Jones, Rottgering Win ITF WTT Junior Finals; Four Americans Claim ATP Titles; Monday Goes Back-to-Back, Suresh Earns First USTA Pro Circuit Title; First Pro Titles for Three Recent Collegians at WTT $15Ks

The ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals concluded today in Chengdu China, with top seed Emerson Jones of Australia winning the girls title and No. 3 seed Mees Rottgering of the Netherlands taking the boys championship.

Two-time junior slam finalist Jones, who went undefeated in round robin and knockout play, defeated Roland Garros finalist Laura Samson 6-4, 6-4. Jones, who lost her first set of the tournament to Jeline Vandromme of Belgium, has solidified her place at the top of the ITF junior rankings with this title, and I would be surprised to see her play any more junior events this year.

Wimbledon finalist Rottgering had the opportunity to avenge his loss to top seed Rafael Jodar of Spain two days ago in today's final and he did so, fighting back from 5-2 down in the second set to earn a 6-4, 7-6(2) victory. Rottgering's win snapped the Spaniard's 15-match winning streak on the ITF Junior Circuit, which extended back to his title at the College Park J300 in August.

Both Jones and Rottgering were the first players from their countries to compete in the Junior Finals (Jones joined by her brother Hayden), which have been played seven times since the first tournament in 2015.

Sunday's results:

Finals:

Emerson Jones[1](AUS) d. Laura Samson[3](CZE) 6-4, 6-4

Mees Rottgering[3](NED) d. Rafael Jodar[1](ESP) 6-4, 7-6(2)

3/4:

Jeline Vandromme[6](BEL) d. Mika Stojsavljevic[5](GBR) 6-3,  6-4

Charlie Robertson[6](GBR) d. Luca Preda(ROU) 6-3, ret.

5/6:

Tyra Grant[2](USA) d. Wakana Sonobe[4](JPN) 6-4, 7-6(5)

Maxim Mrva[4](CZE) d. Hayden Jones[7](AUS) 6-3, 6-1

7/8:

Kristina Penickova[7](USA) d. Antonia Vergara Rivera[8](CHI) 6-1, 6-1

Jangjun Kim[8](KOR) d. Jan Kumstat[5](CZE) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4

Jones comes away with $19,000 in travel grants, while Rottgering earns $17,500.  Tyra Grant and Kristina Penickova will receive $10,000 and $8,750 respectively.

One of the previous champions, Anna Blinkova of Russia, who won the Junior Finals title in 2016, won the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Macon Georgia today, with the No. 2 seed defeating No. 5 seed Ann Li 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(4).  No. 2 seeds Sophie Chang and Poland's Katarzyna Kawa won the doubles title, beating top seeds Quinn Gleason(Notre Dame) and Brazil's Ingrid Gammara Martins(South Carolina) 7-5, 6-4 in today's final. 

No. 2 seed Rebecca Marino won the ITF WTT women's W75+H in Calgary Canada today, beating qualifier Anna Rogers(NC State) 7-5, 6-4 in the final. Canada's Kayla Cross and Maribella Zamarripa(Texas) won the doubles title, beating Robin Anderson(UCLA) and Dalayna Hewitt 6-7(3), 7-5, 12-10 in the final. Neither team was seeded.

Four American men won ATP titles today, three on the Challenger Circuit and one on the ATP Tour. Tommy Paul won his second title at the ATP 250 in Stockholm Sweden, with the 27-year-old American, seeded fourth, beating No. 3 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-3 in the final. For more on Paul's third ATP title of the year, and fourth of his career, see this article from the ATP website.

Mackenzie McDonald[5] won the ATP Challenger 100 in China, with the 2016 NCAA singles champion at UCLA defeating top seed Arthur Cazaux of France 6-4, 7-6(4) in the final. The 29-year-old McDonald is now up to 120 in the ATP rankings, as he looks to secure a main draw spot at the Australian Open in 2015.

Tristan Boyer(Stanford) won his second Challenger title today at the 100 tournament in Brazil, beating Juan Pablo Ficovich of Argentina 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Boyer, who beat Ficovich in his previous title run in Mexico, is now up to a new career-high of 159 in the ATP rankings.

