Lopata Earns First Pro Circuit Title at Hilton Head; Monday Three-Peats in Norman; Qualifier Gojo Takes Sioux Falls Challenger Title; Jovic Drops W100 Tyler Final; Shelton, Dolehide and Kenin Fall Short in Finals

The good news is that Americans were in three finals on the USTA Pro Circuit and three more on the ATP and WTA Tours; the bad news is that none could secure a winner's trophy in today's championship matches.

University of Georgia junior Anastasiya Lopata won her first Pro Circuit title today, using her ITA Accelerator Program entry to capture the title at the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Hilton Head South Carolina. Lopata, who has yet to qualify for next month's NCAA tournament despite being the 2024 finalist, defeated top seed and WTA No. 304 Elvina Kalieva 6-3, 6-2. It was the only straight sets win of the week for the 19-year-old from Ukraine, who is 4-3 in W75s this fall and now 5-0 at the W35 level.

The only USTA Pro Circuit tournament without an American finalist was the $25,000 men's event in Norman Oklahoma, which saw Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest) and Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State) lose in Saturday's semifinals. Recent Tennessee graduate Johannus Monday of Great Britain, who was unseeded, continued his incredible form this month, winning his third consecutive title today with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over unseeded Canadian Juan Carlos Aguilar(Texas A&M, TCU). The 22-year-old left-hander won the Louisville $25K two weeks ago unseeded and the Harlingen $25K last week as the No. 5 seed, dropping just three sets in this three-week run. 

Gojo(left) and Smith receive Sioux Falls Challenger trophies

For the second consecutive week, a qualifier has won a North American Challenger 75, with Wake Forest's 2018 NCAA singles finalist Borna Gojo of Croatia defeating wild card Colton Smith 6-1, 7-5 in today final in Sioux Falls South Dakota. Media manager Greg Sharko provided this recap of today's final:

SIOUX FALLS – Croatian qualifier Borna Gojo captured the first professional tennis singles championship in the state of South Dakota on Sunday at the MarketBeat Open presented by USTA Northern as he defeated Univ. of Arizona wild card Colton Smith 6-1, 7-5.

The 26-year-old Gojo was sidelined for seven months earlier this year due to a back injury. After playing the first two weeks in January, Gojo didn’t return again until August.

“A lot of things people don’t really see after you get hurt for such a long time, for being at the top of your career and then going back to zero,” said Gojo, who finished a year-end best No. 72 last year but dropped to No. 422 coming into Sioux Falls.
“Mentally it wasn’t easy and I struggled but always kind of stayed positive and went to all the doctors in this world to find a solution. I’m happy right now that I’m feeling well and playing some good tennis.”

After rallying from a set down in his quarter-final win over No. 8 seed Brandon Holt, Gojo won the last six sets he played. In his last three matches he saved 18 of 20 break points, including four of five in the final.

It was Gojo’s second career ATP Challenger Tour title in his fifth final, almost two years since winning his maiden title in Ortisel, Italy on Oct. 30, 2022. At last year’s US Open he advanced to the fourth round as a qualifier (l. to Djokovic).

The 21-year-old Smith, a senior at Arizona, came in ranked No. 496 and he will jump to around No. 390. This was his first career Challenger final. Smith is the first week leader in the USTA/Australian Open Wild Card Challenge. The American with the most points in three of the four-week series of events, will earn a main draw WC into the 2025 Australian Open.

“I had a slow start and it’s attributed a little bit to nerves, having never been in this position before,” said Smith. “The guy played like a Top 50 player I think and I tried to find my way back into the match. Overall I couldn’t be more happy and I feel super blessed to be here in this position. It hasn’t been an easy road this week but to be able to get through a handful of really tough matches, helps me build the confidence and I am looking forward to kind of keeping this momentum the next couple of weeks.”

Smith added on being the wild card leader: “It’s pretty cool and I didn’t know about it at all until two days ago so to be in the lead it feels pretty nice but I think now going into these next couple of weeks it’s not something I will be thinking about. I just got to take it one match at a time.”

The $82,000 ATP Challenger Tour event was the first professional tennis tournament held in South Dakota as the Huether Family Match Pointe played host on the Sanford Sports Complex.

Both Smith and Gojo received special exempt entries into next week's Challenger 75 in Charlottesville Virginia. 

