Three Americans Reach ITF J300 Bradenton Quarterfinals; Semifinals Set in 12s, 14s, 16s Divisions at IMG Academy Intl Championships; Basavareddy Turns Pro

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Bradenton Florida--

The jackets and sweatpants came off early today at the IMG Academy, with temperatures warming quickly, with clear skies and little wind. The pros were out hitting with IMG juniors or each other, with Sebastian Korda, Peyton Stearns, Daniel Galan, Michael Mmoh, Stefan Kozlov, Martin Damm(in a boot) and Micah Braswell among those preparing for the 2025 season today on the Bollettieri Stadium hard court and elsewhere on the grounds.

On the Har-Tru courts, the third round of the ITF J300 produced a couple more upsets in a week full of them in the boys draw, while the girls tournaments has just one unseeded player in the quarterfinals.

Two US boys advanced to the quarterfinals, with unseeded Dominick Mosejczuk continuing his streak of wins over Valentin Garay of Argentina. After beating Garay at a J200 in June and last week in at the J500 in Merida, Mosejczuk earned a third victory today by a schore of 6-3, 7-6(5). Mosejczuk will play No. 8 seed Henry Bernet of Switzerland, who beat No. 9 seed Jack Kennedy 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. 

No. 5 seed Jagger Leach joined Mosejczuk in the quarterfinals, with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1 win over unseeded Haydar Gokpinar of Turkey and will play unseeded Yannick Alexandrescou of Romania, who beat Jamie Mackenzie of Germany 7-6(3), 7-6(4).

Top seed Max Mrva of the Czech Republic sailed past wild card Abhishek Thorat 6-2, 6-0 on the Stadium Court to set up a meeting with unseeded Matteo Morazzi of Spain, who breezed past No. 12 seed Maxwell Exsted 6-2, 6-0.  

In the bottom quarter, No. 16 seed Andres Santamarta Roig of Spain, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over wild card Sasha Colleu of France, will face unseeded Daniil Sarksian of Russia, who came back to defeated No. 7 seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland 0-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Sarksian said that last week's J500 in Merida Mexico "was a disaster for me, (losing) first round singles and first round doubles," but the 18-year-old, who trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy, still came into this tournament optimistic, with a quarterfinal and a semifinal at $15,000 tournaments on ITF men's World Tennis Tour in October.

"I did well a couple of weeks before in $15Ks, so that gave me a big boost in terms of confidence," Sarksian said. "Yes, Merida was, as I said, a disaster, but I tried not to think about it that much, because the level that I showed there was actually great, the result wasn't."

Sarksian gave credit to Paldanius for his quick start, although he also thought he contributed to that blanking.

"Oskari played well at the beginning, just a couple of unforced errors in the first set, but also I didn't push him that much," Sarksian said. "I started slowly, wasn't ready enough to compete."

All that changed in the second set, with Sarksian taking a big lead and holding on to even the match. Sarksian described the third set as a rollercoaster, watching a 5-2, two-break lead disappear after a holding a match point. Sarksian admitted that thoughts of his second round loss last year crept in at that point.

"Last year I played against Max Schoenhaus on this same court and I lost," Sarksian said. "5-3, 40-15, double match point on my serve and I lost 7-6 in the third. I had the flashbacks from it, so it was tough mentally to not think about it, but with a bit more of experience, that helped me a lot."

In the only boys quarterfinal that features a previous meeting, Sarksian holds a 1-0 lead over Santamarta Roig, with a three-set win in the first round of a J200 in July of 2023.

The girls quarterfinals also have just one prior meeting, also in a first round match at a J200 in 2023, with No. 7 seed Maya Iyengar hoping to avenge her three-set lost to No. 4 seed Tereza Krejcova of the Czech Republic. She'll get the chance after both she and Krejcova won tough three-setters in today's third round.

Iyengar was pleased with the way she came out again No. 10 seed Laima Vladson of Lithuania, but had to battle through some tough games before sealing the 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-4 victory.

"First set, I was doing well, hitting everything deep," said the 17-year-old from Arizona, who in now in her fourth week, after playing a W15 in Clemson before the J300 in Zapopan and a quarterfinal appearance last week in Merida. "She's a very streaky player and I knew that going in; she can just play horrible or really good. In the second set I had two sloppy games; I did get back into it, but in the breaker I just played not good at all."

Iyengar said her mind was still on her disappointing finish to the second set as faced a third.

"In the beginning of the third, I played a rushed game, lost in 20 seconds," said Iyengar, the ITF J300 Pan Am Regional champion. "But in the end, just hanging in there was the way, and I served really well at 5-4 to close it out, and I think that was the first game I think I served ok the whole match. I think the more matches I play, the worse my technique is starting to get."

Krejcova dropped the opening set against 15-year-old Ksenia Efremova of France, but fought back for a 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory. 

Top seed and 2023 finalist Teodora Kostovic of Serbia defeated No. 13 seed Nellie Taraba Wallberg of Sweden 6-2, 6-4 and will play No. 9 seed Luna Cinalli of Argentina, who beat No. 5 seed Julie Pastikova of the Czech Republic  6-4, 3-6, 6-3. No. 3 seed Alena Kovackova of the Czech Republic avenged her Wimbledon junior loss to Flora Johnson of Great Britain  with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory to set up a meeting with No. 8 seed Reina Goto of Japan. Goto defeated No. 12 seed Yoana Konstantinova 7-6(2), 6-4.

Alena's younger sister Jana, the No. 2 seed, defeated Deniz Dilek of Turkey 6-1, 7-5. This year's Wimbledon 14U champion will face the only unseeded player in the girls quarterfinals, Emma Dong of Canada. Dong defeated the only qualifier remaining, 15-year-old Zaire Clarke, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.

The doubles semifinals feature two American teams, both unseeded. Maximus Dussault and Mosejczuk defeated Mackenzie and Niels McDonald of Germany 6-3, 6-1 and will face unseeded Morazzi and Nathan Trouve of France Friday.

In the girls doubles, unseeded Monica Ekstrand and Kori Montoya defeated unseeded Allegra Korpanec Davies of Great Britain and Ava Rodriguez 2-6, 6-3, 10-5 to advanced to the semifinals.

