Pareja and Antonius Lead Fields for ITF J300 in San Diego; Wolf Returns, Exsted and Davidov Advance at M15 Naples; Frodin, Liutova Reach Second Round at W35 Arcadia; Hurd Award Announced March 6, UTR Collegiate Event Returns to BNP Second Week

The acceptances are out for the ITF J300 San Diego North American Regional Championships, which begin March 16 at the Barnes Tennis Center.

Because the San Diego event, unlike the Tucson J300 a week earlier, is limited to players from the United States and Canada, the fields are not as strong, with the boys cutoff 251 (vs 195 for Tucson) and the girls cutoff 202 (vs 187 for Tucson).

Many of the same American juniors are entered both events, but Gavin Goode, who is not on the Tucson list, has entered San Diego, as has ITF No. 4 Julieta Pareja, who has not played a junior event since leading the USA’s Billie Jean King Cup team to the title in November. Pareja won the ITF J300 last March in Indian Wells, but did not enter this year in Tucson, where that event was moved. She did not play the San Diego J300, near her home in Carlsbad, last year, so she is looking to defend those Indian Wells points a week later this year.

The Top 50 girls entered in San Diego are Julieta Pareja[4], Janae Preston[21], Nadia Lagaev(CAN)[39], Melije Clarke[47]

and Jordyn Hazelitt[49]. Notable absences are the Penickova twins, with Kristina winning the San Diego singles and claiming the doubles title last year with sister Annika, and Thea Frodin, Australian Open girls semifinalist.

The Top 50 boys entered in San Diego are Michael Antonius[11], Andrew Johnson [16], Gavin Goode [23], Tanishk Konduri [28], Ryan Cozad [39], Xavier Massotte(CAN)[40], Benjamin Azar(CAN)[43] and Vihaan Reddy[50].

Jordan Lee is not entered; Jack Secord[24] is entered in the J300 in Brazil the week of Tucson and the J500 in Brazil the week of San Diego, as is Welles Newman[35]. Many players are entered in the J500 in Brazil and San Diego which are the same week this year,, so until the withdrawal deadline next Tuesday, we won’t know which one they’ll decide to play. Antonius and Preston, who would have been the top seeds, have withdrawn from Tucson, but are entered in both the J500 in Brazil and the J300 in San Diego.

Both Antonius and Pareja are playing USTA Pro Circuit tournaments this week and both posted wins today. Antonius, using an ITF junior reserved entry, defeated qualifier Kian Vakili(Penn) 6-4, 3-0 retired in the first round of the M15 in Naples Florida today. Fifteen-year-old wild card Teodor Davidov defeated qualifier Ivan Dreycopp of Argentina 6-1, 6-1 and will play No. 4 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia, who beat wild card Jordan Lee yesterday 7-5, 7-5, preventing a rematch of the 2024 IMG International 16s final in Thursday’s second round.

Former Ohio State All-American JJ Wolf, out for more than a year with injury, is making his return to competition this week in Naples as a wild card. The former ATP No. 39 defeated Fermin Tenti of Argentina 6-1, 6-3 today and will face Jack Secord, whjo beat No. 3 seed Bruno Kuzuhara by that same score yesterday.

USC freshman Max Exsted, the last direct acceptance in the main draw, defeated No. 2 seed Tristan McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia) 7-5, 6-4 in the first round today. The 18-year-old from Minnesota will play Ignacio Monzon of Argentina Thursday.

At the other USTA Pro Circuit tournament this week, the W35 in Arcadia California, Pareja, seeded No. 6, defeated qualifier Nadia Lagaev of Canada 6-0, 6-1 in the first round today, and will play qualifier Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) Thursday. Last week’s W35 Las Vegas champion Kristina Liutova defeated wild card Nicole Went 6-0, 7-5 today and will face qualifier Snow Han(USC) of China, who advanced when No. 2 seed Vivian Wolff(Georgia, UCLA) retired trailing 6-2, 3-1. US teen qualifiers Maya Iyengar and Thea Frodin also reached the second round, with Iyengar beating wild card Salma Ewing(USC, Texas A&M) 6-3, 6-3 and Frodin defeating Oklahoma State freshman Luca Udvardy of Hungary 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

On March 6, the 2026 Hurd Award recipients will be named, with $100,000 going to one American collegiate man and one American collegiate woman, with a $40,000 grant going to the runners-up. Last year Mary Stoiana of Texas A&M and Colton Smith of Arizona received the top prize, with Eliot Spizzirri of Texas and Amelia Honer of UC-Santa Barbara receiving $40,000.

I would be surprised if this year’s awards don’t go to NCAA champions Reese Brantmeier of North Carolina and Michael Zheng of Columbia.

The UTR Sports College Championships will again be held on the final weekend of the BNP Paribas Open, with the four men’s teams competing this year Arizona State, Pepperdine, Baylor and Memphis. The latter is the only newcomer, replacing Princeton from last year’s lineup.

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