ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, Calif., June 26, 2023 (by Steve Pratt)

New Murrieta, Calif., resident Omni Kumar and NCAA singles champion from UCLA Fangran Tian both won singles titles without dropping a set as the fourth stop of the SoCal Pro Series concluded on Sunday at the Jack Kramer Club in the South Bay.

The No. 5-seeded Tian continued her torrid pace on the SoCal Pro Series this summer as she was a finalist during Week 1 at Rancho Santa Fe, won Week 2 at the University of San Diego and, following a week off of rest, came back to win both the singles and doubles titles this week winning 18 sets to no defeats in her nine matches over the six-day event. Tian beat Toronto, Canada, native and rising Cal-Berkeley junior Jessica Alsola, 6-2, 6-1, in the ITF World Tennis Tour $15,000 women’s singles portion of the event.

The 21-year-old crafty left-hander Kumar, the No. 3 seed who grew up in Irvine, was in a tight battle against rising University of Oregon senior and qualifier from Utah Quinn Vandecasteele edging out the first set, 6-4, before pulling away to win the title, 6-1.

Tournament director Peter Smith compared Kumar’s steady and efficient play at such a high level to a professor teaching a Master’s class in college. “He doesn’t always hit the hardest or have the prettiest shots, but it always seems to work for him,” said Smith, who sons competed against Kumar in the SoCal juniors. “It was a great week for Omni. He taught a Master’s class out there today.”

Kumar, who played for one season at Duke before Covid hit, earned 10 ATP world ranking points and a $2,352 winner’s prize. Vandecasteele received six ATP world ranking points and a $1,470 runner-up prize.

It was Kumar’s first ITF pro title in the United States as he had previously won four at the $15,000 level all in Tunisia. “It wasn’t the prettiest, but mentally this was the strongest week I’ve ever had,” said Kumar, who trains as a sparring partner to Orange County teenagers Alex Michelsen and Learner Tien at Tier 1 Performance in Irvine. “I’ve been working for a long time for a title in SoCal, and it finally came.”

Vandecasteele was playing his seventh match in seven days and was coming off a week which saw him play five matches over seven days as a qualifier and quarterfinalist at the Barnes Tennis Center. He will be right back at it on Monday as qualifying begins at the Racquet Club of Irvine.

Kumar said he will also play in his hometown event. The Kramer Club tourney was Kumar’s first SoCal Pro Series appearance this year and he was awarded 32 points in the “Race to Indian Wells” standings placing him just two points behind standings leader Jacob Brumm.

In partnership with the BNP Paribas Open, USTA SoCal will award a wild card into the qualifying for both the men’s and women’s events at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open to any U.S. citizen and either a resident of Southern California or a full-time enrolled student on a Southern California university team.

China’s Tian is not eligible for the “Race to Indian Wells” wild card and is flying back to Beijing Monday to visit her family and continue her tennis training. She said she looks forward to coming back to UCLA for her sophomore season in a few months.

The leaders of the women’s standings are: Megan McCray (35), Kimmi Hance (18), Taylor Johnson (18), Haley Giavara (13) and Nikki Redelijk (13).

In the battle of 19-year-olds, Tian said she was nervous and had her serve broken in the first game of the match by Alsola, whose family moved to Fresno six years ago and was playing in her second career ITF singles final having lost in a final in Denmark last summer on clay.

Tian never gave up more than three games in any one set all week, but knows she can get better. “I think I have to go back to China and train and fix some things I need to work on,” she said. “I think I can improve on my serve and my aggressiveness.

“I’m so excited to be going home tomorrow, and I’ve been counting down the days. And now it’s one!”

On Saturday, Tian teamed with Japan’s Rinon Okuwaki to win the doubles title Maria Fernanda Navarro of Mexico and Brea’s Brandy Walker, 7-5, 6-3.

In the men’s doubles final also on Saturday, Eduardo Nava of Northridge and Arizona’s Nathan Ponwith were crowned champions as the No. 3 seeded team took out 20-year-old Florida-based Italian Lorenzo Claverie and Nico Godsick, 18, from Ohio, 6-4, 6-3. Nava played his college tennis at TCU and Wake Forest and Ponwith for Georgia and Arizona State.

Daily tournament admission and parking is free to the public at all SoCal Pro Series events. The SoCal Pro Series’ remaining tournament dates and locations are:

• Qualifying begins Monday-July 2 – Racquet Club of Irvine, Irvine
• July 3-9 – Lakewood Tennis Center, Lakewood
• July 10-16 – Lakewood Tennis Center, Lakewood

To learn more about the SoCal Pro Series, go to: https://www.ustasocal.com/proseries.