The semifinals in the younger age divisions are set for Friday, with the Asian cohort dominating in the 12s and 14s. Below are today's quarterfinal results. The doubles finals are scheduled for later in the day Friday; the 16s, which will be back on the East Campus Har-Tru courts after playing four days at the campus Legacy Hotel courts, have one singles and multiple doubles matches on their Friday schedule.

IMG International quarterfinals:

B12s:

Haruto Tamaki(JPN) d. Georgii Abushenko(RUS) 6-0, 6-3

Saku Agui(JPN) d. Daniel Gardality[3](USA) 6-1, 6-4

Mingeon Choi(KOR) d. Christian Pohoski[9](USA) 6-1, 6-2

Novak Palombo[2](AUS) d. Aleksandr Kharkov[5](USA) 6-2, 4-6, 11-9

G12s:

Nikol Davletshina[1](USA) d. Ayul Kim[16](KOR) 6-3, 7-6(5)

Seohyeon Kim[4](KOR) d. Ana Maric[9](AUS) 7-6(2), 6-1

Minori Sato(JPN) d. Fangqiao Zou(CHN) 5-7, 6-4, 10-6

Shangran Cai[12](CHN) d. Ayaka Iwasa(JPN) 6-7(6), 6-4, 10-6 

B14s

Qi Hongjin[7](CHN) d. Ethan Domingo[1](AUS) 6-1, 6-3

Dharma Pantaratorn[8](THA) d. Daniil Berezin[4](USA) 7-5, 3-6,7-6(4) 

Junseo Jang(KOR)[12] d. Dylan Meineke(USA) 6-2, 6-4

Victor Pignaton[14](USA) d. Carter Jauffret[13](USA) 5-7, 7-6(1), 6-2

G14s

Tea Kovacevic[1](BIH) d. Amy Shen(CAN) 6-0, 6-2

Sofiia Bielinska[3](UKR) d. Alisa Terentyeva[8](RUS) 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(1)

Daniel Baranes(ISR) d.Tori Russell[14](AUS) 6-1, 6-4

Baotong Xu[2](CHN) d. Maria Valentina Pop(ROU)[15] 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 

B16s

Jordan Lee[1](USA) d. Matthew Shapiro[9](USA) 7-5, 6-3

Teodor Davidov(USA) d. Achyuth Binu[12](USA) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5

Emilio Camacho[4](ECU) d. Maddox Bose[15](USA) 6-3, 6-2

Jerrid Gaines[2](USA) d. Samim Filiz[16](TUR) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 

G16s

Londyn Mccord[10]USA) d. Misaki Yamagishi(JPN) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3

Paige Wygodski[6](USA) d. Olivia Traynor[3](USA) 7-6(4), 6-2

Hanne Estrada[12](MEX) d. Ophelia Korpanec Davies(GBR) Def-NS

Katerina Shabashkevic[7](USA) d. Isabelle DeLuccia[2](USA) 7-6(8), 6-4, 6-3

The draws for the 12s, 14s and 16s can be viewed at the USTA tournament website.

With a main draw wild card into next month's Australian Open and two Challenger titles this fall, Nishesh Basavareddy was not expected to return to Stanford, and the 19-year-old from Indiana made it official today in an Instagram post. 

Nishesh Basavareddy announces he's forgoing NCAA eligibility at Stanford to go pro. And he's already off to an amazing start! Very close to the top 100 and will be playing the Australian Open main draw as the USTA wildcard. 🎾

[image or embed]

— Tick Tock Tennis (@ticktocktennis.bsky.social) December 5, 2024 at 2:23 PM

November Aces; Mosejczuk Ousts No. 3 Seed Roh, Wild Cards Advance at ITF J300 Bradenton; B12s Top Seed Falls in Third Round at IMG Academy International Championships

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Bradenton FL--

Before I get to today's action at the IMG Academy International Championships, it's time to look back on the top performances of November in my monthly Aces column for the Tennis Recruiting Network. With the Junior Davis and Billie Jean King Cups, the NCAA individual championships and the ATP and WTA finals, it was a climatic end to the season for the sport, which starts up again before this month is over in the pros, with college tennis taking a longer break, and the juniors still with another three weeks to go.

Wednesday was the coldest morning of a chilly week so far, with temperatures in the 40s for those with 8:00 a.m. matches, but the sun was never obscured by a cloud, so the warmth built throughout the day and the third layers and knit caps could be shed.

The trend of the boys seeds losing and the girls seeds advancing continued in the ITF J300 event on the green clay, and although No. 1 seed Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic did get through a second round match with Moise Kouame of France 7-6(1), 2-6, 6-3, two Top 4 seeds were eliminated.

No. 3 seed Hoyoung Roh of Korea, the reigning Osaka Cup J500 champion, fell 6-1, 6-4 to American Dominick Mosejczuk, who, in his third week on the North American clay circuit, is finding the conditions in Bradenton to his liking. 

Mosejczuk hadn't played Roh before, but had done some scouting and was prepared for the pace that Roh employs.

"I watched a couple of videos of him yesterday, he's a big hitter, definitely," said the 17-year-old from New York. "But I knew I had to stick with my game, stay confident, really rip through the ball, because he would take advantage on any slower ball, any shorter ball, so everything had to be pinpoint. I played loose, I had nothing to lose, he was the third seed, I'm the underdog here so I just played freely, played confident throughout the match and it worked out."

Mosejczuk made the semifinals at the J300 in Zapopan Mexico two weeks ago, and reached the third round last week at the J500 in Merida, both on red clay, but in vastly different conditions.

"The first week was in very high altitude and the bounces weren't the greatest there, every ball just flew," Mosejczuk said. "In the J500, no altitude, so I could swing freely, which was really nice, but I was still a bit used to the altitude. But now I'm very confident in my game again, not just rolling balls, scared that it's going to go out. But I definitely feel my game's developing these past few weeks."

Mosejsczuk is the reigning Orange Bowl 16s champion and will be aiming for back-to-back titles in Plantation next week, which will be four consecutive weeks of tournament play. But Mosejczuk says two and a half weeks in, his body is holding up well.

"I'm feeling amazing; being training fit and match fit are two different things," Mosejczuk said. "I feel like I've been recovering, doing the things I need to do after the matches very well. Obviously I didn't have that much time between tournaments, because I did go at least to the middle of the tournaments, so had a two or three to get used to the next surface, which I feel is the perfect amount of time. My body's feeling good, and I'm feeling confident."

