Australia's Elysia Bolton, won the title, beating Rasheeda McAdoo(Georgia Tech) and Maribella Zamarripa(Texas) 3-6, 6-4, 10-8. Neither team was seeded.

Nadia Lagaev and Max Exsted

No. 3 seed Maxwell Exsted won the title at the J200 in Woodbridge Ontario today, with the 17-year-old from Minnesota defeating top seed Cooper Woestendick 6-3, 7-6(3) in the first ITF Junior Circuit contest between the reigning Australian Open boys doubles champions. It's the fourth and biggest singles title of Exsted's ITF Junior Circuit career; the 2022 Eddie Herr 16s champion has eight ITF junior doubles titles, four of them with Woestendick.

No. 4 seed Nadia Lagaev of Canada won the girls singles title, beating unseeded 15-year-old Nancy Lee 6-4, 6-1.

The USA will again have its team in the Billie Jean King Cup world final late this year in Seville Spain, after this weekend's 4-0 win over Belgium in World Group qualifying. The US team, with Lindsay Davenport in her first appearance as captain, came into today with a 2-0 lead that was hard to come by; both Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro(Virginia) dropped their first sets to 19-year-olds Sofia Costoulas(WTA 279) and Hanne Vandewinkel(WTA 278) before claiming the victories last night. Today, Pegula clinched the win with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Vandewinkel, with Taylor Townsend and Caroline Dolehide winning the fourth point in a dead rubber of doubles. For more, see this article from the BJK Cup website.

I've completed processing of the videos of the Easter Bowl 12s finals, which took place at the same time as the 14s finals, so they are all going to be brief. The boys 12s final could not be shot from behind, so there are two separate videos of champion Jiarui Zhang and finalist Nathan Lee. The girls final is all of one, very long game in the second set.

Four Teens Reach Semifinals at Boca Raton W35; Exsted, Woestendick and Lee Advance to ITF J200 Finals in Canada; Xu and Bonding Claim British National 18s Titles; Duke Men Beat No. 7 Wake Forest

Last week, teens Katrina Scott, Maya Joint and Akasha Urhobo reached the semifinals of the W35 in Mississippi; this week at the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Boca Raton Florida all three have again reached the semifinals, with No. 5 seed Liv Hovde joining them, guaranteeing a teen champion for the second week in a row.

Nineteen-year-old Scott, who won the title last week and received a special exemption into the main draw by virtue of that, defeated No. 7 seed Ana Sofia Sanchez of Mexico 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in three hours and 18 minutes in today's quarterfinals and will face 18-year-old Hovde, who beat wild card Ashton Bowers 6-1, 6-1. 

No. 8 seed Maya Joint of Australia, whose worse finish in an ITF women's World Tennis Tour event this year is the quarterfinals, needed three hours and 12 minutes to beat No. 4 seed Varvara Lepchenko today 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Joint, who turns 18 next week, has won two ITF WTT women's titles this year. She will face 17-year-old Akasha Urhobo, who defeated qualifier Hiroko Kuwata of Japan 6-4, 6-1. 

This will be a first meeting in both of the semifinals.

The singles finals are set at the ITF J200 in Ontario Canada, with Australian Open doubles champions Cooper Woestendick and Maxwell Exsted meeting in the boys final, while Nancy Lee will play Canadian Nadia Lagaev in the girls final.

Woestendick, the No. 1 seed, beat No. 6 seed Kase Schinnerer 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(4) in today's semifinals, with No. 3 seed Exsted having a similar challenge in his 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over unseeded Nicholas Arseneault of Canada. Woestendick and Exsted will be playing for the first time in ITF Junior Circuit competiton. 

The 15-year-old Lee, who won the Easter Bowl 14s title last year, defeated No. 7 seed Jessica Bernales 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-5 to advance to the biggest final on the ITF Junior Circuit. The 16-year-old Lagaev, the No. 4 seed, who defeated unseeded Ameia Sorey 6-0, 6-0, has won J100 titles, but this would be her biggest ITF Junior Circuit title.

The doubles finals were played today, with all-USA teams competing for the titles. No. 2 seeds Bernales and Kate Fakih, the No. 2 seeds, won the girls title without dropping a set, beating unseeded Kayla Moore and Vessa Turley 6-3, 6-3 in the final. 

No. 1 seeds Nikita Filin and Matthew Forbes won the boys title, defeating No. 2 seeds Schinnerer and Matisse Farzam 5-7, 7-6(6), 10-8 in the final. 

The finals of the Lexus Junior National 18s Championships in Great Britain were today, with Oliver Bonding and Mingge Xu taking the titles. 

Top seed Bonding, who lost in the finals last year, defeated No. 4 seed Charlie Robertson 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Xu, the No. 2 seed, beat top seed Hannah Klugman 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 6-4 for the girls title. 

In addition to Wimbledon Junior wild cards, which neither is likely to need, Bonding and Xu will receive men's and women's qualifying wild cards at Wimbledon this summer.

Draws can be found here.

Eight of the Top 10 Division I women's teams were in late season conference action today, and all won their matches as expected.

In men's play today, just two Top 10 teams played, and one of them lost, with No. 7 Wake Forest losing to No. 14 Duke 4-1 at home.  

Duke won the doubles point in a tiebreaker at line 1, with Garrett Johns and Pedro Rodenas beating the ITA's top-ranked team of DK Suresh and Holden Koons 7-6(2) after Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang had taken doubles line 2.

Each team won three first sets, but Duke sophomore Rodenas, who has struggled a bit this year, at least compared to his freshman year, quickly made it 2-0, beating Sureash 6-0, 6-4. Wake Forest got its point next, with Lucciano Tacchi beating Connor Krug 6-3, 7-6(6) at line 4, and that was the last of the straight-sets matches. Andrew Zhang and Faris Khan, both of whom had lost their first sets, forced third sets at 3 and 6, and Alex Visser at 5 and Johns at 1, both of whom had won their first sets, finished off their matches, with Visser defeating Koons 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 and Johns beating Fillipo Moroni 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. 

This win helps solidify Duke's Top 16 position, allowing it to host the first two rounds of the NCAAs. The full box score is here.

The other top 10 men's team in action today is No. 5 Kentucky, who is playing No. 38 Georgia in Lexington and that match was moved indoors, where there are only four courts. Kentucky currently leads 3-1.