A great weekend for #SoCalTennis saw local women sweep the finals at Morgan Run and ATP pros performing deep into main draws in Florida and Mexico. Here’s our #WeekendWrap for this week!
Asia Muhammad (Long Beach) worked overtime to tally her fifth career singles title, defeating Japan’s Kurumi Nara in a third set tiebreak, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(3). Playing in her second consecutive ITF final, Muhammad has previously beaten the sixth and third seed before dispatching the #2 seed Nara in Sunday’s finale.
Kaitlyn Christian (OC Register)
At the same USTA Pro Circuit event at Morgan Run in Rancho Santa Fe, the top seeded doubles tandem of Sabrina Santamaria (Los Angeles) & Kaitlyn Christian (Orange) were crowned champions on Santamaria’s 25th birthday, with a 6-7, 6-1, 10-6 win over fellow American Taylor Townsend and Eva Hrdinova (CZE). The former USC Trojan NCAA champions cruised through the doubles draw to notch their second ITF win of the year, the first being last month in Midland, and the team returns to action at this week’s Mexico Open.
At Delray Beach, Steve Johnson (Redondo Beach) reached the semifinals and Taylor Fritz (Palos Verdes) peaked at the quarters in a tournament won by American upstart Frances Tiafoe. Alex Sarkissian (Glendale) reached the quarterfinals at the Morelos Open in Mexico, and Long Beach Pro Circuit champion Collin Altamirano also reached quarters at a Futures event in Turkey.
With chill and rain moving into Southern California, Acapulco is a great place to be this week. Steve Johnson, Jared Donaldson (Irvine), Ernesto Escobedo (West Covina), Sam Querrey (Santa Monica), the Bryan Brothers (Camarillo), and Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) are among the main draw competitors at the Abierto Mexicano ATP 500. On the women’s side, Kayla Day (Santa Barbara) and US Open champion Sloane Stephens are scheduled to appear in Mexico.
Closer to home, the Oracle Challenger at Indian Wells leads into next month’s NBP Paribas Masters. Nicole Gibbs, Julia Boserup (Newport Beach), Claire Liu (Thousand Oaks), and Danielle Lao (Arcadia) will compete in the desert, as will Taylor Fritz, Marcos Giron (Thousand Oaks), and Bradley Klahn (Poway). Frances Tiafoe has withdrawn.
Also in action, Daniel Nguyen (Oxnard) is on court in Yokohama, Japan, while JC Aragone (Yorba Linda) heads north to Gatineau, Canada.