Mosejczuk will play Valentin Garay of Argentina in the third round Thursday, a rematch of their second round match last week in Merida, which Mosejczuk won 6-3, 6-4.

No. 4 seed Oliver Bonding of Great Britain was beaten by Jamie Mackenzie of Germany 6-3, 6-4

The other four American boys advancing to the round of 16 are No. 5 seed Jagger Leach, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over qualifier Rafael Botran Neutze of Guatemala; No. 9 seed Jack Kennedy, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over qualifier Jack Satterfield, No. 12 seed Maxwell Exsted a 7-5, 6-3 winner over Niels McDonald of Germany and wild card Abhishek Thorat, who beat No. 14 seed William Rejchtman Vinciguerra of Sweden 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Thorat, who will play Mrva Thursday, was one of two IMG Academy wild cards to reach the round of 16, with other, Sasha Colleu of France, following up his first round win over No. 2 seed Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic with a 6-1, 6-4 victory today over lucky loser Francisco Castro of Ecuador. He will take on No. 16 seed Andres Santamarta Roig of Spain, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over wild card Ronit Karki.

The top five seeds in the girls draw, four of them Czechs, advanced in straight sets, with top seed and 2023 finalist Teodora Kostovic of Serbia beating Ava Rodriguez  6-2, 6-0.  

The only qualifier remaining is 15-year-old Zaire Clarke, who defeated  No. 11 seed Kanon Sawashiro of Japan 6-2 1-6, 6-2. Clarke is one of just two US girls to advance to the round of 16, with No. 7 seed May Iyengar, a 6-2 6-2 winner today over Sofie Hettlerova of the Czech Republic, the other. No. 15 seed Shannon Lam lost to Flora Johnson of Great Britain 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.

The longest girls match of the day, nearly three hours in length, was No. 12 seed Yoana Konstantinova's 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(4) win over Capucine Jauffret.

Konstantinova, a member of the ITF Grand Slam Player Development Touring Team, said that Jauffret's defense and the well-worn balls made the second and third sets especially difficult for her.

"It was much better in the first set, because the balls were new and my shots were flying much faster and I could win points easily," said the 17-year-old from Bulgaria, who won the J300 in Zapopan Mexico two weeks ago. "Second set, the balls got bigger and everything got slower and it was tough for me to finish points."

The third set, with new balls, didn't provide Konstantinova with the same boost she felt in the first set, and after losing an early break, she was serving to stay in the match at both 4-5 and 5-6. But after taking a 6-0 lead in the third set tiebreaker, she was unable to convert her first four match points before finally breathing a sigh of relief when she won the fifth.

"We were both tight, but she was moving very well, playing very good defense, she didn't miss and we had long rallies," Konstantinova said. "At the end it was a bit of pressure, and I was like, come on, come on, you have to win the point. I was a little bit rushing I would say. But that's why our sport is so interesting all the time, because anything can happen."

After today's second round of doubles, there are no seeded teams remaining in the boys draw. Top seeds Bonding and Leach lost to Yeonsu Jeong of Korea and Kriish Tyagi of India 6-3, 6-7(4), 10-7, with the No. 5 and 8 seeds also joining the five seeded teams who lost in the first round yesterday.  In the girls doubles draw, five of the eight seeds remain, including the top two seeds.

The 12s, 14s and 16s divisions lost their first top seed today in the boys 12s, with unseeded Haruto Tamaki of Japan defeating No. 1 seed Ethan Jake Frans of Indonesia 7-5, 6-4. In the girls 12s, No. 2 seed Shina Okuyama of Japan lost to Shangran Cai of China 7-6(6), 6-4 and No. 3 seed Lucy Dupere of the United States lost to Fangqiao Zou of China 6-1, 6-2.  Top seed Nikol Davletshina of the United States survived a tough battle of Emilia Henningsen of Denmark 7-5, 7-6(5).

IMG International quarterfinals:

B12s:

Haruto Tamaki(JPN) v Georgii Abushenko(RUS)

Daniel Gardality[3](USA) v Saku Agui(JPN)

Mingeon Choi(KOR) v Christian Pohoski[9](USA)

Aleksandr Kharkov[5] v Novak Palombo(AUS)

G12s:

Nikol Davletshina[1](USA) v Ayul Kim[16](KOR)

Seohyeon Kim[4](KOR) v Ana Maric[9](AUS)

Minori Sato(USA) v Fangqiao Zou(CHN)

Ayaka Iwasa(JPN) v Shangran Cai[12](CHN)

B14s

Ethan Domingo[1](AUS) v Qi Hongjin[7](CHN)

Daniil Berezin[4](USA) v Dharma Pantaratorn[8](THA)

Dylan Meineke(USA) v Junseo Jang(KOR)[12]

Carter Jauffret[13](USA) v Victor Pignaton[14](USA

G14s

Tea Kovacevic[1](BIH) v Amy Shen(CAN)

Sofiia Bielinska[3](UKR) v Alisa Terentyeva[8](RUS)

Tori Russell[14](AUS) v Daniel Baranes(ISR)

Maria Valentina Pop(ROU)[15] v Baotong Xu(CHN)

The top 3 seeds in the boys and girls 16s have advanced to the third round; tomorrow the 16s, who play their finals on Saturday, will play both the third round and the quarterfinals in singles. 

Draws can be found at the USTA tournament site.

Future Trojan Morazzi Defeats No. 6 Seed Omarkhanov at ITF J300 Bradenton, Upsets Few in Girls Draw; No. 1 Seeds in 12s, 14s and 16s Advance at IMG Intl; USTA National Indoor Finals Results; ITA D-I Fall Rankings

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Bradenton FL--

Matteo Morazzi came into his first round match with Amir Omarkhanov at the ITF J300 at the IMG Academy as the underdog, and he was content with that role. Even when the 18-year-old from Spain was down 15-40 at 5-5 in the third, three hours into the match, he kept his belief, emerging with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory.

"I was not the favorite, but things went well at the beginning," Morazzi said. "Second set, he played a very good level of tennis and I lost it. In the third, I had chances to go 5-2 up but I wasn't able to hold, so things got complicated."

Serving at 4-all Morazzi was able to win the final four points of the game after trailing 0-30, but Omarkhanov, a 17-year-old from Kazakhstan, held easily to make it 5-all. Morazzi again went down 0-30 on serve, but this time it got even stickier, with Omarkhanov earning two break points with some great defense and an athletic backhand overhead finish. That's when Morazzi raised his level, hitting an overhead winner to save the first and a good first serve to save the second, and he put the pressure back on Omarkhanov by holding for 6-5.

