Three US Men, Two US Women Advance to Final Round of Qualifying at Wimbledon; Aljosa Piric Named Men's Head Coach at Miami; Registration for Oracle ITA Junior Masters Underway

The final round of men's and women's singles qualifying Thursday at Wimbledon will feature three US men and two US women, with at least one men's qualifier from the US guaranteed after both Bjorn Fratangelo and Austin Krajicek won.  Fratangelo, the No. 6 seed, defeated Axel Michon of France 6-7(9), 6-1, 6-2, while Krajicek, the No. 22 seed, earned a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over wild card Joe Salisbury to set up the all-American contest in the final round.  Neither player has ever reached the main draw at Wimbledon, adding more drama to Thursday's matchup.

Dennis Novikov is also looking for his first appearance in the main draw at Wimbledon. The No. 28 seed outlasted Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus 2-6, 7-6(3), 10-8 to move into the final round of qualifying, where the 22-year-old will face unseeded Hiroki Moriya of Japan.

Julia Boserup had no trouble with the two Americans she faced in the first two rounds of qualifying, beating Jennifer Brady 6-2, 6-2 Tuesday and Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-1 today.  Next up for the 24-year-old is Barbara Haas of Austria, who defeated No. 6 seed Lauren Davis 6-3, 6-3.  The winner of the Boserup - Haas match will make her slam debut, but the 20-year-old Haas has made only one previous attempt, last month at Roland Garros. Boserup, on the other hand, is trying for the 11th time to get through qualifying; she has made the final round three times now, with the previous two times coming in Australia, in 2012 and this year.

Vania King is the other US woman to advance to the final round of qualifying. She defeated wild card Gabriella Taylor of Great Britain 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 today, and will play unseeded Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand for a place in the main draw.

Former Texas Longhorn Ed Corrie received a wild card into qualifying and is just one win away from his slam debut. After beating Tommy Paul 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 in the first round, Corrie ousted No. 10 seed Michael Berrer of Germany 6-0, 6-3 today to reach the final round of Wimbledon qualifying for the first time in five attempts.  He will play unseeded Albano Olivetti of France Thursday.  For more on Corrie's run, see the Wimbledon website.

One of the Power 5 men's head coaching positions was filled today with the announcement that Aljosa Piric would be joining the University of Miami.  Piric, who was the men's head coach at Old Dominion for the past five years, replaces Mario Rincon, whose contract was not renewed after 12 years in Coral Gables.  Prior to taking the Old Dominion position, Piric spent three years as Kenny Thorne's assistant at Georgia Tech.  For more on Piric, see the Miami website.

Last month the ITA announced the Oracle Junior Masters, a series of tournaments for juniors this summer.  Entries are now being accepted for these 12 events, geographically dispersed throughout the country, with all scheduled to take place in August or September. Winners of these events, plus four wild cards, are invited to October's Oracle ITA Masters in Malibu, for a junior competition alongside the collegiate event. Travel, food and lodging vouchers are provided. Entry is by Universal Tennis Rating, and links to each of the 12 events is at the UTR website.  Lisa Stone has more details on these events at ParentingAces.com.