Harvard Recruits Topple No. 1 and No. 5 Seeds in Easter Bowl ITF Opening Round; Top Seeds Advance to Quarterfinals in 12s and 14s Divisions

©Colette Lewis 2019--
Indian Wells, CA--

When Daniel Milavsky stunned top seed Eliot Spizzirri 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first round of the ITF Easter Bowl early Monday afternoon, David Lins was there to see the upset unfold.

Both are headed to Harvard in the fall of 2020, and Lins felt compelled to step up his game later that afternoon against No. 5 seed Dali Blanch. Inspired, the 17-year-old from Boca Raton Florida came away with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win that closed out the first round of boys singles Monday evening.

"I told him sick match as came off the court," Lins said. "And I told him he also put all the pressure on me. I couldn't get embarrassed after what he just did."

Milvasky was mentally preparing to play the No. 1 seed even before the draw was released.

"Before the tournament, my friend asked me who I wanted to play, and I said Eliot," said Milavsky, a Massachusetts resident who is five days younger than Lins. "When it came up in the draw, I was ready to do everything I can to get that W."

Milavsky cited his forehand and his serve as his go-to shots and said both were "on point" against Spizzirri. He also said he played smart and disciplined, which was evident when he revealed he hadn't looked to the serve speed display on the tournament's center court, even after a particularly big serve.

"I was way too focused for that," said Milavsky, who trains at the Manchester Athletic Club in Boston.

Milavsky called his win over Spizzirri the best of his career.

"Years ago, I never thought I'd even be here," Milavsky said. "I'm just living the dream."

While Milavsky had played a number of ITF Junior Circuit events prior to this week, Lins was playing his first. After winning three qualifying matches on Saturday and Sunday, he was fighting fatigue as well as a Top 100 opponent.

"It was all just building up from the qualies matches, which were not easy," Lins said.

His victory over Blanch also came with its share of challenges. Lins broke to go up 4-3 in the second set, but was unable to consolidate, throwing in two doubles faults and getting broken at love in what he said to himself on the court was "the worst game of my life."

"When you play a top player like that, there's no room for error," Lins said. "You have to stay on your game constantly and I had a mental lapse there at 4-3 and it cost me the set."

In the third set, Lins again got a break to go up 4-3, and this time he was able to consolidate it.

"I definitely thought I was playing a little too tentative in the second set in that game I got broken," Lins said. "So I tried to hit my first serve big, hit my spots and play my game solid."

Blanch held for 5-4, putting the pressure back on Lins, but he got five first serves in the final game, and although Blanch saved one match point with a forehand winner, his return on the second match point went long to end it.

"It was a lot a pressure, but I had to just go for it," said Lins, who trains at the Magallan Tennis Academy. "I had nothing to lose, came out here for qualies, first ITF. I go to school, so I really can't miss weeks at a time. I'm so far behind right now, but I'll have to deal with that when I get back."

Milavsky and Lins were not the only Harvard recruits to post victories, with No. 11 seed Ronan Jachuck, who starts school there this coming fall, getting a 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3 win over 2018 Easter Bowl 16s finalist Max McKennon.

Spizzirri was one of five seeds to lose in the opening round. No. 7 seed Will Grant lost to Frank Barnett 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-1; No. 8 seed Adam Neff lost to Irvine Grade 4 champion Micah Braswell 6-2, 6-0; No. 15 seed Hunter Heck lost to qualifier Ron Hohmann 7-6(0), 6-2 and No. 16 seed Tom Leblanc Claverie of France lost to Spencer Whitaker 7-5, 6-2.

The girls take the courts on Tuesday for their first round of singles matches, with the boys scheduled only for doubles. The girls first round doubles were played this afternoon, with top seeds Hurricane Tyra Black and Lea Ma beating Josie Frazier and Ashley Yeah 3-6, 6-1, 10-3 and No. 2 seeds Chloe Beck and Emma Navarro defeating Nikita Vishwase and Katja Wiersholm 7-6(9), 6-2.

Live streaming on two courts is available at Easterbowl.com. Ken Thomas at radiotennis.com is also providing coverage on Tuesday.

