Southern California’s top juniors continued their national success at the USTA L1 National Championships earlier this month, collecting titles, podium finishes, and US Open opportunities across multiple age divisions and venues nationwide.

The championships brought together the nation’s top junior players for singles and doubles competition across the 12s, 14s, 16s and 18s divisions. For the 16s and 18s, the stakes were even higher, with national titles and opportunities to earn wild cards into the US Open singles, doubles and junior draws on the line.

Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s & 18s Nationals

For just the second time in the 109 year history of the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships, three different Southern California players have won the singles title in three consecutive years. Woodland Hills’ Thea Frodin completed the historic SoCal hat trick at Barnes Tennis Center, defeating Janae Preston (Intermountain), 6-1, 6-0. Her victory follows Torrance’s Iva Jovic’s (Torrance) 2024 title and Alyssa Ahn’s (San Diego) 2025 championship.

The current three year run is the first time since 1956 to 1958 that Southern California has produced three consecutive champions with three different SoCal players capturing the title when Miriam Arnold of Hollywood won in 1956, Karen Hantze of San Diego in 1957, and Sally Moore of Bakersfield in 1958. That stretch came during an even longer period of Southern California dominance, as Barbara Breit of Los Angeles won in 1954 and 1955 before Arnold, Hantze, and Moore continued the run, with Hantze claiming the title again in 1959 and 1960 to give SoCal seven consecutive championships from 1954 through 1960. Earlier, Helen Pastall of Venice won in 1946, Nancy Chaffee of Ventura followed in 1947, Beverly Baker of Santa Monica won in 1948, and Maureen “Little Mo” Connolly of San Diego captured back-to-back titles in 1949 and 1950.

Frodin’s title run included a semifinal victory over the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Carlsbad’s Julieta Pareja, before she defeated Preston in the championship match. Pareja bounced back to claim third place, defeating Chukwumelije Clarke (Texas), 6-1, 6-3, in the third place playoff. With her USTA Bronze Ball finish, Pareja earned a wild card into the US Open Junior Championships singles main draw, along with a wild card into the USTA W35 women’s qualifying singles draw.

For Frodin, the national title is the latest milestone in a rapid ascent that began on Southern California courts. In 2019, at age 10, she captured the Girls’ 10s title at the USTA Southern California Junior Sectionals. Seven years later, she returned to San Diego as the No. 3 seed and claimed the biggest title of her junior career.

Now 17 and ranked No. 31 in the ITF Junior rankings and No. 580 in the WTA rankings, Frodin has established herself on both the junior and professional circuits. Her first WTA ranking point came at the SoCal Pro Series event at the Jack Kramer Club in 2023, when she won her opening round match at just 14 years old.

Since 2023, Frodin has competed in singles and doubles at Junior Grand Slam events, reaching the doubles quarterfinals at all four tournaments. Earlier this year, she advanced to the girls’ singles semifinals at the Junior Australian Open.

Her success at Girls’ Nationals has also translated to the professional Grand Slam stage. Last year, Frodin and Kristina Penickova (NorCal) won the Girls’ 18s doubles title, earning a US Open women’s doubles wild card. The pair made their Grand Slam debut against 2019 Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s Nationals singles champion Reese Brantmeier and 2024 Lakewood SoCal Pro Series champion Alanis Hamilton, pushing them to a deciding third set before falling in a match tiebreak.

A year later, Frodin returned to San Diego and added her name to a historic Southern California legacy, earning a main draw wild card into the women’s singles at the US Open. She was also recognized with the tournament’s Sportsmanship Award, adding another distinction to a memorable week in San Diego.

Los Angeles’ Abigail Haile also captured a USTA Gold Ball in San Diego, teaming with Olivia de Los Reyes (Eastern) to win the Girls’ 16s doubles title as the No. 9 seeds. The duo went through the tournament without dropping a set, including a quarterfinal victory over No. 1 seeds Emery June Martin of Los Angeles and eventual singles champion Shristi Selvan (Mid-Atlantic). In an almost all-Team SoCal final, Haile and de Los Reyes defeated Moorpark’s Madeline Cleary and San Gabriel’s Isabelle Nguyen, 6-3, 6-1, to claim the title.

2026 Girls’ 18s Junior Sectionals champion Brooke Kwon of Diamond Bar teamed up with Alyson Shannon (Texas) for a deep Girls’ 18s doubles run. The duo battled through two close matches that went to tiebreakers, including a round of 64 victory over No. 4 seeds Thea Frodin and Emery Combs (Southern). Kwon and Shannon advanced to the semifinals before facing San Diego’s Yilin Chen and Natalie Kha (NorCal) in the 3rd place playoff, where they defeated the duo, 7-5, 6-1.