"I think after that game he wasn't mentally prepared to play another one after losing that one and I played a very good game at the end," Morazzi said. "It was important for me to get that 5-all game, because being 5-6 down and returning is not ideal."

Morazzi agreed that he produced his best points when he was behind.

"It's easier to play aggressively when you're losing, because you have to change something," Morazzi said. "And when you're winning, things get tighter, so I was brave enough, let's say, today to be able to hit good shots and get the important points. He did semis last week(in the J500 Merida), came on the court as the favorite, and I took that as an advantage, to take the pressure off myself, and it went well."

Morazzi also recorded a doubles win later in the afternoon, with he and good friend Nathan Trouve of France defeating wild cards Jack Kennedy and Keaton Hance 6-4, 6-1. 

Morazzi and Trouve have spent the past seven years together at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain and they will continue to share their tennis training next month when they join the University of Southern California team for the spring semester, a step they had not expected to be taking.

"Randomly, out of nowhere, he was in Mexico at a tournament and I was in Spain training," said Trouve, an 18-year-old from France. "We received a call from Gustavo Marcaccio, our coach, that said he had received a call from Brett Masi and Marc Lucero saying that they wanted us to join USC in the spring of 2025, so we looked at the offer, talked to each other for a couple of days, because it was a big change and completely unexpected, and we were both really against going to college. But this offer came up and we're like, maybe we give it a try. We spoke to the coaches and the discussions were good, so why not?"

Although they were not really looking to go to college, the opportunity to join the same team was a significant factor.

"A big thing was that we always got separate offers, from opposite sides of the country," Morazzi said. "Going to the other side of the world is not easy and to be able to have someone you care about there is going to be helpful, makes everything easier. So we said, look, we don't lose anything to give it a try for a year, and we go year by year, if we make the jump to the ATP, we leave, or it may take a bit longer, and we might stay for four years. But we're excited."

Morazzi will face Glib Sekachov of Ukraine in the second round Wednesday.

Timofey Derepasko of Russia was the only other boys seed, aside from Omarkhanov, to exit today, with the No. 15 seed losing to Ognjen Milic of Serbia 7-6(4), 6-2.  The girls draw lost only two seeds in the first round, both today. Merida J500 champion Elizara Yaneva of Bulgaria, the No. 6 seed, withdrew from singles, and because no lucky loser signed in this morning, Emma Dong received a walkover into the second round. Yaneva did play doubles today with Deniz Dilek of Turkey, but the No. 3 seeds lost to Kristina Liutova and Anna Perelman of Russia 6-3, 6-2.  No. 16 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina lost 6-2, 6-4 to Ksenia Efremova of France.

The top seeds in doubles both advanced, with Jagger Leach and Great Britain's Oliver Bonding defeating Mikael and Nicolas Arseneault of Canada 6-4, 6-2 and the Kovackova sisters Alena and Jana defeating Agustina Grassi of Argentina and Kayla Moore 6-4, 6-1.  The No. 2 boys seeds, Jan Kumstat and Jan Klimas of the Czech Republic, both of whom lost in singles yesterday, dropped their first round doubles match today, with Maximus Dussault and Dominick Mosejczuk beating the Wimbledon boys doubles finalists 7-5, 2-6, 13-11.

The No. 1 seeds in the younger age divisions have all advanced (list of seeds can be found here), with the 12s and 14s moving into the third round after today's action, while the 16s will play their second round on Wednesday. But the first Top 4 seeds fell today, with B14s No. 2 seed Gadin Arun losing Arjun Krishnan 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in an all-US second round match, and B12s No. 4 seed Cavan Donnelly of the US losing to Seung Yu Hong of Korea 6-3, 7-5. 

Draws for the 12s, 14s and 16s can be found here.

The USTA Level 1 National Indoor Championships concluded Monday at eight sites in the Midwest and Northeast. The results of the singles and doubles finals are below. Links to the complete draws can be found by clicking the headings.

USTA National Indoor Championships finals results:

B18s:

Singles:

Mark Krupkin[9] d. Brody Nejedly Krall[9] 7-6(7), 6-4

Doubles:

Jonah Hill and Malhar Patel d. Woodson McMillin and Drew Hedgecoe 8-6

G18s:

Singles:

Karlin Schock[14] d. Kaya Moe[5] 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

Doubles:

Kaya Moe and Carrie-Ann Hoo[3] d. Sobee Oak and Aria Abalos 8-3

B16s:

Singles:

Safir Azam[11] d. Shaan Patel[1] 6-4, 6-3

Doubles:

Miguel Rooney and Harrison Kemp[6] d. Wesley Cotton and Jacob Hewitt[7] 9-8(4)

G16s:

Singles:

Anna Bugaienko d. Aya Manning[6] 6-4 6-3

Doubles:

Olivia Dartawan and Autumn Xu[1] d. Chloe Zigliara and Elana Zaretsky[6] 8-3

B14s:

Singles:

Daniel Malacek d. Eli Kaminski[1] 6-4, 6-4

Doubles:

Antanas Daugis and Daniel Malacek[3] d. Maddox Iliescu and Aryan Ponugoti[2] 9-8(4)

G14s:

Singles:

Emery Combs d. Sylvana Jalbert[2] 6-3, 2-6, 6-4

Doubles:

Teaghan Jou An Keys and Sammie Mercer[1] d. Grace Hong and Evelynn Kwak[3]  8-2

B12s:

Singles:

Davidson Jackson[8] d. Pranav Vignesh[4] 6-2, 6-3

Doubles:

Brishan Paul and Pranav Vignesh[4] d. Jason Ye and Evan Fan[5] 8-2

G12s

Singles:

Tara Guhan[2] d. Capri Butera[7] 6-2, 6-3

Doubles:

Capri Butera and Mary Podkhyneychenko d. Isha Manchala and Piper Yea[2] 8-5

The first published Division I rankings following the fall individual season were released today, with both NCAA singles champions moving to No. 1, but the NCAA doubles champions are both at No. 2. The full rankings are available by clicking on the headings.

