Crawford Reaches Harlingen Futures Final; USTA Board Nominations for 2019-20; Ben Navarro Feature

University of Florida sophomore Oliver Crawford advanced to the first Futures final Saturday, beating recent Texas A&M graduate Jordi Arconada 6-4, 6-0 at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Harlingen Texas. The 19-year-old wild card will play qualifier Andrew Watson of Great Britain, who upset top seed Denis Yevseyev of Kazakhstan 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. The 22-year-old Watson, a recent University of Memphis graduate, will be playing in his second career Futures final, having lost to British teen Jack Draper last month in a $15,000 tournament in England.

The doubles title went to UCLA senior Maxime Cressy of France and former Bruin Nick Meister, with the No. 3 seeds defeating No. 2 seeds Ronnie Schneider(UNC) and John-Paul Fruttero(Cal) 6-4, 6-2 in the final. Cressy and Meister, who now have won back-to-back titles in $25,000 Futures in Texas, didn't come close to losing a set this week.

Both American teenagers fell in the semifinals of the $25,000 women's tournament in Florence South Carolina. No. 8 seed Maria Mateas, the Duke freshman, lost to No. 3 seed Bianca Andreescu of Canada 6-1, 6-2. Qualifier Katie Volynets, who won six matches this week, was beaten by unseeded Mari Osaka of Japan 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. 

Former Florida star Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan won the doubles title in Florence, partnering with Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway.  The No. 2 seeds defeated No. 4 seeds Tara Moore of Great Britain and Conny Perrin of Switzerland 6-7(9), 6-2, 10-8 in the final. It's Danilina's third Pro Circuit doubles title of the year and the eighth of her career.

The USTA has announced the nominations for its 2019-20 terms on the Board of Directors. Once approved, Patrick Galbraith will take over as President, replacing Katrina Adams, who served two two-year terms. Other officer position nominations:

Mike McNulty (USTA Southern) First Vice President
Brian Hainline (USTA Midwest) Vice President
Laura Canfield (USTA Middle States) as Vice President
Thomas Ho (USTA Texas) as Secretary-Treasurer

Nominated for Director at Large positions are: 

Jeff Biall (Northern), Violet Clark (Midwest), Liezel Huber (Eastern-Elite Athlete), Chuck Gill (Florida), Eleni Rossides (Mid-Atlantic), Neha Uberoi (Eastern-Elite Athlete), Brian Vahaly (Mid-Atlantic), Sam Warburg (Northern California-Elite Athlete), Kurt Zumwalt (Pacific Northwest).

The two-year terms begin on January 1st.

Although Ben Navarro was in the news quite a bit earlier this year when it was revealed that he was bidding to take over ownership of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, I hadn't seen any articles that focused on him personally. After it was announced recently that he was buying the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, after having previously purchased a tennis club in the area, his commitment to tennis was confirmed, although with his daughter Emma one of the top juniors in the country, that's not a surprise. He did not succeed in buying the Panthers, but in this The Post and Courier feature, he explains why he's not particularly disappointed by that. There is also mention of junior tennis in this quote about purchasing the WTA event:

“I decided it made sense for somebody in the area to own it and to be a steward,” Navarro said. “The timing was right when the opportunity came along. I’m excited for our junior programs, for combining them in a way that makes sense for (the Family Circle program) as well as ours at LTP. I also want to have a program for young aspiring pros who are coming up through the ranks."