The fourth title for an American went to a new Challenger champion, with Arizona State senior Murphy Cassone earning his first at the 75 tournament in Calgary Canada. Cassone defeated fellow qualifier Govind Nanda(UCLA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to boost his ATP ranking to a career high of 363.

Rain delayed the final at the $25,000 men's tournament in Harlingen Texas, but ultimately it didn't stop recent Tennessee graduate Johannus Monday from winning his second straight $25K title today. The 22-year-old from Great Britain, who won the $25K in Louisville last week, defeated Czech qualifier Tadeas Paroulek(TCU, Baylor) 6-0, 6-1 to run his winning streak to 10 matches. 

Wake Forest junior DK Suresh of India won his first Pro Circuit  title, defeating teammate Luca Pow of Great Britain 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-5 in today's final at the $15,000 tournament in Winston-Salem NC.  Pow, who was such a reliable point as freshman in the bottom half of the Wake lineup last season, has made his case for a shot at the top half this year with this run. Pow had not won a main draw match on the Pro Circuit until this week.

I doubt I'll be able to feature today's $15K titles by recent collegians in my October Aces column, with all the other success at higher level tournaments, but there were three titles for Americans today outside the United States.  Malaika Rapolu, who completed her eligibility at Texas in May, picked up her first ITF WTT women's singles title at the tournament in Mexico. The unseeded 21-year-old defeated No. 3 seed Dasha Piekhanova of Canada 7-6(3), 7-5 in the final.

Cannon Kingsley, the recent Ohio State graduate, had lost in his previous three ITF men's WTT finals, but he got over that hump today in Greece. The No. 2 seed, Kingsley defeated No. 7 seed Adrian Bodmer of Switzerland 6-3, 7-6(4) in the final.

Cassone's teammate Max McKennon, who completed his eligibility at Arizona State in May, won his first title in Turkey. Unseeded, the 22-year-old left-hander, who didn't drop a set all week, defeated No. 7 seed Johan Rodriguez of Colombia 6-3, 6-2 in the final. 

Jones and Samson, Jodar and Rottgering Play for ITF WTT Junior Finals Titles Sunday; Four US Men, Including Qualifiers Nanda and Cassone, Reach Challenger Finals, All-Wake Forest Final at Winston-Salem $15K

By the time most of you read this, the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals champions will have been decided, with finals taking place overnight in Chengdu China. Four the third time in four days, rain disrupted the tournament Saturday, but apparently there is indoor backup that allowed the boys semifinals to be completed.

Top seed Emerson Jones of Australia avenged her two previous losses to No. 5 seed Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain, the most recent one at the US Open last month, coming from 3-5 down in the final set to post a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5) win.  She will face No. 3 seed Laura Samson of the Czech Republic, who defeated Jeline Vandromme of the Czech Republic 6-1, 5-7, 6-3. 

Jones and Samson, both 16, have not played before.

That's not the case for the boys finalists, with top seed Rafael Jodar of Spain and No. 3 seed Mees Rottgering of the Netherlands playing on Friday in third round robin match in group A competition. Jodar won that match, 6-4, 7-6(4), to run his ITF Junior winning streak to 14; it's up to 15 now, with his 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 6 seed Charlie Robertson of Great Britain. Robertson lost to Jodar in the Roehampton J300 final and the College Park J300 final this summer, but this is the first time he has taken a set from the Spaniard. 

Rottgering earned another shot at Jodar with his 6-0, 6-4 win today over No. 2 seed Luca Preda of Romania. Preda and Rottgering had split decisions back in 2022, but this year Rottgering defeated Preda 7-6(8), 6-3 in the third round of Milan, so now leads the head-to-head 3-1.

If it doesn't rain, the finals will be live streamed at the ITF YouTube channel. Live scoring is available here.

Semifinals:
Emerson Jones[1](AUS) d. Mika Stojsavljevic[5](GBR) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5)
Laura Samson[3](CZE) d. Jeline Vandromme[6](BEL) 6-1, 5-7, 6-3

Rafael Jodar[1](ESP) d. Charlie Robertson[6](GBR) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Mees Rottgering[3](NED) d. Luca Preda(ROU) 6-0, 6-4

5-8 results
Wakana Sonobe[4](JPN) d. Kristina Penickova[7](USA) 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-1
Tyra Grant[2](USA) d. Antonia Vergara Rivera[8](CHI) 6-2 6-3

Maxim Mrva[4](CZE) d. Jan Kumstat[5](CZE) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Hayden Jones[7](AUS) d. Jangjun Kim[8](KOR) 7-6(6), 6-3

As many as four Americans may be competing in the five ATP Challenger finals that are taking place Sunday. No. 5 seed Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA), who has now reached three Challenger finals in Asia since falling to Jannik Sinner in the first round of the US Open, will face top seed Arthur Cazaux of France in the final of the Challenger 100 in Shenzhen China. 