Sixteen-year-old Iva Jovic had never played a WTA Top 100 player until this spring, yet she had managed to post a 3-2 record in those encounters this summer and fall. Her sixth Top 100 match, against No. 71 Renata Zarazua of Mexico in today's final of the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Tyler Texas, brought her back to .500, with Zarazua earning a 6-4, 6-2 victory over the fifth seed.

On the WTA Tour, Caroline Dolehide lost 6-3, 6-1 to Olga Danilovic of Serbia in the final of the 250 in Guangzhou China.

Wild card Sofia Kenin was beaten by top seed Qinwen Zheng of China 7-6(5), 6-3 in Sunday's final of the WTA 500 in Tokyo.

Ben Shelton fell to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France in the final of the ATP 500 in Basel Switzerland 6-4, 7-6(4). Mpetshi Perricard had 22 aces and faced no break points in the championship match.

Jovic Reaches Final at USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Tyler Texas, Ngounoue Wins Doubles Title; Smith's Comeback Leads to Sioux Falls Challenger Final; Lopata Advances at W35 Hilton Head; Monday Aims for Third Straight $25K Title in Norman

Iva Jovic will play in the biggest final of her career Sunday at the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Tyler Texas, just three weeks after winning the biggest title of her career at a W75 in Rancho Santa Fe California. The reigning USTA Girls 18s champion is now 14-1 with two titles since reaching the semifinals at the US Open Junior Championships, earning win No. 14 today with a 6-4, 6-2 decision over unseeded Jaimee Fourlis of Australia.

The 16-year-old from Torrance California, the No. 5 seed this week, will play top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico, who ended wild card Alana Smith's chance for the USTA's Australian Open reciprocal wild card with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 decision over the former NC State All-American.

Jovic, who is now up to 204 in the WTA live rankings, which guarantees her a spot in the Australian Open qualifying draw, is likely to receive the main draw wild card. Although she is fifth in points at the moment, the four women ahead of her--Sofia Kenin (now through to the final at the WTA 500 in Tokyo), Hailey Baptiste, Caroline Dolehide and Bernarda Pera--have all earned enough points to get into the main draw on their own ranking during the past month. So, barring injury or some other unforeseen circumstance, Jovic will be competing in Melbourne in January. 

Clervie Ngounoue and Australian Alexandra Osborne won the doubles title in Tyler, defeating Brandy Walker(Northern Arizona) and Mary Lewis(Arizona, Michigan State) 6-2, 6-3 in the championship contest between unseeded teams. It's the fourth and biggest title for both Ngounoue and Osborne, who had not played together before this week.

Wild card Colton Smith will lead the men's race after the first week of the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, coming from 5-2 down in the third set to defeat Murphy Cassone(Arizona State) 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 at the ATP Challenger 75 in Sioux Falls South Dakota. The Arizona senior, who had beaten last week's Calgary champion Cassone 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(3) in the singles quarterfinals of the NCAAs in May, saved three break points serving at 1-4, to keep his deficit to just one break. He then broke Cassone in his next two service games and closed it out with a love hold. 

Smith will face qualifier Borna Gojo of Croatia, with the former Wake Forest All-American defeating unseeded Mark Lajal of Estonia 7-6(1), 6-4 in the first semifinal. 

A complete recap of today's action by media manager Greg Sharko, with comments from both Gojo and Smith, can be found here.

Like the singles title will be, the doubles title was claimed by former collegians, with Canadians Cleeve Harper(Texas) and Liam Draxl(Kentucky) ending the run of titles for Ryan Seggerman(Princeton, UNC) and Patrik Trhac(Idaho State, Utah). The No. 3 seeds defeated the top seeds 7-5, 6-3, after Seggerman and Trhac had won the Fairfield and Calgary Challenger titles the past two weeks. It's the second Challenger doubles title for Draxl and 2022 NCAA doubles champion Harper; they won the Edmonton $25K title two weeks ago.

2024 NCAA singles finalist Anastasiya Lopata, a junior at the University of Georgia, will play in her first Pro Circuit final Sunday at the W35 in Hilton Head South Carolina. The 19-year-old from Ukraine, who used one of her ITA Accelerator Program entries as an NCAA finalist this week, defeated Kylie McKenzie 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 in the semifinals today. Lopata will play top seed Elvina Kalieva, who beat Central Florida sophomore Olivia Lincer of Poland 6-1, 6-3. 

