Alexandrescou and Liutova claim Singles titles in ITF J300 College Park, Goode and Cozad Capture Boys Doubles Championship; Fifteen of the 48 Americans start us on Sunday

© Colette Lewis 2025–
College Park MD–

The experience of No. 2 Seed Yannick Alexandrescou prevailed in the ITF J300 College Park Boys-Final on Saturday, with the 17-year-old Romanian shipping non-sed Michael Antonius of the United States 6-0, 6-2.

But in the girls’ finale that followed that the story was being built up, with the 15-year-old qualifying match Kristina Liutova who ended her run with a first ITF J300 title with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over the third placed ITF Junior Laima Vladson of Lithuania.

Under sunny skies and with temperatures in the mid-80s, the Junior Tennis Champions Center was a Bijenkorf of activity when JTCC students and ballrunners (and their families) met to view the players they hope to pursue.

Alexandrescou and Antonius dealt with the appreciative crowd to long, debilitating meetings in the first three games, but when Alexandrescou broke the 15-year-old Buffalo New York twice in Deuce competitions, he was gone.

“The first three games were so physical for me,” said Alexandrescou. “I don’t know if it was stress or that I was tired, but he took the ball in the line, he didn’t give me time. But then I had time.”

After the three less competitive games followed, Alexandrescou gave the first set of 34 minutes, Antonius needed a better start in the second, but he was broken in another Deuce game. Antonius won his first game with a break for 1-1, but was broken again and did not held the fifth game of the second set.

Alexandrescou had taken a medical time-out in the first stuffed 3-0 and included another in the second set, giving Antonius the hope that he could wear out the much smaller Romanian, who had a long three-square in the semi-final and was also in the double final. But Antonius had his own physical problems.

“I could see his fatigue, but I just couldn’t do anything about it, what was the worst,” said Antonius who played in his first ITF J300 final and first faced an ITF top 10 junior. “It was physically a tough day for me, because I felt it with my shoes, my feet, just moving, the quad, everything bothered me a bit. It was really difficult because he is small and he plays a lot of extra balls. I just didn’t perform in those close games and it made life much harder.”

Alexandrescou, who returned from 15-40 in the last game of the game to earn his fourth ITF J300 title in four performances in the final, agreed that he had a lead today.

“He is a great player, born in 2010, so two years younger than me,” said Alexandrescou, who is coached by Sebastian Rosianu in Bucharest. “I wish I played at his age as he played. I sometimes felt more mature than he was, because of the age, but I won today because we had similar game styles and I was a little more solid than he, I don’t know if it is not as quickly as possible.”

Antonius goes to the US Open Junior Championships as a main table Wildcard with the confidence that comes from reaching the final and beating three seeds, two of them Top 20, en route.

“I just try to keep this week’s positives,” said Antonius. “There were many good matches, victories on very strong players and I think I have shown that my level can generally compete with them. I am really looking forward to taking, not today’s game, but the other level to open the US this year.”

With three ITF J300 titles prior to this, Alexandrescou did not show much excitement after winning his fourth, but he is happy that his form will go open.

“I feel great, after you have won this kind of tournament, you feel great,” said Alexandrescou. “But let’s not get drunk from water, how we say in Romania. Because this is just a J300 event. What is the most important thing is the professional career, but for now it’s the US open. I am now in my Prime, playing great since my (second round) loss at Wimbledon (until finalist Ronit Karki). I don’t want to go.”

Unlike Alexandrescou, Liutova did not think after the performance of her first ITF J300 title. Although the resident of Seattle shines in long baseline meetings, she did not have that chance in the final against Vladson, who ended the most points with an error or a winner.

“Yes, we talked about that,” said Liutova about the lack of rhythm she expected. “I said to myself, once she makes a winner, twice, I just accept it because we know her style and it happens. I just have to concentrate on my shots, try to get the ball back and place more and stay consistent. I expected that she would be an attacking player and I knew she would hit some winners.”

