The finals are set for this week’s four USTA Pro Circuit tournaments, with Americans assured of at least three singles titles, while on European grass, two more Americans will play for an ATP 250 title in Germany.
The 22-year-olds have already met twice in Wichita, with Baris winning in the semifinals in 2023 and Gornzy getting a first round victory in 2024. Baris has now played the tournament four years in a row, with his 2023 final his best showing; Gornzy did not play it last year, but had reached the semifinals in both of his previous appearances there. Gorzny, who is competing in the USTA US Open Collegiate Wild Card Playoffs beginning Tuesday in Lake Nona is seeking his first pro singles title in his first final; Baris, who lost to Ethan Quinn(Georgia) in the 2023 Wichita final, won a M15 title in his hometown of East Lansing in 2023.
Baris already has claimed one title in Wichita this week, partnering with Matthew Shearer(William Carey, Nebraska) of New Zealand to defend their title. Baris, who has now won three Wichita doubles titles in the past four years, and Shearer defeated Charlie Camus(NC State) and Pavel Marinkov of Australia 6-7(8), 7-6(2), 10-7 in a battle between unseeded teams.
Bigun, who won his first title two weeks ago in the opening week of the SoCal Pro Circuit Series, defeated rising Arizona senior Sasha Rozin of Canada 6-4, 6-4 today.
Johnson, who won his first title at the M15 in Sunrise Florida in February, defeated UCLA’s No. 1 Spencer Johnson 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Johnson, who considers the Jack Kramer Club his home courts, and Bigun, who also has roots in the area, will be meeting for the first time.
Brengle, 36, and Ma, 25, met in the semifinal of a W35 in California last fall, with Brengle winning it 6-2, 7-6(3).
In today’s doubles final, unseeded Sara Daavettila(UNC) and Maria Kononova(North Texas) of Russia defeated the unseeded teenaged pair of Thara Gowda and Kaede Usui(Wisconsin) 6-3, 6-2. It’s the tenth ITF Pro Circuit title for Kononova, the third for Daavettila.
Fritz had the easier day today, with just one match, a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan. But when Shelton and Fritz last met, in the final of ATP 500 in Dallas in February, Shelton got the victory 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, saving three match points.
The only final that isn’t all-USA is at the W15 in Los Angeles, where Kaitlyn Carnicella(Auburn, South Carolina) will face fellow qualifier Alina Shcherbinina(Baylor, Oklahoma), with a first Pro Circuit title on the line for both.
The 21-year-old Carnicella, a rising senior at South Carolina, defeated No. 2 seed Monika Ekstrand(Stanford) 0-6, 6-4, 6-4. Shcherbinina, 22, beat No. 3 seed Alexandra Vagramov(UCLA) of Canada 6-4, 6-2.