Tristan Boyer(Stanford) did not play the two Northern California Challenger 75s, which were won by Nishesh Basavareddy and Learner Tien, opting instead to head to South American clay for the 100s there. He lost in the second round in Argentina last week, but in Brazil, the unseeded 23-year-old has advanced to his third Challenger final of 2024. He will face the player he beat in the first one, also on clay, unseeded Juan Pablo Ficovich of Argentina.

Arizona State senior Murphy Cassone, who saved five match points in his first round victory at the ATP Challenger 75 in Calgary Canada, continues to record new milestones. After reaching his first Challenger semifinal yesterday, the 22-year-old qualifier has advanced to his first Challenger final, beating No. 3 seed Aziz Dougaz(Florida State) of Tunisia 7-5, 6-4. It will be an all-qualifier, all-American final with Govind Nanda defeating No. 7 seed and defending champion Liam Draxl(Kentucky) of Canada tonight 6-2, 6-4 to reach his first Challenger final. Nanda, who completed his eligibility last spring at UCLA, had beaten top seed Maks Kasnikowski of Poland 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5 in a three-hour and 19-minute quarterfinal last night.

The doubles final was today in Calgary, with top seeds Ryan Seggerman(Princeton, UNC) and Patrick Trhac(Idaho State, Utah) defeating 2024 NCAA champions Robert Cash and JJ Tracy(Ohio State), the No. 2 seeds, 6-3, 7-6(3). Seggerman and Trhac have now won nine Challenger titles since beginning their partnership last summer; they won the title last week at the Fairfield Challenger as well.

An Li, the No. 5 seed, has reached the final of the W100 in Macon Georgia, beating wild card Lauren Davis 6-3, 6-4. She will face No. 2 seed Anna Blinkova of Russia for the title; Blinkova defeated unseeded Katarzyn Kawa of Poland 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 in the semifinals. 

Anna Rogers, the former NC State All-American, picked up her first WTA Top 100 win today at the W75+H in Canada, beating top seed and WTA No. 94 Tatjana Maria of Germany 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 to reach the final against No. 2 seed Rebecca Marino of Canada. Rogers has won four ITF WTT women's doubles titles this year, but her only career singles title came back in 2021 at a $15K.

Wake Forest teammates DK Suresh and Luca Pow will meet in Sunday's final at the $15,000 tournament in Winston-Salem North Carolina. Suresh, a junior, advanced to his second Pro Circuit final(his first was also a $15K in Winston-Salem last November) when No. 3 seed Victor Lilov retired trailing 5-1 in the first set. Wild card Pow, a sophomore, took out Duke junior Pedro Rodenas 6-4, 7-6(5) in the semifinals. The 19-year-old from Great Britain hadn't won a main draw match on the Pro Circuit until this week.

Former Harvard teammates Cooper Williams(now at Duke) and Daniel Milavsky won the doubles title, beating Henry Lieberman(Charlotte, UNC) and Ryan Fishback(Virginia Tech) 6-1, 6-1 in the final. It's the third Pro Circuit doubles title for Williams, the 2023 Australian Open boys doubles champion; it's the first Pro Circuit doubles title for Milavsky.

Recent Tennessee graduate Johannus Monday of Great Britain will play for his second consecutive $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit title tomorrow in Harlingen Texas after defeating Ohio State sophomore Aidan Kim 6-4, 6-4. Monday's opponent in Sunday's final is qualifier Tadeas Paroulek(TCU, Baylor) of the Czech Republic, who continued his run with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win today in the semifinals over Stefan Dostanic(USC).

No. 4 seeds Keshav Chopra(Georgia Tech) and Maxwell Benson(Presbyterian) defeated No. 3 seeds Toby Kodat and Strong Kirchheimer(Northwestern)4-6, 6-3, 10-6, in the final.