Former UNC Tar Heels Fiona Crawley and Makenna Jones won the doubles title in Hilton Head, with the No. 4 seeds defeating No. 2 seeds and Auburn teammates Angella Okutoyi of Kenya and Merna Refaat of Egypt 6-2, 6-7(5), 10-7 in today's final. It's the second Pro Circuit doubles title for Crawley, the 2023 NCAA doubles champion, and the 12th for Jones, the 2021 NCAA doubles champion, but their first as a team.

At the men's $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Norman Oklahoma, Johannus Monday of Great Britain will play for his third consecutive $25K title in as many weeks after he defeated Wake Forest's Stefan Dostanic(USC) 6-2, 6-4. The former Tennessee Volunteer All-American will face unseeded Juan Carlos Aguilar(Texas A&M, TCU) of Canada, who beat No. 6 seed Tyler Zink 6-4, 6-3. 

The home crowd went home happy from the doubles final, with Oklahoma teammates Oscar Lucides of Guadaloupe and Bruno Nhavene of Mozambique, who were a wild card entry, beating Alan Magadan(UT-San Antonio) of Mexico and Alex Martinez(Oklahoma) of Spain 7-6(4), 6-1. It's the first pro title for Lucides and Nhavene.

My Article on Rodriguez's Commitment to Georgia; Jovic Outlasts Stoiana to Stay in Australian Open WC Race; Smith Reaches First Challenger Semifinal in Sioux Falls; Monday Wins 13th Straight Match at Norman $25K

Earlier this month I spoke with blue chip Ava Rodriguez about her commitment to the University of Georgia, with the 16-year-old, who is No. 9 in the Tennis Recruiting Network's Class of 2026, making a decison early in the process, just weeks after talking with coaches this summer.

Rodriguez started playing softball, but with an older brother who played tennis, and a family background in the game, she began focusing solely on that sport four or five years ago. 

For more on Rodriguez's decision to verbally commit to Georgia, see this article at the Tennis Recruiting Network. 

Wild card Sofia Kenin defeated No. 3 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 6-4 today in the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 in Tokyo to move closer to a return to the Top 100 and direct entry into the Australian Open. She's not there yet however, with her live ranking at 105, so if she loses to No. 9 seed Katie Boulter of Great Britain in the semifinals and doesn't play the rest of the year, she will win the USTA's Australian Open wild card race, which ends this week.

But if Kenin wins tomorrow, or does continue to play and gets into 2025's first major on her own ranking later this fall, that wild card will go to the next highest finisher, which will be determined this week at the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Tyler Texas.

Iva Jovic took a big step forward in that race today, defeating Texas A&M senior Mary Stoiana 6-2, 6-7(6), 7-6(2) in the three-hour and 24-minute quarterfinal. Jovic served for the match twice in the second set, at 5-4, and 6-5, but with only two service holds in the 12 games of the set, it was no surprise that she didn't close it out. Stoiana, who moved into the WTA Top 300 with her second round win Thursday, was up 6-3 in the tiebreaker before closing it out. 

Jovic took a 3-1 lead in the third set, but three service breaks later it was 4-all, and neither blinked in reaching the tiebreaker. Jovic was definitely steadier in that final game, closing it out on her first match point.

Jovic will face unseeded Jaimee Fourlis of Australia, who defeated No. 6 seed Katarzyna Kawa of Poland 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. 

While Jovic has kept her hopes alive for the Australian Open wild card, so too has Alana Smith, the former NC State All-American, who received a wild card into this week's tournament. Smith, who reached the final of the W75 in Norman two weeks ago, defeated unseeded Usue Arconada 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals. She will face top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico, who defeated Clervie Ngounoue 6-4, 6-2.

While the women's Australian Open Wild Card Race ends this week, the men's has just begun, and only two Americans will earn any significant points this week, Colton Smith(Arizona) and the winner of tonight's Sioux Falls ATP Challenger 75 quarterfinal between Chris Eubanks(Georgia Tech) and Murphy Cassone(Arizona State).

Arizona senior Smith, who received a wild card this week, battled past Michigan State junior Ozan Baris 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach his first Challenger semifinal. One bad game in the third set by Baris, at 4-all, was the only break of the set, but Smith had to save three break points serving for the match before converting his third match point.

