The eight players who won Easter Bowl titles are among those featured this month, along with former collegians collecting championships on the WTA and ATP Challenger circuits and a Russian teen collecting her third ITF women’s circuit title.
Astra Sharma
The former Vanderbilt All-American won her first WTA title last month at the MUSC Health Women’s Open in Charleston, South Carolina. The 25-year-old Australian, who reached her first WTA final in 2019, defeated top seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the final. Although still outside the WTA Top 100 and her career-high ranking of 86, Sharma saw her ranking go from 165 to 119 with the title. (Photo credit:MUSC/Chris Smith)
Ingrid Neel and Elixane Lechemia
The 22-year-old Neel, a former University of Florida star, and France’s Lechemia, a standout at the University of South Carolina from 2012-2015, won their first WTA doubles title this month in Bogota, Colombia. The unseeded pair defeated No. 3 seeds Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany and Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Neel and Lechemia had a total of 25 ITF Women’s doubles titles between them, all with other partners, prior to 2021. (Photo credit:MUSC/Chris Smith)
Jenson Brooksby
The 20-year-old Californian, an ace in February for his first ATP Challenger title, added two more this month in Florida. Unseeded, the former Baylor Bear defeated No. 5 seed Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-3 in the final on Orlando’s hard courts, then switched to the Har-Tru in Tallahassee, where he beat Bjorn Fratangelo 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the championship match. Now 19-2 at the Challenger level this year, the ATP No. 166 is having the best start to a Challenger season since Kei Nishikori in 2010. (Photo credit: USTA)
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