Penickova and Clarke return with wins; Latak ousts one of eight boy seeds closed in the second round of ITF J300 Pan American

© Colette Lewis 2025–
Spring, Texas–

Penickova, who has been out since Roland Garros with a tibial stress fracture, used her superior experience to combat an impressive performance from 14-year-old Wild Card Emery Combs 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

“It was super tough,” said the 16-year-old southpaw, who missed Wimbledon, San Diego and the US Open while her sister Kristina played all three and won the Wimbledon Doubles title. “I got to be there, which was nice, but you see everyone playing and you want to play. Of course it’s good to support, but it’s clearly better to play, so I’m happy to come back.”

Penickova started well, but once Combs started to find the rhythm of her serve, the match began to turn in her favor.

“I started off well, really solid, keeping the ball in play and pushing her around a little bit, and she had a hard time getting me back,” said Pennickova, who used Combs Second Serves. “In the second set I stepped back a little bit, let her control all the points. She almost started making her first serves, a very high percentage, and she also had a really good serve, which helped her.”

Combs continued to serve well in the third set, but Penickova got the break she needed in the fourth match, not giving Combs any openings as she protected that lead.

“In the third set I was able to control and read her first serve better, so even when she made it, I was able to neutralize it,” Penickova said.

Although Penickova has had several long-term injury layoffs over the past two years, she has played many more high-profile events than Combs, who is just starting to compete at the international level.

“I remember these were my first tournaments, and even when we practice in the USTA, I know I used to be in their position,” Penickova said. “It’s really nice that they look up to us, it makes me feel very special, that I’m doing something well, and it gives me confidence.”

That confidence has been evident in the last few games, with Pennickova able to rally at any length without forcing a shot or making a mistake.

“I knew that as long as I kept doing my regular rally ball, it would be better than hers,” Penickova said. “I know she’s the kind of player who likes to go a lot, and with more experience she can make those shots, but I felt if I kept my steady game, stayed solid, I would win.”

Penickova will play No. 16 seed Clemence Mercier, who defeated Kalista Papadopoulas, 6-1, 6-0, in the round of 16 on Wednesday.

Clarke had been out even longer than Penickova, with an ankle injury suffered in the quarter-finals of the ITF J100 at Plantation in May keeping her out until last week, when she returned to competition in Battle of Boca, a weekly prize money event in Florida. She won four matches and lost in the final, which prepared her for a return to the ITF Junior Circuit, where she defeated qualifier Briley Rhoden 6-3, 6-3 today.

“Basically, I broke my ankle,” said the 16-year-old, who trains in Florida. “I was in a cast for six weeks, but I would say a month and a half or two months ago, I was able to move completely.”

Clarke said she was more nervous about returning to the tournament last week than she was today.

“I wasn’t too nervous, a little bit, but not like the first tournament back,” Clarke said. “I just focused on my energy level and my feet because when I’m nervous my feet don’t move. I think sometimes I could have played more aggressively, but the other girls, she hit a good ball and had a good serve, so it was just kind of surviving her good shots and trying to set up balls.”

Clarke has no specific goals or expectations going into her first junior tournament in five months.

“I just want to find my game again,” Clarke said. “Obviously I want to win, but if I play well and play my game, I can walk away, not happy, but okay, I left it all behind. I’ll be happy if I can feel my game coming back, and if I can get a win that would be great too.”

Only three seeds in the girls’ draw lost today, with qualifier Sophie Suh beating No. 10 seed Ireland O’Brien 6-3, 6-3 and Scarlett Fagan beating No. 8 seed Isabelle Deluccia 7-5, 6-4 to set up the only match between two unwanted players in the girls round of 16.

Fourteen-year-old Allison Wang pulled off the other upset, beating No. 12 seed Karlin Schock 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2 in a three-hour, 20-minute marathon.

No. No. 2 seed Nancy Lee defeated Reiley Rhodes 6-1, 6-3 and will face last week’s champion at the J200 in Corpus Christi, No. 15 seed Jordyn Hazelitt. Hazelitt defeated Wild Card Carol Shao 6-0, 6-3 to extend her winning streak to seven matches.

While the girls’ results were mostly up for grabs, half of the seeds in the boys lost their first matches, although the top 4 seeds all reached the round of 16.

Top seed Gavin Goode defeated qualifier Francisco Salmain of Argentina 6-1, 6-2 and No. 2 seed Ryan Cozad defeated Jacob Lee 6-3, 7-5. In the hot and humid conditions, Lee was cramping late in the second set and with Cozad at 6-5, 15-all, Cozad had to hit another ball, with the last three point violation points awarded to him with Lee unable to resume. Goode’s opponent in the third round will be Mason Vaughan, who won Day’s only third-set tiebreaker, beating No. 13 seed Ford McCollum 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the final singles match of the day.

Corpus Christi champion Andrew Johnson, the No. 4 seed, struggled against qualifier Jacob Hewitt but advanced with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 win.

No. No. 5 seed Roshan Santhosh lost to Mauricio SCHTULMANN GASCA of Mexico 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 and will play Nick Stoot, who defeated No. 12 seed Xavier Massotte of Canada 6-2, 6-4.

In the other completely underrated third-round match in the boys’ bracket, Navneet Raghuram and Sebastian Bielen will be claimed away after Raghuram defeated Sklar Phillips 6-0, 6-4, 6-4 and Beilen defeated No. 6 seed VolodMyr Gurenko of Canada 7-5, 7-5. Tyler Lee defeated No. 14 seed Joshua Adamson of Canada 6-1, 6-1, Safir Azam defeated No. 15 seed Caden Colburne of Canada 7-5, 6-2 and Marcel Latak defeated No. 7 seed Dani Szabo of Canada 6-3, 6-4.

Like Penickova and Clarke, Latak skipped last week’s J200 in Corpus Christi, but unlike their absence it was not injury-related.

“I felt like it was better for me to train, to get something in before stepping back on the court,” said the reigning Kalamazoo 16S champion, playing for the first time since the US Open Junior Championships. “I definitely see a better change. I’m constantly just pressing, which is something I’ve been working on a lot, especially taking time away.”

Latak felt he had an advantage over Szabo after having a match on Monday to get used to the conditions.

“One hundred percent,” Latak said. “Playing for the first time is definitely rough, these courts are fast and at first I had an easier time because I’m used to it.”

Although Latak had not played Szabo before, he expected the Canadian to be comfortable on fast courts.

“I’ve heard from a lot of people that it’s really good indoors,” Latak said. “So the fast court thinking, from the start I should be more aggressive than he was. I had no expectations, just do the things I’ve been working on and that’s it.”

Latak will face No. 11 seed Vihaan Reddy, who outlasted Theo Hegarty 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3.

“We only played in practice,” Latak said. “It will be a good match, I have to bring my A game tomorrow.”

The doubles seeds played their first matches today, with top boys seeds Goode and Cozad and top girls seeds Penickova and Capucine Jauffret advancing to the quarterfinals in straight sets.

The No. 2 seeds in the girls draw, Kori Montoya and Schock, lost to Hazelitt and Fagan 6-2, 6-2.

A thunderstorm showed up around 6:30 PM, so two of the second round of boys’ doubles were unable to finish.