ITA Division I Men's Rankings, December 3, 2024

Top 10 Singles:

1. Michael Zheng, Columbia

2. Sebastian Gorzny, Texas

3. Timo Legout, Texas

4. Carl Emil Overbeck, Cal

5. Colton Smith, Arizona

6. Jay Friend, Arizona

7. DK Suresh, Wake Forest

8. Ozan Baris, Michigan State

9. Corey Craig, Florida State

9. Pedro Vives, TCU

Top 5 Doubles:

1. Oliver Tarvet and Stian Klaassen, San Diego

2. Pedro Vives and Lui Maxted, TCU

3. Marko Miladinovic and Oskar Brostrom Poulsen, Baylor

4. Luciano Tacchi and Luca Pow, Wake Forest

5. Gavin Young and Benjamin Kittay, Michigan

ITA Division I Women's Rankings, December 3, 2024

Top 10 Singles:

1. Dasha Vidmanova, Georgia

2. DJ Bennett, Auburn

3. Maria Sholokhova, Wisconsin

4. Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M

5. Julia Fliegner, Michigan

6. Valerie Glozman, Stanford

7. Sofia Johnson, Old Dominion

8. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

9. Theadora Rabman, North Carolina

10. Elza Tomase, Tennessee

Top 5 Doubles:

1. Susanna Maltby and Carson Tanguilig, North Carolina

2. Elaine Chervinsky and Melodie Collard, Virginia

3. Rachel Gailis and Alicia Dudeney, Florida

4. Olivia Center and Kate Fakih, UCLA

5. Maddy Zampardo and Gabriella Broadfoot, NC State

Davis Cup Stint Helps Exsted to Marathon Win, No. 2 Kumstat Upset at ITF J300 Bradenton; Few Surprises in 12s, 14s, 16s Divisions at IMG Intl; Faurel and Yaneva Claim Merida J500 Titles; Two ITF J100 Titles Last Week for Americans

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Bradenton FL--

Since moving his training to the Rafa Nadal Academy this summer, Max Exsted has had the opportunity to hit with the legendary founder half a dozen times. So while the No. 12 seed was grinding out a 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 win over  Nicolas Arseneault of Canada in just under three and a half hours in the first round of ITF J300 at IMG Academy, he had the inspiration of the 14-time Roland Garros champion to draw on.

"I hit with him maybe six times, this was before he played his last match, throughout the summer," the 17-year-old from Minnesota said. "It was an incredible experience to hit with him."

More recently, Exsted served as the practice partner for the US Davis Cup team in Malaga Spain, and that also gave him an opportunity to learn from the sport's top players.

"Being around Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul, Bob and Mike Bryan, take some pointers, that was really fun," Exsted said. "Everybody stayed in the same hotel, all the physios, the massage therapists, we were all eating together. I was practicing with the guys, after dinner we'd play cards, just being around them was fun. I'm just the little guy, I haven't made it yet or anything, and I was really blessed to be able to hit with them."

Exsted admitted there was some pressure in that situation, as he was expected to return some of the sport's best serves and stay in rallies with ATP Top 20 players. 

"I didn't want to make a bad impression, or have them think, 'what is this guy doing, he's not making anything,'" Exsted said. "Returning was definitely difficult, but I did my best and I was playing pretty good there."

Conditions for his match today were far from ideal, with temperatures in the low 50s and a swirling winds, but Exsted went into it knowing it was likely to be a long, physical battle. He and Arseneault had already met twice this year, with Exsted coming back from dropping the first set to win both matches, a pattern that continued today.

"The first set was not a great set for me," Exsted said. "In the second set, I started to find my rhythm, served at 5-3, but he saved a couple of set points and we ended up going to the breaker and I pulled that one out."

In the final set, Exsted got a break in the fifth game and managed to hold it, although he had to save a break point at 4-3 to keep the advantage. Arseneault held to force Exsted to serve it out, and given his hiccup in the second set, Exsted knew he needed a better finish.

"Every time you're in that position it's not going to be easy," Exsted said. "But I stayed calm, just tried to be solid but aggressive, move him around. I played a really good game, so I'm just really happy to fight this one out."

Exsted will play Niels McDonald of Germany in the second round Wednesday.

No. 2 seed Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic was given the Stadium Court assignment, or rather his opponent, wild card Sasha Colleu of France was, as he trains at the IMG Academy. The 17-year-old Colleu was playing in only his second ITF J300 tournament, with the first coming last month in Mexico, but he looked much more comfortable than the 2024 Australian Open boys finalist while rolling to a 6-1, 6-1 upset. Colleu is 276 in the ITF rankings, while Kumstat, also 17, is currently No. 9.

Kumstat wasn't the only boys seed to fall today, with No. 10 Nathan Trouve of France losing to Haydar Gokpinar of Turkey 6-3, 6-4; No. 11 seed Ian Mayew falling to Daniil Sarksian of Russia 6-2, 7-6(5); and No. 13 seed Jan Klimas of the Czech Republic losing to Valentin Garay of Argentina 6-2, 6-2. 

Boys top seed Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic defeated wild card Keaton Hance 6-3, 6-3; girls top seed Teodora Kostovic of Serbia plays her first round match tomorrow against Marie Slamenikova of the Czech Republic.

Americans advancing to the second round today are wild card Abhishek Thorat, Dominick Mosejczuk, Jack Kennedy[9], Jagger Leach[5], wild card Ryan Cozad, wild card Ronit Karki, Ava Rodriguez, Shannon Lam[15], Capucine Jauffret, Maya Iyengar[7] and wild card Victoria Osuigwe.

The 27 remaining first round singles matches will be played Tuesday, followed by the first round of doubles. 

Jagger Leach and Great Britain's Oliver Bonding are the top seeds in boys doubles; sisters Alena and Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic are the top seeds in doubles.

Matches are still in progress in the IMG Academy International Championships 14s and 16s divisions as of 9 p.m., but so far all the Top 5 seeds in the 12s, 14s, and 16s have advanced to the second round. First round matches in 16s will also be played Tuesday.

Draws with times can be found here. For a list of all seeds, see my post from Sunday. 

The ITF J500 in Merida Mexico concluded late Sunday night, with Thomas Faurel of France and Elizara Yaneva of Bulgaria taking the singles titles.

