As of today, Kristina Penickova has reached the top of the ITF Junior Tennis Rankingsafter the 16-year-old advanced to the championship game of the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals last week in Chengdu, China. Despite losing to US Open girls champion Jeline Vandromme of Belgium 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-5, Penickova overtook compatriot Julieta Pareja on the strength of her results last week, her second-place finish in Australia and all her doubles success, including two junior slam titles this year. Penickova is barely 100 points ahead of Vandromme, but has no more points to defend for the rest of the year; Vandromme has a zero points tournament on her six best results, so competing in one of the J300s or J500s remaining on the junior schedule would make the race for the 2025 ITF World Junior Champion title a real competition in the final two months of the season.
Two-time junior slam champion Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria still holds the top spot among the boys, but ITF Junior Finals champion Max Schoenhaus of Germany, now ranked No. 2, could make things interesting if he chooses to play the remaining J300s and J500s in Mexico and Florida over the next two months.
While Penickova finished second and Jack Kennedy and Ben Willwerth finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the eight-player fields in China, most of the other American juniors in action on the ITF Junior Circuit last week were at the J100 in Rome, Georgia.
No. 12 seed Carlota Moreno extended her winning streak to 11 matches, with the South Carolina J60 champion going back-to-back in Georgia two weeks ago. The 17-year-old from Knoxville Tennessee, who has verbally committed to the Volunteers for 2027, defeated No. 11 seed Ellery Mendell 6-1, 6-1 in the final. Moreno, who has not lost more than four games in any set in her six wins, has now won two J60s and one J100 title, taking all three of her career titles since June.
Sixteen-year-old Jerrid Gaines Jr won his fourth career ITF Junior Circuit singles title, beating No. 2 seed Matthew Shapiro 6-2, 6-2 in the final. Gaines lost his only set of the tournament in the semifinals, but avenged his 16th Kalamazoo semifinal loss against third seed Marcel Latak in Rome, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Latak won his second straight doubles title in Rome, playing alongside Gadin Arun after winning the South Carolina J60 with Rowan Qalbani two weeks ago. Arun and Latak, the No. 4 seeds, defeated Samim Filiz of Turkey and Koki Nara of Japan 6-1, 7-5 in the final.
Fourteen-year-olds Emery Combs and Olivia De Los Reyes won the girls doubles title, their second as a team this fall, with the No. 2 seeds defeating No. 4 seeds Mendell and Briley Rhoden 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 in the final.
The other title won by an American junior last week was at the J30 in the Dominican Republicwith 14-year-old Indra Vergne parting ways with Czech Republic’s Marek Smejcky for his first ITF Junior Circuit title.
With rain clearly an issue all week, unseeded Smejcky and Vergne defeated another unseeded team, Rafael Elaez Miranda and Fabricio Mesia of Peru 4-2, 4-0 in the final.
This week’s ITF Junior Circuit tournament in the United States is a J60 at Evert Academy in Boca Raton, Floridawith Avner Wong and Teaghan Jou An Keys as top seeds. With draws for 48 players, the seeds won’t play until Tuesday.
My latest media offering is from the ITF J300 Pan American Closed Championships earlier this month in Houston this tennis recruiting photo galleryin which 52 of the participants of that tournament appear.
The videos of all four Pan Am singles finalists can be found at my YouTube channel; my Tennis Recruiting Network summary of the tournament is here.
#Penickova #rises #ITF #Junior #Rankings #losing #Chengdu #final #Gaines #Moreno #Claim #J100 #Titles #Georgia #ITF #J300 #Pan #photo #gallery