Smith, who played his first Challenger in August, will take on either Cassone or Eubanks Saturday.

After last week's Challenger in Calgary featured two qualifiers, another one has reached the Sioux Falls semifinals, former Wake Forest All-American Borna Gojo of Croatia. Gojo, who was 72 in the ATP rankings less than a year ago, was out with an injury from January until August, and struggled to find his form in the past three months. But with his wins over No. 2 seed Mitchell Krueger, Denis Kudla and No. 6 seed Brandon Holt(USC) today, the latter by a 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-2 score, he is back on track. He will face unseeded Mark Lajal of Estonia, who beat No. 6 seed Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M) 7-6(3), 6-3.

Johannus Monday is one of four former collegians through to the semifinals at the $25,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Norman Oklahoma. Monday, who graduated from Tennessee this past spring, has won the past two $25Ks in the United States, two weeks ago in Louisville and last week in Harlingen. Unseeded, the 22-year-old from Great Britain, won his 13th straight match today with a 6-0, 7-6(3) win over qualifier Sebastian Dominko(Notre Dame) of Slovenia.

Monday will face Stefan Dostanic, the former USC All-American who will be using his final season of eligibility at Wake Forest in the spring. Dostanic, also unseeded, defeated qualifier Isaac Becroft(Oklahoma State) of New Zealand 6-3, 6-2.

Recent Oklahoma State graduate Tyler Zink, the only seed remaining at No. 6, defeated No. 4 seed Alex Martinez(Oklahoma) of Spain 6-4, 6-2. He will play Juan Carlos Aguilar(Texas A&M, TCU) of Canada, who beat Quinn Vandecasteele(Oregon) 0-6, 7-6(4), 6-4. Vandecasteele had beaten top seed Toby Kodat 6-4, 6-3 Thursday.

There are two 19-year-old current collegians in semifinals at the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Hilton Head: Georgia junior Anastasiya Lopata of Ukraine and Central Florida sophomore Olivia Lincer of Poland. 

2024 NCAA finalist Lopata followed up her win yesterday over teammate and Georgia No. 1 Dasha Vidmanova by taking out Michigan's former No. 1 Kari Miller 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Lopata will face Kylie McKenzie, who advanced when No. 3 seed Allie Kiick retired down 3-1.

Lincer defeated No. 4 seed Jenny Duerst of Switzerland 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-0 and will play top seed Elvina Kalieva, who beat Eryn Cayetano(USC) 6-3, 6-1. 

Arizona State Senior Cassone Reflects on First Challenger Title; Kenin Takes Lead in Australian Open Wild Card Race; Bryan Brothers, Sharapova Elected to International Tennis Hall of Fame

Arizona State's Cassone with Calgary Challenger trophy

I had an opportunity to talk with Arizona State senior Murphy Cassone today, with his recent title at last week's ATP Challenger title in Calgary obviously a major topic of the conversation.  The 22-year-old from Overland Park Kansas, who is playing his second round match at the ATP Challenger 75 in Sioux Falls South Dakota tonight against Stefan Kozlov, said he is ready for more despite the intense week in Canada.

After getting through qualifying in Calgary, Cassone immediately went into clutch mode, saving five match points in his 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(13) first round win over Ryan Seggerman. After a 6-2, 6-4 victory over No. 2 seed Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M) in the second round, Cassone then played three more tiebreakers in his 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 7-6(4) quarterfinal win over Alexis Galarneau(NC State) of Canada. A 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 3 seed Aziz Dougaz(Florida State) of Tunisia in his first Challenger semifinal earned Cassone a place in the final, against fellow qualifier Govind Nanda(UCLA). Cassone had to come back from dropping the opening set, but came away with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win and left Canada with an ATP ranking of 363, up 236 spots from when he began the tournament.

"It's pretty surreal, actually," Cassone said of his run in Calgary. "Most of the matches I though I was down and out and thought I was going to lose, but a part of me just kept sticking point to point, focusing on what I can, doing the best I can. That's a mindset shift that's helped me out lately."

Cassone, who reached a Challenger quarterfinal in 2022, in the summer after his freshman year, said he never doubted that he could compete at Challengers, but his mental game was lacking.

