Semifinals Set in Men’s and Women’s Singles
at Jack Kramer Club SoCal Pro Series Stop

Two Southern California native teenagers who spent part of their junior careers training in Florida and will both be attending Bay Area colleges this upcoming season battled for more than three and a half hours before Monika Ekstrand outlasted Maria Aytoyan in a thrilling three-set quarterfinal Friday at the Jack Kramer Club USTA Southern California SoCal Pro Series.

The 19-year-old Ekstrand, a Stanford sophomore, edged out the 17-year-old Valley Village resident Aytoyan, a freshman-to-be next Spring at UC-Berkeley, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(1), at the USTA SoCal men’s and women’s ITF pro $15,000 tournament.

“I remember playing her when we were really young, just all the SoCal junior tournaments,” said Ekstrand, who was born in Santa Monica and grew up training at Tennis Mechanix (TMX) Academy in Burbank before heading off to Florida where she is currently coached by former USTA National coach Diego Moyano.

It was the COVID-19 pandemic that sent the Ekstrand family packing to Florida where Ekstrand and her six siblings could continue competing in their athletic endeavors. Monika’s parents Christine and Rikard Ekstrand are from Germany and Sweden, respectively, and both played college tennis in the States.

Monika’s siblings include older sisters Erica (2021 NCAA DIII Singles champion at Williams) and Sophia, older brothers Alexander and Markus (currently on the tennis team at the University of Chicago), a twin sister Viktoria (rower at Harvard), and a younger brother Karl.

Aytoyan was playing in her first ITF pro quarterfinal having been to the second round in three previous SoCal Series events in 2025, including one year ago at Kramer Club when she lost 4 and 4 to former USC star Eryn Cayetano. “It was very competitive and she just played better than me in the breaker,” said Aytoyan, who is coached by Brian Dabul in Glendale and Steven Freedman in Studio City, of her quarterfinal match. “I will absolutely look forward to seeing her around the Bay.”

Aytoyan is a former USTA SoCal Junior Sectionals Girls’ 12s winner who has spent time in Florida training off and on the past few years. “Some of my greatest memories are growing up and playing all the SoCal events,” she said, adding she plans on playing the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ Nationals 18s in August. “It’s such a great tournament. You get to see all your old friends and the girls you grew up with. Everyone’s there.”

Aytoyan has yet to meet the legendary King, but ask her what she knows about her and you get a quick response. “I love her quote: Pressure is a privilege.”

Ekstrand, ranked No. 544 in the world, has already won two ITF W35s last year on clay in Boca Raton, Fla., and Jackson, Mississippi. She next plays qualifier Kaitlyn Carnicella (Univ. of South Carolina/Baylor) from New Jersey. In the other semifinal it will be qualifier Alina Shcherbinina from Russia against No. 3 seed former UCLA player Alexandra Vagramov from Canada.

On the men’s side, it will be a battle of the Johnsons as No. 5 seed and 16-year-old hometown favorite Andy Johnson from Palos Verdes takes on UCLA’s top player Spencer Johnson in the 11 a.m. semifinal. Top-seeded Kaylan Bigun meets Canada’s Alexander Rozin in the other semi. 

In the men’s doubles final New Zealand’s Reece Falck will play in his third consecutive SoCal Pro Series final alongside Billy Suarez. The top seeds face the tandem of Christopher Papa (Pepperdine/San Diego Christian) and Lambert Ruland from Germany. In the women’s doubles final it will be No. 1 vs. No. 2 as top-seeded Salma Ewing (USC) and Vagramov take on the American pairing of Capucine Jauffret (Florida commit) and 16-year-old Kristina Penickova.

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