Osuigwe, Korda Top Seeds in Grade A Abierto Juvenil; NLI Announcements Continue; Georgia's Hodge in Plea Deal; Duke's Furman Provisionally Suspended by ITF Anti-Doping

The first round of the ITF Grade A Abierto Juvenil in Mexico City is underway, with Americans at the top of both draws.  ITF No. 1 Whitney Osuigwe, who has set a goal of being the 2017 World Junior Champion, took a wild card into the tournament and is, of course, the No. 1 seed. Sebastian Korda, who has not played a junior event since the US Open, is the boys top seed.  Both Osuigwe and Korda earned straight-sets wins in their first round matches today.

Andrew Fenty also received a wild card into the tournament and is the No. 3 seed. Eliot Spizzirri, who reached the final of the Grade 2 in Bolivia last week, also received a wild card.  Other US boys who are seeded: Sangeet Sridhar[10], Brian Shi[14] and Axel Nefve[16].  US girls who are seeded in addition to Osuigwe: Ellie Douglas[3], Natasha Subhash[4], Nicole Mossmer[8], Elli Mandlik[12], Lea Ma[16].  In all, there were 23 US boys and 21 US girls in the 64-player singles draws at the start of play today.. 

Maria Carle of Argentina, the No. 2 seed, also accepted a wild card into the event.

Live scoring is available at the Tennis Ticker.

The early signing announcements are continuing, with those below in addition to the links I posted on Wednesday and Friday. If no country is given, the player is from the US.

MEN:

Brigham Young has signed Brigham Andrus.

Duke has signed Robert Maciag.

Florida has signed Sam Riffice and Lukas Greif.

Florida State has signed Sebastian Arcila and Jorge Martinez Martinez of Spain.

Indiana has signed Carson Haskins and Patrick Fletchall.

Iowa has signed Oliver Okonkwo of Great Britain.

Louisville has signed Alex Wesbrooks.

LSU has signed Boris Kozlov.

Michigan has signed Andrew Fenty, Steven Forman, Ryan Fu and Patrick Maloney.

Mississippi State has signed Gregor Ramskogler of Austria.

North Carolina has signed Brian Cernoch.

Oklahoma State has signed Emile Hudd of Great Britain.

South Florida has signed Niels Van Noord of Canada, Sergio Gomez-Montesa of Spain and Ivan Yatsuk.

Southern California has signed Jake Sands and Bradley Frye.

WOMEN:

Arizona has signed Csenge Furak of Hungary.

Arkansas has signed Thea Rice.

Florida has signed McCartney Kessler, who will start in January, and Marlee Zein.

Georgia has signed Meg Kowalski.

Indiana has signed Somer Henry.

Iowa has signed Michelle Bacalla and Samantha Mannix.

Kentucky has signed Yang Lee of Taiwan and  Alexis Merrill. Diana Tkachenko is transferring in January, after Evansville dropped their women's program this fall.

Minnesota has signed Isabella Lambert.

Nebraska has signed Jessica Aragon.

North Carolina has signed Cameron Morra.

North Carolina State has signed Helene Grimm of Germany, who will start in January.

Ole Miss has signed Isolde de Jong of the Netherlands.

Rice has signed twins Anastasia and Victoria Smirnova of Belgium.

Tennessee has signed Kaitlin Staines of Australia.

Texas A&M has signed Brindtha Ramasamy of Canada, Jayci Goldsmith and Katya Townsend.

Texas Tech has added Denise-Antonella Stoica of Romania to their previously announced recruits Sydney Jones, Nell Miller and Olivia Peet.

UCLA has signed Elysia Bolton.

Wake Forest has signed Anna Brylin and Peyton Pesavento.

Washington has signed Sedona Gallagher.

In less happy news in college tennis, former Georgia men's associate head coach Bo Hodge has pleaded guilty to possession of a schedule II controlled substance, a felony.  Sentenced as first time offender, Hodge was given three years of probation and must undergo a rehabilitation program. He is banned from coaching college tennis for 12 months.  See the Athens Banner-Herald for more on the sentencing.  The controlled substance in question is said to be Adderall.

Spencer Furman, a sophomore on the Duke team, has been provisionally suspended by the ITF for failing a drug test earlier this fall. Furman, who was competing in the qualifying of the Cary Challenger back in September, was found to have the stimulant Damphetamine in his system.  I have been told that Furman has a prescription for the medication, commonly prescribed to treat ADHD, but did not have the required Theraputic Use Exemption on file.  The ITF's new commitment to transparency, which has been in response to the awkward "silent bans" of the past, means that failing a test will be reported, regardless of the circumstances. 

In any case, Furman's predicament, which will not affect his collegiate eligibility, is a lesson for all players who are just beginning to play pro events and may not have read the regulations pertaining to this facet of the sport.  It's imperative to understand what the anti-doping rules require of you if you are taking any medication or you could face a lengthy suspension from ITF sanctioned events.