ITF J300 Pan Am Recap, Videos; ITF WTT Junior Finals Semifinals Feature No Americans; Cassone Reaches First Challenger Semifinal in Calgary: Kim Ousts Top Seed Kodat at Harlingen $25K

If you didn't follow my daily coverage of the ITF J300 Pan American Regional Championships in Houston, the abridged version is available today at the Tennis Recruiting Network, with an overview of the singles titles by Jack Kennedy and Maya Iyengar, as well as the doubles championships won by Alanis Hamilton and Kayla Chung and Jon Gamble and James Weber. Videos of the champions are below; to see the videos of finalists Aspen Schuman and Ian Mayew on YouTube, click on their names to go to the tenniskalamazoo channel.

The round robin stage of the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals concluded today in Chengdu China, with neither US girl advancing to Saturday's semifinals. Kristina Penickova[7] and Tyra Grant[2] both finished round robin play at 1-2 after losses today. Top seeds Rafael Jodar of Spain and Emerson Jones of Australia are the only players who went undefeated.

Boys results, Friday October 18

Group A

*Rafael Jodar[1](ESP) d. *Mees Rottgering[3](NED) 6-4, 7-6(4)

Jan Kumstat[5](CZE) d. Hayden Jones[7](AUS) 6-3, 7-6(4)

Group B

*Charlie Robertson[6](GBR) d. Maxim Mrva[4](CZE) 6-4, 6-3

*Luca Preda[2](ROU) d. Jangjun Kim[8](KOR) 6-4, 6-2

Girls results, Friday October 18

Group A

*Emerson Jones[1](AUS) d. Wakana Sonobe[4](JPN) 6-4, 6-0

*Jeline Vandromme[6](BEL) d.  Antonia Vergara Rivera[8](CHI) 6-4, 6-3

Group B

*Laura Samson[3](CZE) d. Tyra Grant[2](USA) 7-6(6), 6-1

*Mika Stojsavljevic[5](GBR) d. Kristina Penickova[7](USA) 6-4, 6-3

*semifinalists

Saturday's schedule is below. Links to live streaming and live scoring can be found here.

Arizona State senior Murphy Cassone, a qualifier, has reached his first ATP Challenger semifinal, beating No. 6 seed Alexis Galarneau(NC State) of Canada in the rare 39-game match 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 7-6(4) in Calgary Canada today. The 22-year-old from Kansas, who was playing in just his second Challenger quarterfinal Wednesday, trailed 4-2 in the final set before winning his fourth tiebreaker of the week to end the three-hour and 42-minute battle. He will face No. 3 seed and former Florida State star Aziz Dougaz of Tunisia in the semifinals.

Ohio State sophomore Aidan Kim has reached his sixth USTA Pro Circuit semifinal, with the 19-year-old from Michigan getting his best win by ranking today in a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory over ATP 364 and top seed Toby Kodat at the $25,000 tournament in Harlingen Texas. Kim, who played his freshman year at Florida before transferring prior to this season, reached the ITA All-American Championships semifinals last month, so he has already qualified for the NCAA singles championships next month. Kim will face No. 5 seed Johannus Monday(Tennessee), who beat No. 3 seed Garrett Johns(Duke) 6-4, 6-1.  Stefan Dostanic(USC) reached the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Pierre-Yves Bailly(Texas), and will play qualifier Tadeas Paroulek(TCU, Baylor).

Both collegians are out at the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Macon Georgia, with Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia) and Lea Ma(Georgia) losing in the quarterfinals, but an American is guaranteed to reach the final. No. 5 seed Ann Li beat top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico 6-1, 6-4 to make the semifinals, where she'll face wild card Lauren Davis, who defeated No. 6 seed Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy 7-6(7), 6-7(3), 6-2 in three hours and 13 minutes. Anna Blinkova[2] of Russia, who beat qualifier Vidmanova 6-3, 6-0, will face Katarzyna Kawa of Poland, who defeated Ma 6-4, 6-3.

