Allen, Price win USTA Clay Court Championships

Leighton Allen and Gabriella Price won the singles titles at last week’s USTA Boys’ and Girls’ 18s National Clay Court Championships, earning wild-card entries into the 2019 US Open junior singles events to go along with their trophies.

The boys’ 18s draw held true to seeding, as the top-seeded Allen (pictured above) defeated No. 2 Logan Zapp, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6, in the final at Florida’s Delray Beach Tennis Center. The 18-year-old champion, from Austin, Texas, will also receive a singles main-draw wild card to an ITF World Tennis Tour M25 event. Zapp, of Felming Island, Fla., earned an M25 qualifying wild card for his final run.

In the girls’ draw, it was Price, the No. 17 seed, taking out No. 7, Karina Miller, 6-0, 7-5, in the final in Mount Pleasant, S.C. Price, 16, of Boca Raton, Fla., will be rewarded with two main-draw wild cards, one into the 2020 WTA Volvo Car Open (also held in South Carolina) and another to a W25 event. Runner-up Miller, of Ann Arbor, Mich., receives a W15 wild card.

Last year, Emma Navarro won the girls’ 18s singles title and went on to make her WTA debut at the 2019 Volvo Car Open. She is now in the WTA’s Top 500 at the age of 18.

Luke Casper (Santa Cruz, Calif.) followed up his boys’ 16s singles title at the USTA National Winter Championships in January by winning the boys’ 16s singles trophy, defeating Samir Banerjee (Basking Ridge, N.J.), 3-6, 7-6, 7-6. Casper earned an M15 main-draw wild card, while Banerjee will receive a M15 qualifying wild card.

2018 USTA National Indoor Championships quarterfinalist Aubrey Nisbet (Wilmington, Del.) bested Carrie Beckman (Louisville, Ky.), 6-0, 6-4, in the girls' 16s singles final. Nisbet earned a wild card into the main draw of the prestigious Grade A Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship in Plantation, Fla., in December. Beckman acquired a wild card into the singles main draw of a Junior ITF Grade 4 tournament to be determined.

Lara Smejkal (Boca Raton, Fla.) was the girls’ 14s singles champion, earning a wild-card entry into the singles main draw of a Junior ITF Grade 4 tournament to be determined. Nishesh Basavareddy (Carmel, Ind.) overtook Dylan Tsoi (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) to claim the boys’ 14s singles title.

Abhishek Thorat (Lithia, Fla.) took home the boys’ 12s singles title, while Bella Payne (Taylors, S.C.) was crowned the girls' 12s singles champion.

Singles and doubles finals results from all four age groups can be found below. Complete tournament results are available on TennisLink.

USTA Boys’ 18s National Clay Court Championships

Delray Beach, Fla., July 14-21, 2019

Singles: (1) Leighton Allen (Austin, Texas) d. (2) Logan Zapp (Fleming Island, Fla.), 6-4, 6-7, 7-6

Doubles: (17) Aryan Chaudhary (Santa Clara, Calif.) / Logan Zapp (Fleming Island, Fla.) d. (8) Luke Vandecasteele (Murray, Utah) / Quinn Vandecasteele (Murray, Utah), 6-4, 6-2

USTA Girls’ 18s National Clay Court Championships

Mount Pleasant, S.C., July 14-21, 2019

Singles: (17) Gabriella Price (Boca Raton, Fla.) d. (7) Karina Miller (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 6-0, 7-5

Doubles: (13) Lauren Stein (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) / Reilly Tran (Dunn Loring, Va.) d. Maxi Duncan (Irvine, Calif.) / Jamilah Snells (Miramar, Fla.), 6-1, 6-0

USTA Boys’ 16s National Clay Court Championships

Delray Beach, Fla., July 14-21, 2019

Singles: (2) Luke Casper (Santa Cruz, Calif.) d. (1) Samir Banerjee (Basking Ridge, N.J.), 3-6, 7-6, 7-6

Doubles: (2) Ben Shelton (Gainesville, Fla.) / Maxwell Smith (Daniel Island, S.C.) d. Gianluca Brunkow (Topanga, Calif.) / Sebastian Gorzny (Irvine, Calif.), 7-5, 5-7, 6-4

USTA Girls’ 16s National Clay Court Championships

Huntsville, Ala., July 14-21, 2019

Singles: (13) Aubrey Nisbet (Wilmington, Del.) d. (3) Carrie Beckman (Louisville, Ky.), 6-0, 6-4

Doubles: (4) Sonia Maheshwari (Morrisville, N.C.) / Lina Mohamed (Mineola, N.Y.) d. (1) Nadejda Maslova (Brooklyn, N.Y.) / Nastasya Semenovski (Brookline, Mass.), 6-3, 6-4

USTA Boys’ 14s National Clay Court Championships

Fort Lauderdale, Fla., July 14-21, 2019

Singles: Nishesh Basavareddy (Carmel, Ind.) d. (6) Dylan Tsoi (El Dorado Hills, Calif.), 6-1, 6-0

Doubles: (1) Nicholas Godsick (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) / Joseph Phillips (Alpharetta, Ga.) d. Nishesh Basavareddy (Carmel, Ind.) / Learner Tien (Irvine, Calif.), 6-1, 1-6, 6-4

USTA Girls’ 14s National Clay Court Championships

Plantation, Fla., July 14-21, 2019

Singles: (15) Lara Smejkal (Boca Raton, Fla.) d. (1) Stephanie Yakoff (Fort Lee, N.J.), 6-2, 3-6, 6-4

Doubles: (9) Alexis Blokhina (Plantation, Fla.) / Natalia Perez (Guaynabo, P.R.) d. (9) Madison Smith (Delray Beach, Fla.) / Valeria Ray (Doral, Fla.), 7-5, 6-0

USTA Boys’ 12s National Clay Court Championships

Orlando, Fla., July 14-20, 2019

Singles: (3) Abhishek Thorat (Lithia, Fla.) d. (12) Maximus Dussault (Leesburg, Va.), 6-4, 7-5

Doubles: (1) Maxwell Exsted (Savage, Minn.) / Cooper Woestendick (Olathe, Kan.) d. (2) Abhinav Chunduru (Plano, Texas) / Prathinav Chunduru (Plano, Texas), 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3

USTA Girls’ 12s National Clay Court Championships

Boca Raton, Fla., July 14-20, 2019

Singles: (2) Bella Payne (Taylors, S.C.) d. (1) Emily Deming (Fallbrook, Calif.), 6-4, 6-2

Doubles: (3) Claire An (New York, N.Y.) / Caitlin Bui (Flushing, N.Y.) d. (4) Alyssa Ahn (San Diego, Calif.) / Emily Deming (Fallbrook, Calif.), 6-3, 6-4