"I've always thought I have the level to do things like this," Casssone said. "But I've had a lot of close matches, more mental losses, whether I get up in the score and think about the moment too much, or just get in my own way, almost. So I knew it was bound to happen if I just kept getting to this level and training with these guys. I didn't expect it to be so soon, but you just never know in tennis."

Cassone, who reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA singles championship in May, losing to Colton Smith of Arizona, who is through to the quarterfinals of the Sioux Falls Challenger as a wild card, decided not to play the fall season this year. Although that means no NCAA participation this fall, Cassone was determined to leave Arizona State next spring with a Challenger-level ATP ranking, and the uncertainty about the US Open wild card the USTA had traditionally provided to an American champion was also a factor.

"We weren't sure if there would be any wild cards attached(to NCAA participation) and I wanted to set myself up for the summer," said Cassone, who is living and training in Tempe, although he is not enrolled this semester. "I didn't want to start from square one, so I wanted to give myself a chance to get ahead on my ranking, to build it a little easier and stress-free once school's done next spring."

Despite taking this fall off, Cassone is scheduled to graduate in the spring, although he will not devote himself exclusively to dual matches. 

"We want to hybrid my schedule, so I can get seven pro tournaments in next spring," said Cassone, who plans to build that schedule around the classes he'll need to graduate, although his results the rest of this year could change that. "Right now, I'm planning on going back."

Arizona State has the added benefit of being the home of his longtime coach David Fox, now a Sun Devils assistant coach. Fox, who travels with Cassone when his collegiate schedule allows, was Cassone's junior development coach at the Overland Park Racquet Club.

Although he is taking advantage of his special exemption into the main draw to play this week, Cassone is ready for a break, although he said that physically, he has no complaints.

"I definitely need a week or two, back at home just to spend time with my family, take time for me," said Cassone, who has played a Challenger in six of the past seven weeks. "I just need a week after this tournament to reset. I feel good other than that, my body's holding up well."

Cassone is planning to close his year playing a $25K and a $15K, which is in keeping with his determination to proceed as if he hadn't won the title last week.

"I'm trying to keep the same mindset, the same everything," Cassone said. "Before the Challenger, I just came in focusing on the process, what I need to do to get better. Winning it obviously adds extra thoughts and goals, but for me, I just want to keep the same frame of mind, keep plugging away and going on the path I'm going."

Today at the WTA 500 in Tokyo, wild card Sofia Kenin reached the quarterfinals with a 6-7(8), 6-4, 7-6(6) win over Clara Tauson of Denmark, and the 108 points she earns give her 179 points in the USTA's Australian Open wild card race. That puts her in second place, behind only Hailey Baptiste, who is not likely to need the wild card, with her current ranking of 82. Kenin is up to 121 in the WTA live rankings so she could still make the Australian Open field on her own with a few more good results; Ann Li lost in the first round of the WTA in Mexico, so she will finish with 104 points. At 109 in the live rankings, Li could also move into the Australian Open main draw on her own, so it won't be obvious who will get the wild card despite the final standings coming out next week.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame announced its inductees today, with Mike and Bob Bryan and Maria Sharapova selected as the Class of 2025. 

The Bryans, who are also in the ITA Collegiate Hall of Fame for their careers at Stanford, will be inducted in a ceremony next August in the weekend prior to the start of the US Open, as will Sharapova. The induction was previously in July, as part of the Newport ATP 250, but that tournament was eliminated after the 2024 edition.

For more on the Bryans many professional accomplishments, see this article from usta.com.

Division I Regionals Complete, 36 of 64 NCAA Participants Decided; Baris Reaches First Challenger Quarterfinal in Sioux Falls; Four Teens Advance at W100 in Tyler; No. 2 and No. 3 Seeds Out at Norman $25K; Auburn, Georgia Shine at Hilton Head W35

The Division I Regional Championships concluded yesterday, with 26 men and 26 women now having earned their spots in next month's NCAA singles championships in Waco Texas by reaching the regional finals. The first 10 spots were filled by performances at the ITA All-American Championships last month. That leaves 28 spots yet to be determined, with four decided at the Conference Masters and 24 playing their way in at the Sectional Championships, both scheduled for November 7-10.