At the men's $15,000 tournament in Winston-Salem North Carolina, Wake Forest's DK Suresh and Luca Pow, and Duke's Pedro Rodenas are through to the semifinals. Wake junior Suresh defeated lucky loser Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) 6-2, 7-6(5) and will play No. 3 seed Victor Lilov, who beat Cooper Williams(Duke) 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4. Nineteen-year-old wild card Pow had never won a main draw match on the Pro Circuit until this week, but the sophomore is now in the semifinals after defeating qualifier Aleksa Ciric(Georgia Gwinett) 6-2, 6-2. He will play Rodenas, who defeated recent Wake Forest graduate Matthew Thomson, a wild card, 6-3, 6-4.

Third Day of Round Robin Play on Tap Friday at ITF WTT Junior Tennis Finals; Multiple Current Collegians Advance to Pro Circuit Quarterfinals; Eight Americans Earn 2025 Les Petits As Berths at USA Playoffs

The second day of round robin play at the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu China, didn't produce much separation among the 16 players. Spain's Rafael Jodar, the US Open boys champion, and Wimbledon finalist Mees Rottgering both won today, securing their spots in the semifinals. They will play each other Friday for the top spot in Group A.

All four boys in Group B are 1-1, so tomorrow's matches will determine which two advance from that group.

Top seed Emerson Jones of Australia is the only girl undefeated after two matches; she will face Wakana Sonobe of Japan in the third and final round robin match in Group A, and will advance if she wins that match. If Jones loses to Sonobe and Vandromme beats Vergara, who is the only girl yet to win a match, all three will be 2-1, so the semifinalists will be decided by sets and games won.

As with the boys, all girls in Group B are 1-1, so the winners tomorrow will reach the semifinals.

Boys results, Thursday October 17

Group A

Rafael Jodar[1](ESP) d. Hayden Jones[7](AUS) 6-4, 7-6(4)

Mees Rottgering[3](NED) d. Jan Kumstat[5](CZE) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Group B

Maxim Mrva[4](CZE) d. Luca Preda[2](ROU) 6-3, 7-6(8)

Charlie Robertson[6](GBR) d. Jangjun Kim[8](KOR) 6-3, 7-6(5)

Girls results, Thursday October 17

Group A

Emerson Jones[1](AUS) d. Antonia Vergara Rivera[8](CHI) 6-2, 6-3

Jeline Vandromme[6](BEL) d. Wakana Sonobe[4](JPN) 7-6(5), 6-1

Group B

Tyra Grant[2](USA) d. Kristina Penickova[7](USA) 6-4, 6-2

Laura Samson[3](CZE) d. Mika Stojsavljevic[5](GBR) 6-4, 6-2

The order of play for Friday is below. Links to live streaming on the ITF YouTube Channel and live scoring can be found here.

The quarterfinals are set at the three USTA Pro Circuit and two ITF World Tennis Tour events in North America, with current collegians advancing in all five.

At the W100 in Macon Georgia, Georgia senior Dasha Vidmanova continues her impressive play the past four months, reaching the quarterfinals as a qualifier, as she did last week at the W75 in Edmond Oklahoma. The 21-year-old from the Czech Republic defeated No. 8 seed Anastasia Tikhonova of Russia 6-0, 7-5, and will face No. 2 seed and WTA Top 100 player Anna Blinkova of Russia in Friday's quarterfinals.

Former Georgia All-American Lea Ma, a wild card this week, is also having a good run this fall. The 23-year-old beat yet another Georgia alum, No. 3 seed and WTA No. 87 Maria Carle of Argentina 6-3, 6-1 for her first WTA Top 100 victory.

There are two ITF WTT events in Calgary Canada this week: the ATP Challenger 75 and a W75+H for women.

At the Challenger, Arizona State senior Murphy Cassone, who is taking the fall off, qualified and advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 2 seed Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M) on Wednesday. Cassone, who saved five match points in his 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(11) second round win over Ryan Seggerman(Princeton, UNC), will play No. 6 seed Alexis Galarneau(NC State) of Canada in Friday's quarterfinals. Another American qualifier, Govind Nanda(UCLA), has also advanced to the quarterfinals, beating No. 8 seed James Trotter(Ohio State) of Japan 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. He will face top seed Maks Kasnikowski of Poland in the quarterfinals.

The other two Americans in the Macon quarterfinals are Ann Li[3] and wild card Lauren Davis.