No. 8 seed Faurel defeated No. 4 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia 6-3, 6-1 and Yaneva beat unseeded 15-year-old Luna Vujovic 6-4, 6-3. The 18-year-old Faurel, who didn't lose a set all week, moves up to No. 12 in the ITF junior rankings, which leaves him in excellent position to finish Top 20 and secure his entry into the ITF/ATP Accelerator Program. Yaneva, 17, moves to her career-high 15 in the ITF junior rankings; she is the No. 6 seed this week in Bradenton; Faurel is not playing in Bradenton this year.

Timofei Derepasko of Russia and Amir Omarkhanov of Kazakhstan won the boys doubles title in Mexico, with the No. 3 seeds beating top seeds Charlie Robertson of Great Britain and Petr Brunclik of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-1 in the final.

Top seeds Alena and Jana Kovackova won the girls doubles title, beating Victoria Barros of Brazil and Teodora Kostovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

Two Americans captured ITF J100 titles last week, with Reiley Rhodes adding a J100 title in Peru to the J60 title she won two weeks ago there. The unseeded 15-year-old from Maryland defeated No. 4 seed Daniela Gonzalez of Peru 6-4, 6-3 in the final, running her streak of straight-sets wins in Peru to 10.

Sixteen-year-old Zavier Augustin won his second ITF Junior Circuit singles title at the J100 in France. The No. 4 seed defeated unseeded Simone Massellani of Italy 6-2, 6-0 in the final. Augustin and Michael Antonius reached the doubles final, with the No. 3 seeds falling to the unseeded team of Massellani and Raffaele Ciurnelli 6-1, 6-4.

Mrva, Kostovic Top Seeds at ITF J300 Bradenton, Ten Americans Qualify Sunday; IMG International Championships Seeds for 12s, 14s, 16s; United States Team Wins Fifth Straight Master'U International Collegiate Championships

©Colette Lewis 2024--

Bradenton FL--

The qualifying is complete and the draws are out for the ITF J300 Bradenton, with Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic and 2023 finalist Teodora Kostovic of Serbia receiving the top seeds. Both were No. 1 seeds at this week's J500 in Merida Mexico and both lost early, so they should not be dealing with the frantic travel schedules after late night matches that come with deep runs in the Yucatan Cup. 

The first round of singles is split between Monday and Tuesday, with 37 matches on Monday's schedule and 27 on Tuesday, plus the entire first round of doubles.

ITF J300 Seeds:

Girls:

1. Teodora Kostovic(SRB)

2. Jana Kovackova(CZE)

3. Alena Kovackova(CZE)

4. Tereza Krejcova(CZE)

5. Julie Pastikova(CZE)

6. Elizara Yaneva(BUL)

7. Maya Iyengar(USA)

8. Reina Goto(JPN)

9. Luna Maria Cinalli(ARG)

10. Laima Vladson(LTU)

11. Kanon Sawashiro(JPN)

12. Yoana Konstantinova(BUL)

13. Nellie Taraba Wallberg(SWE)

14. Deniz Dilek(TUR)

15. Shannon Lam(USA)

16. Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi(ARG)

Boys:

1. Maxim Mrva(CZE)

2. Jan Kumstat(CZE)

3. Hoyoung Roh(KOR)

4. Oliver Bonding(GBR)

5. Jagger Leach(USA)

6. Amir Omarkhanov(KAZ)

7. Oskari Paldanius(FIN)

8. Henry Bernet(SUI)

9. Jack Kennedy(USA)

10. Nathan Trouve(FRA)

11. Ian Mayew(USA)

12. Maxwell Exsted(USA)

13. Jan Klimas(CZE)

14. William Rejchtman Vinciguerra(SWE)

15. Timofei Derepasko(RUS)

16. Andres Santamarta Roig(ESP)

The United States will have 22 boys and 18 girls in the main draw, after a successful final day of qualifying, with six of the eight boys  four of the eight girls qualifiers from the USA. All the players listed below won two matches today to reach the main draw.

Mikael Arseneault(CAN)

Joaquin Blanco(USA)

Nischal Spurling(USA)

Jacob Olar(USA)

Jack Satterfield(USA)

Gus Grumet(USA)

Nathan Blokhin(USA)

Rafael Botran Neutze(GUA)

Zaire Clarke(USA)

Brooke Wallman(USA)

Anna Perelman(RUS)

Kristina Liutova(RUS)

Ireland O'Brien(USA)

Addison Comiskey(CAN)

Kayla Moore(USA)

Havana Kadi(CAN)

Three lucky losers also received entry:

Anastasia Pleskun(USA)

Francisco Castro(ECU)

Allan Gatoto(BDI)

Gatoto, the No. 9 qualifying seed, was beaten in the final round of qualifying this afternoon by 18-year-old Floridian Nathan Blokhin 6-2, 6-4. Blokhin, who has been concentrating on his application to Harvard the past few months, prepared for his last two ITF junior tournaments with a training block that paid dividends today.

"The last few weeks I've been running at 5 a.m. with my friend, then three hours training 7 to 10, and then we go back at 1:15 for another hour, so it's not too bad if you're doing that in practice, this is actually kind of easier, other than the nerves," said Blokhin, the younger brother of Stanford junior Alexis Blokhina. "You obviously get a little more tired, but I still feel good right now, I'm ready to play a third match."

Blokhin trains regularly with Marcus Fluitt at the Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation, but prepared for these tournaments at the Sanchez Casal Academy.

"I did a good block there because my parents were traveling and Sanchez Casal has dorming there so it was easier. That was the last two weeks," Blokhin said. 

After a long wait to get on court for his first match Saturday, Blokhin saw his level improve with each subsequent match.

"I'm definitely getting better match by match," Blokhin said. "I played good in the first round, but it was off and on. Today, this morning, it was pretty solid throughout and just now I think I played really well, without a lot of dips in the level. The guy(Gatoto) was pretty big, serving well, so I couldn't afford to give him any lackluster service games. I tried to stay locked in and yeah, I'd say I'm playing pretty good, some of my best level. I think I was broken only once or twice."

Blokhin said he is in the late stages of the admissions process at Harvard.

"I recently committed," Blokhin said.  "I'm going through admissions right now, I'm towards the end. I got my Common App, I did my interviews, so it's looking good and I should know pretty soon."

Blokhin qualified for the ITF J300 in Repentigny Canada at the end of August, which was his last ITF Junior Circuit event.

"I haven't been playing too much, studying for the SAT a little bit, doing a lot school, playing UTRs near my house, so I'm excited to get out here and do well on the ITF tour."