The current list of NCAA singles qualifiers is below, with the asterisk indicating the regional champion. One of the women's regional final matches was not played; five of the men's regional final matches were not played. For the doubles qualifiers, see Chris Halioris's google documents, with the women here and the men here. Seventeen of the 32 teams in the NCAA doubles draw have been determined; the 

All American qualifiers:

Maria Sholokova, Wisconsin

Elza Tomase, Tennessee

Tatum Evans, North Carolina

Theadora Rabman, North Carolina

Savannah Broadus, Pepperdine

Ange Oby Kajuru, Oklahoma State

Valerie Glozman, Stanford

DJ Bennett, Auburn

Dasha Vidmanova, Georgia

Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M

Regional qualifiers:

*Anastasiya Komar, Oklahoma State

Xin Tong Wang, Wichita State

*Luciana Perry, Ohio State

Julia Fliegner, Michigan

*Ariana Pursoo, Texas

Ashton Bowers, Texas

*Ozlem Uslu, Virginia Tech

Sara Ziodato, Virginia

Irina Balus, Duke

Eleana Yu, Duke

*Serafima Shastova, Syracuse

Olivia Benton, Boston College

*Sabine Rutaluka, Penn

Esha Velaga, Penn

*Bridget Stammel, Vanderbilt

Carmen Gallardo Guevara, Purdue

*Ekaterina Khayrutdinova, Florida International

Raquel Gonzalez, Miammi

*Merna Refaat, Auburn

Angella Okutoyi, Auburn

*Zdena Safarova, Boise State

Andrea Beltran, Denver

Connie Ma, Stanford

Alexis Blokhina, Stanford

(Stanford's Valerie Glozman, A-A qualifier, won the regional, beating Ma; Blokhina took third for NCAA berth)

*Amelia Honer, UC-Santa Barbara

Emilija Tverijonaite, Arizona State

(Pepperdine's Savannah Braodus, A-A qualifer, was regional finalist; Tverijonaite finished third)

MEN:

All American qualifiers:

Oliver Tarvvet, San Diego

Sebastian Gorzny, Texas

Aidan Kim, Ohio State

Pedro Vives, TCU

Lui Maxted, TCU

Samir Banerjee, Stanford

Corey Craig, Florida State

Michael Zheng, Columbia

Colton Smith, Arizona

Jay Friend, Arizona

Regional qualifiers:

Oscar Lacides, Oklahoma

Jordan Hasson, Oklahoma

*Ozan Baris, Michigan State

Kenta Miyoshi, Illinois

*Timo Legout, Texas

Jonah Braswell, Texas

*Connor Van Schalkwyk, Old Dominion

Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

Martin Borisiouk, NC State

Pedro Rodenas, Duke

*Radu Papoe, Cornell

Vignesh Gogineni, Yale

*Hugo Hashimoto, Columbia

Top Nidunjianzan, Princeton

Shunsuke Mitsui, Tennessee

Alex Kotzen, Tennessee

Miguel Perez Pena, Georgia

Jamie Connel, Florida State

Petar Jovanovic, Mississippi State

Benito Sanchez Martinez, Mississippi State

*Daniel Sancho Arbizu, Denver

Raffaello Papajcik, Denver

*Carl Emil Overbeck, Cal

Cesar Bouchelaghem, Washington

*Spencer Johnson, UCLA

Noah Zamora, UC-Irvine

Michigan State junior Ozan Baris, a semifinalist at May's NCAAs, won his regional last week on his home courts; this week he is at the ATP Challenger 75 in Sioux Falls South Dakota. After matching his best Challenger result with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Alastair Gray(TCU) of Great Britain on Monday, Baris advanced to his first Challenger quarterfinal today, defeating Calgary finalist Govind Nanda(UCLA) 7-6(4), 6-4.  Nanda served for the first set at 6-5 and had seven set points in the 10-deuce game, but Baris got the break, took an early lead in the tiebreaker and closed it out. Baris made very few errors in the long rallies and looked fresher than Nanda, who was playing his ninth Challenger match in the past 11 days.

Baris will play the winner of tonight's match between wild cards Colton Smith(Arizona) and former ATP No. 14 Kyle Edmund of Great Britain.

At the W100 in Tyler Texas, four teenagers advanced to Thursday's second round: 16-year-old Iva Jovic, 17-year-old Akasha Urhobo, 18-year-old Clervie Ngounoue and 18-year-old qualifier Lexington Reed.