At the women's tournament in Calgary, LSU freshman Cadence Brace, who received a wild card, defeated Julie Belgraver of France 7-5, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals, where she'll play fellow 19-year-old Canadian Kayla Cross. Two American qualifiers, Anna Rogers(NC State) and Fiona Crawley(UNC), have also reached the quarterfinals. Rogers faces Stacy Fung(Washington) of Canada; Crawley plays top seed Tatjana Maria of Germany. 

At the men's $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Harlingen Texas, three current collegians and four former collegians are through to the quarterfinals. 

Ohio State sophomore Aidan Kim, a wild card entry, defeated Texas A&M senior Giulio Perego 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals, where he'll play top seed Toby Kodat, the only non-collegian remaining.

In the bottom quarterfinal, two current collegians will face off. Stefan Dostanic, who will be competing for Wake Forest next year after 4/5 years at USC, will face Texas senior Pierre-Yves Bailly. Dostanic defeated No. 2 seed Aidan McHugh of Great Britain 7-6(5), 6-4 and Bailly beat No. 6 seed Jacob Brumm 7-5, 6-3.

Pan Am J300 champion Jack Kennedy earned his first ATP point yesterday with a win over fellow wild card Ethan Silva(Texas A&M), but he lost to Tadeus Paroulek(TCU, Baylor) 6-4, 6-2 today.

Garrett Johns[3] and Keshav Chopra(Georgia Tech) are the third and fourth American quarterfinalists.

Unsurprisingly, two current Demon Deacons are through to the quarterfinals at the men's $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Winston-Salem, along with one alum. After the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds were beaten Wednesday, with lucky loser Daniel Milavsky, a senior at Harvard, taking out Will Grant(Florida) and qualifier Connor Bruce(Dayton) eliminating Tristan McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia), only one seed has advanced to the quarterfinals: No. 3 seed Victor Lilov. Lilov, the only non-collegian in the quarterfinals, defeated Cooper Woestendick 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 and will face another Cooper in the quarterfinals, Duke sophomore Williams. Williams is joined by teammate Pedro Rodenas, who will play wild card Matthew Thomas, a recent Wake Forest graduate. Wake Forest sophomore Luca Pow, a wild card is through, as is Wake junior DK Suresh. Suresh faces Milavsky in the quarterfinals.

The Les Petits As USA Playoffs will conclude Friday in Miami, but after today's quarterfinals, the four boys and four girls who will represent the United States at the tournament in January 2025 have been determined. 

The girls semifinalists are Allison Wang, Emery Combs, Tanvi Pandey and Daniela Del Mastro. 

The boys semifinalists are Smyan Thuta, Anthony Kirchner, Tristan Ascenzo and Daniel Gardality. 

I haven't been able to find any draws or results, but scores were provided for today's quarterfinals via tweets. The boys results tweet is here and the girls results tweet is here.

Three Upsets in Opening Round Robin Matches at ITF WTT Junior Finals in Chengdu; Close Race in USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge with Two Weeks Remaining; Regional Results Add to List of NCAA Individual Qualifiers; ITA Cup Crowns D-II, D-III, NAIA and JUCO Champions

The first day of round robin play at the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu China was disrupted by rain, but all matches were completed, although I was unable to find most of them on the ITF YouTube streams this morning. There were three upsets according to the seedings, which were determined by the ITF Junior rankings: 15-year-old Kristina Penickova avenged her 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 semifinal loss to Czech Laura Samson at Roland Garros; Janjun Kim of Korea, who was an alternate before the withdrawal of Theo Papamalamis of France, defeated Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic and Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain took out Tyra Grant.

Boys results, Wednesday October 16:

Group A
Meese Rottgering[3](NED) d. Hayden Jones(AUS)[7] 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(4)
Rafael Jodar[1](ESP) d. Jan Kumstat[5](CZE) 7-6(2), 6-3

Group B
Luca Preda[2](ROU) d. Charlie Robertson[6](GBR) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Jangjun Kim[8](KOR) d. Maxim Mrva[4](CZE) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

Girls results, Wednesday October 16:

Group A
Emerson Jones[1](AUS) d. Jeline Vandromme[6](BEL) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4)
Wakana Sonobe[4](JPN) d. Antonia Vergara Rivera[8](CHI) 6-4, 6-2

Group B
Mika Stojsavljevic[5](GBR) d. Tyra Grant[2](USA) 6-4, 6-4
Kristina Penickova[7](USA) d. Laura Samson[3](CZE) 6-2, 6-0

Wednesday's winners will play Wednesday's losers on Thursday, which means Grant and Penickova will face off. Friday's round robin matches will determine the semifinalists, although some could be decided tomorrow depending on results. The top two in each group advance.

