Stamford Resident Wins Junior Tennis Tournament Championship

STAMFORD, CT — Stamford's Lia Leon captured the Girls' 12-and-under title at the USTA New England Junior Tennis Championships on June 24, winning the region's top junior tournament without dropping a set.

Leon, a rising seventh grader at Greenwich Catholic School and the No. 1 seed in the 12s Division, claimed the championship at the five-day Junior Sectionals event, considered New England's most prestigious junior tennis tournament.

The event featured 256 players competing across four age divisions at Babson College, Lexington High School, Roxbury Latin School and Newton South High School in Massachusetts.

Leon advanced through the tournament without losing a set. The most games she surrendered in any set was three, which occurred in the championship match, according to the U.S. Tennis Association of New England.

She defeated No. 3 seed Alexa Gagnon of Laconia, N.H., in the semifinals before defeating No. 2 seed Alaina Wilkie of Wayland, Mass., in the championship match.

The title marked a turnaround from last year's Junior Sectionals, when Leon lost to Gagnon in the second round of the Girls' 12-and-under division. She was eliminated in the first round of the tournament in 2024.

Leon also won the New England Winter Sectionals tournament in January, defeating Wilkie in the semifinals and Bernadette Wappler of Darien in the finals.

Leon now enters the summer with a No. 6 ranking in New England and a No. 190 national ranking.

Before the Junior Sectionals, Leon won a Level 5 Championship tournament in May at Pinewoods Health & Racquet Club in Torrington.