The top seeds in the 16s both played at Indian Wells to open their tournaments and both were taken to three sets. Nadejda Maslova, the reigning Winter Nationals 16s champion, dropped the first set to Makenna Thiel, but came back to earn a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win. Boys No. 1 seed Aryan Chaudhary got by Zachery Foster 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

The 12s and 14s divisions played their third round matches Monday, with the quarterfinals set for Tuesday.  Top seeds Aidan Kim, Maxwell Exsted, Stephanie Yakoff and Thea Latak are still in the running for Easter Bowl titles.  Below are Monday's third round results. Complete draws can be found at the TennisLink site.

Girls' 14 Singles (Round of 16)
Stephanie Yakoff (1) (Fort Lee, NJ) def. Natalia Perez (9) (Guaynabo, PR) 6-2; 6-4
Alexia Harmon (8) (Las Vegas, NV) def. Ava Krug (16) (Lakewood Ranch, FL) 6-1; 6-2
Tsehay Driscoll (3) (La Canada Flintridge, CA) def. Grace Levelston (Vero Beach, FL) 6-4; 6-4
Liv Hovde (12) (McKinney, TX) def. Maddy Zampardo (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI) 2-6; 6-4; 6-1
Qavia Lopez (15) (Grand Rapids, MI) def. Lara Smejkal (Boca Raton, FL) 6-1; 7-5
Natalie Block (4) (Plantation, FL) def. Isabella Chhiv (Irvine, CA) 7-6(5); 6-1
Madison Weekley (10) (Alamo, CA) def. Lamija Avdic (7) (Kirkland, WA) 6-3; 6-1
Ria Bhakta (2) (Saratoga, CA) def. Valeria Ray (Doral, FL) 6-1; 2-6; 6-4

Boys' 14 Singles (Round of 16)
Aidan Kim (1) (Milford, MI) def. Waleed Qadir (10) (Greenville, NC) 6-1; 4-2 Ret (inj)
Garen Spicka (14) (Las Vegas, NV) def. Chase Thompson (Mission Viejo, CA) 6-4; 6-3
Juncheng Shang (12) (Naples, FL) def. Will Mayew (4) (Cary, NC) 7-5; 6-3
Brayden Michna (6) (Taylor, TX) def. John Lasanajak (16) (Lawrenceville, GA) 6-4; 6-4
Kurt Miller (7) (Los Gatos, CA) def. David Saye (Charlotte, NC) 6-4; 6-1
Lucas Brown (3) (Plano, TX) def. Cooper Williams (9) (New York, NY) 6-2; 6-1
Nicholas Godsick (11) (Chagrin Falls, OH) def. Joseph Phillips (Alpharetta, GA) 6-2; 7-5
Learner Tien (15) (Irvine, CA) def. Yannik Rahman (2) (Miami, FL) 6-1; 6-2

Girls' 12 Singles (Round of 16)

Thea Latak (1) (Darien, IL) def. Tianmei Wang (13) (San Marino, CA) 6-0; 6-1

Olivia Manson (Chicago, IL) def. Jessica Bernales (Las Vegas, NV) 6-0; 7-6(4)

Emily Deming (4) (Fallbrook, CA) def. Atra Biria (Leawood, KS) 6-0; 6-1

Natasha Rajaram (7) (Cupertino, CA) def. Alexis Nguyen (El Dorado Hills, CA) 5-7; 6-1; 1-0(6)

Annika Renganathan (14) (Sammamish, WA) def. Polina Krumkachev (8) (Scottsdale, AZ) 3-0 Ret (inj) 

Bianca Molnar (10) (Ladera Ranch, CA) def. Valerie Gomez (Las Vegas, NV) 6-4; 6-0

Adriana Sciara (Mountain Brk, AL) def. Mariana Shulman (6) (Newton, MA) 6-0; 6-2 

Daniela Borruel (Buena Park, CA) def. Kavitha Gowda (Rochester Hills, MI) 6-0; 6-2

Boys' 12 Singles (Round of 16)

Maxwell Exsted (1) (Savage, MN) def. Roman Sancilio (15) (Henrico, VA) 6-3; 6-4

Vincent Yang (9) (Kirkland, WA) def. A Filer (5) (South Bend, IN) 6-1; 6-4

Abhinav Chunduru (4) (Plano, TX) def. Hughes Peus (Palos Verdes Estates, CA) 6-3; 6-1 

