Southern California Juniors Shine at October 2025
USTA National Level 2 Tournaments

Southern California’s top junior players delivered impressive performances at the USTA National Level 2 tournaments on October 11-13, racking up titles and top finishes across multiple age divisions. Their results highlighted the region’s depth of talent and ongoing prominence on the national stage.

The Girls’ and Boys’ 12s competed on home courts at the Lakewood Tennis Center, and the top seeds lived up to their billing. Encino’s Skylar Mandell navigated an all-SoCal draw with poise, opening with straight-set wins over San Diegans Sofia Radulescu and Emanuela Trenet. She then rallied from a set down against No. 5 seed and Irvine native Alara Buyukuncu to prevail 4-6, 6-2, [10-3] in the quarterfinals. Mandell dominated Rancho Palos Verdes’ Lerong Yao 6-4, 6-0 in the semifinals before facing Irvine’s Annabelle Huang in the final. After dropping the first set, Mandell regrouped and triumphed in a tense tiebreak, winning 1-6, 6-4, [10-7]. Glendale’s Lindy Zhou, the 2025 Junior Sectional Championships Girls’ 12s champion, finished third with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Lerong.

In doubles, No. 1 seeds Lucy Jiang of Rancho Palos Verdes and Annabelle Huang advanced with strong wins over fellow Southern Californians but fell to Lindy and Southern’s Maya Laddin 8-1 in the final. The third-place playoff featured an all-SoCal clash, with San Diego’s Suzanne Kang and Julie Lai of Palos Verdes Estates edging out Lerong and Cordelia Skye of Los Angeles.

On the boys’ side, Newport Beach’s No. 1 seed Thomas Gamble reached the semifinals with straight-set victories in his first three matches. He defeated Lindy’s twin brother William Zhou 6-2, 6-7(7), [10-5] to set up a final against friend and No. 2 seed Matthew Kolomeyer of Tarzana, who had edged past No. 3 seed from Laguna Beach, Luca Rodriguez, 6-4, 2-6, [10-4]. Gamble rallied from a first-set loss to secure the championship 6-7(9), 6-4, [10-1]. In the third-place playoff, Rodriguez came back from a first-set deficit to overcome William 4-6, 7-6(5), [10-5], meaning the top four seeds all finished in line with their seedings.

In boys’ doubles, William Zhou bounced back from his singles defeat, pairing with Northern California’s Andy Xu to overcome the top three SoCal seeds in succession, including No. 3 Wylan Huang of Mission Viejo and Newbury Park’s Reed Kuai, No. 2 Jaden Joyner of Tarzana and Laguna Beach’s Kade Grover, and finally No. 1 Matthew Kolomeyer and Luca Rodriguez. Palm Desert’s Benjamin Foreman and Pacific Northwest’s Aiden Lee claimed third place over Joyner and Grover.

The Girls’ 14s took center stage at the Claremont Club, delivering plenty of drama. Unseeded Aarna Patel of Cerritos staged a stunning comeback over top seed Mia Sandblom of Manhattan Beach, rallying from a set down to win 1-6, 7-6(4), [10-8] to open the top half of the draw. La Jolla’s No. 5 seed Andrea Jakovljevic seized the moment, dropping just 21 games and no sets, and winning more than 74 percent of all games she played en route to the title. In the final, Jakovljevic defeated Intermountain’s Evelina Mamina in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. Walnut’s Carolyn Hu, the No. 3 seed, finished fourth after falling to Intermountain’s LuLu Shiozawa in a tense deciding tiebreaker. In doubles, unseeded Southern California duo Nicole Handjono of Cerritos and Melissa Vasquez of Tustin made their mark by knocking out the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds en route to the championship.

Meanwhile in Midlothian, Virginia, Irvine’s No. 4 seed Reyansh Pant navigated the Boys’ 14s singles field with authority. Pant overcame top Southern Section seeds in back-to-back rounds, defeating No. 1 Collin Mika 7-5, 6-1 and edging past No. 2 Ambrose Alexander in a deciding tiebreak 6-3, 3-6, [10-7] to win the title.

Heading north to Sacramento, the Girls’ and Boys’ 16s continued SoCal’s strong run. Irvine’s No. 3 seed Mingyue Deng went undefeated against all five Northern California opponents. After a tight first round win over Rebecca Wu 7-6(6), 6-2, Deng cruised through the rest of the draw, including a commanding 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal over No. 2 seed Kelly Shi, and closed out the tournament with a 6-4, 6-1 final victory against Devanshi Shrestha. Unseeded Stevenson Ranch standout Ta’Leighah Saulter secured third place after rallying past Northern California’s Yuktaa Pandit 1-6, 7-5, [10-7].

In doubles, No. 3 seeds Kiana Huerta from San Diego and Southwest Section’s Alicia Londono ended the No. 1 seeds’ run in the semifinals, while San Gabriel’s Isabelle Nguyen and Laguna Hills’ Myna Medicetty eliminated the No. 2 seeds. Kiana and Alicia prevailed in the all-SoCal doubles final.

Tustin’s No. 8 seed Nikhil Bommaiah made a strong run up north, defeating opponents from the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. After splitting sets in the quarterfinal against No. 4 seed Aidan Conley, Bommaiah edged the tiebreak 10-6 before falling to No. 1 seed Arjun Krishnan in the final. In doubles, Manhattan Beach’s Paxton Au and Chino Hills’ Zhiyu Yuan outlasted No. 3 seeds Nikhil and Pacific Northwest partner Cayden Laughton, then toppled the No. 2 seeds in a classic NorCal versus SoCal showdown. They capped their run by defeating unseeded duo Aidan Conley and Alexander Totoian to win the championship, while La Crescenta’s Jaidyn Finley and Northern California partner Krishnan Arjun finished third over No. 2 seeds Surya DeDatta and Lucas Huang.

From one paradise to another, the Girls’ and Boys’ 18s traveled to Hawai’i to compete at the Jarand M.Y. Iwase Tennis Complex in Waipahu. Unseeded San Diego standout Kylie Liu led the charge, toppling No. 1 seed Ashley Kurizaki in straight sets before outlasting fellow SoCal player Delilah Rizvi from Newbury Park to advance to the final against Kingsley ‘Kiki’ Wolf of Pacific Palisades. Delilah claimed third place after edging Trabuco Canyon’s Julia Seversen.

In doubles, Liu paired with Hidden Hills’ Ella Olofson to reach the final, while Newport Beach’s Grace Kersenbrock and Hawai’i Pacific’s Lucy Teramura earned fourth place. Fountain Valley’s Anna Cherico and Midwest partner Amiya Bowles also made an impact in doubles in Edmond, Oklahoma, advancing to the final after outlasting the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds.

On the islands, the Boys’ 18s saw strong SoCal representation. Newport Beach’s Ivan Pflueger finished fourth in singles, while San Diego’s Oskar Rouse took fifth. Doubles showcased the region’s dominance, with top-seeded Darren Wei of San Diego and Northern California’s Joseph Nau claiming the championship. No. 2 seeds Peter Jorniak of Arcadia and Deepinder Singh from the Pacific Northwest took the runner-up spot, and Newport Coast’s Alexander Park and Northern California’s George Santalov rounded out the top four.

These October tournaments highlighted Southern California’s continued strength across all age groups. From singles to doubles, players excelled in every division, showcasing skill and determination, while reinforcing the region’s reputation as a national powerhouse in junior tennis.