National tennis tournament set at Barnes Tennis Center

By SDCN Editor

San Diego, CA–Reigning Wimbledon girls’ singles champion Clervie Ngounoue of Washington will headline the Girls’ 18s division of the upcoming United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s and 18s National Championships.

The national tournament, which is among the premier junior tennis events in the country, will be played from August 5 through August 13 at Barnes Tennis Center, located at 4490 West Point Loma Blvd. in San Diego.

Ngounoue, 17 currently ranked No. 2 in the International Tennis Federation junior rankings, captured the Wimbledon girls’ singles title earlier this month after defeating Nikola Bartunkova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2 in the final, which took one hour and 23 minutes to complete.

She won the Wimbledon girls’ championship without the loss of a set and achieved the No. 1 junior ranking in the world this past June. She will team with Reese Brantmeier of Whitewater, Wis., in the Girls’ 18s doubles competition.

Ngounoue and Brantmeier are the defending Girls’ 18s doubles champions. They scored a thrilling 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Natalie Block of Plantation, Fla., and Piper Charney of Mount Pleasant, S.C., in last year’s doubles final.  

Brantmeier, 18, will be a player to watch in the Girls’ 18s division. This past May, she completed her freshman year at the University of North Carolina where she was an Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American and a member of the 2023 NCAA National Championship team.

In 2019, Brantmeier captured the Girls’ 16s singles title and in 2021, she advanced to the Girls’ 18s singles final at Barnes Tennis Center.   

The Girls’ 18s singles division will also feature 2022 Girls’ 18s singles finalist Valerie Glozman of Bellevue, Wash., Capucine Jauffret of Wilmington, Del., and Iva Jovic of Torrance, Calif.  Glozman is currently No. 1 in the USTA Girls’ 18s national rankings.  Jauffret and Jovic are No. 3 and No. 4 respectively in the national rankings.  

Leena Friedman of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Christina Lyutova of Redmond, Wash., lead the entries in the Girls’ 16s singles division. Friedman is ranked No. 2 in the current USTA Girls’ 16s national rankings. Lyutova is ranked No. 3. Fifteen-year-old Bella Payne of Bradenton, Fla., is also entered in the Girls’ 16s singles division. She is ranked No. 5.

San Diego County will be represented at the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s and 18s National Championships.