SAN DIEGO, July 2, 2026 (Media Release)
Katherine Hui was on top of her own tennis world after winning the 2023 US Open Girls’ Singles championship, blazing through her six matches without dropping a set.
Three years later, Hui’s quest for regaining that form of yesteryear took a big step forward as she opened this week’s SoCal Pro Series tournament at Barnes Tennis Center with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Alyssa Ahn, a fellow San Diegan and Stanford product, in the first round of the $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour event hosted and managed by USTA Southern California.
While the jubilation and celebration of that career highlight at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, NY eventually subsided, the nagging aches and pains in Hui’s left wrist didn’t.
Said Hui: “I had it taped. It was very persistent during US Open. It was really bothering me on my backhand. I was able to play through it and kept playing through it. I played my whole freshman season (at Stanford) on it, and I think that’s what made it, like, five times worse. And then I tried to rehab it for the next year but it just didn’t work.”
What ensued was an odyssey of uncertainty and a testing of her belief in her talent in injury recovery. Hui, 21, had surgery in March 2025 to repair a partial tear in her tendon and two partial tears in her ligament in her wrist, left Stanford to turn professional and held herself out of competitive action for the next seven months.
However, Hui has come out on the other side. Now it’s about knocking off the rust and recapturing a form fitting of her high standards. For the first time in three years, she professes her wrist is pain free and fully recovered after taking to the court at a venue where she has practiced and played major junior tournaments much of her life.
“I had to re-learn how to grip stuff, like hold stuff,” Hui said. “When I had the surgery, I was casted up to my shoulder and I couldn’t move and I was, like, ‘Am I going to be able to play tennis again?’ It was tough.
“But in that moment, I believed so much in myself. I had relentless positivity that may have been, like, a little bit delusional, but that got me through. I have a team around me that believes in me so much, and I am so grateful for them. You just got to believe that you’ll get there.
“I don’t think I’m there yet, but I know how to get there. If anything, I think I will be better than (before) because other aspects of my game have improved so much. During my injury, I worked on a lot of things. Like, my forehand and my serve got so much better. So I’d say those parts of my game are way better than before.
“But there are parts that I have to re-learn, like my backhand and movement, that isn’t where I want it to be. I think these tournaments are so great for getting good matches. Sometimes I go for shots that I may have had in the past but I don’t have right now. I know exactly what I did to get to where I was. Not taking any shortcuts and being patient, I think I’ll get there.”
In her run-up to the US Open that summer of 2023, Hui played in four SoCal Pro Series events, advancing to three quarterfinals and a semifinal. Wednesday served as her second main draw victory in, this, her fourth SoCal Pro Series tournament this summer.
She felt confident enough in her health that she decided to play a doubles tournament for the first time in three months, and the first time in the U.S. this year. However, she and partner Jayna Clemens fell, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-10, to top-seeded Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, of Irvine, and Anita Sahdiieva.
“The goal this tournament was just to enjoy tennis. I’ve struggled a lot with turning pro and pressure, and a lot of outside factors. I‘m just focusing on why I play, which is because I love playing tennis. Even in tough moments, I’m really just happy to be playing on the court. I feel like I’m not really thinking about my wrist anymore, which was a problem I was having.
“I’m not too concerned about wins and losses right now. I’m concerned about how I’m improving, how I’m developing, how my game looks. I’m really happy that I’m starting to get on the right track right now. Just being out there and competing, I think that’s what really helped me in this match.”
Only Hui wishes her victory didn’t come at the expense of her friend, Ahn, who played the 2025 US Open on a main draw wildcard and recently completed her freshman season at Stanford. Ahn, 19, reached the singles final in her first SoCal Pro Series, and World Tennis Tour/USTA Pro Circuit, tournament of 2026 last week in Claremont.
Said Hui: “I had never played her before. It sucks because I really don’t like playing my friends. I always root for her. I’ve known her for a really long time. But I had a good idea of what to expect going in, which I think helped.”
On the men’s side, San Diego native and 2021 St. Augustine High School graduate Noah Zamora breezed past Georgia sophomore Noah Johnston, 6-3, 6-0, in Tuesday’s first round. The third-seeded Zamora, who graduated from UC Irvine as the Anteaters’ No. 1 player in 2025, remains on a quest for his first pro singles title.
On the same day his brother, Brandon, played in the second round at Wimbledon, Bryce Nakashima opened his week back home in San Diego on Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Long Beach resident and incoming UCLA recruit Nav Dayal. Nakashima, a returning senior to Ohio State, reached his first pro tournament singles final at the SoCal Pro Series stop in Irvine two weeks ago.
Newbury Park resident Roshan Santhosh, 17, earned his first ATP singles ranking point on Tuesday as the incoming Vanderbilt University recruit registered a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over returning Stanford senior Nico Godsick, the son of retired American WTA Tour star Mary Joe Fernandez. Santhosh made his sixth pro tournament start – all coming on the SoCal Pro Series, beginning last year.
In an all-San Diego County clash between two Torrey Pines High School graduates, Rancho Santa Fe resident Jacob Brumm outlasted San Diego State returning sophomore William Kleege, 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 7-6(2) after three hours and 43 minutes of on-court battle. Brumm won his lone pro singles title in a 2023 SoCal Pro Series event at the University of San Diego. Kleege was agonizingly denied a first ATP singles ranking point.
Stian Klaassen, the Dutchman who completed his University of San Diego career in May, upended second-seeded Serbian Marko Miladinovic, 6-1, 6-3.
No. 7 seed Max Exsted, a 2026 All-Big Ten Freshman Team selection for USC and the only current Trojan men’s player carrying the USC flag during the 2026 SoCal Pro Series, dispatched Laguna Beach native Benjamin Berger, 6-3, 6-4. The Cal-bound Berger, 18, made his pro tournament debut on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in the women’s singles draw, No. 2 seed Lutkemeyer, who wrapped up her senior season at UCLA this year, coasted past New Zealand’s Jade Otway, 6-2, 6-2.
UCLA returning junior Kate Fakih, of Pasadena, opened her week in cruising to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Sahdiieva. Fakih is seeking her first pro singles title two weeks after winning her first pro doubles title on the SoCal Pro Series in Irvine.
Lakewood native Salma Ewing, the No. 4 seed who graduated from USC in 2022, cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Santa Monica native and returning USC junior Simone Kay.
Fresh off of consecutive her first two singles semifinal appearances over the past two weeks on the SoCal Pro Series, Chula Vista resident and No. 8 seed Midori Castillo Meza recorded a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over Las Vegas resident Jessica Bernales, who is transferring to UCLA for her junior season after spending two years at Michigan.
Jo-Yee Chan, who completed her collegiate career at San Diego State this year, advanced to the second round with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(2) over Canadian Anna Tabunshchyk.
In a matchup of blue-chip SoCal teenage Juniors, Valley Village resident Maria Aytoyan, 17, ousted 16-year-old San Diegan Yilin Chen, 6-1, 7-6(4). Aytoyan has verbally committed to attend Cal-Berkeley although she still has her senior year of high school to complete.
Irvine resident Tanvi Pandey, 14, gave the women’s top seed, Canadian Alexandra Vagramov, a legitimate first-round test before Vagramov outlasted her, 7-6(3), 7-5. Pandey received a main draw wildcard this week after earning her first WTA singles ranking point two weeks ago in Irvine in her pro tournament debut on the SoCal Pro Series.
To learn more about the SoCal Pro Series, go to socalproseries.com.