Jovic, the No. 5 seed, rolled past qualifier Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine 6-1, 6-0; Urhobo beat 18-year-old qualifier Carmen Herea, a Texas freshman 6-2, 6-3 and will play Jovic next. The two met in May's W75 final in Florida, on clay, with Urhobo winning 6-3, 6-1.

Ngounoue, who defeated Martina Okalova(Tulsa) of Slovakia 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, will face qualifier Mary Lewis(Arizona, Michigan State), who beat No. 8 seed Katrina Scott 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(7) in three hours and 33 minutes. Reed, a freshman at Texas A&M, defeated 33-year-old Hiroko Kuwata of Japan 6-2, 6-3 today and will get an opportunity to face teammate Mary Stoiana Thursday.

All 16 first round matches were played today at the men's $25,000 tournament in Norman Oklahoma, with top seed Toby Kodat advancing, but No. 2 seed Felix Corwin and No. 3 seed Micah Braswell eliminated.

Corwin lost 7-6(4), 6-4 to lucky loser Bruno Nhavene, a junior at Oklahoma, who joins teammates Luis Alvarez and Oscar Lacides, both wild cards, in the second round. Braswell lost to qualifier Lui Maxted(TCU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

Tyler features Aggie teammates Stoiana and Reed Thursday, while the W35 in Hilton Head South Carolina will showcase two Georgia Bulldogs, with Dasha Vidmanova taking on Anastasiya Lopata. Vidmanova had the easier path to the second round, defeating 16-year-old qualifier Ishika Ashar 6-3, 6-0, while NCAA singles finalist Lopata, who has not yet qualified for the NCAAs next month, got past Texas freshman Eszter Meri of Slovakia

3-6, 7-6(1), 6-0.

Qualifier DJ Bennett defeated teammate Merna Refaat 6-3, 6-4 today; both have already secured their spots in the NCAAs next month, as has Angella Okutoyi, who also in through to the second round in Hilton Head.

Talking with Nanda about Calgary Final, Win Over Basavareddy at Sioux Falls Challenger; Stoiana Beats No. 2 Seed Chirico, Five Americans Advance to Main Draw at Tyler W100; Three Teens Qualify at W35 Hilton Head

Calgary finalists Murphy Cassone and Govind Nanda both returned to action today at the ATP Challenger 75 in Sioux Falls South Dakota, and both picked up victories. Calgary champion Murphy Cassone, a senior at Arizona State, defeated qualifier Antoine Ghibaudo of France, a freshman at Kentucky, 6-4, 6-4 to run his Challenger winning streak (including qualifying) to eight matches. He will face Stefan Kozlov, who beat No. 5 seed Dmitry Popko of Kazakhstan 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 in the second round.

Calgary finalist Govind Nanda(UCLA), who, like Cassone, received a special exemption into the main draw, continued his stellar play this fall, beating No. 7 seed Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) 6-4, 6-4. On Wednesday, Nanda will play Michigan State junior Ozan Baris, who beat Alastair Gray(TCU) of Great Britain 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Monday.

Thanks to ATP legend Greg Sharko, who is at Sioux Falls Challenger, I had an opportunity to talk with Nanda this evening, and he told me that although the Calgary final might have felt like it was "a little bit out of nowhere," he attributed his recent success to all the work that he has been putting in since completing his eligibility at UCLA last spring.

The 23-year-old has reunited with Joe Gilbert, who he worked with from 2019-2021, and is based out of Sacramento.

"I've been working with him since end of July, early August, it's been a few months now," Nanda said. "Before that, I was just kind of on my own, didn't have any guidance, so I was lucky enough to run into to Joe at one of the $15Ks, and we talked, and decided it was a good idea to work together again."

After leaving UCLA, Nanda wasn't clear on what direction he needed to take.

"The first few tournaments I played out of school, I felt a little bit lost," Nanda said. "A little bit fearful, a little bit doubtful about my ability. But I got through a couple of tough matches last week and it gave me a lot of confidence moving forward into this one. I obviously had a tough opponent today and I played super solid, stuck with the game plan really well and got it done."

Nanda, who faced only one break point in his win over Basavareddy, said taking care of his serve was key.

