Southern California Juniors Excel at April L3
Tournaments Across the West

Southern California junior players turned in an impressive weekend of results across USTA Level 3 events in Irvine, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Lakewood, San Antonio, and Scottsdale, collecting titles and deep finishes across every age division.

Irvine

Competition at the Racquet Club of Irvine opened the weekend with a strong showing in the Boys’ and Girls’ 12 divisions.

Boys’ 12 singles action was led by Irvine’s Benedict Zhong, who secured the title on home courts. Studio City’s Henrik Khemiy added a deep run of his own, finishing third in singles before joining Zhong to reach the doubles final. The doubles crown went to Palm Desert’s Benjamin Foreman and Montrose’s Pavel Abadzhev, who teamed up for the championship.

The Girls’ 12 draw saw Los Angeles’ Cordelia Skye rise to the top of the field with the singles title, while Irvine’s Alara Buyukuncu finished runner up. San Diego’s Melody Li earned third place, with Rancho Santa Fe’s Yuna Guo placing fourth. Li and fellow San Diegan Eva Yang combined forces to take the doubles title, while Irvine’s Carlota Tarzaga Diaz and Guo finished as finalists. Lakewood’s Ryan Wilson paired with Los Angeles’ Kira Elliott to take third, and Lake Forest’s Selene Yang alongside Rancho Cucamonga’s Huining Zhang rounded out the fourth place finishers.

Las Vegas

The Las Vegas event, hosted at Darling Memorial Tennis Center, added another strong set of results for Southern California players across multiple age groups.

Tarzana’s Damian Kasralikar led the Boys’ 12 effort with a third place singles finish, while Corona’s Anthony Gallo and Boise, Idaho’s Roark Gmirkin advanced to the doubles final.

On the Girls’ side, Irvine’s Sofia Pizarro delivered a standout run, capturing the singles title after defeating top seeded hometown favorite Ingrid Sagstrom. Monterey Park’s Phoebe Lee finished fourth in singles, and Pizarro later partnered with Pueblo, Colorado’s Amina Doumbia to secure a fourth place doubles finish.

The Boys’ 14s saw Thousand Oaks locals London Slaton and James Borchard place third and fourth in singles, respectively, before teaming up to win the doubles title. Ryan Zadeh from Los Angeles and NorCal’s Jeremy Zhu of Pleasanton finished doubles finalists, while Mission Viejo’s Wylan Huang and Daren Huang placed fourth.

In the Girls’ 14s, Rancho Palos Verdes’ Lucy Jiang and Las Vegas local Ayenxavia Calugay powered their way to the doubles final, while Los Angeles’ Aila Sagerian-Becker and Kamilah Saine from Henderson, Nevada, secured a strong third place finish.

The Boys’ 16s were highlighted by Los Angeles’ Aiden Zadeh, who did not drop a single set on his way to the singles title, including a semifinal win over fellow Los Angeles standout Kiran Spurling, before the two teamed up to capture the doubles crown. Long Beach’s Kamden Harden finished as singles runner up, while Spurling placed third. Anaheim’s Ean Lin and Brea’s Advaith Surabhi were doubles finalists, and Rancho Santa Fe’s Yi He Gao with partner Ryan Valencia from Chula Vista took fourth.

On the Girls’ 16s side, Valerie Machikawa from Cerritos had an impressive showing reaching the singles final while teaming with Madelyne Naslund of Winchester to win the doubles championship. 

In the Boys’ 18s, Clayton Pohoski from Camarillo earned third in singles, while Long Beach’s Justin Yuan and Alessandro de Bernardo from Seminole, Florida finished third in doubles. Meanwhile, Palos Verdes Estates’ Cassie Blakey took home third in the Girls’ 18s singles, and later teamed with Tayler Conway from Newcastle, Washington to reach the doubles final.

Long Beach

Southern California also played host in Long Beach at El Dorado Tennis & Pickleball Center, showcasing depth across the 14s and 18s divisions. 

Jed Jones from Upland captured the Boys’ 14 singles title, with San Diego’s Daniel Gardality placing second, La Jolla’s Arya Salami placing third, and San Diego’s Max Lawson placing fourth. San Diego twins Hudson Marr and Milo Marr won the doubles title, while Redondo Beach’s Benjamin Inukai and Matthew Kolomeyer of Tarzana were finalists. Gardality and Chris Deng from Alhambra finished third in doubles.

In the Girls’ 14s, Encino’s Agneshka Markina won the singles title, followed by Glendale’s Lindy Zhou as finalist, San Clemente’s Charlotte Ackad in third, and Lyla Qian of Aliso Viejo in fourth. Ackad teamed with Irvine’s Hazel Kol to win doubles, Cerritos’ Nicole Handjono and Lillian Chhiv of Irvine’s were finalists, and San Diego’s Suzanne Kang with Elika Neishaboori of Westlake Village placed third.

Lakewood

Lakewood Tennis Center saw standout performances across the 18s divisions.

In the Boys’ 18s, Santa Barbara’s Luca Ostovany claimed the singles title over finalist Alex Croitoru from Irvine. Tustin’s Nikhil Bommaiah and Manhattan Beach’s Paxton Au won doubles, Arcadia’s Peter Jorniak and Northern California’s Lucca Zamani from Orinda were finalists, and Ostovany with partner Croitoru added a third place doubles finish. San Diego’s Darren Wei and Newport Coast’s Alexander Park placed fourth.

In the Girls’ 18s, Diamond Bar’s Brooke Kwon claimed the singles title, San Diego’s Juny Huh placed third, San Gabriel’s Isabelle Nguyen and Irvine’s Kylie Nguyen were doubles finalists, Ladera Ranch’s Aubrey Meis and Rebecca MacCallum from Laguna Beach finished third, and Lakewood’s Mandy Oliveros with San Diego’s Ryan McManus placed fourth.

San Antonio

Long Beach’s Asher Yuan and Kona Parseghian of La Jolla reached the final in the Boys’ 16 Dominant Duo Team event, finishing as finalists.

Scottsdale

San Diego’s Oskar Rouse and Giovanni Rezk of Oyster Bay, New York, earned a fourth place finish in Boys’ 18 doubles competition.