Li wins 'first' WTA title, Brengle wins on Pro circuit

Ann Li reached her second career WTA final last week. This time, she got to play the match.

The 21-year-old advanced to the final of the Grampians Trophy in Melbourne in February, but never contested the title match due to a delay caused by a COVID-19 case within the tournament's "bubble." Instead, Li shared the title with Estonia's Anett Kontaveit.

Eight months later, at the WTA 250 Tenerife Ladies Open in Spain's Canary Islands, the American won sole possession of the title with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Colombia's Camila Osorio. (Watch Li clinch the title with an overhead winner.)

With the win, the King of Prussia, Pa., native moves into the Top 50 for the first time with a career-high ranking of No. 48. She is the second-youngest American inside the Top 50, behind 17-year-old Coco Gauff (No. 24).

Playing in the inaugural edition of the Tenerife event, Li dropped the opening set of her campaign before winning 10 straight to take the title. On her way, she got past three Top-60 players in Osorio, Alize Cornet (semifinals) and Irina-Camelia Begu (quarters).

Also in Europe, two more American youngsters scored strong results at the ATP 250 European Open in Antwerp, Belgium. Jenson Brooksby, the 21-year-old who reached the fourth round at the 2021 US Open, reached the semifinals as a qualifier before falling to Diego Schwartzman. Brandon Nakashima, 20, also qualified and reached the quarters, where he was also dismissed by the Argentine.

Back in the U.S., Madison Brengle won on the USTA Pro Circuit at the W80 event in Macon, Ga. The top seed at the event, the native of Dover, Del., won a trio of three-setters to claim the crown, capped off with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 final victory over Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan. With the trophy, Brengle rises to No. 70 in the WTA ranks, her highest ranking since 2017. She reached a career-high of No. 35 in 2015.

The 31-year-old is now a 17-time singles champ at the ITF level. She's also a seven-time ITF doubles champ, including a trophy at the same Macon event in 2014, alongside Alexa Glatch.

In this year's Macon doubles event, an all-American final saw No. 2 seeds Catherine Harrison and Quinn Gleason defeat Alycia Parks and Alana Smith, 6-2, 6-2. Harrison also reached the singles quarterfinals, as did Louisa Chirico and Victoria Duval.

Notable American men's results on the USTA Pro Circuit and ITF World Tennis Tour last week included:

• Zeke Clark reached the singles semifinals at the USTA Pro Circuit and ITF WTT M15 event in Vero Beach, Fla., where Matthew Segura was a singles semifinalist and University of Florida sophomore Ben Shelton reached the doubles final with Canada's Liam Draxl.
• Victor Lilov reached the singles final of the ITF WTT M15 event in Cancun, Mexico, where Mwendwa Mbithi and Isaiah Strode were quarterfinalists. Mbithi also won the doubles title with Canada's Joshua Peck.
• Gage Brymer reached the singles quarters at the ITF WTT M15 event in Monastir, Tunisia.