Top seeds in Kalamazoo 16S Match 18S counterparts with second round dominance; Kang wins Edwardsville M25; Sjavda claims ATP Challenger 75 in Lexington; ITF 2 pm World Junior Tennis Team event starts on Monday in the Czech Republic

© Colette Lewis 2025–
Kalamazoo Mi-

No. 1 Seed Michael Antonius, no. 2 Seed Andrew Johnson and no. 3 Seed Roshan Santhosh lost only three games between them, and again, all the top 16 seeds reached the third round.

The only dramatic match under the top 8 seeds that play in a stow stage was number 5 seed Marcel Latak’s comeback about Akshay Mirmira, with this year’s Easter Bowl champion that broke in the last match to achieve a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in more than two and a half hours.

Antonius defeated Casra Afsharipour 6-0, 6-0 in 56 minutes in his debut in Kalamazoo.

“I really thought I just keep my head up and play the next point,” said the 15-year-old from Buffalo New York, who is training at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona. “I knew I was the favorite, but my opponent was difficult and he was fast and pretty consistent. So I just tried not to hurry, take one point at the same time. It is a long tournament and you can’t win a tournament in a day.

Antonius arrived with confidence in Kalamazoo, after winning the USTA National 18S Clay Courts last month and then earned his first ATP points at the USTA Pro Circuit M15 in Rochester New York.

“I played on Red Clay in Europe, so I thought that helped me to prepare me, but it was my first Clay Courts Nationals, so I was happy to win,” said Antonius, who did not drop a set in his seven victories.

The number 1 seed in the clays, Antonius then traveled to the north to make his pro circuit debut, and thanks to his ITF Top 100 Junior ranking, he did not need a wildcard, which was eligible for the main drawing via the ITF’s Junior Reserved program. Faced with top seeds Leo Vithoonontien from Japan, Antonius got his first ATP point when Vithoonontien retired with 6-3, 4-1.

“I went from the only seed to drawing the only seed,” said Antonius, who was going to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost from 2019 Kalamazoo 16S champion Alex Bernard, an emerging senior in Ohio State. “I was pretty nervous to say the least. But I thought my level was good, I knew that I had the level to compete, just didn’t want to have too many expectations, wanted to play without pressure.”

The two ATP points of Antonius are more than six except six of the players in the 18S draw, but the 16S seemed the smart bet for him in Kalamazoo.

“My coach (Sylvain Guichard in Usta) thought that playing the 16s would be good,” said Antonius, who is now 6-foot-3 and says he is still growing. “His thinking was that the 18s would be fewer competitions, although the 16s here is stronger than any other national because of the US Open Junior Wild Card. I try to get that wildcard, I am now in quality and get some competitions. I think we will see how things go at the end of the week.”

Johnson recently returned from a trip to play on European clay this summer, but he ran to Los Angeles to participate in the Socal Pro series, where he earned his first ATP point on the courts where he trains in the Jack Kramer Club.

“I had a red eyes that night to go back home and I had to play that same day,” said Johnson, who ended in his Kalamazoo debut in 2024. “But Peter (Smith) pulled some strings in front of me and I played the next day.”

Johnson, who defeated Dash Parkinson-Lubold 6-2, 6-0 on Court 3 in 57 minutes, was happy with his level and is more comfortable in his second visit here.

“I felt pretty good, I would say, I was not nervous,” said Johnson, who will turn 16 later this month. “I am used to the crowds. There might be a bit more busy sowing, but I trained for this, so hopefully I will get through it.”

Santhosh also kept his time on the field less than an hour and defeated Victor Pignaton 6-1, 6-0 in 59 minutes. No. 4 Seed Vihaan Reddy needed almost two hours to beat Andrew Zielinski, although the score was a deceptive routine of 6-1, 6-3.

The 33 seeds were not as reliable as the top 32, which only lost no. 25 Artem Dmytrenko and no. 26 Rafael Lopez. Andrej Markovic defeated Dmytrenko with 6-7 (4), 7-6 (7), 6-1 and Ved Vanga taken Lopez 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. 13 No. 33 seeds were beaten in their first games after having Byes in the first round.

All 16s and 18s third round singles are Monday, in a Stewe Stadium, with the consolation competitions in both 16s and 18s at Western Michigan University. There are no doubles on Monday’s schedule, with the day expected to be rain -free.

In the third round of B18S-Dubbel, two top 8 seeds did not succeed in reaching the round of 16, in which Gus Grumet and Winston Lee no. 6 seeds defeat Nolan Balthazor and Yashwin Krishnakumar 6-2, 6-3 and Nathan Gold and Shaan Patel 3-6, 6, 6, 6, 6-party TYLERS TYLER, TYLER-6-FACTION TYLER-6-FACE TYD-6-FE,-FE,-6-FE-6-FE-6-FACE-6-,-F,-6-F,-6-6-6-F,-6-6-6-6-4-6 Top Seeds Cooper Woetendick and Maxwell Exsted won in straight sets, just like number 2 seeds Noah Johnston and Benjamin Willwerth.