News & Features

by Colette Lewis, 21 March 2025

Special from Zoo Tennis

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. - American juniors have won every singles and doubles title in the three year history of the ITF J300 FILA International Championships in Indian Wells, and at last week's tournament they took their dominance to a new level, with every finalist from the United States. Top seed Jagger Leach swept the boys titles, while Julieta Pareja claimed the girls singles championship in the event held during the second week of the BNP Paribas Open.

An American boys champion was guaranteed after the third round, with all eight quarterfinalists, which included the top seven seeds, from the United States.

Leach's path to the final featured three straight-sets victories and a retirement in the semifinals from his doubles partner Noah Johnston, the No. 4 seed, with Leach up 5-2 in the first set.

No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy, who had reached the 2024 final, found his return to the championship match more arduous, needing three three-set victories, including a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 semifinal win over friend and doubles partner Keaton Hance, the No. 3 seed.

After cool temperatures, gusty winds and rain midweek led to several late nights at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the weekend conditions were ideal, with sunny skies, temperatures in the 70s and a light breeze. With Leach playing two finals Sunday, the boys championship match was scheduled first on Stadium 3, which featured all the trappings of a BNP Paribas Open match: a DJ, ball kids and a master of ceremonies.

Leach started quickly, earning break points in the opening game, and although he didn't convert them, he soon got three more chances in Kennedy's next service game, taking his third opportunity for a 2-1 lead.

After two easy holds, Leach faced his first adversity of the match in his fourth service game, with Kennedy converting his fourth break point with a passing shot winner, then holding for a 5-4 lead. But that advantage was short-lived, with Leach holding for 5-all and breaking Kennedy at 30-40 with a return winner. As the Air Force flyover prior to the BNP Paribas women's final roared overhead, Leach served out the 7-5 set after 44 minutes.

"The first set was really tight and I came up with some of my best tennis in the big moments," said the 17-year-old son of Lindsay Davenport and Jon Leach. "At 5-all, I hit probably my best return of the match on break point."

Leach also came up with a difficult backhand overhead volley on set point after approaching the net at 6-5, 40-30.

Leach also got the first break in the second set, at 2-all, and went on to consolidate, but the next game was key in his straight-sets victory. Kennedy fought off five break points, but Leach showed no impatience or frustration and converted the sixth for the insurance break.

Closing out the championship on his first match point finally allowed Leach to consider the BNP Paribas qualifying wild card that goes to the junior champion the following year, a prize he was reluctant to consider earlier in the tournament.

"I never try to set result-oriented goals, because it's not something I can control," said Leach, who has been working with coach Rodrigo Alvarez since the beginning of the year. "That's something I've been working on recently, to detach from the result. All my goals were oriented around being a good competitor, do what I could, and I accomplished those goals. It was nice this week that it came with a win; it made it even sweeter."

Kennedy was disappointed with his own level, acknowledging that Leach outplayed him, and may have been physically fresher.

"He played really well today, definitely deserved the win today, he was the better player," said the 16-year-old New Yorker, who is coached by Greg Lumpkin. "He definitely handled the pressure better than me today. I was feeling the nerves early on and the legs weren't feeling as well as they did the previous matches."

Leach, who served as a hitting partner for the US Davis Cup team's win over Taiwan at the end of January, now has another date with the highest level of professional tennis next March in Indian Wells.

"I love playing in Indian Wells, it's probably my favorite venue, other than maybe Wimbledon," Leach said.

While the boys draw followed the seeding with uncanny accuracy, the opposite was true in the girls draw. Twin sisters Kristina and Annika Penickova, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, both lost their opening matches in the second round, with Kristina falling to Maria Aytoyan 6-3, 6-7(7), 7-5 in a match that spanned two days due to rain, and Annika losing to USTA National Indoor 18s champion and wild card Karlin Schock 6-1, 6-0. No. 3 seed Thea Frodin and No. 4 seed Maya Iyengar also failed to reach the quarterfinals, with Pareja the only seed to advance to semifinals.

Pareja continued her run of straight-sets victories in the semifinals, beating unseeded Adla Lopez 6-3, 6-3. Her opponent in the final, Alexis Nguyen, had come through three qualifying matches, but she had kept her time on court to a minimum in her first four main draw matches. In the semifinal against unseeded Kristina Liutova of Russia, the points and games were long, but Nguyen won her eighth match of the tournament 6-3, 6-2.

In the girls final, Pareja started out dictating play and never really allowed Nguyen an opportunity to derail her fast start.