The draws are out for the 12s, 14s and 16s division of the IMG Academy International Tennis Championships this week. Below are the seeds including their countries, which is a tough trove of information to assemble.

The USTA tournament site is having technical problems, but the draws can be accessed via pdfs on the Overview tab.

B12s Seeds:

1. Ethan Jake Frans(INA)

2. Novak Palombo(AUS)

3. Daniel Gardality(USA)

4. Cavan Donnelly(USA)

5. Aleksandr Kharkov(USA)

6. Reita Yamanaka(USA)

7. Sebastian Lavorato(AUS)

8. Camelot Carnello(USA)

9. Christan Pohoski(USA)

10. Liam Dent(USA)

11. Michael Rybak(USA)

12. Koo Ming Kevin Leung(HKG)

13. Max D Smith(USA)

14. Ethan Cyrus(USA)

15. Evaan Mohan(USA)

16. Patrick Paun(USA)

B14s Seeds:

1. Ethan Domingo(AUS)

2. Gadin Arun(USA)

3. Rafalentino Dacosta(USA)

4. Danill Bererzin(USA)

5. Lucas Han(AUS)

6. Tabb Tuck(USA)

7. Qi Hongjin(CHN)

8. Dharma Pantaratom(THA)

9. Anurag Shourya Kallambella(INA)

10. Heaton Pann(AUS)

11. Wu Junze(CHN)

12. Jang Junseo(KOR)

13. Carter Jauffret(USA)

14. Victor Pignaton(USA)

15. Hruthik Katakam(INA)

16. Har Abir Sekhon(AUS)

B16 Seeds:

1. Jordan Lee(USA)

2. Jerrid Gaines Jr(USA)

3. Luis Andres Flores Avila(MEX)

4. Emilio Camacho(ECU)

5. Maksim Nekrasov(RUS)

6. Agassi Rusher(USA)

7. William Zhang(USA)

8. Felix Triquart(GER)

9. Matthew Shapiro(USA)

10. Lucas Smith(USA)

11. Mason Vaughan(USA)

12. Achyuth Binu(USA)

13. Anthony Dry(USA)

14. Joshua Adamson(CAN)

15. Maddox Bose(USA)

16. Samim Filiz(TUR)

G12 Seeds:

1. Nikol Davletshina(USA)

2. Shina Okuyama(JPN)

3. Lucy Dupere(USA)

4. Seohyeon Kim(KOR)

5. Jacqueline Nick(USA)

6. Christina Li(USA)

7. Inie Toll(USA)

8. Agneshka Markina(USA)

9. Ana Maric(AUS)

10. Srishti Kiran(INA)

11. Aimee Peng(USA)

12. Shangran Cai(CHN)

13. Emilia Henningsen(DEN)

14. Mia Fedus(USA)

15. Cataleya Brown(USA)

16. Ayul Kim(KOR)

G14 Seeds:

1. Tea Kovacevic(BIH)

2. Baotong Xu(CHN)

3. Sofia Bielinska(UKR)

4. Sim Siyeon(KOR)

5. Camilla Kostik(USA)

6. Jiayi Lu(CHN)

7. Jinling Shi(CHN)

8. Alisa Terentyeva(RUS)

9. Vibha Gogineni(USA)

10. Sakino Miyazawa(JPN)

11. Emilie Chen(CAN)

12. Sara Park(USA)

13. Jiali Dong(CHN)

14. Tori Russell(AUS)

15. Maria Valentina Pop(ROU)

16. Anna Scott Laney(USA)

G16 Seeds:

1. Aisha Bisht(USA)

2. Isabelle DeLuccia(USA)

3. Olivia Traynor(USA)

4. Kennedy Dresner-Hagmann(USA)

5. Lyla Kessler(USA)

6. Paige Wygodski(USA)

7. Katerina Shabashkevich(USA)

8. Alyson Shannon(USA)

9. Ariana Ikwueme(USA)

10. Londyn Mccord(USA)

11. Yui Watanabe(USA)

12. Hanne Estrada(MEX)

13. Ahniya Vustsina(USA)

14. Tanika Saravanan(USA)

15. Delaney Letzel(USA)

16. Alanna Ingalsbe(USA)

The United States team won its fifth straight Master'U BNP Paribas international collegiate team competition today in France, beating Great Britain 4-1. Gavin Young(Michigan), Sebastian Gorzny(Texas), Michael Zheng(Columbia), Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M), Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara) and Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) defeated Germany 4-1 in the quarterfinals, and France 4-1 in the semifinals in the three-day event in Riems. 

For more on the final, see this article from Tennis Recruiting Network, with comments from Gorzny and Young, who clinched the win in doubles.

Qualifying Complete in 12s, 14s and 16s Divisions at IMG Academy International Championships; Kennedy Advances in ITF J300 Qualifying; Grant Wins W50 in Italy; USA Reaches Master'U BNP Paribas Collegiate Team Final

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Bradenton FL--

The final day of qualifying for the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions of the IMG Academy International Championships started with temperatures in the low 50s and a chilly breeze, but there were certainly no complaints from the 48 players who made it through to the main draw. Below is the list of qualifiers, with their countries, which is now impossible to ascertain from the draws. The Asian contingent is strong again this year, as has traditionally been the case at these late year Florida tournaments. A full list of main draw wild cards, which also are not identified as such on the draws, can be found in my Friday post.

Tomorrow is an off day for the qualifiers, all of whom won three or four matches to reach the main draw. Monday is the first day of play in the 12s, 14s and 16s. Due to damage around the seven hard courts on the north side of the IMG campus, the 16s were moved to to clay for this year, and they will have to split the first round over two days and double up later in the week in order to finish on Saturday. They will be playing primarily on the new Legacy Hotel courts on the west campus for at least the first three rounds, which are lighted.

