Scholl Posts Best Win at Osprey $50K; Sandgren and Krueger Join US Davis Cup Team in Boise; Claremont ITF Quarterfinals Set; ITA Division II Rankings Updated

Wild card Chalena Scholl picked up her best win on the professional circuit yesterday at the $50,000 Pro Circuit tournament in Osprey, Fla. Scholl, who hasn't played a junior event since reaching the quarterfinals of the Orange Bowl in December, defeated Russian veteran Nina Bratchikova 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in the first round of the tournament, which has an especially strong field. How strong? Bratchikova, ranked No. 108, wasn't seeded; a player needed to be inside the top 100 to be among the eight seeds. 

Scholl had a good run at the $25,000 tournament in Innisbrook, qualifying with three wins over players in the 200s.  Her best win, prior to beating Bratchikova, was at last year's Charlottesville $50,000, where she defeated No. 210 Heidi El Tabakh of Canada in the second round of qualifying. Scholl plays qualifier Mariana Duque-Marino of Colombia in Thursday's second round.

Jennifer Brady, a wild card into qualifying, had three good wins to advance to the main draw, but she lost to No. 90 Jana Cepelova of Slovakia 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in first round action today.

Czech Katerina Siniakova, the Orange Bowl and Australian Open girls finalist, who received entry with a junior exemption, continued her outstanding play this spring, picking up a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 first round win over No. 119 Alexandra Cadantu of Romania.

Davis Cup captain Jim Courier announced his team for the April 5-7 tie against Serbia in Boise, Idaho, with John Isner, Sam Querrey and the Bryan brothers, the same group that defeated Brazil in February, representing the US.  No. 1 Novak Djokovic has committed to play, but Serbia will be without its other top 10 player, Janko Tipsarevic, who opted not to make himself available. 

The hitting partners for the tie are Mitchell Krueger and Tennys Sandgren. Sandgren, the former Tennessee All-American and 2011 NCAA semifinalist, is playing at the Challenger in San Luis Potosi Mexico this week, which is excellent preparation for the altitude he will face while practicing with the team in Boise. Sandgren defeated No. 7 seed Andrej Martin of Slovakia in the first round today 6-3, 6-3.

At the first ITF tournament of the year in the United States, the quarterfinals are set for the Claremont Grade 4.  Top seed Henrik Wiersholm is through, but he is the only Top 4 seed in either the boys or girls draw to make it that far. In fact, except for No. 8 seed Peggy Porter, there are no other Top 8 seeds remaining in either draw.  Girls top seed Gabby Andrews gave a walkover to Kimberly Yee, who plays Porter next. Unseeded Meredith Xepoleas meets No. 9 seed Alyssa Smith; Monica Robinson and Angela Kulikov, both unseeded, meet in the third quarterfinal, and 13-year-old Michaela Gordon faces Maia Magill, who had upset No. 2 seed Maria Shiskina in the first round Monday.

Wiersholm will play No. 9 seed Jake Stefanik, one of only three seeds left in the boys draw. Qualifier William Griffith meets unseeded Ciro Riccardi in the other top half quarterfinal. In the bottom half, No. 14 seed Eduardo Nava eliminated No. 2 seed Gerardo Lopez Villasenor of Mexico today 7-6(1), 6-3 and will play unseeded Taylor Fritz, the reigning USTA 14s champion. Unseeded Stephen Watson and Gage Brymer will decide the fourth semifinalist.

For complete draws and Thursday's order of play, see the tournament site at usta.com.

The ITA released the second set of national rankings for Division II today, with both the Armstrong Atlantic men and women retaining their places at the top. Barry is second in both rankings this week.

In the individual rankings, Armstrong Atlantic's Georgi Rumenov is No. 1 in both singles and doubles (with Dan Regan) for the men, while BYU Hawaii's Annie Hwang is No. 1 in singles and double (with Sherry Liu) for the women.

The ITA's release, with links to the full rankings, is here.