COLLEGE PARK, Md (Diya TV) — Indian American tennis player Shristi Selvan rallied from a first-set loss to win the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s National Championships on Aug. 15.
Selvan defeated fellow Indian American teenager Aarini Bhattacharya 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the final. The victory capped another strong tournament for the rising American tennis player and added another major title to her 2026 season.
The United States Tennis Association, or USTA, runs the championship. The event ranks among the country’s major national junior tennis tournaments. With the win, Selvan earned the tournament’s Gold Ball. She also secured a main-draw wild card for the US Open Junior Championships.
Selvan faced a difficult start in the championship match as Bhattacharya took the opening set 6-4 and moved closer to the title.
However, Selvan won it 6-4 and forced a deciding set. She then maintained her momentum to take the final set 6-4 and claim the national championship.
Both players train at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland.
Selvan’s parents originally came from Chennai, India. Bhattacharya is a rising junior in the Class of 2028.
The two finalists reached the championship match from opposite sides of the 192-player main draw.
Selvan faced sixth-seeded Avita Beitler in the semifinals. She won that match 6-4, 6-2 and advanced to the final without dropping a set in the round.
Meanwhile, Bhattacharya produced one of the tournament’s notable upsets. She defeated No. 2 seed Nikol Davletshina 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals.
Selvan started the year by winning the Girls’ 16s singles title at the USTA Winter National Championships in Orlando where Selvan defeated Olivia Lin 6-3, 6-1.
She continued her success in March at the Easter Bowl in Indian Wells, California, winning both the Girls’ 16s singles and doubles championships.
Her latest USTA national title now gives her three national singles Gold Balls in 2026.
In October 2025, Selvan received the Keith Robert Larson Scholarship Fund award.
Her latest victory gives her a place in the US Open junior field.