B12s qualifiers: 
Rei Sakai(JPN)
Jingheng Cao(CHN)
Liu Lv Yang(CHN)
Tajesh Reddy Bomma(USA)
Minchan Kwon(KOR)
Julian Toshev(USA)
Tyler Tani(JPN)
Seung Yu Hong(KOR)

B14s qualifiers:

Luka Radosavljevic(CAN)

Yida Liu(CHN)

Jaime Gomez Lopez(USA)

Zhantore Sanzharyly(KAZ)

Simon Stoyanov(CAN)

Max Becerra(CHI)

Antonio Costantini Marques(ESP)

Thomas O'Neill(CAN)

B16s qualifiers:

Charles Pettinelli(USA)

Qi Ao(USA)

Kurt Sayan(USA)

Bernardo Tedesco(BRA)

Eldar Greinert(UKR)

Eita Mishima(JPN)

Noa Cakaric(USA)

Lucas Hoyos(COL)

G12s qualifiers:

Alexie Duclair(CAN)

Ana Paula Vega Alvarez(DOM)

Uma Malika Ngo Bogso(CMR)

Siyun Xiao(CHN)

Yeonkyung Lim(KOR)

Hartley Milne(USA)

Jingyue Zhang(CHN)

Fangqiao Zou(CHN)

G14s qualifiers:

Montserrat Temprana(MEX)

Amina Nurmakhan(KAZ)

Maja Sobiesiak(POL)

Kuzivaishe Charlene Chapepa(ZIM)

Tamina Saken(KAZ)

Mia Tanasoiu(USA)

Eve Thibault(CAN)

Camille Michel(CAN)

G16s qualifiers:

Asia Sundas(ITA)

Chukwunoneeru Smarty(USA)

Clara-Marie Priemer(GER)

Leyla Kilgour(USA)

Zixin Lyu(CHN)

Charlotte Ballarin(USA)

Payton Seidle-Lubowitz(USA)

Daniela Shubianok(USA)

I spent the day watching the first round of ITF J300 qualifying, putting names with faces I've seen in draws throughout the year. In this scenario, I don't watch any match start to finish, but I did see the end of two matches that were memorable, for different reasons.

In the first, Joanna Kennedy was playing the No. 13 seed in qualifying Ichino Horikawa of Japan, on the Stadium clay court, with the deciding tiebreaker in lieu of a full third set just beginning. Kennedy had lost the first set 6-3, but adjusted to Horikawa's depth and pace, taking the second set 6-1.

"I think she started missing more, but I started pressurizing her more in the second set," said the 16-year-old from Colorado, playing in just her fourth ITF junior event. "I wasn't playing super powerful in the first set, I could have started faster and she started big, she was playing well. I think she also trains here, so I knew she was going to be comfortable in the environment. I wasn't pleased with the slow start but I'm happy I could pull out the win."

Kennedy took an early lead in the tiebreaker, with the 17-year-old Horikawa unable to win her first four points on serve. But despite Kennedy's mostly error-free play, she couldn't quite pull away, and it was 7-5 at the second change of ends. Kennedy held her serve for 8-5, but on the point, Horikawa had fallen, scraping her leg. With the roving umpire on the court encouraging her to towel off the leg, Horikawa did clean up the scratch, but before the point could start the umpire detected blood, so play was stopped and a trainer was called to tape the leg.

Kennedy returned to her chair during the wait for the trainer and then the treatment, but she said she had been in a similar situation before in a match tiebreaker and knew how to handle it.

"I think you just have to stay mentally positive, keep energized," said Kennedy, who had played the vast majority of her junior matches on the USTA circuit, which features many match tiebreakers in lieu of the third set. "Stay focused on your game and not worry too much what's going on with them. It wasn't ideal, but I was just focused on getting those two points, playing my game."

Horikawa lost the next point to give Kennedy four match points, but she escaped the first when Kennedy made a rare unforced error. But with two serves coming, Kennedy could stay aggressive and eventually her pace and depth drew a forehand error from Horikawa that ended the match.

Kennedy will face Sophia Cedeno of Florida next, with two wins necessary Sunday to advance to the main draw.

All of the awnings and bench areas on each court were damaged by the recent hurricanes and removed, so umbrellas are now taking their place, making for a more wide-open feeling on the nine clay courts outside the Stadium court. The four red clay courts are the only practice courts available onsite, so that area was always buzzing with players waiting for the matches before theirs to finish, hoping to time their warmup well. That wasn't possible for the players last on court 7, where the third match on that court was still in the second set six hours after the first match had gone on that court at 8:30 a.m.  I decided to end my afternoon there for no other reason than a vacancy on a bench to sit on, and the quality of the match between Luiz Felipe Silva of Brazil and Iker Ibarrondo Suarez of Spain rose and fell throughout the second set that I watched. 

Ibarrondo had taken the first set 7-5 and Silva the second 6-2, but the tiebreaker was riveting, with the level, which although still uneven at times, peaking on occasion. Silva looked to be in the best position when he took a 10-9 lead with two serves, but he lost both serves. He recovered however to save that match point, and they changed ends for the fourth time at 12-12. Silva produced a double fault, the only one of the tiebreaker, to give Ibarrondo another match point, but he couldn't convert it. With both players obviously exhausted as the match ticked past three hours, Ibarrondo had another match point at 15-14, but lost it. He hit the balls back to the other side, perhaps instinctively knowing there should be another change of ends, but he did not move towards the chairs.  The roving umpire on the court told him he had another serve, and he took it from the same end, won it, then won the next when Silva tried a desperation serve and volley which he could not execute. 

Whether Ibarrondo can win two matches on Sunday after that ordeal will be one of the more interesting questions answered at the end of qualifying tomorrow.

Sixteen-year-old Tyra Grant is not competing on this Florida junior swing, staying in Europe after the Junior Billie Jean King Cup title to compete in ITF women's World Tennis Tour events. 

Today she won her second title on the women's WTT, coming through qualifying to earn the championship at the W50 in Italy. Grant is known for her prowess on clay courts, with her W15 title in March coming on that surface, but this was indoor hard, and against much stronger competition.

Grant won close match after close match in her seven wins, advancing via third-set tiebreakers in both the quarterfinals and semifinals. It today's final, against No. 9 seed and former University of Washington standout Stacey Fung of Canada, Grant  fought back to claim a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 win in the two-hour and 44-minute final. 

At the Master'U BNP Paribas international collegiate team competition in Riems France, the defending champion United States team has advanced to the final, where they will play Great Britain. The US team of Michael Zheng(Columbia), Gavin Young(Michigan), Sebastian Gorzny(Texas), Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara) and Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) will take on the British team which features some familiar names to those who follow Division I tennis: Amelia Rajecki(NC State), Esther Adeshina(Tennessee), Eliz Maloney(Loughborough) Jake (Finn) Bass(Baylor), Johannus Monday(Tennessee) and James Story(South Carolina).

There is live scoring, but no draws or any results archive that I can find.