Jachuck Joining Harvard; Nakashima Makes ITF Junior Masters Semifinals; USTA Announces Expanded Wild Card Structure for 2019

This is the time of year that many high school seniors will be signing National Letters of Intent for Fall of 2019, but for those attending Ivy League schools, the process is different, with no NLIs.  Blue Chip Ronan Jachuck spoke with me earlier this month about the timeline of his recruiting process with Harvard and I put together this Tennis Recruiting Network article about his decision to join the Crimson next fall.

The final round of round robin competition has concluded at the ITF Junior Masters, with Brandon Nakashima reaching the semifinals by virtue of a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Lorenzo Musetti of Italy. Nakashima finished first in his group with a 2-1 record, with his win over Hugo Gaston of France the tiebreaker, with Gaston also winning today.  Nakashima will face Adrian Andreev of Bulgaria in the semifinals, while Gaston will face Chun Hsin Tseng of Taiwan, who is the only boy to go 3-0 in the round robin stage.

The girls semifinals will not feature either Chinese star, with Xinyu Wang joining Xiyu Wang on the sidelines with injury.  Clara Burel of France, who finished at the top of her group, will play En-Shuo Liang of Taiwan in a rematch of the Australian Open girls final, won by Liang. The other Clara, Tauson of Denmark, who went undefeated in her group, will play Maria Osorio Serrano of Colombia, who finished second in her round robin group with a win today.  Friday's results:

En-Shuo Liang(TPE) def. Xinyu Wang(CHN) walkover
Clara Burel(FRA) def. Xiyu Wang(CHN) walkover
Clara Tauson(DEN) def. Leylah Fernandez(CAN) 6-2, 6-4
Maria Osorio Serrano(COL) def. Eleonora Molinaro(LUX) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5

Hugo Gaston(FRA) def. Sebastian Baez(ARG) 6-1, 6-4
Brandon Nakashima(USA) def. Lorenzo Musetti(ITA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Chun Hsin Tseng(TPE) def. Adrian Andreev(BUL) 6-4, 7-5
Nicolas Mejia(COL) def. Tao Mu(CHN) walkover

Final round robin standings and Saturday's schedule is here. Live scoring is here. 

The USTA announced today that they are expanding their wild card structure in 2019 with an eye toward providing American players with more opportunities to navigate the ITF's new World Tennis Tour.  These wild card linkages in junior, college and pro tennis are increased and formalized in a way that they have not been before, with the USTA obviously concerned that American players may find it much more difficult to gain entry to the events that actually result in ATP/WTA points. 

The junior wild cards are greatly expanded and not just for ITF WTT events, but also for other junior events. For example, the Indoor 18s girls champion gets a wild card into the Easter Bowl, the girls 16s Easter Bowl champion gets a wild card into the ITF Grade 1 in College Park, and finishing third in the 16s at Kalamazoo earns an Orange Bowl wild card. After a scare last summer, when former USTA Player Development director and current ESPN announcer Patrick McEnroe said he didn't think the Kalamazoo 18s champion should get a main draw wild card to the US Open, it's reassuring that the USTA 18s champions, both boys and girls, are still slated to receive those precious wild cards in this new system.

New tournaments that are open to all Americans--four National Opens and four National Closeds--will earn wild cards into Transition Tour events, and college players will also be able to earn high level wild cards with their performances at the major ITA events. (Interesting to note that the language for the NCAA champion reads that the winner will be "strongly considered" for a US Open main draw wild card and is guaranteed a qualifying wild card, which has never been put in writing before).

The one caveat that I see to this, and I can hardly blame the USTA, given how many more wild cards are now in play, is that the player must be proactive in redeeming one of these earned wild cards.

"Players who earn a results-based wild card from one of the below mentioned events must submit an email to wildcards@usta.com within two weeks to arrange. The email must contain the players first three tournament choices in order of preference based on the applicable level mentioned. These tournaments must fall within a nine month window from the day a player earns their wild card. The player will then be instructed to complete the request online via the Wild Card Request Form by clicking here. The USTA will make every effort to award the wild card to one of the players’ selected events, but it is not guaranteed. Furthermore, circumstances may arise where a player must submit additional tournament choices."

The USTA also has recently released the schedule for men's and women's Pro Circuit events in 2019, which also includes college and junior events. It's imperative that every junior coach and player, every college coach and player and every pro coach and player study these schedules carefully to determine the best path for their development and points accumulation. Kudos to the USTA for taking a proactive approach to this major change by the ITF, but it is not up to them to manage individual players' schedules for maximum impact. Getting to know the 2019 schedule and the incentives offered is important for every American player, whether they are looking to play junior slams, college tennis or Pro Circuit and ATP/WTA events.

For more on the USTA's new Competitive Pathway, see this page, with links to all the necessary information.

The impact of the ITF changes are not confined to the United States, of course. Stephanie Myles at TennisLife has some disturbing news from Canada on the seven men's Futures there that will not be held in 2019.  She also explores the effect it may have on young players who will no longer have these events to boost their rankings.