TEMPLETON, Calif., October 2, 2026 (by Steve Pratt)
Qualifier Amelie Van Impe of Belgium won her fourth straight match without dropping a set to advance to the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Tennis Classic, a $100,000 World Tennis Tour and USTA Pro Circuit women’s tournament taking place all week at the Templeton Tennis Ranch.
After the match, Van Impe, a 22-year-old sophomore at Southern Methodist University, said playing in the recent ITA All-American women’s tournament in Cary, N.C., helped give her the confidence she needed this week. She easily got past Italy’s Francesca Pace, 6-1, 6-1, and will next face a player who has been equally as dominant this week in American No. 8 seed and past CCTC champion Madison Brengle, who beat Arianna Zucchini from Italy, 6-1, 6-2.
“That definitely has a lot to do with it, and I’m just seeing a lot of things in my game clicking,” said Van Impe, who advanced to the quarterfinals at the All-American to receive an invite into the upcoming NCAA Individual Singles Championships. “I had some difficulty closing out my match against (defending champion) Kayla Day yesterday. I figure if I can beat these players in the top 150, then why not just go for it.”
Van Impe said she looked up to Belgian players like Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters growing up. “They were pretty big stars, and the Federation has always done a good job developing the young players who go on to the pros.”
Two American 17-year-olds who will likely skip the college route in favor of the pro tour are Julieta Pareja and Kristina Penickova. Both won straight-set matches with Pareja beating No. 2 seeded Mary Stoiana, 7-5, 7-5, and Penickova taking out the unseeded German Carolina Kuhl, 6-2, 6-3. Penickova will next face Britain’s Ella McDonald in their first career meeting. Kristina and twin sister Annika were beaten in doubles by Whitney Osuigwe and Akasha Urhobo, 6-3, 3-6, 13-11. Their USTA national coaches, Jay Gooding and Jarmere Jenkins, watched the sisters.
In the late match, No. 7-seeded Caroline Dolehide beat qualifying wild card and UCLA junior Kate Fakih, 6-1, 6-4. Other singles finals results included: top-seeded German Tatjana Maria dropping just three games beating American Lea Ma, 6-1, 6-2, and Malaika Rapolu taking out No. 5 fellow American Urhobo, 6-1, 6-3. All eight singles Round of 16 matches ended in straight sets.
In doubles, Thea Frodin and Anita Sahdiieva had the highlight of the day beating top-seeded Dalayna Hewitt and Valeriya Strakhova, 7-5, 6-4. Amazingly, the 31-year-old Ukrainian Strakhova has won 52 career doubles titles.