Abhishek Thorat (13) (Lithia, FL) def. Heath Waters (8) (Alpharetta, GA) 6-2; 7-6(3) 

Ritwik Hota (Leesburg, VA) def. Kase Schinnerer (11) (Lewisburg, PA) 6-4; 1-6; 1-0(10) 

Darren Huang (3) (Whitestone, NY) def. Cassius Chinlund (14) (Los Angeles, CA) 6-4; 6-3 

Joseph Hobbs (6) (Virginia Beach, VA) def. Francisco Salmain (Houston, TX) 6-1; 6-4 

Cooper Woestendick (2) (Olathe, KS) def. Braeden Gelletich (Goshen, NY) 6-3; 6-1 

ITF Grade B1 Easter Bowl Begins Monday with Boys Singles, Girls Doubles; Team USA 2018 Awards Reception; Ritschard Wins Calabasas $25K; Leustian Claims Another ITF Grade 4 Title in Puerto Rico

©Colette Lewis 2019--
Indian Wells, CA--

Sunday was a busy day at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, with the completion of qualifying for the ITF Grade B1 event, the Adidas player party and the annual Team USA Coaches Reception, as well as second round matches in singles and doubles in the 12s and 14s divisions.

The boys who advanced to the ITF main draw after winning third and final round matches in qualifying are: Quinn Vandecasteele, Ron Hohmann, Muhammad Dossani, Saiprakash Goli, Presley Thieneman, David Lins, Sachin Das and Dominik Jakovljevic.  Seven of these eight will play their fourth match in three days on Monday, with only Muhammad Dossani having a bye in the first round.  The girls first round singles will be played Tuesday, although the girls are scheduled to compete in doubles on Monday.  The eight girls qualifiers are Nikita Vishwase, Camille Kiss, Malaika Rapolu, Victoria Hu, Lara Schneider, Kiana Graham, Margaret Polk and Anastasia Sysoeva.

The top four seeds in the boys 12s and 14s and the girls 14s all advanced to the third round, but the girls 12s lost their No. 2 seed Thalia Smith, who fell to Daniela Borruel 7-5, 6-1, and their No. 3 seed Kinley Vanpelt, who was beaten by Valerie Gomez 6-4, 6-1. Top girls 12 seed Thea Latak had to come from a set down, but she did advance with a 4-6, 6-2, 10-6 win over Paisha Douglas.  Complete results from the 12s and 14s can be found at the TennisLink site.  The 16s begin play on Monday, with both boys and girls in first round action.

Registering for the Adidas Player Party

The Adidas player party attracted hundreds of players and parents for food, music, games and gifts. Each player received a T-shirt, bag and towel, while choosing from the food offerings of a Salad Bar, Slider Bar and Nacho Bar. The Shave Ice tent was a popular stop for dessert, and the ping pong tables were busy throughout the evening.

While the players were enjoying their get-together, the USTA hosted its sixth annual Team USA Coaching Award reception.  The recipients honored for 2018 are:
Developmental Coach of the Year: Joseph Gilbert
Coaching Legend Award: Jose Higueras
Developmental Program of the Year: Lakes Tennis Academy
Player Development Section of the Year: Southern California

USTA head of men's tennis Kent Kinnear was on hand to distribute the awards, and although Higueras was not able to attend, Gilbert, Trevor Kronemann (representing So Cal) and Dave Licker (representing Lakes) made brief acceptance speeches before answering questions from the audience.

Kent Kinnear, Joseph Gilbert, Trevor Kronemann, Dave Licker

Elsewhere in Southern California, at the $25,000 ITF World Tennis Tour event in Calabasas, former Virginia star Alexander Ritschard came from 5-2 down in the third set and saved three match points in his 6-2, 0-6, 7-6(5) win over No. 2 seed Stefan Kozlov. Ritschard, 25, had won three consecutive $15K tournaments last year, but this is his first title at the $25K level. The unseeded Ritschard defeated top seed Liam Broady of Great Britain in semifinals on Saturday.

The doubles title went to No. 3 seeds Sekou Bangoura(Florida) and Boris Arias(LSU) of Bolivia, who beat Great Britain's Jack Findel-Hawkins(North Florida) and Ryan Peniston(Memphis) 6-2, 6-2 in the final.

