The bulk of the Aces in the final month of the year are those who captured titles at the three major junior events in Florida: the IMG Academy International Tennis Championships (formerly the Eddie Herr), the Orange Bowl and the Junior Orange Bowl. But with four players earning the Florida junior Sunshine Double in December, that left a few spots for others, with some notable results from both juniors and current and former college players.
Olivia Lincer
The University of Central Florida sophomore was still a teenager when she grabbed the biggest title of her career last month at the ITF women's World Tennis Tour W35 in the Dominican Republic. The No. 16 seed, who represents Poland, won four of her five matches in three sets, including her 7-6(9), 3-6, 6-3 victory in the final over top seed Carlota Martinez Cirez of Spain. Lincer, who turned 20 last month, is up to 437 in the WTA rankings after her second career title. (Photo credit: Paul Ballard)
Hady Habib
After reaching his first Challenger final in the spring, the former Texas A&M All-American earned his first title on the ATP Challenger Circuit last month at the ATP Challenger 100 in Temuco, Chile. Unseeded, the 26-year-old, who represents Lebanon, faced only one seed during the week, with that coming in the final. Habib defeated No. 3 seed Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(2) for the title, boosting his ATP ranking to 216, which assures him a spot in the Australian Open men's qualifying this month. (Photo credit: Bill Kallenberg)
Rei Sakamoto
The 2024 Australian Open boys champion and former ITF Junior No. 1 managed to win his first Challenger title without facing a seed. The 18-year-old from Japan received a wild card into the ATP Challenger 75 in his home country after reaching the quarterfinals of the previous week's Challenger there and took full advantage, defeating qualifier Christoph Negritu of Germany 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Sakamoto, who finished the year No. 5 in the junior rankings, has reached a career high of 412 in the ATP rankings.
Janice Tjen
After a trio of titles in June, the recent Pepperdine graduate added three more last month: two W15s and the biggest of her seven pro titles, a W35, all without loss of a set. The No. 6 seed in Turkey, the 22-year-old from Indonesia defeated Canadian junior Nadia Lagaev 6-1, 6-2 in the final and also claimed the doubles title. The No. 4 seed at the New Zealand W15, Tjen beat No. 2 seed Shiho Akita of Japan 6-4, 6-4 in the final, and at the W35 in New Zealand, the No. 7 seed defeated No. 4 seed Hiromi Abe of Japan 6-2, 6-1 for the title. Tjen has moved to 412 in the WTA rankings after being outside the Top 1000 in May.
Thomas Faurel
The 18-year-old from France won his first International Tennis Federation J500 title in Merida, Mexico, a result that put him in the sought-after position of the top 20 in the ITF Junior rankings. Seeded eighth, Faurel didn't drop a set in his six victories, beating No. 4 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia 6-3, 6-1 in the final. Faurel, who was committed to the University of Kentucky but has decided against competing in college, finished No. 12 in the ITF junior rankings, so he will have the opportunity to enter eight ATP Challenger qualifying draws in 2025.
Elizara Yaneva
Like Faurel, the 17-year-old from Bulgaria won her first J500 title in Merida, with the No. 10 seed needing to beat just one seed to accomplish that. After defeating No. 4 seed Alena Kovackova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals, Yaneva beat unseeded 15-year-old Luna Vujovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-3 in the final. She nearly claimed two J500s in a row, reaching the Orange Bowl final before falling to Tereza Krejcova of the Czech Republic 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(5). Yaneva finished No. 10 in the ITF year-end junior rankings.
Teodora Kostovic
The 17-year-old from Serbia earned the title that had eluded her in the final last year, capturing the ITF J300 in Bradenton on the IMG Academy courts where she trains. Kostovic, the top seed, defeated No. 4 seed Tereza Krejcova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-1 in the final, claiming her fifth J300 title of the year and a wild card into the qualifying at WTA 500 in Abu Dhabi next month. Kostovic finished No. 7 in the ITF year-end junior rankings.
