©Colette Lewis 2026–
Tucson AZ–
The top-seeded Johnson, No. 16 in the ITF junior rankings, had won an M15 USTA Pro Circuit event in Naples Florida last month, had competed in the qualifying of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, and had reached a J300 final last October in Texas. The unseeded Allegre, 348 in the ITF junior rankings, had never won a match at a J300 until this week, with her best result on the ITF Junior Circuit a J60 final.
The championship matches Saturday morning were as different as the comfort level between the sun and the shade here in the desert, with Johnson needing barely more than an hour to defeat No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad 6-2, 6-2 and Allegre coming from behind to beat Allison Wang 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a two-and-a-half-hour battle.
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The boys final, starting an hour before the girls due to Cozad’s doubles final later in the day, began with a routine hold for Johnson, while it took seven deuces before Cozad got on the board. Johnson got his first break in Cozad’s next service game and broke again for the set, with his unforced errors at a minimum and his form unquestionably the best he’d shown all week.
“I think I played a lot better than I had in the last few rounds,” said the Rancho Palos Verdes resident. “I took a whole week off before this tournament, so I didn’t have a lot of rhythm going into the tournament, but I progressively got better and better.”
Cozad had two break points in the opening game of the second set but couldn’t convert either, with Johnson winning four straight points from 15-40 down. After Cozad held, Johnson got into a 0-40 hole in his next service game but won five straight points to again avoid the break.
“I had two or three unforced errors in each of those games,” Johnson said. “So it was just if I could get the ball in, really, play a good point. I just happened to get lucky, played a few good points.”
Johnson broke to go up 4-2, held in a deuce game to take a 5-2 lead and broke at love to close out the title.
“I tried some different things, but he was just super on today,” said Cozad, a 17-year-old from Atlanta. “It felt like he barely missed a ball and he had me super off balance. It was a really tough match today and he played really well.”
Cozad said that Johnson has made a number of improvements since Cozad defeated him 14 months ago in the second round of the J300 in Costa Rica.
“He’s developed a lot more of his shots,” said last week’s Las Vegas J200 champion, who saw his ten-match winning streak end in today’s final. “His serve has gotten better, he was a lot better mentally today, locked in the whole time, I felt like. He’s improved in a lot of areas.”
Johnson said getting his first J300 title was secondary to the mental progress he felt he made during the week.
“Staying focused, going through this many rounds, plus doubles, I feel like I did that really good,” said Johnson, who will be the top seed at the J300 in San Diego next week. “I didn’t allow my emotions to take over, even though I felt like I could be playing better. I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my head, because I do have a temper, once in a while, never chuck a racquet or anything, but typical tennis player stuff. That was definitely the biggest box I checked this week.”
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The girls final looked like it might produce a similar result when Wang came out blasting winners, breaking Allegre three times in the opening set with her powerful groundstrokes.
But Allegre immediately got herself back in the match, taking a 2-0 lead in the second set and winning the final four games from 2-all. Wang made only 36 percent of her first serves and early errors in most rallies required little more from Allegre than her baseline consistency.
“In the first set, she was just playing well,” said Allegre, a Aliso Viejo resident. “In the second set, I was being a little bit more aggressive and the balls she was aggressive on, I would counter it and she would go for more and start missing.”
In the third set, Allegre again went up 2-0, saw that lead disappear, but broke and held for a 4-2 advantage. Serving at 4-3 Allegre saved two break points at 15-40, but it took her five deuces to finally hold, with Wang beginning to find her level once again. Wang held for 5-4, forcing Allegre to serve out the championship, and again it was a struggle, with Wang fighting off three match points before finally earning a break point after a double fault from Allegre, one of the few first serves she missed in the game. Allegre saved the break point with a backhand on the line forcing an error, and on her fourth match point Wang sent a return well long.
One key reason for Allegre’s comeback was her first serve percentage, which was 76 percent overall and 85 percent in the third set.
“I knew I had to get my first serve in,” Allegre said. “She’s such a good player and she returns so well, so once I missed a first serve the point was over. I had to get it in.”
Wang gave credit to Allegre’s defense and persistence, while saying she was not at her best.
“I think she played really well and was giving me a hard time,” said Wang, a 15-year-old from San Jose California, who had not dropped more than than five games in a match until today. “Physically I wasn’t really there today, but she did really well, was able to get my shots back. But this was just another match for me to improve on. The first few matches this week were a good confidence builder, and I think it was a good tournament, actually.”
Allegre was excited that her first ITF Junior Circuit title was at the J300 level, but she wasn’t willing to call it a surprise.
Allegre will return to her Orange County home tonight and then drive the hour and a half to the Barnes Tennis Center later Sunday to get some time on the courts before her first round match Monday.
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Although Ryan Cozad’s winning streak in singles ended Saturday, he won his second consecutive doubles title, partnering with friend and regular doubles partner Gavin Goode for their third ITF J300 title.
Cozad and Goode, the top seeds, defeated No. 6 seeds Jerrid Gaines Jr. and Cooper Kose of Australia 6-3, 6-4 Saturday afternoon.
Cozad and Goode got the only break of the first set with Gaines serving at 3-4 and Goode served out the first set. In the second set, they broke Gaines again in the first game and took a 4-0 lead. They were unable to serve it out at 5-2, but got the hold they needed at 5-4.
“We got off to a quick start, got a break in the first and were able to hold until 5-2 in the second,” Cozad said. “We played good.”
Cozad won the Las Vegas J200 title with Ford McCollum, with Goode not competing in that event, but they were back together this week, after winning the J300 in College Park Maryland last August and the J300 in Houston last October.
“Off court we’re really close friends and we spend a lot of time together and that translates on court,” Cozad said of the reasons for all their success. “We both return well and serve well, which are the two biggest parts, so we’re able to win a lot of matches based off that.”
“Also the lefty-righty combo helps a lot,” said the 17-year-old Goode, who is the left-hander. “We played a little bit when we were 12 and 13 and really started playing last year, and it’s been working, so we’re going to keep it going.”
Goode and Cozad, who did not need a match tiebreaker all week, are set to go for their fourth J300 title next week in San Diego.
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While Goode and Cozad have an impressive track record as a team, girls doubles champions Emery Combs and Olivia Traynor had never played together until this week, and weren’t planning to play together in Tucson either until Traynor’s partner dropped out.
But the sixth-seeded pair felt in synch from the beginning, ending their week by beating top seeds Capucine Jauffret and Great Britain’s Hollie Smart 6-3, 7-5.
“I actually felt comfortable from the first practice match we played before the tournament,” said the 15-year-old Combs, who now has earned the biggest of her seven ITF Junior Circuit doubles titles. “I felt like we complemented each other really well and communicated really well.”
“We played that practice match against our friends Lani Chang and Brooke Wallman, and they’re obviously a good team, and we were playing really well together,” said Traynor, an 18-year-old from New York. “We’re a little bit different, but it works well in doubles. I’m consistent from the baseline and Emery here is a good doubles specialist, all over the net. It’s a really good combo, because I can hang for a while and she’ll put away the volleys.”
Combs and Traynor couldn’t convert a deciding point match point with Traynor serving at 5-4 in the second set, but they broke Jauffret in the next game and Combs served out the championship.
They will not be playing together in San Diego, but Traynor doesn’t think this will be the first and last time they are partners.
“We’re not playing at San Diego, unfortunately, but we’ll play another tournament,” Traynor said.
**there are no trophies in the photos because the shipment did not arrive in time.
The boys final will feature No. 7 seed Damir Zhalgasbay of Kazakhstan and unseeded Pedro Chabalgoity of Brazil.