The first month of 2021 may not have provided the usual excitement of the first slam of the year in Australia, but a baker’s dozen of juniors and former collegians took advantage of their opportunities in capturing titles in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
The 16-year-old Floridian is now on a 15-match winning streak on the ITF Junior Circuit, after collecting back-to-back titles last month at Grade 4 events in Nairobi, Kenya following his win at a Grade 4 in Costa Rica in December. Seeded second in both tournaments, Rahman defeated unseeded Yua Taka of Japan in the two finals, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in the first and 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in the second, with Taka the only player to win a set from Rahman during his streak. With the second title, Rahman has now reached the ITF Top 100 for the first time. (Photo credit: Bill Kallenberg)
Another American junior won back-to-back ITF tournaments last month, with the 14-year-old wild card from Texas collecting both his Grade 5 titles closer to home. As with Rahman, Razeghi defeated the same player in both finals, beating Louis Cloud 6-3, 6-3 in the Connecticut final and 6-4, 6-2 in the championship match the following week in New Jersey. With his first two ITF Junior Circuit titles, Razeghi has gone from being unranked to 428 in the current ITF Junior Circuit World rankings.
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