Americans won all four titles at the ITF J200 in Punta Cana Dominican Republic, with Safir Azam sweeping the boys titles and Adla Lopez winning her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title.
Azam, the No. 3 seed, defeated unseeded Mauricio Schtulmann Gasca of Mexica 6-4, 6-1 in the final to earn his second ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the first coming last year at a J100, also in the Dominican Republic. Schtulmann Gasca had beaten top seed Agassi Rusher in the semifinals to reach the final. Azam did not drop a set in singles en route to the final.
Yesterday Azam won his second ITF Junior Circuit doubles title, with his first last month at the J300 in Costa Rica. The 16-year from Washington, partnering this week with Mason Taube, won an all-USA final, with the top seeds beating unseeded Theo Hegarty and William McEwan 6-2, 6-4 for the title.
Lopez, the No. 7 seed, defeated No. 4 seed Ireland O’Brien 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 for her first singles title, with the 17-year-old left-hander from Florida winning her first ITF Junior Circuit title since a doubles victory at a J5 in 2022.
In the girls doubles final, unseeded 14-year-olds Emery Combs and Olivia Traynor began a new winning streak, beating unseeded Elicia Lin of Canada and Olivia Traynor 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Traynor and Combs had won three consecutive ITF girls doubles titles, as well as the Orange Bowl 16s doubles title before losing in the opening round of the J200 last week in the Dominican Republic.
Two juniors will play for the title of the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Las Vegas, with 16-year-olds Kristina Liutova and Melije Clarke each seeking their first professional title in their first professional final.
Liutova, who trains in Washington, beat No. 3 seed Julieta Pareja 6-4, 6-4, the second straight-sets win for Liutova this year over the former ITF junior No. 1, with the first coming at the W100 in San Diego.
Wild card Clarke defeated unseeded Salma Ewing(USC, Texas A&M) 6-3, 6-3 in today’s semifinals.
Liutova won two J300s(College Park and Bradenton) last year; Clarke won one(Houston). They have not met in junior or pro competition.
In the doubles final in Las Vegas, top seeds Haley Giavara(Cal) and Texas freshman Anastasia Abbagnato of Italy won the title, beating unseeded Jessica Hinojosa Gomez of Mexico and Mell Reasco(Georgia) of Ecuador 6-3, 4-6, 10-8.
Hunter Heck(Illinois), who was 1-2 on the M15 Florida clay swing this year, is through to his first Pro Circuit final after beating fellow wild card David Tortora of Italy 6-4, 6-2 today in Naples. The 23-year-old from Minnesota will face No. 2 seed Tomas Compagnucci of Italy, who won the M15 in Palm Coast two weeks ago.
No. 2 seeds Dakotah Bobo(LSU, Southern Mississippi) and Oliver Johansson(Drake) of Sweden won the doubles title, beating No. 3 seeds Joao Victor Couto Loureiro and Tsz Fu Wong(Holy Cross) of Hong Kong 6-0, 6-1 in the final.
Both teenagers lost in the semifinals of the W15 in Palm Coast, with 17-year-old wild card Carlota Morena dropping a 6-3, 6-0 decision to top seed Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil and No. 6 seed Bella Payne losing to qualifier Sofia Johnson(Old Dominion) of Great Britain 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. No. 3 seeds Pedretti and Carolina Bohrer Martins of Brazil won the doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Kolie Allen(Ohio State) and Sabastiani Leon(San Jose State) 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 10-4 in the final.
Neither No. 8 seed Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) nor No. 2 Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia) of Czechia managed to advance to the final of the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan. Stoiana saw a 5-2 third set lead slip away to Hanyu Guo of China in a 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 7-5 semifinal that spanned more than three hours. Vidmanova lost to No. 5 seed Alina Charaeva of Russia. 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Jessica Pegula won the WTA 1000 in Dubai today, her fourth at that level, with the No. 4 seed beating No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Pegula now has ten titles on the WTA tour. For more on her win today, see this article from the WTA.