US Open Juniors Recap; Chappell Reaches Toronto Futures Final; Three Americans Advance to Semis in Claremont Futures; Kenin, Pegula, Anisimova into WTA Semifinals

Condensing a tournament into one article isn't easy, especially this year's US Open Junior Championships, where weather was the story above and beyond the actual tennis played. But for the first champions from China and Brazil, the weather will be secondary when Xiyu Wang and Thiago Seyboth Wild look back on winning a first junior slam singles title.  My article on last week's tournament is available now at the Tennis Recruiting Network.

The singles final is set at the $25,000 Futures in Toronto, with former TCU star Nick Chappell facing former Texas star Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain meeting for the title. The 25-year-old Chappell has reached the final in a Futures event twice before, at back-to-back $10,000 tournaments in Israel in 2016, while No. 2 seed Glasspool, 24, has won five Futures titles, including the $25,000 Iowa City Futures back in July.  Glasspool defeated Chappell in the quarterfinals that week, by a score of 6-4, 7-6(3).

The doubles final was played today, with Francesco Ferrari of Italy and Michail Pervolarakis(Portland) of Cyprus beating No. 4 seed Felix Corwin(Minnesota) and Takuto Niki of Japan 6-3, 6-3.

At the $15,000 Futures in Claremont California, three Americans have advanced to the semifinals. Sam Shropshire(Northwestern) reached his first Futures semifinal with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win over qualifier Nicolas Moreno(UC-Santa Barbara) and will face Brandon Holt, who won the all-USC quarterfinal with Daniel Cukierman of Israel 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.  Recent UCLA graduate Martin Redlicki, the No. 3 seed, defeated 18-year-old Igor Gimenez of Brazil 6-3, 6-2 and will take on Oklahoma State sophomore and No. 7 seed Matej Vocel of the Czech Republic. Vocel beat No. 2 seed Henry Craig(Denver) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.

In the Claremont doubles final, recent graduates Robert Kelly(UNC) and Korey Lovett(UCF), who received a wild card into the tournament, beat No. 4 seeds Shropshire and Paul Oosterbaan(Georgia) 7-6(3), 6-4. It's the first Pro Circuit title for both Kelly and Lovett.

In WTA events, qualifier Amanda Anisimova reached her first WTA semifinal with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the International level WTA tournament in Japan. The 17-year-old Floridian will face top seed Shuai Zhang of China, a 29-year-old currently 41 in the WTA rankings. 

At the WTA International in Quebec City Canada, No. 5 seed Sonya Kenin and qualifier Jessica Pegula will meet in Saturday's semifinals. Kenin defeated No. 3 seed Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-3, 6-1 in less than an hour, and Pegula beat No. 2 seed Petra Martic of Croatia 6-3, 7-5.  The other semifinal will feature No. 8 seed Pauline Parmentier of France against Heather Watson of Great Britain.

The US Davis Cup team lost both singles matches today at their semifinal with Croatia. Borna Coric beat Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-3 and Marin Cilic defeated Frances Tiafoe in the latter's Davis Cup debut 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(5).  Ryan Harrison and Mike Bryan are scheduled to take on Mate Pavic and Ivan Dodig in Saturday's doubles, which the US needs to win to avoid a sweep. For more on today's matches, see this article from Daviscup.com.