Pro Circuit Round-up: Dolehide, Korda reach finals

Caroline Dolehide was a singles finalist and a doubles champion at the ITF World Tennis Tour W25 event in Pelham, Ala., last week, while Sebastian Korda reached the singles final at the ITF WTT M15 event in Sunrise, Fla. Dolehide partnered with Usue Arconada for her doubles title, while Sunrise singles semifinalist Alexander Ritschard paired with Justin Butsch to win the doubles trophy in Florida.

Dolehide, the No. 2 seed in Pelham, rolled into the semis with three comfortable, straight-sets wins. In the semifinal round, she was pushed to a tiebreak by No. 4 Sesil Karatantcheva, but she passed the Bulgarian's test to advance to the final with a 6-3, 7-6 victory.

But it was Barbora Krejcikova, the No. 7 seed, who won the title with a 6-4, 6-3 final victory.  

While she knocked out three Americans in the final three rounds this week, Krejcikova previously teamed with American Rajeev Ram to win the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open in January, helping the 34-year-old to his first Grand Slam trophy.

The Czech took out Ann Li in the quarterfinals, after the 18-year-old American dismissed the top-seeded Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine in Round 2. Hailey Baptiste provided the semifinal opposition, but the eventual champion outlasted the 17-year-old Washington, D.C. native in one of the matches of the tournament, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Sophie Chang also reached the singles quarterfinals, making it four Americans among the last eight.

In the doubles draw, Dolehide and Arconada won all eight sets they played on the way to lifting the title as the No. 3 seeds. They were at their most dominant in the final, taking a 6-3, 6-0 decision against the Romanian duo of Oana Georgeta Simion and Gabriela Talaba.

In the men’s event, Korda won a pair of three-setters en route to the final, where he lost in three to Dmitry Popko of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Seeded No. 8, the 18-year-old former junior world No. 1 benefitted from a walkover against No. 4 Sekou Bangoura in the quarterfinals before dispatching No. 2 Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia in the semis.

Harrison Adams joined Bangoura in the quarters, their progress matching the American effort in the women’s event with four U.S. quarterfinalists in Florida.

Ritschard, who fell to Popko, 6-3, 6-2, in the semis, and Butsch were the No. 2 seeds in the doubles event, and won three match tiebreakers to seal the title. The championship match, against Maximiliano Estevez of Argentina and Bastian Malla of Chile, ended 3-6, 6-3, [10-2].

Other notable results for Americans on the ITF Circuit include:

Women:

• Robin Anderson was a singles semifinalist at the ITF World Tennis Tour W25 event in Sunderland, Great Britain, where Emina Bektas was a doubles finalist.
• Dasha Kourkina and Chanelle Van Nguyen both reached the singles quarterfinals at the ITF World Tennis Tour W15 event in Cancun, Mexico.
• Nadja Gilchrist was a doubles champion at the ITF World Tennis Tour W15 event in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
• Sarah Lee reached the doubles final at the ITF World Tennis Tour W15 event in Tabarka, Tunisia.

Men:

• Martin Redlicki was a singles quarterfinalist at the ITF World Tennis Tour M25 event in Sunderland, Great Britain, where Hunter Johnson and Yates Johnson won the doubles title.
• Gage Brymer reached the singles quarterfinals at the ITF World Tennis Tour M25 event in Matsuyama, Japan.
• William Bushamuka and Peter Kobelt both reached the singles quarterfinals at the ITF World Tennis Tour M25 event in Abuja, Nigeria.
• Jordi Arconada won the singles title at the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 event in Canun, Mexico, where Adam El Mihdawy was a singles semifinalist and Henry Craig was a doubles champion.
• Neel Rajesh reached the doubles final at the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 event in Antalya, Turkey.