Stefan Leustian, who is in action against wild card Pierce Rollins tomorrow in the ITF Grade B1 here in Indian Wells, won his second straight ITF Grade 4 title Saturday in Puerto Rico. The 17-year-old top seed defeated No. 12 seed Fnu Nidunjianzan of China 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 in the final. Leustian won the Grade 4 in Panama the previous week.

Top Seeds Advance in Opening Round of Easter Bowl 12s and 14s; Vandecasteele Saves Two Match Points to Advance to Final Round ITF Easter Bowl Qualifying; Braswell, Ovrootsky Claim Irvine Grade 4 Titles

©Colette Lewis 2019--
Indian Wells, CA--

The weather was perfect for the first day of the 2019 Easter Bowl, and the top seeds in the 12s and 14s division took advantage of the mild temperatures and light winds to record opening round victories at sites around the Coachella Valley.

The top four seeds in all four draws in action today made it through. In the girls 12s, Thea Latak[1], Thalia Smith[2], Kinley Vanpelt[3] and Emily Deming[4] all advanced in straight sets.

In the boys 12s,  Maxwell Exsted[1], Cooper Woestendick[2], Darren Huang[3] and Abhinav Chunduru[4] also moved into the second round without the loss of a set.

In the girls 14s, Stephanie Yakoff[1], Ria Bhakta[2], Tsehay Driscoll[3] and Natalie Block[4] also won their first round matches in straight sets.

In the boys 14s, top seed Aidan Kim was tested, but came back to beat Mitchell Lee 1-6, 6-1, 6-0.  Yannik Rahan[2], Lucas Brown[3] and Will Mayew[4] advanced to the second round in straight sets.

Complete results from the 12s and 14s, as well as the 16s draws are available at the TennisLink site.  The 16s begin play on Monday.

I concentrated on the ITF Grade B1 qualifying matches today at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where less than a week ago, the BNP Paribas Open was building to its conclusion.  The ITF tournament is played entirely on the practice courts, which offer excellent viewing and from nearly every vantage point, although shade is often at a premium. 

The best match I saw today was played on what is know as Center Court at the Easter Bowl, which is practice court 2.  There is shade available and I took advantage of the opportunity to watch the second round qualifying match between unseeded Quinn Vandecasteele and No. 15 seed Ali Amiri. After Vandecasteele dominated the first set 6-1, Amiri took the second 6-4, breaking Vandecasteele in his last two service games of the set.  Amiri took a 4-1 and 5-2 lead in the third set, and had two match points serving at 5-3, but Vandecasteele saved both and went on to force a deciding tiebreaker.  Vandecasteele took a 3-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but Amiri got the mini-break back, and it was 3-3 at the change of ends. Vandecasteele, who hit 110-115 mph serves on occasion, according to the display, hit a good first serve to go up 4-3, and Amiri sent a forehand long to make it 5-3. Vandecasteele then used an unexpected drop shot, forcing an error from Amiri to get to match point, and he was able to convert on his first opportunity, putting away a backhand volley to claim a 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(3) win.

"I felt I just kept elevating my game throughout the third set," said Vandecasteele, a 16-year-old from Utah. "By the time I got to the tiebreaker, I was getting more solid, working around the court until I could get a good shot. He's a solid player and it was a tough match."

The most memorable of the match's many long rallies came late in the third set, extending to perhaps 40 strokes, with the small crowd applauding appreciatively when a Vandecasteele backhand finally found the net.

"I was trying to stay tough, make him earn it," said Vandecasteele, who won his first match of the day in the morning, but showed few signs of fatigue even late in the second match. "I was giving him too many balls early on, and making him earn it was the key at the end."

See the ITF Junior Circuit website for results from today's two rounds of play, which were not complete as of 8:30 p.m. Saturday night.

The ITF Grade 4 in Irvine California concluded today, with unseeded Vivian Ovrootsky and Micah Braswell claiming the singles titles. Ovrootsky, 14, had beaten top seed Vanessa Ong in the semifinals on Friday, and today she took out 16s Orange Bowl finalist India Houghton 7-6(5), 6-4 to claim her first ITF Junior Circuit title.   Seventeen-year-old Micah Braswell also won his first ITF junior title today, beating No. 7 seed Leighton Allen 6-1, 6-0 in the final. 

