Instead of heading home after wrapping up his recent sophomore campaign at the University of San Diego, Toreros’ No. 1 player and 2024 West Coast Conference Player of the Year and NCAA Division I All-American Oliver Tarvet opted to tap into a new competition, the SoCal Pro Series and USTA Pro Circuit.

Tarvet’s decision to extend his stay in San Diego immediately paid him a dividend as the eighth-seeded Englishman parlayed his 10th ITF World Tour main draw start (first in the United States) into his third ITF ($15,000 purse) men’s singles crown following a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback victory in the final over Nathan Ponwith to cap Week 3 on the SoCal Pro Series.

“It’s something that I definitely circled in the calendar,” Tarvet said of his SoCal Pro Series debut. “It was a goal of mine to not only do well in the college season at USD win but also win a (SoCal) Pro Series at USD. It was very special to me and something that I was prioritizing.”

Still fairly green to professional competition, Tarvet (No. 741 ATP ranking) is taking advantage of the SoCal Pro Series being in town in the short term towards beginning his own quest to make a case in receiving his country’s favor towards its ATP Tour-based events and its leading ‘Championships’ – Wimbledon – in 2025.

“There was definitely a question of whether I should play the grass court season (in England) with the British wild cards. But I think, for this summer, I just really wanted to focus on improving my game,” said Tarvet, a native of St. Albans (about 30 miles north of Wimbledon). “Being here with both of our (USD) coaches, Alex Funkhouser and Ryan Keckley … it’s great that they can actually watch me not only train but also compete in a pro environment. This year, especially, I think development is a big thing.

“My serve and my forehand have really taken off. It’s very rewarding and very reassuring as well that what I’m doing with Alex and Ryan is working. Results will come. Hopefully I can prove to the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association, of Great Britain) that I’m improving and I’m working. And then next year, hopefully, grass court season, I can get a few opportunities there.”

In winning his first five SoCal Pro Series matches at USD this past week Tarvet, 20, also extended his unbeaten record in all matches played at USD in 2024.

“I definitely take a lot of confidence from that on these courts. I try to bring a bit of college (energy) to professional (match play),” said Tarvet. “It helps get me fired up, and it makes me enjoy playing tennis more when I can get myself going. Getting the best out of myself. Especially (the SoCal Pro Series) being at USD, I feel like I’m still in college.” 

Tarvet collected 15 ATP singles ranking points and a $2,160 winner’s prize.

In Sunday’s women’s singles final, top-seeded Fiona Crawley (No. 382 WTA ranking), a University of North Carolina senior in 2023-24, won her third consecutive ITF World Tour/USTA Pro Circuit singles championship in as many starts since the 22-year-old qualified for last year’s US Open main draw with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over fellow Tar Heel and No. 6 seed Sara Daavettila (No. 704 WTA ranking), a past NCAA All-American.

On Saturday, two-time SoCal Pro Series singles champion Daavettila, 26, eked out a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 semifinal victory over San Diego’s Alyssa Ahn, who will be a senior at Torrey Pines High School this fall.

It was a first ITF/USTA Pro Circuit semifinal run for Ahn, 17. The Barnes Tennis Center pupil who was the 2021 CIF-San Diego Section Individual singles champion as a 14-year-old freshman credits the series with rapidly advancing her development towards a future in college tennis and beyond.

The SoCal Pro Series has hosted 11 of the 19 ITF-level pro events Ahn has participated in dating back to 2022, when she was 15. Her first semifinal appearance was a seminal, breakthrough moment that instills added belief.

“It just shows the progress I’ve made over the years. I’ve worked really hard during the year to get to this point, so hopefully I can continue on with the rest of these tournaments,” Ahn said. “It (SoCal Pro Series) has been super, super important and a great opportunity for me. Everyone here is just very experienced. It’s just a really high level.”

Sisters Carolyn and Anna Campana, graduate student athletes at Pepperdine University over the past two years, reached their first professional doubles final together only to drop a 0-6, 6-3, 10-8 (third-set, 10-point tiebreaker) heartbreaker to Turkey’s Basak Eraydin and Ukraine’s Anita Sahdiieva on Saturday.

The Campanas collected 10 WTA doubles ranking points each and split a $515 runner-up prize. Carolyn Campana won the doubles titlE with Pepperdine’s Lisa Zaar the previous week on the SoCal Pro Series.

The sisters teamed together at Wake Forest for three years and at Pepperdine in 2023, though a wrist injury hampered Carolyn through that season. Carolyn completed her NCAA career that year and Anna finished her collegiate tennis in May. While Carolyn plans on playing the ITF/USTA Pro Circuit, Anna is going back to Pepperdine. They know their playing days together may be fleeting.

Said Carolyn: “If you told me two weeks ago I’d be in two finals, I would have literally laughed at you. It’s kind of funny because Anna and I weren’t even expecting to play doubles with each other. I was thinking about taking the week off from doubles, and then my parents were like, ‘No, just go play for fun,’ and then we got to the finals. We tried to go and do some fun things the last two weeks in San Diego – walk around, go shopping, go to La Jolla, go to the beach.”

Added Anna: “We just wanted to have fun with each other because we haven’t played together in a while. I’m going back to Pepperdine to finish my degree in the fall, so going to, kind of, reevaluate what I’m going to do with my life then. We didn’t take it for granted, playing in the finals. It’s really special playing with Carolyn. To make it to the finals, even though we lost, we’ll probably remember it for a long time.”

Johannes Seeman, who finished his NCAA career at San Diego State this year, and Wally Thayne, a Newbury Park native who wrapped up his junior season at BYU, advanced to their first SoCal Pro Series men’s doubles final on Saturday before falling, 6-7 (2), 2-6, to Ponwith and J.J. Tracy, a 2024 NCAA Division I doubles national champion from Ohio State.

Runners-up Seeman and Thayne banked eight ATP doubles ranking points each and split a $540 check.

–

Follow along with the SoCal Pro Series on Instagram and Facebook.