In every athlete there is an insatiable desire to prove themselves at the highest level. For four finalists of last year’s inaugural Southern California Open Tour event, that chance will arrive in the 2025 ITF SoCal Pro Series. And with the return of the Open Tour next year, a new group of champions will vie for the same elusive opportunity.

The SoCal Open Tour is a series of “Open” tournaments on which players compete for match experience, prize money, and ranking points. Those ranking points qualify players for the SoCal Tour Finals: a final 8 round robin event with a grand prize in cash money and a Wild Card into one of SoCal’s $15,000 SoCal Pro Series events.

2024’s iteration of the Tour spanned 6 tournaments, with stops in Lakewood, Anaheim, Calabasas, and San Diego. In the end, the best 16 competitors, 8 men and 8 women, gathered in San Diego at the Barnes Tennis Center for 4 days for an electrifying contest of skill and grit. In the end, it was Encinitas’ Isabella Foshee and Irvine’s Brayden Tallakson who were crowned the Tour Champions.

Isabella overcame a second-round loss to punch her way into the championship round, defeating former WTA professional Hiromi Sasano in a three-set thriller. She had strong praise for the Tour concept, especially the Tour Finals, proclaiming: “I honestly think this is one of the best tournaments I played [in] all summer. I like the dynamic of it. I’m looking for matches. I’m looking for really high level. And no matter if you win or lose you’re guaranteed good matches and I think that’s…It’s an incredible tournament because of that.”

She was joined by the Men’s champion in her praise of the Tour Finals, as Brayden added, “I really liked the round robin format. It kind of took the pressure off that first round, not having to worry about if I lose…And it was really nice just having 4 straight really high-quality matches.” The toughest of Tallakson’s four matches undoubtedly came in the championship match, when he overcame Liam Alvarez in a shootout between two of SoCal’s best young guns.

And what about the Wild Cards?

For Foshee, now a senior at Eastern Washington University, the chance to break onto the ITF pro tour was a huge step forward in her young career. On how the Wild Card removed a barrier of entry into the pros, Isabella explained, “I can’t really get into tournaments ‘cause my ranking is just not quite there. My level is, but you can’t get into the [tournaments] without having points and you can’t win points without getting into them, so this – this opportunity to get a Wild Card into the ITF…It’s what I’ve been looking for all summer and I’m very happy that the hard work’s paid off.”

This sentiment was echoed by Tallakson. The 17-year-old, just in his Junior year at Woodbridge High School, was also keenly aware of the significance of his accomplishment on the Tour. “For me it’s really huge having this opportunity to get a Wild Card, play a pro tournament just in my backyard, not having to fly across the country or to another country,” he reflected.

Now, both players, along with Alvarez and Sasano (who earned Wild Cards into the Qualifying rounds of a 2025 Pro Series), will be able to prove themselves at the next level of competition. They will join an international crowd of traveling professionals who will call Southern California their home this Summer whilst competing in ITF events in San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe, Newport Beach, Lakewood, and Los Angeles for 7 thrilling weeks of competition.

And while these players look to make their mark on the Pro Tour, SoCal’s Open Tour will be back in full swing. And with its return, a new group of hopefuls will look to follow in their footsteps.