Allen and Jackson Ross, the No. 2 seeds, won the doubles title, beating unseeded Muhammad Dossani and Trinity Grear 3-6, 6-2, 10-3 in the final. The girls doubles title went to No. 8 seeds Kimmi Hance and Lauren Stein, who beat No. 5 seeds Allie Gretkowski and Elise Wagle 2-6, 6-3, 10-6 in the championship match.

My Conversation with Former South Carolina Star Gira Schofield on High Performance Coaching; Easter Bowl Wild Cards, Qualifying Draws for ITF Grade B1; Osuigwe and Gauff Lose Second Round Matches at Miami Open

When I was in Mobile for the USTA National Spring Team Championships earlier this month I noticed more young women serving as coaches than in previous years. One of them was Gira Schofield, who I remembered from her outstanding collegiate career at South Carolina from 2005-2009, and I took the opportunity to talk with her about how she found her way into coaching. She spoke of her passion for coaching teenage girls and how that developed from her own experiences as a junior and a collegian in this article for the Tennis Recruiting Network.

The two main courts for Easter Bowl at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden

The Easter Bowl begins Saturday with the first round in singles and doubles for 12s and 14s divisions and the first round of qualifying for the ITF Grade B1.  The wild cards are as follows:

Boys 12
Nelson Alapi
Nathan Hernandez
Shashwat Srivasta

Boys 14
Andrew Delgado
Mitchell Lee
Kaylan Bigun
Santiago Muhala

Boys 16
Noelle Ampong
Ryan Morgan
Ethan Quinn

Boys ITF
Aidan Mayo
Zachary Svajda
Bruno Kuzuhara
Robert Cash
Pierce Rollins
Aditya Gupta
Micah Braswell
Jeffrey Fradkin

Girls 12
Morgan Shaffer

Girls 14
Ginger Foster
Emmi Kolyszko
Ariana Pursoo
Linda Ziets-Segura

Girls 16
Krystal Blanch
Lizanne Boyer
Reese Brantmeier
Clervie Ngounoue

Girls ITF
Katja Wiersholm
Maxi Duncan
Carson Tanguilig
Rachel Gailis
Kimmi Hance
Jaedan Brown
Allie Gretkowski
Abigail Desiatnikov

The qualifying draws for the ITF Grade B1 did not fill, with six byes in the boys qualifying and 11 byes in the girls qualifying.  Two rounds are scheduled for Saturday, with the final round of qualifying on Sunday.

All the American teens are out now after the second round at the Miami Open.  Amanda Anisimova lost to No. 21 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-3, 1-6, 6-4; Coco Gauff fell to No. 14 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 6-2 and tonight, Whitney Osuigwe went out to No. 25 seed Danielle Collins 7-6(5), 6-0.  Osuigwe had two set points serving for the first set at 5-4, but Collins saved them and came up with the key points in the tiebreaker. Osuigwe wasn't able to recover from that disappointment and Collins rolled through the second set.

Canadian teen Bianca Andreescu rolled on, with the BNP Paribas Open champion defeating No. 32 seed Sonya Kenin, the last player to beat her, 6-3, 6-3.

Osuigwe, Gauff Advance at Miami Open; Checking on Results in Rainy Southern California

It's a travel day for me, as I head to California for the Easter Bowl and ITF Grade 1 International Spring Championships, so this will be an early and short post.

Whitney Osuigwe has won her first WTA main draw match today at the Miami Open, with the 16-year-old beating Mari Osaka 6-2, 6-4 in their rain-delayed first round match.

In the other intriguing wild card vs wild card match, Coco Gauff defeated Caty McNally 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.  McNally led 4-2 in the third and had three game points to go up 5-2, but Gauff broke, held, broke and held for the victory. Gauff has now won all three meetings with McNally, with the first two in junior events last year: the French Open final and the Roehampton Grade 1 final.

Rain has impacted both Southern California events this week: the $25,000 Men's World Tennis Tour event in Calabasas and the ITF Junior Circuit Grade 4 in Irvine. But there have been notable results.

