LAKEWOOD, June 4, 2026 (by Steve Pratt)

Having already secured two main draw wild cards by winning pre-qualifying tournaments at the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills and in Rancho Santa Fe, Jean-Baptiste Badon took advantage of another direct entry into the main draw granted by the USTA Southern California and put it to good use on Wednesday in the first round of the Lakewood SoCal Pro Series.

The 23-year-old Badon, who calls Los Angeles home and grew up in Altadena, rallied from down 1-4 in the final set to come back against last week’s Lakewood Week One singles finalist Amit Vales from Israel, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, and record his first-ever ATP point by way of winning a round in the main draw in the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 tournament.

Badon was cheered on by friends and family, including his two coaches Chris Tissot from Glendale College and Josh Shure, who coaches out of the Cheviot Hills Tennis Center in Culver City.

“It meant the world to me to see all the guys there cheering me on for what was a very special moment in my career,” said Badon, who will next face University of San Diego’s Neo Niedner in the second round Thursday. “I couldn’t have done it without the help of [USTA Southern California Executive Director] Trevor Kronneman. They’ve seen the work I’ve put into getting here.”

It’s been quite the journey to Badon’s first ATP point, for sure. After winning The CCCAA state title at Ojai for Glendale in 2024, it was off to the University of Arkansas and then to Utah State, where Badon clinched the deciding match for the Aggies, securing them the Mountain West Conference Championship just last month.

Wednesday was Badon’s first ITF pro event since September of 2022 when he won three rounds of qualifying at the Madrid $25,000. “I was very nervous,” said Badon, who received his BA degree from Utah State in finance and is hoping to get his Masters next in business analytics. “Just getting back out there. I had prepared really well for this tournament. You’re really facing more of yourself than your opponent. When I got down 1-4 I couldn’t stop smiling. He was hitting some unbelievable shots, but I didn’t want it to end. I love this game and it’s nice to see the hard work paying off.”

Badon continued: “I just kept a positive mindset. When I was a junior I wasn’t really happy when I played. This is the first time in a long time I was happy. College tennis helped me with that, playing all those three-setters. It helped me get out of my own way. You have to let the game be fun. Tennis is a beautiful sport when you’re not hating on it. I don’t think a younger version of me could’ve handled it. I’m 23 years old now and I’m more mature and can handle it all. It feels good.”

Badon became the second SoCal Pro Series pre-qualifying winner in as many weeks to use his main draw wild card to secure his first world ranking point as San Diego’s Alexander Guajardo did the same last weekend.

Culver City’s Abigail Haile, just 15 and a sophomore at Connections Academy online, took a different route in winning her first WTA world ranking point. Just one week after losing to former University of Maryland standout Kallista Liu, Haile bounced back and came through qualifying to record her third straight win this week beating Liu, 6-3, 6-3.

“This time I was able to switch up and use a different strategy,” said Haile, who is coached by Clay Pereira from Level Up Tennis Academy in Irvine. “She is good at taking the high balls so I had to just hit it flat and was hitting the ball on the rise. She likes the longer rallies.”

Later in the day, Haile and Delaney Letzel, a high school senior from Los Angeles, who is committed to SMU in 2027, fell to the No. 3 seeds in doubles. In singles, Haile will face Dasha Plekhanova, the No. 3 seed from Canada, who beat 16-year-old qualifier Sophie Suh from Orange, 7-6 (5), 6-0.

In a scenario similar to Haile turning the tables and beating a player she had previously lost to, former US Open junior champion Katherine Hui from San Diego took it a step further. On Tuesday, Hui lost to Oregon’s Patsy Daughters, 10-5 in a super tiebreaker, in the final round of qualifying. Granted a spot into the main draw as a lucky loser, Hui found out she would be playing Daughters within 24 hours of her loss, but came out on top this time, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, to advance.

Fresh off last week’s singles title, University of North Carolina senior Tatum Evans has taken a liking to the hardcourts at the Lakewood Tennis Center, winning her eighth straight match with a 6-4, 6-2 upset over top-seeded Alexandra Vagramov from Canada. Vagramov played at UCLA from 2019-2024 and is currently sitting at No. 621 in the world rankings.

Evans will next play Michigan high school senior Tharwa Gowda, a qualifier who scored a 6-1, 7-5 win over recent Palos Verdes High graduate and wild card Tia Messerli. Former Michigan Wolverine Jaeden Brown beat another wild card, Ta’leighah Saulter, a West Ranch High senior from Stevenson Ranch in Santa Clarita, 6-1, 6-0. Two more wild cards from SoCal, Amy Lee from Beverly Hills, and Kenzie Nguyen from Irvine, fell in first-round matches.

Two other women’s players from UCLA had wins as last week’s semifinalist, No. 2 seeded Mayu Crossley, took out former Cal-State Northridge player Yulia Zhytelna without dropping a game. Crossley’s Bruin teammate Kate Fakih beat Lily Taylor, 6-3, 6-2. Another Bruin, Olivia Center, qualified with two wins before losing on Wednesday. Another first-round winner included Jo-Yee Chan, originally from Georgia and played for Oregon before finishing her college career recently at San Diego State after a successful spring season for the Aztecs. Chan was a quarterfinalist in Rancho Santa Fe a year ago.

On the men’s side, only the No. 2 and 4 seeds of the top eight survived round one with last week’s singles champion Kaylan Bigun, No. 3, falling in a tough three-setter against University of Georgia sophomore Noah Johnston from South Carolina.

SoCal tennis fans should get used to the name Oliver Bonding as the 18-year-old from London, England is considered one of college tennis’ brightest new stars. Bonding upset No. 1 seed Nicolas Arsenault, a Canadian and University of Kentucky sophomore, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Bonding joined Texas Christian University in January and led the Horned Frogs to the Big 12 title being named conference tournament MVP and Freshman of the Year.

Growing up in Irvine, wild card Alexander Petrov was highly ranked and won SoCal Junior Sectionals in 2019. Now 24, and following a college career at Illinois, Petrov has traveled to such outposts as Greece, Portugal, Kuwait, and Qatar playing ITF pro events the past 18 months. Playing just 30 miles from his home on Wednesday, Petrov beat Miles Jones of Marina del Rey, 6-2, 7-5. He next faces qualifier Marko Mesarovic, a Clemson senior from Texas, who beat wild card Avery Tallakson from Irvine, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Mesarovic also qualified last week, losing in the second round to Vales. Tallakson from Irvine was playing his ninth career SoCal Pro Series event and just his second in the main draw having received a USTA SoCal wild card.

Qualifier Kelly Giese, 21, from Manhattan Beach ran into one  of the nation’s top juniors in 18-year-old Jack Satterfield, falling 6-1, 6-2. Currently a senior at Lubbock Christian in Texas, Giese lost in the Boys’ CIF singles final at The Ojai in 2022 becoming only the second Mira Costa High player to make the final in the tournament’s long history. Former ATP star Jeff Tarango is the only other player in school history to make an Ojai singles final, and that was 40 years ago in 1986. Satterfield won the Easter Bowl doubles in 2024 and was a singles finalist last year at the Kalamazoo Boys’ 18s National Hardcourts in singles reaching a career-high No. 17 in the world in the ITF juniors. From Lafayette, California, he will play at Vanderbilt in the fall.

To learn more about the SoCal Pro Series, go to socalproseries.com.