Katherine Hui used last year’s inaugural SoCal Pro Series as a litmus test to measure her game among the next levels of collegiate and professional tennis. The San Diego resident stands tall today with a new sense of confidence and belonging on the SoCal Pro Series before she heads to Stanford in the fall.

Regarded as San Diego County’s best teenage female player, Hui defeated University of San Diego sophomore Filippa Bruu-Syversen, 6-2, 6-2, Tuesday in the first round of this week’s $15,000 stop at the University of San Diego, along the ITF World Tennis Tour and USTA Pro Circuit. She followed that up on Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-3 doubles triumph to advance to the quarterfinals with partner Eleana Yu.

Hui meets No. 5 seed Gabriella Price, of New York, in Thursday’s second round of singles. Hui’s progress on the SoCal Pro Series has been noticeable and impressive for an 18-year-old who is only now finishing high school at Santa Fe Christian.

Dating back to the five SoCal Pro Series events she played in 2022, Hui has won all seven of her first-round matches. In her last four SoCal Pro Series events, she has reached a semifinal and two quarterfinals, including last week’s SoCal Pro Series spring/summer opener in Rancho Santa Fe.

“Last year, honestly, my parents’ goal for me was to get a (WTA ranking) point in one of the six (SoCal Pro Series events),” Hui said with a laugh. “As the tournaments went on, and more matches, I felt like I was more at that level so it gave me a lot of confidence going into the rest of my tournaments that summer. I played a few more pro (events), and then I played (USTA) hardcourts, and then Junior US Open so that really helped kickstart my confidence.

“And then, this year, I definitely know I’m at that level. I feel like I belong here more and it’s a nice feeling and I love playing pro tournaments. My game has definitely improved, and especially my mental game, with these pros.”

Hui is attempting to play at least six of the seven events on the SoCal Pro Series, including next week at Barnes Tennis Center, and she is fourth in the points standings for ‘The Race to Indian Wells’ qualifying wild card towards the 2024 BNP Paribas Open.

This year, the top men’s and women’s players accumulating the most points throughout the seven events will be granted a wild card into qualifying at next year’s BNP Paribas Open. The “Race to Indian Wells” wild card is available to U.S. citizens who are Southern California residents or full-time Southern California college students.

“The BNP (Paribas Open) wild card is really nice,” Hui said. “I got a ranking from the SoCal Pro Series so I can make all of the rest of these tournaments. It’s so nice that it is at home. This is definitely such a good way to kickstart your professional career.”

Elsewhere on the women’s singles front, Oceanside’s Megan McCray hit the court for the first time as an ITF singles champion, dating back to Sunday’s SoCal Pro Series championship in Rancho Santa Fe, only to retire due to injury against Menlo Park high school freshman Aspen Schuman, 15, while trailing 3-6, 1-2.

On the men’s singles side, San Diego’s Trevor Svajda will always remember USD as the place where he earned his first ATP World Tour singles ranking point following a 6-3, 6-2 first-round triumph over Harvard-bound Rohan Murali on Wednesday. Murali, 18, won the 2023 CIF-San Diego Section individual singles championship as a senior at Santana High School in Santee.

Both advanced into the main draw through qualifying and were looking for their first ranking point. Svajda, 17, is the younger brother of Zach Svajda, who at 20 has an ATP world ranking of No. 227 with a pair of US Open main draw appearances (2019 and 2021) to his name. Zach was ranked in the 900s when he was 17, and Trevor hopes to follow his brother along the same path.

For the second consecutive year, the SoCal Pro Series welcomed the ITF debut of the USTA’s top-ranked junior player. Los Angeles resident Cassius Chinlund, who is the nation’s No. 1 junior (Boys 18s) at the age of 16, teamed with Newport Beach’s Krish Arora, who won the 2023 Easter Bowl’s Boys 18s doubles championship, in doubles.

Chinlund and Arora squandered a match point in Tuesday’s 3-6, 6-1, 10-12 (third-set tiebreaker) defeat to San Diego’s Patrik Trhac and El Cajon’s Isaiah Strode. Yet, Chinlund exhibited an on-court energy and swagger which befits his No. 1 ranking.