In Irvine, 16-year-old wild card Hugo Hashimoto defeated No. 1 seed Zsombor Velcz of Hungary 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals. This is Hashimoto's third ITF junior event. All remaining boys are from the US, with only two of them seeded: No. 6 Stefan Dostanic and No. 7 Leighton Allen.

Girls top seed Vanessa Ong has advanced to the quarterfinals, where she'll face unseeded 13-year-old Qavia Lopez. Gianna Pielet, No. 9, is the only other seed to advance to the quarterfinals.

In Calabasas, 18-year-old wild card Drew Baird, who has played very little on the ITF World Tennis Tour, defeated No. 7 seed Martin Redlicki(UCLA) 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(5) in the first round for his first main draw WTT victory. Baird, who has committed to UCLA, will face Tobias Simon of Germany, who beat wild card Emilio Nava in the first round.

Eighteen-year-old Jenson Brooksby, who won last week's $25K tournament in Bakersfield, kept rolling with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Antoine Bellier of Switzerland, who won the $15K in Arcadia last week. Both players received entry this week via special exemptions. Brooksby will play former Virginia standout Alexander Ritschard in the second round. The two had a barnburner last week in the second round, with Brooksby taking it 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-6(5).  Former Stanford star Tom Fawcett beat No. 3 seed Ryan Shane(Virginia) 6-3, 7-6(3) and UCLA sophomore Keegan Smith, a qualifier, beat No. 8 seed Sekou Bangoura(Florida) 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5 in 2 hours and 39 minutes.  Eighteen-year-old wild card Jacob Bullard, a Texas recruit, also posted a good first round win, taking out former Duke No. 1 Nicolas Alvarez of Peru 6-0, 6-3.  Stefan Kozlov[2] and qualifier Isaiah Strode are the other two Americans in the second round.

12s, 14s, 16s Easter Bowl Seeds; ITF Announces More World Tennis Tour Changes; Four Americans Qualify at Miami Open; Texas Men No. 1 in USTA Poll

Although draws are not yet up, the Easter Bowl seeds have been released, with the 12s and 14s division beginning play on Saturday at sites around Indian Wells. The girls 16s field looks particularly strong, especially when considering who isn't seeded: Reese Brantmeier, Rebecca Lynn, Anne Lutkemeyer(last year's Carson 16s champion). Last year's 12s champion, Clervie Ngounoue, is skipping the 14s and playing in the 16s division this year. The 16s begin play on Monday, as do the 18s. There will be live streaming of two courts at Indian Wells Tennis Garden during the week. See the tournament website for more information.

Chaudhary finished 5th in 16s at 2018 Easter Bowl

Boys 16s:
1. Aryan Chaudhary
2. Luke Casper
3. Samir Banerjee
4. Thomas Paulsell
5. Gavin Young
6. Gabriellus Guzauskas
7. Louis Cloud
8. Liam Krall
9. JJ Tracy
10. Daniel Schmelka
11. Nathan Mao
12. John Kim
13. Maxwell Smith
14. Luke Neal
15. Jameson Corsillo
16. Victor Lilov

Boys 14s:
1. Aidan Kim
2. Yannik Rahman
3. Lucas Brown
4. Will Mayew
5. Alex Cairo
6. Brayden Michna
7. Kurt Miller
8. Ritesh Patil
9. Cooper Williams
10. Waleed Qadir
11. Nicholas Godsick
12. Juncheng Shang
13. Dylan Charlap
14. Garen Spicka
15. Learner Tien
16. John Lasanajak

Boys 12s:
1. Maxwell Exsted
2. Cooper Woestendick
3. Darren Huang
4. Abhinav Chunduru
5. A Filer
6. Joseph Hobbs
7. Yubel Ubri
8. Heath Waters
9. Vincent Yang
10. Prathinav Chunduru
11. Kase Schinnerer
12. Blake Hilsen
13. Abhishek Thorat
14. Cassius Chinlund
15. Roman Sancilio
16. Shri Keshav Murugesan

Girls 16s:
1. Nadejda Maslova
2. Misa Malkin
3. Julie Fliegner
4. Ellie Pittman
5. Sarah Hamner
6. Kiley Rabjohns
7. Eleana Yu
8. Jennifer Riester
9. Vivian Ovrootsky
10. DJ Bennett
11. Sydni Ratliff
12. Daniella Benabraham
13. Brooke Killingsworth
14. Sophia Fornaris
15. Ava Catanzarite
16. Gavriella Smith

