- February 24, 2026
Thaisa Pedretti returns a shot in the Women's $15,000 Palm Coast Open singles final. Courtesy photo by Jeff Davies
Sofia Johnson won the singles championship at the Women's $15,000 Palm Coast Open at the Southern Recreation Center. Courtesy photo by Jeff Davies
Sofia Johnson holds up the singles championship trophy at the Women's $15,000 Palm Coast Open at the Southern Recreation Center. Courtesy photo by Jeff Davies
Thaisa Pedretti returns a shot in the Women's $15,000 Palm Coast Open singles final. Courtesy photo by Jeff Davies
Thaisa Pedretti reaches for a backhand in the Women's $15,000 Palm Coast Open singles final. Courtesy photo by Jeff Davies
Sofia Johnson of Great Britain won her first professional title at the Women’s15 Palm Coast Open on Feb. 22 at the Southern Recreation Center. Johnson defeated Brazil’s Thaisa Pedretti 6-4, 6-2 for the singles championship in the tournament.
The event was sanctioned by the USTA Pro Circuit and the ITF World Tennis Tour. It had a paid out $15,000 in prize money and followed the Men’s15 Palm Coast Open.
Johnson was the 2024-25 Sun Belt Player of the Year as a senior at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. A qualifier for the tournament, Johnson dropped just one set in her seven matches, including her two qualifying matches. After beating 18-year-old University of Georgia recruit Bella Payne in the semifinals, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, Johnson defeated Pedretti, the tournament’s No. 1 seed in straight sets in the final. Pedretti has a 467 WTA ranking.
Pedretti and Brazil’s Carolina Bohrer Martins won the Palm Coast Open’s doubles championship on Feb. 21 with a 7-6, 6-7, 10-4 victory in the final over former Ohio State tennis player Kolie Allen and Mexico’s Sabastiani.
Flagler Palm Coast senior basketball player Anthony Hampton hit a milestone in his final game. Hampton needed to score 15 points in the regional quarterfinal against Atlantic Coast on Feb. 14 to reach 1,000 points for his career. He wound up scoring exactly 15 points in the game to end his high school career with an even 1,000 points.
Flagler Palm Coast senior Nate Perry has been named the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Boys Basketball District 6 Player of the Year for Class 7A teams and FPC coach Greg Shirley has been named the District 6-7A Coach of the Year. The Bulldogs finished 17-11 and advanced to the regional playoffs for the first time in seven years. Perry averaged 15.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
FPC senior soccer goalie Natalie Neal has been selected to play in the FACA Girls Soccer Senior All-Star games. The games feature the top seniors in the state divided into four teams — North, South, East and West. The games will be played March 14-15 at Mulberry High School. Neal finished her career with 539 saves and 37 shutouts. She will play for two time JUCO national champ Daytona State College next season.
The Flagler Palm Coast baseball team improved to 4-0 with a 6-5 walk-off victory against DeLand on Feb. 19. Carson Flis hit a two-run double in the seventh to tie the score at 5-5, and Nick Pandich drove him home with a game-winning single. Marion Clayton had three hits in the game including an RBI-double.
