Defending Champion Domijan Out at All-American; Kelly Jones Named Furman Coach; Steffensen Wins ITF Grade 5
The prequalifying for the ITA Men's All-American in Tulsa begins Friday, with an ITA release today containing the news that Alex Domijan of Virginia will not be defending his title due to an injury. With Domijan also occupying the top spot in the preseason rankings, that means Blaz Rola of Ohio State, who is in the draw, will be the No. 1 seed, with Kentucky's Eric Quigley, last year's finalist in Tulsa, the No. 2 seed.
In addition to the Land Rover Napa Valley Tennis Classic that I covered, there were several other important college tournaments over the weekend. Jarmere Jenkins of Virginia won both singles and doubles in the top flight of Virginia's Ranked+1 event; Baylor freshman Mate Zsiga won the singles title at the HEB Invitational; Michigan's Evan King took the top flight in both singles and doubles at Harvard's Fall Chowder Fest; and Wil Spencer of Georgia claimed the Southern Intercollegiate title, defeating Quigley in Monday's final.
In other college news, which is not exactly new, as it came out when I was at the US Open, Kelly Jones has been hired as the men's tennis coach at Furman, succeeding legendary coach Paul Scarpa, who retired this summer. The complete release, which includes testimonials from other coaches and players, an addition I can't recall seeing before, is at the Furman athletics website.
In ITF Junior action last week, Katrine Steffensen of the US won the Grade 5 in Puerto Rico, her second career ITF junior singles title. The 15-year-old New Yorker, who was the top seed, beat Rianna Valdes, also of the US, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the final. Valdes and her partner Yolimar Ogando of Puerto Rico won the doubles title. Jordi Arconada of Argentina won the boys singles, with Imanol Arconada of Argentina and Luis Garcia of Panama taking the boys doubles.
This week the ITF junior circuit resumes in the United States, with the Grade 5 underway in Waco, Texas. The top seed in the boys draw is Jordan Daigle of the US; the girls top seed is Camila Fuentes, also of the US.
The Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup competitions began today, with the Australian girls and British boys the top seeds. Interesting to note that the Canadian girls, who would not have even been in the competition had the USA not pulled out for security reasons, are the No. 2 overall seeds. Obviously, the automatic bid for host Mexico continues to be a problem, denying a top North American team a chance to compete. I have heard the competition is moving to Europe next year, but no official announcement to that effect has been made. The official results site is here. For a simple version of results from today's action, see this page at Tennis Panorama.
5 comments:
Sad to see a legend like Paul Scarpa retire at Furman. Amazing coach with an amazing legacy. Not only the record holder for the most wins in Division 1 but an incredible person as well. Wishing Kelly Jones all the best as new coach. I'm sure he will do great!
Colette, did Jenkins win the 'top flight'? Looked like they just mixed it up between the three divisions to me. Don't know if King was the same or they actually flighted it.
@Brent:
You are probably right. I debated that terminology. Another reason why fall tournaments (outside the majors) are so difficult to follow. King was named the event's "winner", but again, hard to determine the format.
What is Domijan's injury?(outside his mental injury that seemed to begin at NCAA's)
If Steve Johnson doesn't come back, which I dont think he will (complete speculation), should be wide open this year. UVA is the deepest team, but they won't win it of course. All of you that argue with me every year about this, I can't wait to hear it again this season.
He's been battling a shoulder injury all summer.
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