Live scoring is available here.

The USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge for women is at its halfway point, with Hailey Baptiste taking a huge lead after all her success in Asia the past two weeks. The 22-year-old, who defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 in the second round of the WTA 1000 in Wuhan, has accumulated 230 points, but as is often the case, the success for those initially eligible for the Challenge results in enough points to assure entry without needing the wild card. Baptiste is now up to 80 in the WTA rankings, and Bernarda Pera, who also qualified for Wuhan and won a round, has improved her ranking to 79, meaning she also is unlikely to need the wild card. That leaves Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) and 16-year-old Iva Jovic neck-and-neck, with both having won W75s on the USTA Pro Circuit the past two weeks. Today's release from the USTA:

 

Australian Open Wild Card Challenge Standings Update

 

ORLANDO, Fla., October 16, 2024 – Hailey Baptiste's performance during the WTA's Asian swing has all but secured her place in the 2025 Australian Open main draw. Her 230 points earned since the beginning of the Australian Open Wild Card Challenge far outpaces the other wild card challengers to date, but has also lifted her singles ranking to No. 80, likely good for direct entry. 

 

With Baptiste a probable direct entrant, and second-place Bernarda Pera also in line for direct entry while currently ranked No. 79, Texas A&M senior and reigning ITA National Player of the Year Mary Stoiana becomes the defacto Challenge leader, in a close race between her, Iva Jovic and Sofia Kenin. There are two weeks of competition left in the women's side of the Challenge. 

 

The current top of the women's standings (player's current ranking in parenthesis): 

 

1. Hailey Baptiste (80) -- 230

2. Bernarda Pera (79) -- 95

3. Mary Stoiana (320) -- 79

4. Iva Jovic (246) -- 76

5. Sofia Kenin (158) -- 70

 

The women's wild card will be awarded to the American with the most ranking points earned at a maximum of three tournaments during its four-week window. The women's Challenge window runs through the week of October 21. All indoor and outdoor hard-court and carpet events at the W35 level and above are included in the Challenge.

 

The USTA and Tennis Australia have a reciprocal agreement in which main draw wild cards for the 2025 Australian Open and US Open will be exchanged.

 

The men's side of the Challenge begins with events on October 21. 

 

The first of the ITA Regional Championships have concluded, with the finalist and champion of each of the 13 regions booking their spots in next month's NCAA singles championships at Baylor, while the regional doubles champions earn entry into the NCAA doubles draw.

Preseason No. 1 Ozan Baris of Michigan State, a spring 2024 NCAA singles semifinalist who did not qualify for the fall version after losing both his matches at the All-Americans, is now in the field after claiming the Midwest Regional title. 

Stanford freshman Valerie Glozman, who had already qualified for the NCAAs by reaching the ITA All-American quarterfinals last month, won the Northwest regional singles title, beating teammate Connie Ma 6-2, 7-6(2). The second NCAA singles spot from the Northwest Regional was determined by the third place match, which Stanford's Alexis Blokhina won 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2 over Washington's Reece Carter. Ma and Glozman won the doubles title, so will be playing in both events in Waco next month. 

Longhorn freshman Ariana Pursoo won the Texas Regional, beating teammate Ashton Bowers, also a freshman, 6-4, 6-4 in the final.  Another all-teammate final in the Southern Regional featured Auburn freshman Merna Refaat defeating Auburn junior Angella Okutoyi 6-2, 6-3.

Chris Halioris of CollegeTennisRanks.com has posted public google documents tracking the men and the women who have qualified to compete in the NCAA Championships. Fourteen of the 26 regionals remain to be played, and both the Conference Masters and Sectional Championships are NCAA-qualifying tournaments, although because they are both played November 7-10, a player can compete in just one.

The ITA Cup, the annual fall small college championships, concluded this weekend, with singles and doubles champions determined in the Division II, Division III, NAIA and Junior College divisions. The complete list of champions can be found here. Note that there are no NCAA individual championships for Division II, and NAIA also doesn't hold individual championships.

