Robin Montgomery (above) of Washington will headline the Girls’ 18s division at the United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s and 18s National Championships, which will be played Saturday, Aug. 6 through Sunday, Aug. 14, at Barnes Tennis Center, 4490 W. Point Loma Blvd.
Montgomery, currently ranked No. 359 in the WTA singles rankings, has spent most of the year competing on the International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour. In 2021, she captured the US Open junior singles and doubles titles in New York.
The 17-year-old Montgomery won the doubles title at last year’s USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships and reached the singles semifinals.
The Girls’ 18s singles division will also feature Maya Joint of Grosse Pointe, Mich., Alexis Blokhina of Plantation, Fla., and Piper Charney of Mount Pleasant, S.C. They are the top-three ranked players respectively in the current USTA Girls’ 18 and under national rankings (as of 7/20/22).
Other entries in the Girls’ 18s division include last year’s 18s singles finalist Reese Brantmeier of Whitewater, Wis., and Bridget Stammel of Dallas, who won the singles title at the USTA Girls’ 18s National Clay Court Championships earlier this month in South Carolina.
Natasha Rajaram of Cupertino, and Stephanie Yakoff of Fort Lee, N.J., lead the entries in the Girls’ 16s singles division. Rajaram is ranked No. 1 in the current USTA Girls’ 16 and under national rankings and Yakoff is ranked No. 2. Fifteen-year-old Aspen Schuman of Redwood City, is also entered in the Girls’ 16s singles draw. She is No. 5 in the national rankings.
San Diego County will be well-represented at the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s and 18s National Championships. The following local players will compete in the tournament:
Girls’ 18s – Kaila Barksdale, San Diego; Katie Codd, Carlsbad.
Girls’ 16s – Alyssa Ahn, San Diego; Carley Chen, San Diego; Emily Deming, Fallbrook; Rebecca Kong, San Diego; Rachel Lee, San Diego; Claire Zhang, San Diego; Elena Zhao, San Diego.
To view the most current tournament player entry list for each division, click here.
Over 400 of the top junior tennis players in the country, aged 16 and 18 and under, will compete for the title of National Champion. In addition, the following wild cards to the 2022 US Open will be awarded to the tournament’s top finishers:
18s Champion – US Open Main Draw and US Open Junior Main Draw
18s Finalist – US Open Qualifying and US Open Junior Main Draw
18s 3rd Place – US Open Junior Main Draw
16s Champion – US Open Junior Main Draw
18s 4th & 5th Place – US Open Junior Qualifying
Tournament officials will announce wild cards and seeded players the week of July 25. The Girls’ 16s draw will be available at 6 p.m. (PDT) on Wednesday, Aug. 3. The Girls’ 18s draw will be available at 6 p.m. (PDT) on Thursday, Aug. 4.
The Girls’ 16s event will begin on Saturday, Aug. 6 and conclude with the singles final on Sunday, Aug. 14. The Girls’ 18s tournament gets underway on Sunday, Aug. 7 and will conclude with the singles and doubles championships on Sunday, Aug. 14. Both divisions will feature 256-player singles draws with the top 32 players receiving a first-round bye. There will also be 128-team doubles draws with the top 16 teams getting first-round byes.
The Opening Ceremony for the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s and 18s National Championships will take place at the Barnes Tennis Center on Saturday, Aug. 6 at 4:30 p.m. Admission is free each day of the tournament and there is no charge for parking at the Barnes Tennis Center.
Early-round tournament matches will also be played at the following sites from Saturday, Aug. 6 through Tuesday, Aug. 9 — Balboa Tennis Club, 2221 Morley Field Road; University of San Diego, 5998 Alcala Park, and San Diego State University, 5375 Remington Road.
Admission to view matches is free at all three sites. Parking is free at the Balboa Tennis Club. There is a parking fee at SDSU and USD. University parking regulations will be strictly enforced. For parking information at SDSU, click here. For parking information at USD, click here. Additional tournament information can be found at ustagirlsnationals.com.