Nats at the Zoo

Rancho Palos Verdes’ Andrew “Andy” Johnson made an impressive jump to the Boys’ 18s division this year after finishing runner up and earning a USTA Silver Ball in the 16s draw a year ago. Now just 16 years old, Johnson entered the 18s field as the No. 3 seed and the No. 5 junior in the ITF Rankings, facing a significantly older and highly competitive field.

Johnson delivered an outstanding week, picking up several impressive wins against seeded opponents and proving he could compete among the nation’s top 18s players. His run came to an end in the semifinals against Jordan Lee (Florida), but Johnson earned the USTA Bronze Ball after receiving a walkover in the third place playoff. His strong finish also came with a major opportunity: Johnson earned a wild card into the US Open Junior Championships boys’ singles main draw, adding another milestone to an already impressive week.

In Boys’ 18s doubles, Torrance’s Keaton Hance and Jack Kennedy (Eastern), the No. 1 seeds and reigning US Open Junior Championships boys’ doubles champions, advanced through the quarterfinals without dropping a set. Their title defense ended in the semifinals, where No. 3 seeds Ryan Cozad and Gavin Goode, both representing the Southern Section, prevailed in a tightly contested three-set battle. Hance and Kennedy ultimately earned a USTA Bronze Ball after their opponents in the third place playoff, No. 8 seeds Los Angeles’ Ford McCollum and Jack Secord (Midwest), were forced to withdraw with a walkover due to injury.

Girls’ 14s & 12s 

At the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, Pasadena’s Victoria Park put together a strong campaign in the Girls’ 14s singles draw, advancing to the semifinals as the No. 16 seed before finishing fourth overall.

In doubles, Los Angeles’ Kareena Cross and Gabrielle Alexa Villegas (Eastern) put together one of the tournament’s most impressive runs. The unseeded pair knocked out the No. 3, No. 6, and No. 2 seeds on their way to the championship, ultimately capturing the Girls’ 14s doubles title. Meanwhile, Encino’s Skylar Mandell and Christina Li (Florida) also battled their way onto the podium. The No. 2 seeds fell to Cross and Villegas in the semifinals before rebounding in the third place match, where they defeated the No. 1 seeds Daniella Akhtar (Texas) and Jessie Janiak (Midwest) to claim the USTA Bronze Ball.

In the Girls’ 12s, Torrance’s Mandy Wei, the No. 13 seed, battled her way to a fourth place finish in Norcross, Georgia.

Boys’ 14s & 12s 

At the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama, San Diego’s Daksh Bharadwaj delivered a strong run in the Boys’ 14s singles draw, reaching the semifinals as the No. 12 seed without dropping a set. Bharadwaj ultimately fell to No. 3 seed Matthew Finn (Mid-Atlantic) in the third place playoff, finishing fourth overall.

Southern California found even more success in doubles, as Thousand Oaks’ London Slaton teamed up with Sebastian Cheaney (Eastern) as the No. 1 seeds to capture the Boys’ 14s doubles crown. The duo defeated fellow Southern Californian Daniel Gardality of San Diego and his partner David Bender (Florida) in a hard-fought final, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Tarzana’s Matthew Kolomeyer and Redondo Beach’s Benjamin Inukai added another top four finish for SoCal, placing fourth in the Boys’ 14s doubles draw. Slaton’s stellar play was matched by his character, earning him the Sportsmanship Award to cap off his championship week.

Meanwhile in the Boys’ 12s, Thousand Oaks’ Thomas Gamble and William Zhou of Glendale led the way for SoCal. Gamble finished third in singles, while Zhou followed closely behind in fourth, giving Southern California two of the division’s top four finishers. The two young stars then teamed up as the No. 1 seeds in doubles, where they battled their way to the championship match. Along the way, Gamble and Zhou defeated fellow SoCal duo Patrick Hopkins of Hawthorne and Reed Kuai of Newbury Park in the semifinals before going on to capture the Boys’ 12s doubles title and USTA Gold Ball. Hopkins and Kuai went on to finish fourth.

—

To view final singles and doubles draws for each age division, click the links below:

– USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s & 18s National Championships
– USTA Boys’ 16s & 18s National Championships
– USTA Girls’ 14s National Championships
– USTA Boys’ 14s & 12s National Championships
– USTA Girls’ 12s National Championships