Live Blog: 2026 USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s & 18s Nationals Daily Recaps

Saturday, August 8th

The path to the US Open officially began on Saturday, August 8th, as nine straight days of high-stakes junior competition got underway at the 2026 USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s & 18s National Championships at San Diego’s Barnes Tennis Center. Saturday’s opening action focused entirely on the Girls’ 16s division, which completed its first round of both Singles and Doubles play. The Girls’ 18s field will take the court for opening-round action on Sunday, August 9th, while the Girls’ 16s move into round two.

Girls’ 16s Singles

Emery June Martin (Los Angeles, CA) started her tournament strong with a commanding 6-2, 7-5 victory over Katie Mann (Port Saint Lucie, FL). Martin advances to face No. 12 seed Meher Rao (Powell, OH) on Sunday morning.

Mia Sandblom (Manhattan Beach, CA) earned a decisive 6-3, 6-4 win over Stella Chambers (Austin, TX). Sandblom will face a tough test in No. 33 seeded Lyla Bergeson (Bountiful, UT) in Sunday’s second round.

Kiana Huerta (San Diego, CA) was more than her opponent could handle, securing a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Juliana Brushaber (Roswell, GA) to advance. She will need to bring that same firepower Sunday morning when she goes head-to-head with No. 6 seed Avita Beitler (Scandia, MN).

Ariana Morris (Laguna Beach, CA) came out victorious in an all-California first-round battle, defeating Zhongyi Zhou (San Jose, CA) 6-2, 6-1. She shifts her focus to an East Coast opponent in round two, taking on No. 17 seeded Daniella Sales (West Harrison, NY) on Sunday.

Receiving first-round byes into Sunday’s action were No. 7 seed Abigail Haile (Los Angeles, CA), No. 17 seeded Madeline Cleary (Moorpark, CA) and Isabelle Nguyen (San Gabriel, CA), alongside No. 33 seeded Savannah Schmitz (La Jolla, CA), Charlotte Kim (Irvine, CA), Tanvi Pandey (Irvine, CA), and Kiana Smith (Carlsbad, CA).

Girls’ 16s Doubles

Myna Medicetty (Laguna Hills, CA) and Kimber Kuykendall (Las Vegas, NV) dropped the opening set before rallying to win 3-6, 6-2, 10-5 over Elle Johannesen (Dallas, TX) and Sophia Preng (Houston, TX). The pair advances to face another SoCal native on Sunday, taking on Abigail Haile and Olivia de Los Reyes in the second round.

The SoCal duo of Chloe Egerer (Moorpark, CA) and Carolyn Hu (Walnut, CA) was dominant in its opening match, securing a 6-1, 7-5 win over Violetta Mamina (Henderson, NV) and Evelina Mamina (Henderson, NV) on Saturday. They will take on Beatrice Bizzieri (Worth, IL) and Leah Lup (Tualatin, OR) on Sunday afternoon.

Another SoCal tandem, Gwyneth Britton (Whittier, CA) and Kiana Huerta (San Diego, CA), claimed a 6-4, 6-3 victory Saturday afternoon over Kshetra Jinukala (Frisco, TX) and Hadli Sefcik (Lubbock, TX). They advance to meet Avita Beitler and Sofia Livingston (Savage, MN) in round two on Sunday afternoon.

The SoCal team of Madelyne Naslund (Winchester, CA) and Surabhi Raghavendra (San Diego, CA) impressed in a 6-1, 6-3 first-round win over Milagro Wilson (Austin, TX) and Liberty Benfield (Austin, TX). They move on to face No. 6 seeded Vanessa Kruse (Saint Augustine, FL) and Alexandra Grilliot (Carmel, IN) on Sunday afternoon.

Waiting in Sunday’s second round courtesy of opening-round byes are No. 1 seeds Emery June Martin and Shristi Selvan (Laurel, MD), No. 9 seeded Abigail Haile and Olivia de Los Reyes (Scarsdale, NY), alongside the No. 9 seeded team of Isabelle Nguyen and Madeline Cleary.