After Liutova closed the first set of 30 minutes, she opened with a break in the second and kept that advantage until she broke Vladson again to rise 5-2. Vladson, who often gets her frustration during competitions, was able to break Liutova in the set for the only time with Liutova’s Serve and dropped her on 5-2, but she broke Vladson for the third time in the set and fifth time in the match to close the title.

Vladson has credited Liutova for retaining her focus and holding her game plan.

“She didn’t give me free points, so I think she was really good in consistent, right now,” said Vladson, who won two ITF J300 titles in South America this winter. “I started well, but I just couldn’t finish it. I was not mentally here on the field today. I was somewhere in the Bahamas. I have a week to prepare for the US open, so I will just place it behind me. It is now the best motivation, to do it better at the US open.”

Liutova, who does not have the ranking at 372 to play the US Open Junior Championships, has shown that she could meet the physical requirements of playing eight games in eight days.

“I actually feel great,” said Liutova, who is being coached by Ilya Osintsev and Tiago Campana on the Gorin Academy in Seattle, led by founder Vitaly Gorin. “My coaches helped me earlier, we worked a lot, on that and on all aspects of my game, and I have made some improvements. I am very enthusiastic about that, it’s really great.”

Liutova is not sure of her schedule, but also expects to play Bradenton and Orange Bowl on the ITF Junior Circuit and also USTA Pro Circuit Women’s Tournaments.

The title Girls Dubble went to No. 4 seeds Kamonwan Yodpetch by Thailand and Ruien Zhang from China, which defeated no. 3 seeds Yushan Shao and Xinran Sun 7-5, 4-6, 10-5.

Yodpetch and Zhang, who chased 4-1 in the opening set before they won six of the next seven games, had not played together before this week and needed their first game to become at ease.

“In the second game we felt so comfortable to play together,” said Yodpetch, 17. “The first game was good, but we had to have some time, but the second was good and today was good.”

“We did the first set really well on the pressure points,” said 17-year-old Zhang. “We lose our concentration, but in the last set we have fought back, because we told ourselves that we have to fight now, this is not the time to rest.”

Yodpetch had asked Zhang to work with her for Wimbledon, but Zhang already had a partner.

“So I might say next time,” Zhang said. “Before Wimbledon (at Roehampton) we played against her and they played great, like Federer. From that moment I was like, oh my God, that’s my partner.”

“She has so much energy,” said Yodpetch. “I need people to push myself, because my style is so (draw a straight line with her hand).” When I become more emotional, she can help me calm down, “Zhang said.” And if she is a bit upset, I can cheer her up. We fit well together. “

Zhang and Yodpetch will continue their partnership at the US Open.

The boys’ doubles champions also expect to play together in the US Open, with Ryan Cozad and Gavin Goode from the United States who deny Alexandrescou a sweep with a 6-2, 3-6, 10-6 victory over the Romanian and Ryo Tabata by Japan.

Cozad and Goode, the no. 8 seeds, led 6-2, 2-0 for Alexandrescou and Tabata, the No. 2 seeds finally started.

“They absolutely picked up their level,” said Cozad, a 16-year-old from Georgia. “There was also a ball change, so they swing and went for it, started to play really well.”

“Yannick started pumping himself up and going much more for his shots,” said Goode, a 17-year-old from North Carolina. “That has also increased a lot of his partner, so they got a lot of momentum.”

Cozad and Goode went back to a more aggressive style in the Tiebreaker, return well and stayed in offense.

In the change of ends 5-1 and 8-4, Cozad and Goode deserved five match points, but Alexandrescou held both slips before Cozad closed their third ITF Junior Circuit Doubles title with a good first Serve.

“We knew when we play our games, play aggressively, play the right kind of doubles, it is going to our advantage,” said Goode. “I think we have just given ourselves the best shot to win in that third set.”

“We mesh each other well,” said Cozad, the right -handed in the right -wing duo. “Forehand in the middle.”