©Colette Lewis 2026–
Indian Wells CA–
Selvan defeated good friend and top seed Sylvana Jalbert 6-1, 7-5, overcoming her nerves more quickly at the start of the match before Jalbert found her footing in the second set.
“She’s one of my best friends and I can tell when she’s nervous,” said the 15-year-old from Laurel Maryland, who is coached by Paula Coyos and Oliver Akli at the Junior Tennis Champions Center. “I knew she was putting more pressure on herself, No. 1 in the country, all these sponsorships–which she deserves, she’s a great player; because I knew she would put so much pressure on herself, I just laid back. Just wanted to have fun, see how this went. It was just a matter of who could stay more relaxed.”
After a quick exchange of breaks early in the second set, Jalbert won a nine-deuce game serving at 4-all. Despite dropping that game after having two break points, Selvan wasn’t discouraged, and she held at love for 5-all.
“I was a bit disappointed because I saved so many of those ad-ins, and wasn’t able to convert it,” Selvan said. “But I was winning all my service games at there’s no way she’s not tightening up.”
After that heroic game at 4-all, Jalbert played its opposite, dropping serve at love to give Selvan the opportunity to serve for the match. She made every first serve and closed it out at love, a finish she was especially proud of.
“It was a really good service game, maybe one of my best in such a clutch moment,” Selvan said. “I’m happy for coach Paula and coach Oliver who had been working on my serve continuously, telling me it was going to work out, and I’m so happy it did.”
Jalbert credited Selvan’s variety as a major factor in her loss.
“She took a lot of time away from me, took away my offense,” said the 15-year-old from Mt. Airy Maryland. “She was really crafty, sliced and came forward, a lot of different stuff, and I had a hard time finding my rhythm. I just fell I got outplayed and overall, didn’t play my best.”
Wild card Anay Kulkarni was not surprised by his 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 3 seed Piotr Gradzki in the first level 1 final for both of them.
“I always try and go into a tournament thinking I’m going to win it,” said the 16-year-old from Gilbert Arizona, who is coached by Casey Was. “I like to be able to have that confidence, especially because I applied late and missed the regular sign-in deadline, I thought it makes me even more dangerous to play a seed the first round.”
After Gradzki used his big forehand to dictate most of the points in the first set, Kulkarni didn’t change much, instead vowing to continue to keep the pressure on Gradzki.
“Honestly, I think it was all mental, taking care of my serve a little more, keeping my energy up, staying positive, not thinking about the end result,” Kulkarni said.
Thinking about the end result may have derailed Gradzki, who admitted the prospect of his first USTA ball entered his mind after taking the opening set.
“There was some pressure, especially when I won the first set,” said Gradzki, who has now played all USTA Level 1s for the first time in the past nine months. “I was thinking about getting the gold ball already, thinking too much ahead, not in the moment, and it just runs away.”
Gradzki also credited Kulkarni with taking advantage of his mental lapse and physical fatigue by staying consistent
“I think my energy level kind of dropped and I was getting balls in the service box and I wasn’t using my chances as much as in the first set,” said the 15-year-old from Woodbridge New York, who trains with Ion Efrim at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy. “When I dropped it short, he would rip it and make me keep moving, and I didn’t know exactly what to do and sometimes I would go for too much.”
Kulkarni is looking forward to playing the clay portion of the season this summer in the United States, and, of course, Kalamazoo.
“I promise I won’t forget to enter that one,” Kulkarni said.
Kalamazoo was the breakout tournament for the other wild card champion, with Rishvanth Krishna reaching the semifinals unseeded in the 16s there back in 2024. Today he won his first gold ball in a battle of unseeded Southern Californians, beating Peter Jorniak 6-4, 6-2.
Krishna needed a wild card because he had been playing mostly UTR Pro Tennis Tour events, although the 17-year-old did claim the 18s title at the Southern Californina sectional championships last summer. Today, he was nearly flawless, not dropping serve at all and taking advantage of any small mistake by Jorniak, including two errors when Jorniak was serving at 4-5 30-30 in the first set.
