The fifth annual USTA Southern California SoCal Pro Series officially kicked off this past weekend as the first of six men’s and women’s Pre-Qualifying tournaments got underway at Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates.

Featuring many of Southern California’s top junior, collegiate, and rising professional players, the Pre-Qualifying events offer competitors the opportunity to earn coveted main draw wild cards into the SoCal Pro Series, a seven consecutive weeks tournament stretch of professional events taking place across the region this summer.

Jean-Baptiste Badon from Los Angeles and Kaia Giribalan from Los Altos were the winners of last weekend’s Jack Kramer Club event and have now earned their way into the 32-player singles main draw of the Kramer Club SoCal Pro Series tournament to take place June 8-14. 

Here is more on the winners and how they did it: 

Jack Kramer Club

> MEN’S WINNER: JEAN-BAPTISTE BADON (LOS ANGELES)

AGE: 23. 

TITLE TIME: Badon was top-seeded and didn’t drop a set with five wins, beating Castaic’s Adam Chodur in the final, 6-3, 6-3.

ROAD TO THE KRAMER CLUB FINAL: Def. Ian Sweeney (La Jolla) in 1st round, 6-1, 6-1; def. Alexey Ryabov (Ojai) in the 2nd round, 6-3, 7-5; def. Jamie Wei (Georgia) in 3rd round, 6-0, 6-2; def. Rishvanth Krishna (Irvine), 6-3, 6-4 in quarters; def. Nathaniel Suh (Orange) in semis, 6-1, 6-1.

PAST OJAI CHAMPION: In 2024, Badon won the California Community College Athletic Association State Championship at Ojai playing for Glendale Community College. 

ARKANSAS CALLING: After one season at Glendale, Badon transferred to the University of Arkansas before moving on to Utah State. 

CLIMBING MOUNTAIN WEST: Playing No. 1 for the Aggies, Badon won the clinching match as Utah State won the postseason title and Badon was named Mountain West Conference Most Valuable Player. A week later, Utah State fell to No. 9 Oklahoma in the NCAAs.   

COACHING TREE: Badon is still privately coached by Glendale CC head man Chris Tissot. 

ALL ABOUT BUSINESS: Badon received his BA degree from Utah State in finance and is hoping to get his Masters next in business analytics. 

SEEKING FIRST ATP POINT: Badon has yet to win an ITF ATP point having played in four ITF events, including making the final round of qualifying at the 2022 Lakewood SoCal Pro Series event, his only appearance in the series.  

MOTHERLY TIES: Badon’s mother, Veronica Badon, runs the Badon Tennis Academy in the Altadena area. She was a two-time All-American at Cal State L.A. 

QUOTABLE 1: “I remember when the SoCal Pro Series started when I was still a junior. It’s great that the local juniors get to play some of the college guys. It’s so exciting to see the younger generation coming up and the depth of players has gotten so much better over the past few years.” 

QUOTABLE 2: “I would say my game is ascending at the right time. We still have more to improve. I kind of signed up for it begrudgingly. I took five days off after we lost and was emotionally cooked. But my coach said there was no way I was pulling out.”

QUOTABLE 3: “I want to feel the pressure of playing in SoCal. I’ve always kind of felt like the underdog. I want to play all the ITFs this summer.” 

GIVE HIM A FOLLOW: On Instagram @rootstorackets.

YOU CAN CALL ME…: “People call me J.B. I would respond to J.B., but I prefer just Jean-Baptiste. Just don’t call me G-E-N-E.” 

> WOMEN’S WINNER: KAIA GIRIBALAN (LOS ALTOS)

AGE: 17.

ROAD TO THE KRAMER CLUB FINAL: Def. Isidora Jelicic (Thousand Oaks), 6-1, 6-1 in 1st round; def. Kara Garcia (Sylmar), 6-2, 6-3 in quarters; def. Delaney Letzel (Los Angeles), 7-5, 6-0 in semis; def. Amy Lee (Beverly Hills) in final, 6-2, 6-3.

PREPS: Kaia is a high school senior currently training full-time in SoCal with personal coaches Kevin Jackson and Frank Giampaolo. 

FLORIDA TRAINED: Spent two years at the famed Evert Academy in Boca Raton, Fla.   

COLLEGE CHOICE: “I chose Stanford because it gives me the opportunity to play tennis at the highest level while pursuing an equally strong path in the classroom,” Giribalan said. “It also feels special to be part of a school so close to home. It really is a full-circle moment.”

COACH QUOTE: Stanford women’s coach Frankie Brennan: “Kaia really came onto our radar when she made the finals of the Orange Bowl in singles and doubles last year. She is really into college tennis, will help make us a better team and is a good cultural fit.” 

SEEKING FIRST WTA WORLD RANKING POINT: In her only SoCal Pro Series appearance, Kaia lost in the first round last year at Lakewood after receiving a wild card. 

QUOTABLE 1: “It was quite a journey actually with my recruiting process as I originally committed to Princeton in 2024. Stanford has always been my dream school since I grew up around there.” 

QUOTABLE 2: “Last year I was injured with a torn quad muscle and I was basically out the whole year.”

GIVE HER A FOLLOW: On Instagram @kaia.giribalan.

The next SoCal Pro Series Pre-Qualifying tournaments are set for this Friday, May 15-19 at the Lakewood Tennis Center. The remaining schedule: Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club, May 22-24; Racquet Club of Irvine, May 29-June 2; Barnes Tennis Center, June 6-8; Biszantz Family Tennis Center, June 12-14.