The ITF Junior Circuit returns to the United States this week with the J200 in Las Vegas, with the J300 in Tucson and the J300 in San Diego providing a great opportunity for Americans to improve their rankings and earn entry into this summer’s junior slams.
But other US juniors are in the early stages of their ITF junior careers, including 15-year-old Aarini Bhattacharya, who won two J30s in Jamaica last April and has now claimed back-to-back titles at J60s in San Luis Potosi Mexico. The blue chip from Virginia, seeded No. 5, defeated No. 8 seed Amy Shen of Canada 7-5, 6-3 to win her tenth straight singles match, and also claimed the doubles title with Canadian Elisabeth Djabourian for the second consecutive week. The No. 2 seeds again defeated top seeds Abril Cardena Olivares and Zoe Levresse Zavala in the final, this time by a 6-4, 7-5 score, to extend their doubles winning streak to eight matches.
Fifteen-year-old Anay Kulkarni won his third ITF junior singles title, with the blue chip from Arizona, seeded No. 3, beating No. 6 seed Sebastian Inaki Godoy 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 in the all-USA final.
At the J60 in Peru, 16-year-old Londyn McCord won her third ITF Junior Circuit singles title of the year and her second in as many weeks, in a tournament that was played in the ITF’s new round robin/knockout format. McCord, a blue chip from Atlanta, didn’t drop a set in capturing first place in her group and continued that form in her next three wins, beating Valeria Santander of Paraguay 6-0, 6-4 in the final.
The third American to go back-to-back last week on the ITF Junior Circuit was David Beckles, who won a second J30 in Abuja Nigeria. The 16-year-old five-star from Texas defeated Seyi Ebenezer Ogunsakin of Nigeria 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
Fifteen-year-old Scarlett Fagan reached the final of the J100 in South Africa last week, falling to top seed Arina Malygina of Russia 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 in the final.
There are two J300s this week that have US juniors competing. At the J300 in Thailand, Sarah Ye is the No. 12 seed and Carel Ngounoue is the No. 13 seed. At the J300 in Paraguay, Jack Secord is the top seed, while there are five US girls competing: No. 2 seed Welles Newman, No. 8 seed Maggie Sohns, Anita Tu, Ireland O’Brien and Yael Saffar.
In Las Vegas, top seed Ryan Cozad got past a tricky first round opponent in Tyler Lee, posting a 6-4, 6-3 victory today. Canadian Xavier Massotte of Canada, the No. 2 seed, also advanced to the second round in straight sets.
Nancy Lee, the top seed in the girls draw, beat qualifier Myna Medicetty 6-3, 6-0 today, with No. 2 seed Hollie Smart of Great Britain getting past Teaghan Jou An Keys 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 in the opening round.
The wild cards in qualifying at the BNP Paribas Open have not had much success in the first round, with only Kayla Day winning in Sunday’s action, and teens Izyan Ahmad, Andy Johnson and Darwin Blanch all falling in straight sets today, with Trevor Svjada(SMU) and Jagger Leach(Stanford) yet to take the court for their first round qualifying matches at Indian Wells.
But 19-year-old Akasha Urhobo, with just hours to recover from her title run at the W35 in Arcadia California yesterday, did post a victory this afternoon, although not over her previously drawn opponent, Kaja Juvan of Slovenia. Alternate Louisa Chirico replaced Juvan in the draw, with Urhobo defeating Chirico 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Urhobo will face Taylor Townsend, fresh off her singles final and doubles championship at the WTA ATX Open in Austin yesterday, after Townsend beat Joanna Garland of Taiwan 6-4, 6-4 this afternoon.
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| USC’s Andrin Casanova and Branko Djuric |
Any tournament that has been played for more than 100 years will always get my attention, and Southern California has several of those, including next month’s The Ojai, which will be hosting for its 124th year.
The Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship is even older, having just completed its 137th year, with the USC team of Branko Djuric and Andrin Casanova beating top seeds Spencer Johnson and Aadarsh Tripathi of UCLA 6-4, 6-4 to capture the title in La Jolla. For more on the final, see the release below from J. Fred Sidhu.
BRANKO DJURIC AND ANDRIN CASANOVA OF USC CROWNED PACIFIC COAST MEN’S DOUBLES CHAMPIONS AT LA JOLLA BEACH & TENNIS CLUB
Trojan Duo Scores 6-4, 6-4 Win Over Top-Seed Spencer Johnson and Aadarsh Tripathi of UCLA
LA JOLLA, CALIF. – (March 1, 2026) – Playing inspired tennis from start to finish, second-seeded Branko Djuric and Andrin Casanova of USC shocked top-seeded Spencer Johnsonand Aadarsh Tripathi of UCLA 6-4, 6-4 in one-hour and 32 minutes to win the 137th Annual Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship.
The championship match, which was contested under bright sunny skies on Court No. 1 at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, began with a large vocal crowd of UCLA and USC alumni and supporters in attendance. Spectators witnessed an entertaining final with all four players exchanging volleys at the net on numerous occasions.
At 3-3 in the opening set, Djuric and Casanova came through with the first service break of the day as they broke Tripathi for a 4-3 lead. Three games later, Djuric slammed an ace to start the 10th game and proceeded to serve out the first set.
In the second set, Djuric and Casanova once again broke Tripathi in the seventh game. After Djuric held in the next game for a 5-3 advantage, Johnson easily held serve in the ninth game to cut the lead to 5-4.
With USC fans cheering him on, Casanova served for the title in the 10th game. At 40-15, Johnson and Tripathi fought off one championship point, but at 40-30, Tripathi sent a forehand service return long as the Trojans clinched the match.
“It’s pretty special. We are very happy to win it. We got our returns in play, that was the key. Winning match point was a pretty good feeling. We felt relief, we had a few nerves in the beginning. It felt really good to close it out,” Casanova said after winning the title.
“We came out and played very competitively the whole weekend. We played a really good match in the finals. There were a lot of nerves against our rivals, but we played really solid doubles,” Djuric said. “We were always there with our return games and hitting our spots with the serves and returns and it paid off with one break in each set.”