In the second set, a double fault by Jorniak gave Krishna a 4-2 lead and the way Krishna was serving made that a deep hole to climb out of.
“My serve helped a lot today, and I was finding my forehand,” said the Irvine resident, who also credited his ability to punish Jorniak’s second serve. “I like to pounce on second serves a lot.”
Krishna does not have a coach, relying primarily on the strong competition in Southern California to keep his game sharp. But his older brother Rithvik, who played at UC-Irvine, has served as his tennis mentor throughout his junior years.
In the final game, Jorniak was down 0-40, but Krishna couldn’t close it out on any of those three matches points, making a rare unforced error and missing an overhead. But he managed take avoid any drama with a return winner to claim his first gold ball.
“I got a little bit tight and nervous, but I closed it out pretty well, playing a good three points to end it,” said Krishna, who has committed to Rice for 2027.
Jorniak gave credit to Krishna for finding a good serve when he needed it, especially when down break points.
“I had a couple of chances in the second set, 40-15 in two games, I just couldn’t capitalize on those,” said the 17-year-old from Arcadia. “It wasn’t like it was a big serve, but well-placed. But I’ll look back on this week as a very big accomplishment for myself, a good showing that hard work pays off.”
Krishna will celebrate his first gold ball with a cool treat that wouldn’t last a minute in the desert sun: chocolate ice cream.
The girls 18s final did not play out as top seed Ellery Mendell had envisioned, and she wasn’t quite sure how the second set of the 6-2, 6-4 win over unseeded Yilin Chen evolved into long exchanges that featured many a moonball, including one of hers that landed on the baseline and bounced over the fence behind the Stadium Court, giving Chen no chance to get a racquet on it.
“I played how I wanted more in the first set,” said the 17-year-old from Watkinsville Georgia, who coached by Marianna Taylor. “I’m happy with how I fought, but I’m not necessarily happy with how we were playing in the second set. It was pretty defensive, I compared it to 12s, just because I think we should be past that. We were reverting to our younger selves with some moonballs. I think other than that last set, I had a great tournament, and I’m happy with how I competed and the level of play I brought.”
Chen, who had not lost a set until today, found herself taken out of her aggressive baseline style that had seen her defeat four seeds, including No. 2 and No. 3.
“She did a good job of stretching the rally,” said the 16-year-old from San Diego. “It wasn’t really comfortable for me, and you could tell she liked that style of play a bit more than I did. I don’t think I adjusted that well to the conditions today. I think I could have been a lot more confident and assertive in my shots, but she did a good job of disrupting me.”
For Mendell, who has committed to Ohio State for 2027, getting out of her Level 1 rut was a big takeaway from this week.
“I’ve been in five 3/4 playoffs,” said Mendell, who played that match at the 16s Easter Bowl in 2024. “So I was really wanting to get to the final of this one. It’s so awesome, and I’m really proud of myself and to have my name with all those players (who have won it), it’s really cool.”
The doubles finals played into the evening, with Selvan the only player to reach both finals at this year’s Easter Bowl.
Selvan and partner Ellery June Martin, the No. 5 seeds, won the title, beating Nicole Daveletshina and Alexandra Grilliot 6-2, 6-3 in the girls 16s final.
The boys 16s doubles title went to the unseeded team of Gadin Arun and Arjun Krishnan, who beat No. 7 seeds Carson Kuchar and Karthik Thuma 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Marcel Latak, the 2025 Easter Bowl 16s champion, withdrew from singles after reaching the final of the San Diego J300, but decided to stay in the tournament in 18s doubles with Joseph Nau. Last fall, the pair arranged to play their first tournament as a team at the Easter Bowl, and this evening they emerged as the champions, beating unseeded Liam Alvarez and Matteo Huarte 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-3.
Latak and Nau, the No. 2 seeds, were up a break and had three set points in the first set, but Latak said they weren’t discouraged when they failed to convert any of those.
