Kennedy Reaches First Pro Circuit Final; Dostanic Plays for Second Challenger Title; All-USA Finals in Women’s USTA Pro Circuit Events; Behrmann and Wobker Claim J500 Cairo Titles; USA Falls to Belgium in BJK Cup

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Since last spring, Jack Kennedy had made four USTA men’s Pro Circuit semifinals, but had not made an appearance in a final at those three M15s and one M25 tournament. That streak ended today at the Boca Raton M15, with the University of Virginia recruit, seeded sixth, beating fellow 17-year-old Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico, who was competing in his first pro event this week, 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3. 

Kennedy will face No. 7 seed Andreja Petrovic(North Dakota, Florida State, Duke) of Norway, who beat No. 8 seed Jacob Brumm(Cal, Baylor) 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, and will also be playing for his first pro title.

Petrovic also won his doubles quarterfinal match today, and is still on the schedule to play his semifinal, with partner Alex Kotzen(Columbia, Tennessee) tonight. Due to rain early in the week, the first round of doubles wasn’t completed until yesterday.

At the ATP Challenger 75 in Sarasota(Bradenton), unseeded Stefan Dostanic advanced to his second Challenger final with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Andy Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador today at the IMG Academy. The former USC and Wake Forest All-American, who won his first Challenger title in February and claimed an M25 title late last month in Greece, will face top seed Yibing Wu of China in the final. Wu defeated reigning Kalamazoo 18s champion Darwin Blanch 6-3, 7-5 in the other semifinal.

The doubles title went to the unseeded team of Martin Damm and Czech Hynek Barton, who beat unseeded Garrett Johns(Duke) and Theo Winegar(Columbia, Duke) 6-2, 6-1 in today’s final.

The top two seeds will decide the title at the women’s W35 in Boca Raton, with No. 1 seed Kayla Day facing No. 2 seed Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M). Day defeated No. 3 seed Claire Liu 6-4, 6-1, her fourth consecutive win over her fellow Southern Californian on the pro circuit, although the first since 2019.  

No. 2 seed Stoiana defeated unseeded Madison Sieg(USC) 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach her first final of the year. Day beat Stoiana 6-3, 0-6, 7-6(4) in the quarterfinals of February’s W50 in Orlando, which Day went on to win.

The doubles semifinals and finals were played today, with No. 3 seeds Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) and Abigail Rencheli(NC State) defeating No. 2 seeds Sofia Cabezas(Iowa State, Tennessee) of Venezuela and Anna Rogers(NC State) 6-4, 3-6, 10-3 in the final. It’s the ninth pro doubles title for Broadus, 23, all with different partners, and the 11th for Rencheli, with 10 different partners.

At the W15 in Bonita Springs, former UNC All-American Carson Tanguilig will play in her second career singles final, with the unseeded 22-year-old taking on 24-year-old Ellie Schoppe, a former standout at Furman and Florida State.  Schoppe, 24, beat No. 1 seed Gergana Topalova of Bulgaria 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 to reach her first Pro Circuit final; Tanguilig beat unseeded Margaux Maquet of Belgium 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals. 

Tanguilig already has captured a title, winning the doubles today with Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State). The No. 3 seeds defeated the wild card pairing of juniors Nadia Valdez and Carlota Moreno 6-2, 6-3 in the final. Tanguilig now has three pro doubles titles, with Collins, 23, picking up her sixth.

The J500 in Cairo Egypt concluded today, with No. 2 seed (and qualifier) Thilo Behrmann of Austria defeating No. 12 seed Valentin Gonzalez-Galino of Spain 6-2, 6-3 for the boys title and No. 3 seed Ida Wobker of Germany beating No. 7 seed Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybas 7-5, 6-4 for the girls title. 

No. 8 seeds Jakub Kusy of Czechia and Vincent Reisach of Germany won the boys doubles title, beating No. 6 seeds Connor Doig of South Africa and Oluwaseun Peter Ogunsakin of Nigeria 7-6(2), 6-3 in the final.

Top seeds Tereza Hermanova of Czechia and Sonja Zhenikhova of Germany won the girls doubles title, beating No. 7 seeds Maja Pawelska of Poland and Polina Skliar of Ukraine 6-2, 7-5 in the final.

The USA Billie Jean King Cup Team will not be playing in the finals this fall in China, after losing to Belgium 3-1 in Belgium in this weekend’s qualifying round.

The USTA release from this weekend’s competition:

Billie Jean King Cup Qualifying

Friday 

Hanne Vandewinkel (BEL) d. Iva Jovic (USA), 7-6(3), 6-3

Elise Mertens (BEL) d. McCartney Kessler (USA), 7-6(3), 2-6, 3-3, ret.

 

Saturday

Caty McNally/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) d. Mertens/Magali Kempen (BEL), 6-4, 6-2

Greet Minnen (BEL) d. Iva Jovic (USA), 7-5, 6-3

 

The U.S. Billie Jean King Cup team fell to Belgium, 3-1, in its Qualifying tie played Friday and Saturday on indoor red clay in Ostend, Belgium. An untimely injury to McCartney Kessler that forced her to retire while deadlocked in the third set vs. Elise Mertens and inspired performances from Hanne Vandewinkel and Greet Minnen led the Belgians to advance to the 2026 Finals in front of their home crowd inside the Coretec Dome. 

 

The American team will next play in the Playoff round the week of November 16 with the goal of returning to the Qualifying pool for 2027. Nations competing in the home-and-away Playoffs include the seven losing nations from this weekend’s Qualifying — including Japan, Australia, Slovenia, Canada and Poland — and the seven best-performing nations from regional Group I events also being played this weekend.

 

The USA’s opponent and site for the November playoff will be determined via draw held Thursday, April 23, at 6 a.m. ET. 



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