Andres Santamarta Roig
The 17-year-old from Spain put his name on a short list of juniors who have managed to win the ITF J300 Bradenton and the J500 Orange Bowl in back-to-back weeks. The No. 16 seed at the IMG Academy, Santamarta dominated top seed Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1 in the final. Unseeded the following week in Plantation, Santamarta beat four seeds, including No. 2 seed Charlie Robertson of Great Britain, en route to the final, where he defeated unseeded Moise Kouame of France 7-5, 6-2 for his 12th straight win to close out the year. He finished 2024 at No. 16 in the ITF junior rankings.
Tereza Krejcova
The 16-year-old from the Czech Republic won her first J500 title at the Orange Bowl, with the No. 8 seed defeating No. 5 seed Elizara Yaneva of Bulgaria 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(5) in a tense and unpredictable final after ending the run of No. 4 seed and defending champion Hannah Klugman of Great Britain in the semifinals. After reaching the semifinals of the J500 in Merida, and the final of the J300 in Bradenton, Krejcova claimed her first ITF junior title above the J200 level, finishing No. 9 in the ITF year-end junior rankings.
The 14-year-old from Orlando, Florida could not have finished the year on a more impressive note, capturing the IMG Academy International 16s title and the Orange Bowl 16s title in back-to-back weeks. Lee, who didn't drop a set in his 12 victories over those two weeks, defeated No. 4 seed Emilio Camacho of Ecuador 7-5, 6-4 in the Bradenton final. In the Orange Bowl final, his eighth final of the year, Lee defeated No. 5 seed Ford McCollum of California 6-1, 6-2 to become the first 16s player since Sam Riffice in 2014 to capture the two titles in the same year.
Hanne Estrada
The 15-year-old from Mexico received a wild card into the girls 16s draw at the IMG Academy International in Bradenton, and the No. 12 seed made the most of it, winning her third title of the year. Estrada, who also reached the quarterfinals of the Orange Bowl 16s the following week, defeated No. 6 seed Paige Wygodzki of the United States 6-3, 6-4 in the final, becoming the first girl from her country to win a singles title at the tournament, formerly known as the Eddie Herr.
Xiaotong Wang
The 15-year-old from China lost to Estrada in the first round in the girls 16s division of IMG Academy Championships, but she recovered the following week to win the Orange Bowl title, becoming the first player from her country to win the prestigious tournament. The fourth-seeded Wang, who did not drop a set in her six victories, won 20 straight games in the semifinals and finals, defeating unseeded Kaia Giribalan of the United States 6-0, 6-1 in the championship match.
Sakino Miyazawa
The 13-year-old from Japan avenged her semifinal loss to Daniel Baranes of Israel in last year's Junior Orange Bowl 12s with a 6-4, 6-0 quarterfinal victory last month in the Junior Orange Bowl 14s. The 13th seed, who was 35-7 in 2024, defeated No. 9 seed Sofiia Bielinska of Ukraine 6-4, 6-1 in the final in Coral Gables, avenging her third round loss to Bielinska two weeks earlier at the IMG Academy International Championships in Bradenton. Miyazawa dropped only one set in her seven victories.
Qi Hongjin
The 14-year-old from China claimed both 14s singles titles last month at the IMG Academy International Championships and the Junior Orange Bowl, with the loss of just one set. In Bradenton, the seventh-seeded Hongjin defeated 13-year-old Jang Junseo of Korea 7-6(7), 6-2 for the title, then took his six-match winning streak to Coral Gables, where he won seven more. Seeded No. 10 at the Junior Orange Bowl, he claimed the title when top seed Taiki Takizawa of Australia retired trailing 7-6(0) 1-0.