“After the first set, we thought we’re going to have as many chances if we just keep playing the way we’re playing, if not better,” said the 17-year-old from Illinois. “There’s nothing really to be upset about, losing a set like that.”
Up 5-2 in the third set, Nau and Latak weren’t concerned that the break would slip away again, and Latak held at love at 5-3 to win his second Easter Bowl gold ball.
Nau had good reason to expect a title given his success in collecting balls in the past.
“I have four gold, five silver and one bronze,” said the 17-year-old from California. “Nine of them are in doubles.”
The girls 18s champions are unseeded Chloe Zigliara and Sadira Ouyang, who came back from 3-1 down in the second set to beat unseeded Caroline Castro and Raina Kim 7-6(1), 6-4.
Zigliara and Ouyang played together at an ITF J100 last fall and continued to have success playing other top teams in Georgia, where they train.
“The past two weeks we’ve been training with each other and play some practice doubles,” said Zigliara, 17. “We scheduled match play in Georgia with other ,” said Ouyang, who was competing in her first Easter Bowl. “And we did good in those,” Zigliara said. “But coming out here and getting to play people who were going to be at the tournament gave us more confidence.”
The nerves struck at the end of the match when Ouyang was up 40-15, then double faulted and made a backhand error to produce a deciding point/match point. When Kim missed the return, Ouyang had gotten her wish.
“I was so glad I had three match points,” Ouyang said. “Get a serve in once, and hopefully they miss it.”
Although they have bronze and silver balls between them, a gold ball is a first for both.
“Finally, we got a gold,” said Zigliara.
B16s Singles Finals Results:
Championship: Anay Kulkarni d. Piotr Gradski[3] 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
3/4 Place: Eli Kaminski[1] d. Ivan Rybak[6] 6-4, 6-3
5/6 Place: Mikaeel Alibaig d. Alexander Totoian 6-3, ret inj.
B16s Doubles Finals Results:
Championship: Gadin Arun & Arjun Krishnan d. Carson Kuchar & Karthik Thuma 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
3/4 Place: Dylan Warn & Ethan Turunen[6] d. Braylon Desquitado & Seth Christian 7-6(5), 6-2
G16s Singles Finals Results:
Championship: Shristi Selvan[4] d. Sylvana Jalbert[1] 6-1, 7-5
3/4 Place: Caroline Coan d. Tanvi Pandey 6-4, 1-0 Ret inj
5/6 Place: Avita Beitler[3] d. Natalie Frisbie[9] 6-1, 3-6, 10-8
G16s Doubles Finals Results:
Championship: Emery June Martin & Shristi Selvan d. Nicole Daveletshina & Alexandra Grilliot 6-2, 6-3
3/4 Place: Adelyn Gross & Kingsley Wolf d. Genevieve Hayden & Caroline Coan 7-5, 6-2
B18s Singles Finals Results:
Championship: Rishvanth Krishna d. Peter Jorniak 6-4, 6-2
3/4 Place: David Wu[9] d. Alexander Suhanitski[1] w/o inj
5/6 Place: William Freshwater[4] d. Yashwin Krishnakunar[5] 7-6(6), 7-6(5)
B18s Doubles Finals Results:
Championship: Joseph Nau & Marcel Latak[2] d. Liam Alvarez & Matteo Huarte 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-3
3/4 Place: Justin Riley Anson & Andre Acantara d. Zen Uehling & Connor Plunkett[7] 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
G18s Singles Finals Results:
Championship: Ellery Mendell[1] d. Yilin Chen 6-2, 6-4
3/4 Place: Alyson Shannon[3] d. Isabelle DeLuccia 6-2, 6-4
5/6 Place: Calla McGill[2] d. Aarini Bhattacharya 6-4, 7-6(12)
G18s Doubles Finals Results:
Championship: Chloe Zigliara & Sadira Ouyang d. Carolina Castro & Raina Kim 7-6(1), 6-4
3/4 Place: Elena Zhao & Kylie Liu d. Kalista Papadopoulos & Abigail Haile 6-4, 6-3