Black, Paul Win Again, This Time at ITF Grade 4 in Delray Beach; Division III Championships Underway Today in Kalamazoo; Grade A Italian Open Begins in Milan

Before the start of today's Division I semifinals, I wanted to post on a few other items of interest.

First of all, if you are interested in more on the tournament, the local newspaper, The News-Gazette, is providing excellent coverage every day.  Today's feature gives some background on the often overlooked job of umpire, and they've had an extensive notebook section every day too.

The Division III men's and women's championships begin today in Kalamazoo, with the women's quarterfinals first, followed by the men's.
See the Kalamazoo College tournament page for live scoring. For more background on the men's field, see this preview at the Tennis Recruiting Network, and follow the blog division3tennis.com.

At the ITF Grade 4 in Delray Beach, Tornado Alicia Black and Tommy Paul, both of whom won the week before in Plantation, kept their streaks going.  Black, the No. 2 seed, collected her second career ITF singles title when unseeded Emma Higuchi was unable to compete due to illnes.  Paul, also the No. 2 seed,  defeated unseeded Baker Newman
7-5, 7-5, and has moved his ITF junior ranking up to 152 with this run, while Black is up to a career high of 78.

Top seeds Black and Dasha Ivanova won the doubles title with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 3 seeds Katerina Stewart and Nicole Frenkel. Eduardo Nava and Nathan Ponwith, seeded eighth, took the boys doubles championship with a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 5 seeds Basil Khuma of India and Anudeep Kodali.

The Grade A Italian Open is underway, with Nikola Milojevic of Serbia and Antonia Lottner of Germany the top seeds.  There are five US boys in the main draw: qualifier Dennis Uspensky, Martin Redlicki, Luca Corinteli, Noah Rubin(13) and Stefan Kozlov(9). Two US girls are competing in Milan: Christina Makarova(5) and Katrine Steffensen.

Austin Krajicek and Alisa Kleybanova won the $10,000 Pro Circuit events last week, Krajicek defeated Christian Harrison in a walkover in Tampa, and former WTA Top 20 player Kleybanova defeated former Tennessee star Natalie Pluskota in the Landisville, Pa final.