Girls 14s:
1. Stephanie Yakoff
2. Ria Bhakta
3. Tsehay Driscoll
4. Natalie Block
5. Salma Farhat
6. Priya Nelson
7. Lamija Avdic
8. Alexia Harmon
9. Natalia Perez
10. Madison Weekley
11. Karsyn Evans
12. Liv Hovde
13. Jacqueline Soloveychik
14. Mika Ikemori
15. Qavia Lopez
16. Ava Krug

Girls 12s:
1. Thea Latak
2. Thalia Smith
3. Kinley Vanpelt
4. Emily Deming
5. Aspen Schuman
6. Mariana Shulman
7. Natasha Rajaram
8. Polina Krumkachev
9. Eva Oxford
10. Bianca Molnar
11. Bella Payne
12. Sasha Kilgour
13. Tianmei Wang
14. Annika Renganathan
15. Emily Ing
16. Anika Paul

The ITF continues to make changes to the World Tennis Tour, with a new set of tweaks announced today:

- Where Pre-Qualifying / Wild Card competitions are created to offer additional playing opportunities, such events will be governed by the full ITF World Tennis Tour regulations;

- An increase in the Singles Qualifying Draw at Women’s World Tennis Tour $60,000, $80,000 and $100,000 tournaments from 24 to 32, where tournaments have the capacity;

- The introduction of a Protected Ranking for the ITF World Tennis Singles and Doubles Rankings;

- Introduction of two (2) reserved places in $15,000 tournament Doubles Draws for teams to be accepted by ATP/WTA/ITF Doubles ranking;

- Introduction of two (2) reserved places in $25,000 tournament Doubles Draws for teams to be accepted by ITF Doubles ranking;

- Improved processing of Tournament Acceptance Lists after the Freeze Deadline to display withdrawals and remove Alternates from all but their highest priority tournament in order to provide more predictable playing opportunities for players;

- An increase in the number of year-end Junior Exempt Project places from three (3) to five (5) for elite ITF Junior players;

- To canvas player feedback on potential introduction of 48 qualifying draws noting that playing twice a day without a day off risks player health issues.
The ITF goes on to say that it recognizes that the lack of points for men at the $25,000 level has created a problem, but it puts that back in the lap of the ATP. I would assume the ATP would have left things as they were had the ITF not introduced all these changes, so the ITF does need to take responsibility for what it set in motion, although I would hope the ATP, who have control over their points, would acknowledge the issue.

The complete release from the ITF is available here.

Yesterday's action at the Miami Open was rained out, and it's raining again this evening, but they did manage to finish the qualifying today, with Reilly Opelka, Jessica Pegula, Sachia Vickery and Taylor Townsend the Americans earning main draw spots.

In first round main draw action, 2017 US Open girls champion Amanda Anisimova defeated Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-4, 6-3 and 2018 US Open girls champion Xiyu Wang of China, a wild card, defeated Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-3, 6-1.  The first round match between teenage wild cards Caty McNally and Coco Gauff is scheduled for Thursday.

The USTA/Tennis Channel rankings were released today, and unlike the computer, the voters decided another men's team was better suited to the No. 1 spot previously occupied by Ohio State. Texas is now No. 1 in the poll, while Georgia remains at the top spot in the women's poll. As in this week's ITA rankings, Pepperdine was a top mover on the women's side. The Top 10 are below; the full Top 25 lists are at usta.com.

USTA/Tennis Channel Division I Team Rankings, March 20, 2019
(previous week's rankings in parentheses):

MEN:
1. Texas (3)
2. Ohio State (1)
3. Wake Forest (2)
4. Florida (8)
5. Virginia (5)
6. Stanford (6)
7. TCU (7)
8. North Carolina (4)
9. Baylor (10)
10. Columbia (9)

WOMEN:
1. Georgia (1)
2. North Carolina (2)
3. Stanford (3)
4. Duke (4)
5. Pepperdine (12)
T6. South Carolina (7)
T6. Vanderbilt (5)
8. Texas (6)
9. Ohio State (10)
10. UCLA (8)