Pro Circuit Round-up: Claire Liu wins Florence W25

Claire Liu, 19, reached a career-high WTA ranking of No. 137 nine months ago behind a pair of first-round victories at Wimbledon and the US Open—her first career Grand Slam victories. A difficult 2019 season saw her ranking briefly drop outside the Top 400, but her USTA Pro Circuit title at the ITF World Tennis Tour W25 event in Florence, S.C., could provide the former junior world No. 1 the spark she needs to recapture her best form.

Liu, who won junior Wimbledon in 2017, was dominant on her way to her fourth career ITF singles title. The No. 7 seed did not drop a set in her five matches on the outdoor hard courts, ultimately defeating Peyton Stearns, 6-1, 6-2, in an all-Amerian final. Liu also took out the second-seeded Marina Melnikova of Russia, 6-4, 6-4, in the semifinals.

Hanna Chang reached the semifinals in Florence, where Emma Navarro was a quarterfinalist and Emina Bektas won the doubles title with Tara Moore of Great Britain.

There was a second women’s Pro Circuit event on the calendar last week, in Waco, Texas, where Catherine Harrison reached the singles semifinals and Lorraine Guillermo was a singles quarterfinalist. Savannah Broadus and Vanessa Ong reached the doubles final.

On the men’s side, recent TCU grad Alex Rybakov reached the final at the M25 event in Waco, while Jordi Arconada was a singles semifinalist and Nick Chappell was a singles quarterfinalist.

Other notable American results on the ITF Circuit include:

Women:

• Dasha Ivanova won the singles title at the ITF World Tennis Tour W15 event in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, where Paige Cline was a singles quarterfinalist.
• Sarah Lee swept the singles and doubles titles at the W15 event in Metepec, Mexico, teaming with Amber Washington to win the doubles crown. Akilah James and Eva Raszkiewicz both reached the singles quarterfinals at the event.

Men:

• Ernesto Escobedo reached the singles semifinals at the ATP Challenger 80 event in Las Vegas, where Marcos Giron, Steve Johnson and Stefan Kozlov were quarterfinalists. Nathan Pasha and Max Schnur teamed to reach the doubles final.
• William Bushamuka was a doubles finalist at the M25 event in Lagos, Nigeria.
• Dusty Boyer reached the singles final at the M15 event in Changwon, Korea.
• Isaiah Strode was s singles quarterfinalist at the M15 event in Cancun, Mexico.