©Colette Lewis 2026–
Tucson AZ–
The Tucson Racquet and Fitness Club is large, with pickleball, padel and 25 tennis courts, as well as a swimming pool and beach volleyball courts, with the tournament being played on ten courts, with three courts available for practice and warmup.
Every match is being chaired, which I have not seen at the J300 level since this event was last held at the USTA’s Carson facility in 2019. That tournament was used for umpire training and coaching, and so it is for this one, with US Open Referee Jake Garner, US Open Chief Umpire Andrew Walker and Gold Badge umpire James Keothavong, who mentors umpires through his association with the ITF Officiating School.
While only 20 of the 32 first round matches were completed, there was drama, with local wild card Vikram Narendran, who has no ITF ranking, pushing ITF No. 228 Rowan Qalbani to two tiebreakers before falling 7-6(5), 7-6(1) in two hours and 20 minutes. Narendran had a group of friends in attendance, but with no seating and no unimpeded viewing on eight of the 10 courts, they had to gather behind one end of the court, in a small walkway between rows to show their support. Keshav Muthuvel beat fellow qualifier Sebastian Godoy 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 20 minutes and qualifier Armira Kockinis survived a two-hour and 35-minute battle with Hanne Estrada of Mexico to post a 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-1 victory.
Kockinis would have welcomed a shorter match after playing two qualifying matches yesterday, and the 16-year-old from Southern California had an opportunity to end it with two match points in the second set tiebreaker, but was able to put aside the disappointment of not converting them, taking control early in the second set.
“I got through the first set 6-3, then messed up a little bit,” said the 2025 Easter Bowl 16s champion. “In the third, I just tried to put the second set behind me, focus on what I could do, be more aggressive, go for my shots, and I got through it.”
Kockinis admitted that she came into the 10 a.m. match feeling exhausted.
“I was extremely tired, but I just went into it with the mindset to give it everything I’ve got,” Kockinis said. “I’m going to leave everything out there on the court.”
One of the other factors in Kockinis’s fatigue was the quick turnaround from her semifinal loss at the J200 in Las Vegas Friday. Not eligible for a special exempt because she was not on Saturday’s schedule in Las Vegas, Kockinis did not receive a wild card for Tucson, so was faced with the prospect of three qualifying matches. Fortunately she did not have to play Saturday, as the qualifying draw did not fill, and as the No. 3 seed in qualifying, she got a bye,
“It was definitely a grind,” Kockinis said. “I lost on Friday, tried to get a special exempt, but that didn’t happen, so I caught the first flight out, got in about 10 p.m., went to bed at 1.”
Kockinis had not played Estrade, the 2024 IMG International 16s champion, but she found a strategy to avoid Estrade’s best shot.
“She has a really clean backhand,” Kockinis said. “Anytime I hit it anywhere short, or in her strike zone on the backhand side, she would hit it super clean, if not a winner. In the third set, I was more aggressive and got ready for her backhands that were coming, mixed it up a little bit, and served really well. So I got through it.”
Kockinis is planning to play San Diego next week and the Easter Bowl the week after that, so she is ready for more.
“This is only the beginning,” said Kockinis, who plays No. 11 seed Karlin Schock Tuesday. “We’re nowhere near almost done. But every day, I’ll just give it what I’ve got, take care of my body and just compete.”