TEMPLETON, September 28, 2025 (by Steve Pratt)
It will be a battle of the lefty Kaylas for the Central Coast Tennis Classic brought to you by Central Coast Home Health singles title on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Templeton Tennis Ranch.
The similarities didn’t end there as both southpaws Kayla Day from Santa Barbara and Canada’s Kayla Cross dropped a total just six games each in their straight-set semifinal wins Saturday on a cool and overcast day at the ITF World Tennis Tour W75 tournament with $60,000 in prize money at stake.
The 25-year-old Day, who is coming up on the one-year anniversary of ankle surgery that sidelined her for nine months, continued her strong play over the past three months and will play in her third ITF final since the start of July after beating Olivia Gadecki from Australia, 6-4, 6-2.
After three straight weeks of tournaments in Portugal, the 20-year-old Cross will attempt to win the biggest title of her young career as she beat former Michigan All-American Emina Bektas, 6-3, 6-3.
“I’ve been to two W75 finals and lost both times so I’m hoping the third time is a charm,” said Cross, who trains with Tennis Canada and played during the spring at LSU. Cross said she is currently taking four online classes and has yet to step foot on campus this fall but does plan to return to Baton Rouge for the spring season.
“It’s just that I’m playing pro and just enjoying traveling the world and still doing my studies in my off-court time,” said Cross, whose career high in singles is No. 217.
Day thanked the “great crowd” and on Sunday will attempt to win her seventh ITF Pro Circuit title. “I love coming here and playing and it’s super close to where I grew up, so it definitely feels like my home tournament,” Day told Ralph Goehring, Templeton Tennis Ranch owner, in her post match on-court interview. “I’m excited to be in the final, especially since my results haven’t been the best here.”
In the doubles final, the No. 2 seeded team of Maria Kozyreva from Russia and Martina Okalova from Slovakia teamed to beat the unseeded pairing of Usue Arconada and Viktoria Hruncakova from Slovakia, 6-2, 7-5. The former St. Mary’s player Kozyreva has been on a roll this year on the doubles court having won six previous titles, including three at the WTA125 level, all with her regular partner Iryna Shymanovich. Kozyreva said Iryna was nursing an injury so decided to take the week off and play with Okalova.
Currently sitting at No. 72 in the world doubles rankings, Kozyreva is looking to eclipse her career high of No. 70 just last month after winning the Guadalajara W125.
