My eight intriguing questions for 2026; Jovic records first Top 10 win; Australian Open Juniors start Saturday with six Americans in action; Ayrault beats Newman in Costa Rica J300; Clemson advances to Team Indoor

My annual look at some of the big questions in college and junior tennis is up today Tennis recruiting network. I think about the NCAA on the court and in the courtroom, Electronic Line Calling for the juniors, FILA’s departure from the junior scene, and several other questions I hope to have answers to by 2026.

After a noticeable lack of teenagers at the top of women’s football a few years ago, that is changing, and fast, as evidence mounts that their absence from the Top 100 was a temporary blip and not the sign of a trend.

Five teenagers are still competing for one Australian Open women’s singles title: Mirra Andreeva, Victoria Mboko, Nikola Bartunkova, Tereza Valentova and Iva Jovic.

The 18-year-old Jovic, who won the 2024 USTA National 18s title in San Diego, recorded the best win of her career on Friday in Melbourne and avenged her two losses in 2025 against No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy by claiming a 6-3, 7-6(3) win. Jovic, whose previous best win was over No. 20 Linda Noskova in Cincinnati last fall, will play unseeded Yulia Putintsenva of Kazakhstan in the round of 16 on Sunday.

Results third round Americans Friday:

Coco Gauff[3] D Hailey Baptiste 3-6, 6-0, 6-3
Iva Jovic[29] D. Jasmine Paolini[7](ITA) 6-2, 7-6(3)Alex de Minaur[6](AUS) d. Frances Tiafoe[29] 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
Student Ten[25] d Nuno Borges(POR) 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-2
Tommy Paul[19] D. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina[14](ESP) 6-1, 6-1 wt.

Lleyton Hewitt’s son Cruz, who did not play against Traralgon, also withdrew from the Australian Open Junior Championships.

The Americans participating are: Roshan Santhosh, Tanishk Konduri, Keaton Hance[4]Vihaan Reddy, Carel Ngounoue, Jack Secord[13]Ryan Cozad, Gavin Goode[15]Melije Clarke, Thea Frodin[8]Ciara Harding[Q]Carrie-Anne Hoo, Capucine Jauffret and Nancy Lee.

The seeds of the Australian Open Junior Championships:

BOYS:

Top seed Welles Newman is not among the trio of American girls, with Newman falling to 15-year-old qualifier Hannah Ayrault, the reigning USTA National 16s champion, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Ayrault will face No. 4 seed Janae Preston, who defeated unseeded Ofir Manhard of Israel 7-6(5), 6-1.

No. 2 seed Maggie Sohns defeated unseeded Katerina Zajickova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-4 and will play another Czech, No. 7 Klara Blazkova, in tonight’s semifinals.

Unseeded Agassi Rusher, the only American boy to reach the quarterfinals, lost to Japan’s Takahiro Kawaguchi 7-6(7), 7-5 on Thursday. Kawaguchi will play No. 4 seed Mathys Domenc of France, while the top half semifinal will feature two Canadians: wild card Felix Roussel and No. 5 seed Xavier Massotte.