Kozlov Wins First ATP Match; Qualifying Complete in Charlottesville Futures; Other News and Notes

Stefan Kozlov won his first ATP match today at the ATP 250 Ricoh Open in S'hertogenbosch, Netherlands, defeating 20-year-old Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.  The 18-year-old wild card, who had played an ATP main draw match four times before today over the past two years, will face Steve Johnson, the No. 4 seed, in the second round.

Ernesto Escobedo, who qualified for his first ATP main draw appearance in S'hertogenbosch, lost today to Aljaz Bedene of Great Britain 7-6(5), 6-2.

Qualifying is complete at the $25,000 Charlottesville Futures, with Rhyne Williams among those reaching the main draw.  Darian King of Barbados is the top seed, with Sekou Bangoura the No. 2 seed. The wild cards all went to University of Virginia players: Alexander Ritschard, Mac Styslinger, Luca Corinteli and Thai Kwiatkowski.  With most schools done for the summer, a large number of college players are in the main draw.

Speaking of Charlottesville, this feature about Danielle Collins provides many details about her plans, her decision to transfer from Florida, her work with the Virginia sports psychologist, while also providing comments on her future from head coach Mark Guilbeau.

Kevin King has been serving as a volunteer assistant at alma mater Georgia Tech as he recovers from hip surgeries. See this article for more on his plan to return to professional tennis.

In college coaching news, Oklahoma announced last week that Dave Mullins would be retiring from his position as women's head coach, leaving the Sooners with vacancies at both the men's and women's positions with John Roddick taking the Central Florida job.  Bobby Knight has a list of all open Division I positions at College Tennis Today, with a tab for men and one for women.

Tennis Recruiting has published its men's mid-major recruiting class rankings, with South Florida topping the list.

This week's ITF Grade 1 tournament is in Germany, on clay, and as of now, French Open champion Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland is entered and is the top seed.  The four US boys in the draw are: Trent Bryde(9), Kyrylo Tsygura, Alafia Ayeni(16) and Brian Cernoch. The four US girls in the draw are qualifier Ashley Lahey, Chiara Lommer, Melissa Plambeck and Victoria Emma.

The US Open National Playoffs are underway, with four sections already having completed their events.  Winners of singles competitions so far are Tyler Hochwalt, Jacqueline Cako, Eric Quigley, Sanaz Marand, Patrick Kawka, Ena Shibahara, Terrance Whitehurst and Ashley Weinhold.  Entries are still open for three sectional events in Middle States, Southern and Northern California.  I will be covering the Midwest event in South Bend next week for the Tennis Recruiting Network.

While looking at the Roland Garros website, I ran across this brief article on the Longines Future Aces event, for 13-and-under players from around the world, with boys and girls alternating each year. This year the competition was for girls, with Nikki Yanez representing the United States. She reached the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Maria Dolores Lopez Martinez of Spain. Highlights of the final can be viewed on YouTube.