The 11-year-old American is the youngest ace of the month, with her back-to-back 12s titles at the IMG Academy International Championships in Bradenton and the Junior Orange Bowl in Coral Gables. The reigning Girls 12s Easter Bowl champion took on the challenge of being the No. 1 seed in both events, winning all six of her matches at the IMG Academy in straight sets. After beating unseeded Minori Sato of Japan 6-2, 6-1 in the final, Davletshina headed south, where she won seven matches, six in straight sets, to claim the title. Davletshina defeated Isha Manchala 6-0, 6-3 in the all-USA Junior Orange Bowl final.
Mingeon Choi
The 12-year-old from Korea won the IMG Academy International Championships Boys 12s title last month without the benefit of a seed. He captured five of his six matches in straight sets, being pushed into the match tiebreaker that decides third sets in the 12s division only once: a 6-2, 1-6, 10-7 semifinal victory over No. 2 seed Novak Palombo of Australia. In the final, Choi defeated Saku Agui of Japan, who was also unseeded, 6-3, 6-1.
Novak Palombo
Bouncing back after dropping that Bradenton semifinal to Choi, Palombo went on to win the Junior Orange Bowls 12s title, earning six consecutive straight-sets wins to reach the final against No. 32 seed Max D. Smith of the United States. The championship match was a battle, with the Australian taking a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 decision. The Tennis Australia hard court and grass court 12s champion had a record of 37-6 in 2024.
Daniel Baranes
Last year's Junior Orange Bowl 12s champion was unseeded at the IMG Academy International Championships in Bradenton, but that didn't stop her from claiming both the Girls 14s singles and doubles titles last month. The 13-year-old from Israel beat the No. 4, No. 2 and No. 1 seeds en route to the title, with top seed Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia and Herzegovina falling to Baranes 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the championship match. Baranes went on to reach the quarterfinals of the Junior Orange Bowl, where she lost to eventual champion Sakino Miyazawa of Japan.
Joao Fonseca
The 2023 US Open boys champion still had a year of ITF junior eligibility in 2024, but he demonstrated early that he had outgrown that level, reaching two ATP quarterfinals early in the year and winning his first Challenger title during the summer. The 18-year-old from Brazil then capped his breakout year with the Next Gen ATP Finals title, going undefeated in group and knockout play to join Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as the only 18-year-old champions at the event. Fonseca repeated his US Open boys final victory over 19-year-old Californian Learner Tien twice in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, beating him in group play and again in the final 2-4, 5-4(8), 4-0, 4-2.
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4-Dec-2024 Success Spans All Levels For November Aces
The inaugural fall NCAA Division I individual championships, a sweep of the Junior Davis and Billie Jean King Cups for the United States and WTA and ATP Finals doubles champions from the collegiate ranks were among the top performances in November.
1-Nov-2024 Scary Good Results in October for Collegiate Stars
College tennis continues its time in the spotlight, with current Division I stars earning five titles last month, and recent collegians picking up 10 more. The ITF also crowned champions at the World Junior Finals, two Americans claimed titles at the Pan American Closed and two 16-year-olds captured ITF women's World Tennis Tour title at the $75,000 level.
4-Oct-2024 First-Time Winners Highlight September Aces
September produced first-time titles for teenagers on both the junior and pro circuits. Division I college tennis crowned its first champions of 2024-25, while current and recently graduated collegians also earned their share of the spotlight as summer turned to fall.
Colette Lewis
has covered topflight U.S. and international junior
events as a freelance journalist for over a decade.
Her work has appeared in Tennis magazine, the Tennis
Championships magazine and the US Open program. Lewis is active on
Twitter,
and she writes a weekly column right here at TennisRecruiting.net.
She was named
Junior Tennis Champion
for 2016 by Tennis Industry Magazine.
Lewis, based out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has seen every National
Championship final played since 1977, and her work on the
tournament's ustaboys.com website
led her to establish
ZooTennis,
where she comments on junior and college tennis daily.
Colette Lewis has covered topflight junior events as a freelance journalist for over a decade.
Read her weekly column, follow her on Twitter, and
and find more of her daily commentary at ZooTennis.