Losing only three points on serve in her first three service games, Pareja took a 4-1 lead, as Nguyen, usually not prone to unforced errors, had trouble staying in the rallies.

Pareja finally faced a difficult service game in her attempt to serve out the set at 5-1, saving two break points before Nguyen donated another unforced error for the set.

Nguyen started with a hold to open the second set, but she was broken in her next service game. Her chances to get back level came quickly with Pareja going down 0-40 serving at 2-1, but Pareja won the next five points, then broke at love to take control of the set.

"I just went point by point," said Pareja, a 16-year-old Californian. "That was a really important game."

Nguyen agreed.

"I had a chance there, it could have been a closer match," said the 17-year-old from Sacramento. "That was a big game. She played really well today, she played a great match. My ball was just sitting too much and she was able to take advantage of it. She made sure to stay on it the entire match."

Although the finish line was in sight when she got her fifth break of the match for a 5-2 lead in the second set, Pareja refused to envision a title.

"I don't like to look ahead," said Pareja, who trains with Adam Peterson and Agustin Velotti in Carlsbad, California. "I know if you look ahead, it can come back at you, so I just like to go point by point and see where that takes me."

That discipline has led her to another women's qualifying wild card at the BNP Paribas Open next March, a prize she had kept out of her mind until after the match.

"I forgot about it," said Pareja, who lost to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-4 as a wild card in this year's qualifying tournament. "But I'm super happy."

With her second ITF J300 title of the year, both coming without the loss of a set, Pareja has risen into the ITF Top 20 and secured a place in the Roland Garros and Wimbledon junior championships, which she has yet to play.

"I'm so excited to play French and Wimbledon," said Pareja, who is also expecting to play the J500 in Milan and women's Pro Circuit tournaments on clay in preparation for Roland Garros.

Like Pareja, Nguyen is going home for some much needed rest.

"I'll go back and practice for maybe two weeks," said Nguyen, who is coached by Joe Gilbert at the JMG Academy in Sacramento. "Then, we'll look for some $15ks or $35Ks to play."

DOUBLES

Both doubles champions were playing their first tournament as a team at Indian Wells, with No. 2 seeds Thea Frodin and Leena Friedman defeating the unseeded team of Aytoyan and Sabrina Lin 6-1, 7-6(9) in the final, and Johnston and Leach, also the No. 2 seeds, beating No. 8 seeds Andrew Johnson and Nischal Spurling 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

Frodin and Friedman breezed through the first set, but found the second set much tougher going.

"It was a combination," said Frodin, a 16-year-old Californian. "They raised their level a lot and we started being a little more passive. But towards the end, we just told ourselves to give it our all and we brought it out in the end."

Friedman and Frodin felt comfortable with each other from the beginning and didn't drop a set in their four victories despite their inexperience as a team.

"I feel our communication got better and better as the week went on," said Friedman, a 17-year-old New Yorker. "We really knew how to bring the energy out of each other, and keep fighting. And it was a lot of fun to play together too."

Leach had reached the doubles final in Indian Wells in all three of its editions, winning the title with Joseph Oyebog Jr. in 2023 and falling in the final last year. But despite that track record, it was Leach who was scrambling for a partner.

"I had to convince him," said Leach, who no doubt knew Johnston had six doubles titles at the J200 and J300 level on his resume. "After he won (last month's J300 Porto Alegre) Brazil, I asked him."

Leach said they needed some time to acclimate to each other.

"It took us a few matches," Leach said. "The first few matches, the level was suspect."

"There were a couple of battles the first few rounds," Johnston added. "But we started playing better in the bigger moments and the more tennis we played together, the better we got."

Leach cited Johnston's energy and volleys as a key to their success, while Johnston appreciated his partner's "125 mph serve. It's really nice to put away the volleys after that. And he brings so much positive energy, it helps me relax on court."

Leach and Johnston each have five J300 doubles titles now on the ITF Junior Circuit.

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About Colette Lewis

Colette Lewis has covered topflight U.S. and international junior events as a freelance journalist for over a decade. Her work has appeared in Tennis magazine, the Tennis Championships magazine and the US Open program. Lewis is active on Twitter, and she writes a weekly column right here at TennisRecruiting.net. She was named Junior Tennis Champion for 2016 by Tennis Industry Magazine.

Lewis, based out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has seen every National Championship final played since 1977, and her work on the tournament's ustaboys.com website led her to establish ZooTennis, where she comments on junior and college tennis daily.