SAN DIEGO, August 14, 2026 (by Steve Pratt)

One of Thea Frodin’s greatest tennis accomplishments came in July of 2025 when she teamed with Julieta Pareja to make the finals of the doubles at the All-England Club at the Wimbledon junior tournament. 

Although the pairing came up short in the finals, both Southern Californians have taken that experience of playing in a Grand Slam final and continued to progress as two of the top 18-and-under players, not only in the nation but in the world.

Woodland Hills’ Frodin and Carlsbad’s Pareja, both 17, advanced to the singles quarterfinals at the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ National 16s and 18s Championships with convincing straight-set wins on Thursday at the Barnes Tennis Center.

In the Round of 16, the No. 3 seed Frodin put together her cleanest match of the tournament to date, winning with authority, 6-2, 6-0, over No. 33 seed Delaney Letzel. The victory sets up an all-California quarterfinal clash on Friday morning, where Frodin takes on No. 9 seed Alexis Nguyen from El Dorado Hills, and headed to play her college tennis at North Carolina.

Frodin is coming off her best major singles performance earlier this year as she advanced to the singles semifinals at the junior Australian Open. Frodin, who lost early in the doubles on Monday, teamed with Kristina Penickova at this event last year to win the doubles, earning a main-draw wild card into the U.S. Open.

Like Frodin, the No. 1 seed Pareja dominated her Round of 16 singles match as she beat No. 33 seed Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann, 6-1, 6-0. Pareja has dropped just 11 games across the four matches she has played thus far. In the quarterfinals on Friday morning, she takes on No. 8 seed Jordyn Hazelitt.

With Thursday’s quarterfinal action in the Girls’ 16s singles division in the books, the final four is officially set. Friday’s Semifinal lineup features No. 1 seed Shristi Selvan (Laurel, Md.), No. 2 seed Nikol Davletshina (Boca Raton, Fla.), No. 6 seed Avita Beitler (Scandia, Minn.), and No. 14 seed Aarini Bhattacharya (Oakton, Va).

On Thursday, the top-seeded Selvan advanced after opening up a 4-1 first-set lead before Grace Hong (Edison, N.J.) was forced to retire due to injury. Meanwhile, No. 6 seed Beitler punched her ticket to the semifinals with a commanding 6-1, 6-2 victory over Olivia Lin. Selvan and Beitler will clash on Friday with a spot in the national championship final on the line.

On the other side of the draw, No. 14 seed Aarini Bhattacharya put together a sharp performance, defeating No. 13 seed Chukwunoneeru Smarty, 6-1, 6-4. She will meet No. 2 seed Nikol Davletshina, who outlasted No. 7 seed Abigail Haile from Los Angeles in a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 marathon win.

The top-seeded Penickova sisters were toppled Thursday in the biggest upset of the day as the No. 9-seeded team of Welles Newman and Hazelitt knocked off Kristina and Annika Penickova, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 10-3.

For more information, visit the official tournament website at ustagirlsnationals.com.