“I was a little tight, obviously. First pro tournament. Losing like that is kind of tough,” Chinlund said. “But the way I see it is it’s just an amazing experience. Just really grateful that (USTA) SoCal gave me this wild card. Win or lose, I know that I’m getting better every time I’m playing in tournaments like these. That’s all that matters for me. The experience is priceless and the ATP point, that’s going to come. I’m definitely hungry for that ATP point.”

The left-handed Chinlund opted to leave his high school, Campbell Hall in Studio City, near the end of his sophomore year for the ICL Academy (online private school based in Los Angeles) and a full-time training regimen with the USTA SoCal Player Development program in Carson after winning the Easter Bowl Boys’ 18s singles championship in April.

Chinlund is hoping to play singles and doubles (with Arora) in upcoming SoCal Pro Series events in order to elevate his level of play and prepare him for summer tournaments that include the USTA Boys’ 16s National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. and, hopefully, a berth in the US Open Junior Championships.

“In LA, there’s not many players for me to play against. The SoCal Pro Series, it’s a great opportunity for me. This is so close to home. Win or lose, I’m just looking for good tennis right now. I’m really grateful for this opportunity, and all these opportunities that USTA Southern California has given me. The next two (SoCal Pro Series events), I’m definitely requesting wild cards for doubles and singles.”

The men’s singles draw was blown wide open Wednesday as the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 seeds lost first-round matches. Third-seeded Frenchman Jaimee Floyd Angele, a SoCal Pro Series finalist in Rancho Santa Fe last week, is the highest remaining seed.

Columbia University senior-to-be Alex Kotzen, of New York, dealt top-ranked Govind Nanda, of Redlands, a 7-5, 6-1 setback. Orange County native Sebastian Gorzny, the 2022 Wimbledon Junior doubles champion and Big-12 Freshman of the Year at TCU, notched a 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory over second-seeded Floridian Alfredo Perez. Australian Mitchell Harper downed fourth-seeded Irvine resident Gage Brymer, 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Perhaps the University of San Diego is too gracious of a host this week. Oddly, all Torero entries in the men’s singles draw – USD junior Blake Kasday and sophomore Nikhil Niranjan, of Thousand Oaks – and women’s singles and doubles draws – outgoing senior Solymar Colling, juniors Elizabeth Goldsmith (Chula Vista native) and Jordyn McBride and sophomore Syversen, fell in the first round.

Redondo Beach native Taylor Johnson tallied a 6-2, 6-4 first-round win over No. 8 seed Colling, the Toreros’ No. 1 women’s player from Orange and Villa Park High School who played on an ailing left knee for much of her final collegiate season.

Though Colling plans to play the SoCal Pro Series’ three tournaments in San Diego County – she reached the semifinals in Rancho Santa Fe last week and will play next week at Barnes Tennis Center – against her doctor’s recommendation to shut herself down for a minimum of 4-6 weeks, she didn’t want to completely miss out on the SoCal Pro Series and one last chance to play at USD.

Said Colling: “I want to enjoy playing tennis, win or lose. I want to enjoy my last couple weeks in San Diego. The team environment, my coaches, having a (tennis) family, and living in San Diego, I’m going to miss that the most. Just competing amongst my teammates, those are the memories that I’m going to cherish the most, regardless of the results.”

The SoCal Pro Series is in week two of seven consecutive weeks of 15,000 ITF World Tour-level men’s and women’s tournaments at Southern California tennis facilities in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange counties. Debuting successfully in 2022, the SoCal Pro Series will once again give Southern California players the chance to earn valuable ATP and WTA world ranking points.

Daily tournament admission and parking is free to the public at all SoCal Pro Series events. The SoCal Pro Series’ remaining tournament dates and locations are:

• June 12-18 – Barnes Tennis Center, San Diego
• June 19-25 – Jack Kramer Club, Rolling Hills Estates
• June 26-July 2 – Racquet Club of Irvine, Irvine
• July 3-9 – Lakewood Tennis Center, Lakewood
• July 10-16 – Lakewood Tennis Center, Lakewood