SAN DIEGO, August 6, 2026 (by Steve Pratt)
The best of the best junior girls’ tennis players in the nation will compete for the coveted US Open main draw wild card at the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s and 18s National Championships beginning Saturday, Aug. 8 through Sunday, Aug. 16 at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.
Local entrant Julieta Pareja of Carlsbad, Calif., has been named the No. 1 seed in the Girls’ 18s for the prestigious tournament that began in 1918. For more than 100 years, it has been known as the longest-running continual girls’ national junior tennis tournament in the United States.
Past participants include Grand Slam champions Helen Wills Moody, Louise Brough, Maureen Connolly, Karen Hantze, Chris Evert, Andrea Jaeger, Pam Shriver, Tracy Austin, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, and Sofia Kenin. The 2024 18s singles winner, Iva Jovic, from Torrance, is currently ranked No. 16 in the WTA world singles rankings.
Pareja, 17, is ranked No. 288 in the WTA singles rankings. In June, 2024, Pareja won her first ITF World Tour pro title at the W15 SoCal Pro Series event in Rancho Santa Fe. In 2025, she advanced to the semifinals in her pro debut at the WTA 250 Colombia event, becoming the youngest WTA Tour semifinalist since Coco Gauff in 2019. Later that year, Pareja reached the finals of both the girls’ singles and doubles at Wimbledon.
“The USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ National Championships will bring together nearly 400 of the top junior players in the country and serve as a true pathway to college and professional tennis,” said Lornie Kuhle, Tournament Director. “We’ve seen that journey with players like Coco Gauff, and more recently, Iva Jovic. I am particularly grateful for the leadership in this historic event of Ryan Redondo, CEO of Barnes Tennis Center, Trevor Kronemann, Executive Director of the Southern California Tennis Association, and of course, especially honored that Billie Jean King will once again be in attendance. Billie’s passion for this event speaks for itself, and her energy is incredible. This event is where ‘Champions are Made.’ ”
The other 18s top-seeded players from No. 2 to 8 include: Bella Payne, Bradenton, Fla.; Thea Frodin, Woodland Hills, Calif.; Janae Preston, Henderson, Nev.; Kristina Penickova, Campbell, Calif.; Welles Newman, Boca Raton, Fla.; Carlota Moreno, Knoxville, Tenn.; and Jordyn Hazelitt, Henderson, Nev. Others to watch for in the 18s include Easter Bowl 18s singles champion Ellery Mendell (Watkinsville, Ga.), seeded No. 10, and past Easter Bowl and Ojai Tournament age-group winner Armira Kockinis (La Habra Heights, Calif.), seeded No. 15. Utah’s Anna Frey is also entered. The University of North Carolina sophomore is a social media sensation with more than 840,000 followers on Instagram @AnnaFrey0.
Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an
Annika Penickova, the twin sister of Kristina, is not seeded among the top 32 players, but will still be a top contender due to her success on the worldwide junior stage. In January 2025, the twins won the Australian Open girls’ doubles and advanced to the semifinals at the French Open. At Wimbledon in 2025, Kristina won the girls’ doubles, defeating Frodin and Pareja in the final. The following month, Kristina paired with Frodin to win the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National doubles title, with the pair receiving a wild card into the main draw of the Women’s US Open.
Playing mostly ITF pro circuit events the past year, Kristina has advanced to two $15,000 pro singles finals and has won five pro doubles titles, including three in the past two months, and the last two in July with Annika at W35s in Santa Fe, N.M., and Florence, S.C. The Penickova sisters are planning on playing doubles together next week.
Seeded No. 1 in the Girls’ 16s is Shristi Selvan (Laurel, Md.), who claimed her first USTA gold ball at the 16s Winternationals to start the year, and followed that by winning the Easter Bowl singles and doubles at the end of March.
The No. 2-8 seeds include: Nikol Davletshina (Boca Raton, Fla.), Natalie Frisbie (Gallatin, Tenn.), Olivia Lin (Lexington, Mass.), Sylvana Jalbert (Mount Airy, Md.), Avita Beitler (Scandia, Minn.), Abigail Haile (Los Angeles), and Priscilla Sirichantho (Woodbridge, Conn.). Sirichantho is the reigning Orange Bowl 16s champion. Davletshina is just 13 years old and is coming off a win at the USTA National Clay Courts 16s in singles and doubles.
To view the complete list of seeded players, click here. Both the 18s and 16s once again will feature 192-player singles draws and 96-team doubles draws. The girls’ 16s event will begin on Saturday, Aug. 8 and conclude with the singles and doubles championships on Saturday, Aug. 16. The girls’ 18s starts Sunday, Aug. 9 with the singles and doubles championships on Sunday, Aug. 16.
The 18s singles runner-up will receive a wild card into the qualifying draw of the US Open. The 18s doubles champions will receive a wild card into the main doubles draw of the US Open, and the winner of the Girls 16s Championships will receive a wild card for direct entry into the Junior US Open. Play begins daily Saturday, August 8. The public is invited to attend with admission and parking free.
The tournament will be live-streamed and will have live scores for fans to follow along. Check the tournament website for links to come for both, as well as the latest news, draws and results at ustagirlsnationals.com.