"I served pretty solid, won a lot of second serve points, I think my win percentage on my second serve was like 72 percent," Nanda said. "It's pretty unheard of against a guy like that. I was defending my serve really well; I know he's a very tough returner, but I was hitting my spots pretty well. I feel like he was kind of pressing out of the neutral rallies before I was. That paid off for me, staying neutral, staying disciplined in my decision making."

Nanda said he has practiced a bit with Baris, but has never played him, in singles or in doubles.

The other Calgary wild cards were given to Arizona senior Colton Smith, who beat Martin Damm 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-1, and Kyle Edmund of Great Britain, who will play Smith in the second round.

The top three seeds in the draw are Chris Eubanks(Georgia Tech), Mitchell Krueger and Zachary Svajda.

Seventeen-year-old Cooper Woestendick doubled his ATP point total by qualifying for the main draw, with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win over No. 2 qualifying seed Omni Kumar. Woestendick lost to Alexis Galarneau of Canada 6-4, 6-3 in the first round today, but his four ATP points for qualifying will make him less reliant on wild cards for entry into the lower level ITF men's circuit tournaments.

Woestendick and Max Exsted, the Australian Open boys doubles champions, received a wild card into the doubles draw in Sioux Falls.

Kalamazoo 18s champion Matt Forbes, a freshman at Michigan State, received a main draw wild card, losing 6-2, 6-4 to Aidan Mayo in first round action today. 

Texas A&M senior Mary Stoiana didn't get the best draw this week at the W100 in Tyler Texas, with No. 2 seed Louisa Chirico her first round opponent. But the 21-year-old from Connecticut kept her hopes for the USTA's Australian Open reciprocal wild card alive with a 7-5, 6-4 victory in one of the four first round matches contested today.

Wild card Alana Smith(NC State) also eliminated a seed, with Smith defeating No. 4 seed Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine 7-6(1), 6-3.

Five Americans qualified for the main draw with wins today, including Texas A&M freshman Lexington Reed, who defeated  No. 1 qualifying seed Michaela Bayerlova(Washington St) of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3.

The other four American qualifiers are Brandy Walker(N Arizona) who beat 2024 ITA All-American champion Maria Sholokhova(Wisconsin) of Russia 6-3, 6-2; Rhiann Newborn(Syracuse, Baylor), who beat Mouna Bouzgarrou(NJIT, St. Johns) of Tunisia 6-0 ,6-1; Mary Lewis(Arizona, Michigan State), who defeated Adriana Reami(NC State) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5; and Ashley Kratzer[5], who beat Emma Ghirardato(Oklahoma) of Italy 6-2, 6-0.

In addition to Smith, wild cards were given to Texas freshman Ariana Pursoo, who lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to Gabriela Lee(Texas Tech) of Romania today; Lauren Davis, and Lucy Carpenter(Loyola New Orleans).

The top seed is Renata Zarazua of Mexico. 

The other two USTA Pro Circuit events this week are a women's W35 in Hilton Head South Carolina and a men's $25K in Norman Oklahoma.

Three US teens advanced to the main draw in Hilton Head: 15-year-old Harper Stone, 16-year-old Ishika Ashar and 17-year-old Monika Ekstrand. Auburn junior DJ Bennett is the fourth American to reach the main draw via qualifying.

Monika Ekstrand defeated Yichen Zhao of China 7-5, 6-0, Ashar beat No. 2 qualifying Bronte Murgett(New Mexico, Missouri) of Greating Britain 7-6(6), 7-6(5) and Stone defeated UNC sophomore Tatum Evans 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 10-6 in three hours and 35-minutes.

Elvina Kalieva is the top seed, with wild cards given to Madison Hill(St. Louis), Zaire Clarke and Pan Am champion Maya Iyengar (both of whom lost their first round matches today), and Claire Hill.

Georgia's Anastasiya Lopata and Dasha Vidmanova[5] could meet in the second round if both win their opening matches Wednesday.

There were no first round matches played today in Norman, and just two Americans advanced to the main draw via qualifying: Alex Brown(Illinois) received a walkover in the final round of qualifying;  Drew Van Orderlain is the other American qualifier.

All four wild cards were given to Oklahoma players: freshman 

Oscar Lacides, sophomore Khololwam Montsi, junior Luis Alvarez and senior Jordan Hasson.

Toby Kodat and Felix Corwin(Minnesota) are the top seeds.