The junior draws at the 2025 US Open saw some breakthroughs for the Canadians competing. It was the first time in a while that Canada was represented in both the girls and boys draws and the two Canucks both achieved personal milestones.
Here is the monthly junior tennis update by Har-Tru.
Nadia Lagaev, Canada’s top junior, picked up her first match wins at a junior Grand Slam event in both singles and doubles.
In singles, she defeated Latvia’s Beatrise Zeltina in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 for her first-ever match win at a major. The Canadian was a bit unlucky with the draw, though, and had to face the top seed, Julieta Pareja, in the second round. The American won 6-2, 6-2.
Photo : Martin Sidorjak
Lagaev teamed up with American Maya Iyengar in doubles and the pair opened up their campaign with a narrow 6-0, 6-7(4), [10-8] win over Leena Friedman and Tahlia Kokkinis. In round two, the Canadian-American team were on the other end of the match tiebreak, falling 7-5, 3-6, [10-8] to seventh seeds Julie Pastikova and Julia Stusek.
Read also: Alcaraz regains No. 1 spot from Sinner
Nicolas Arseneault was competing in his first junior Grand Slam event at the last major where he will be eligible to play, as he will turn 19 before the 2026 Australian Open. Arseneault reached the second round of doubles with Aussie Cruz Hewitt, son of former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, upsetting the eighth seeds Nikita Bilozertsev and Ziga Sesko 6-3, 6-4 in the first round before falling 3-6, 6-3, [10-7] to Yannik Alvarez and Jack Secord.
Photo : Martin Sidorjak
The Canadian lost in the first round of singles to Czech Jan Kumstat 6-2, 7-6(3).
On Home Soil
The final national championships of 2025 wrapped up in August, with champions being crowned at the U14 Fischer Outdoor Junior Nationals in Laval, QC. Milagros Pastuszka and Deniz Karabulut won the singles titles, Matthew Popa and Ilya Sherifali took home the boy’s doubles, and Dongchen Ding and Lynn Ke claimed the girls doubles.
CLICK HERE for the full U14 Fischer Outdoor Junior Nationals recap.
Photo : Carrefour Multisports
Canada’s largest ITF junior event, the J300 Repentigny National Bank Junior Tennis Championships, was held in the final week of August. France’s Ksenia Efremova and Brazil’s Luis Guto Miguel won the singles titles. No Canadian managed to reach the semifinals in Repentigny.
CLICK HERE for the full Repentigny event recap.
This week, there is an ITF J200 event taking place at IGA Stadium in Montreal. Later in September, Quebec City plays host to a J100 tournament.
Here are the Canadian finalists from ITF Junior Tour events outside of Canada over the last month (titles in bold):
- Anastasia Malysheva: J30 Monterrey girls singles champion
- Mihajla Ilic: J30 Zlatibor boys doubles champion
- Isabella Wang: J30 Panama girls doubles champion
- Melissa Wang: J30 Panama girls singles runner-up
Rankings Update
Lagaev continues to stand out among the Canadians, climbing back into the Top 40 of the ITF junior rankings with her US Open performance. She is currently the highest-ranked Canadian junior, male or female, at No. 39.
Volodymyr Gurenko is the top-ranked Canadian boy and the only one inside the Top 200, coming in at No. 98. After his US Open performance, Arseneault climbed 45 spots to No. 309, although the 18-year-old's ranking is deflated since he is playing more professional tournaments.
Check out the full ITF junior rankings here.
Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