Live Streaming for ITF WTT Junior Finals Begins Tuesday Night; Pan Am Champion Kennedy Makes Pro Circuit Debut at Harlingen $25K; Woestendick Advances at Wake Forest $15K; Georgia Duo Reaches Main Draw at Macon W100

The 12-hour time difference between Chengdu China and the Eastern time zone of the United States has always made it difficult to follow the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals, and this year is no exception. Wednesday's first matches begin at 11 p.m. EDT tonight, but if you get up early Thursday, you can catch Tyra Grant's match against US Open champion Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain, not before 7 a.m. EDT. Wednesday's round robin matches:

Notes from  the Finals from the ITF are available here.

Links to the YouTube streams, available for all matches, can be found here.

Rei Sakamoto of Japan, the Australian Open boys champion, qualified for the WTT Junior Finals, but has chosen to play the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Harlingen Texas instead. Sakamoto, who trains at the IMG Academy in Bradenton is the No. 7 seed; he could face Pan American J300 champion Jack Kennedy in the second round should both win their opening matches Wednesday.  The 16-year-old Kennedy will be making his Pro Circuit debut as a wild card. He faces fellow wild card Ethan Silva, a Texas A&M junior who is from Harlingen, in the first round. Silva is one of six Aggies in the draw, with three advancing through qualifying today: JC Roddick, Grant Lothringer and Luke Casper. Guilio Perego and Ritesh Patil face each other in the first round Wednesday.

In addition to those given to Kennedy and Silva, wild cards were awarded to Ohio State sophmore Aidan Kim and Strong Kirchheimer(Northwestern), who is the No. 4 seed. 

Along with the three A&M players, one other American advanced to the main draw via qualifying: 16-year-old James Quattro of Austin. Quattro, who won the Texas Slam in the 16s this year and reached the round of 16 at Kalamazoo, did not qualify for the Pan American last week, but he beat Texas A&M assistant Barnaby Smith of Great Britain in the final round of qualifying today 2-6, 6-4, 12-10.

Toby Kodat is the top seed, with Aidan McHugh of Great Britain the No. 2 seed. All first round matches are scheduled for Wednesday.

The other USTA Pro Circuit men's tournament this week is a $15,000 event in Winston-Salem North Carolina, where Will Grant(Florida) and Tristan McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia) are the top seeds. 

Americans who qualified today are Spencer Gray(Auburn, UNC-Charlotte), Connor Bruce(Dayton) and William Manning(NC State), with Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) receiving entry as a lucky loser. 

All the wild cards were awarded to players with Wake Forest ties: graduate Matthew Thomson, sophomore Luca Pow, fifth year Luciano Tacchi and freshman Joaquin Guilleme. Thomson defeated Guilleme 6-2, 6-2 in today's opening round. Harry Thursfield, a UNC-Asheville graduate transfer, defeated ITF Pan Am J300 finalist Ian Mayew 6-4, 6-2 to qualify today.

Duke sophomore Cooper Williams received entry via his Top 10 finish in the ITF junior rankings in 2023; Cooper Woestendick and Miguel Tobon of Colombia received spots for their current ITF rankings. Woestendick won his fourth match on the ITF Pro Circuit today, defeating Ryan Fishback(Virginia Tech) 6-3, 6-3. 

Duke junior Pedro Rodenas, who earned his way into the NCAA men's singles field by reaching the final of the Carolina Regionals over the weekend, won his first round match, beating No. 8 seed  Maxence Bertimon(VCU) 6-4, 6-0.

The women's USTA Pro Circuit is in Macon Georgia this week for a W100 tournament. Renata Zarazua of Mexico is the top seed; she is one of three WTA Top 100 players in field, the others No. 2 seed Anna Blinkova of Russia and Maria Carle(Georgia) of Argentina.

There were just two Americans qualifying today: Elvina Kalieva and Whitney Osuigwe. University of Georgia teammates Dasha Vidmanova and Alexandra Vecic also have made the main draw.

Wild cards went to three Americans: Lea Ma(Georgia), Katrina Scott and Lauren Davis. W75 Edmond finalist Alana Smith(NC State) received a special exempt entry.

Ken Thomas of radiotennis.com is providing coverage of the tournament throughout the week.