The US Junior National Team closed out the Pan American Junior Circuit III in Veracruz, Mexico, with its strongest showing yet, collecting five podium and near-podium finishes across the boys’ and girls’ divisions. Competing at AZ Padel Pro against top talent from North, Central, and South America on August 6–8, the young Americans pushed deep into the knockout rounds in every age group they entered, capping a marquee stop on the circuit and marking the first event in which the team wore its new custom Psycho Bunny uniforms.
Boys 18 and Under
Dani Voit / Pablo Avina, 4th Place
Voit and Avina topped a tough four-team Group D at 2-1, opening with a straight-sets loss to Clemente Vásquez and Felipe Quintana, before bouncing back to beat Cristian Beltran and Manolo Arrubla and Matias Planter and Santiago Rivera. They carried that momentum into the quarterfinals, edging Aurelio De Diego Barrera and Vicente Pinochet in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6, before falling to Enrique Jesus Tovar Castillo and Iker Leal in straight sets in the semifinal. In the third-place match, they came up just short against Pablo Lemus and Simón Del Río, dropping both sets 4-6, 4-6 to finish fourth.
Aiden Gibly / Santiago Castro Varela, 6th Place
Gibly and Castro Varela split their group matches, losing to Pablo Lemus and Simón Del Río before rebounding to beat William Torres and Manuel Solis. A straight-sets quarterfinal loss to Enrique Jesus Tovar Castillo and Iker Leal dropped them into the placement bracket, where they defeated Aurelio De Diego Barrera and Vicente Pinochet to reach the 5th/6th place match. There, they lost to Jerónimo Albornoz and Emanuel Delgado, finishing sixth.
Boys 16 and Under
Alejo Kalil / Emiliano González Álvarez, 3rd Place
Kalil and González Álvarez won Group B outright, beating Lucas Linares and Luis Mendoza 7-6, 6-4 and edging Marco Ramírez and Máximo Álvarez in three sets, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. They ground out another three-set win in the quarterfinal over Emiliano Crocker and Ricardo Mateo Perez Rojas, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, before losing to Gabriel Cardenas and Marvin Alexander Rodriguez in the semifinal, 4-6, 4-6. The pair closed the tournament with a statement win in the bronze medal match, beating Marco Ramírez and Máximo Álvarez to finish third.
Boys 14 and Under
Sebastian Hernandez Ochoa / Santiago De la Torre, 4th Place
Hernandez Ochoa and De la Torre won Group C without dropping a match, beating Borja Chavero Izaguirre and Rubén Cuevas and Lucciano Roa and Nicolás Zamora in three sets, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6. They carried that form into the quarterfinal, defeating Alejandro Carrero and Nicolas Bustos before losing to Carlos Acosta and Marco Antonio Diaz Leal Ferrer in the semifinal. In the third-place match, they lost a decider to Salvador Álvarez and Tomas Padilla, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6, finishing fourth.
Girls 16 and Under
Emma Cantu / Roberta Berlanga, 2nd Place
Cantu and Berlanga swept group play, beating Lucía Albornoz and Rosario Gonzalez, and Andrea Bernal and Isabella Dominguez. They cruised through the semifinal, defeating Katalina Correa and Lola Caceres, and reached the final, where they were edged in a deciding third set by Andrea Bernal and Isabella Dominguez, 6-1, 1-6, 4-6, to finish runner-up.
Kata Correa / Lola Rose Caceres, 4th Place
Correa and Caceres went 2-1 in Group B, opening with a win over Ariana Sagrera and Olivia Gherardi, before losing to Emma Quijada and Justine Ángel, and to Mariangel García and Nathalya Arzuaga in a tight set, 5-7, 6-7. They reached the semifinal but lost to Emma Cantu and Roberta Berlanga, then fell in the third-place match to Emma Quijada and Justine Ángel in three sets, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, finishing fourth.
Final Notable Results
- Girls 16 and Under: 2nd and 4th place
- Boys 14 and Under: 4th place
- Boys 16 and Under: 3rd place
- Boys 18 and Under: 4th place
Team coaches had nothing but praise for the group, calling it the program’s best overall result to date and pointing to the level of competition and sheer size of the field as proof of how far the players have come. “Every athlete on the roster put in the work, and it showed on the court all week. We had some amazing performances, as many teams made it through to the playoff rounds. However, all the players competed hard on the courts, and I’m proud of each and every one of them.” stated national team coach Lorena Rouillon Jimenez.
The week in Mexico marks another step forward for the program, and this was the largest Pan American Junior Circuit event so far and provided valuable training opportunities as well as point-earning opportunities for the large USA team that attended, as the team builds towards the remainder of the 2026 Junior season and the Circuit Finals to be held in San Diego later in the year.