Eight Americans Qualify for Western & Southern Open Main Draw; 12 US Players Kick Off First Round Saturday; Iowa Men's Tennis Cut

Twelve Americans reached today's final round of qualifying at the Western & Southern Open after wins on Thursday, and eight of them advanced to the main draw with victories today.

All four of the US men who reached the final round won their matches, all of them from a set down. Wild card Sebastian Korda had the most impressive win, with the 20-year-old from Florida defeating top seed Gilles Simon of France 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 for his first ATP Top 100 victory. Korda won 11 straight games before Simon, ATP No. 54, got on the board in the third set. Korda, the 2018 Australian Open boys champion, will be playing in his first ATP Masters main draw.

Twenty-one-year-old JJ Wolf, also a wild card, defeated Jaume Munar of Spain 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the main draw of an ATP Masters event for the first time. Because the former Ohio State All-American is from Cincinnati, he has previously played the tournament's qualifying, and also played qualifying at Indian Wells last year, but this is the first time he has advanced to the main draw. 

Mackenzie McDonald, the third men's wild card to reach the main draw, needed over two-and-a-half hours to get by Dominik Koepfer(Tulane) of Germany 6-7(0), 7-5, 7-6(5).  McDonald's former teammate at UCLA (and fellow NCAA singles champion) Marcos Giron also needed a comeback, beating Gregoire Barrere of France 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. The two former Bruins have drawn each other in the first round of the main draw.

Only four of 24 seeds in qualifying advanced to the main draw on the men's side. 

Four of the eight US women in the final round of qualifying advanced to the main draw, including two wild cards: Cici Bellis and Ann Li. Bellis defeated Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, and Li continued her stellar play, beating No. 15 seed Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia 6-3, 7-6(5). Kuzmova led 5-3 in the second set and had two set points, but Li recovered for her second WTA Top 100 win in the past two days.

No. 18 seed Christina McHale and No. 14 seed Jessica Pegula also earned spots in the main draw, with Pegula beating Liudmila Samsonova of Russia 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 and McHale earning a 6-3, 7-5 win over No. 6 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia.

Seventeen-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada, who qualified and won a round last week in Lexington, defeated Kristie Ahn 6-4, 6-1 to make her second Premier 5 event main draw. She had received a wild card into the Rogers Cup last summer. Six of the 24 women's qualifying seeds reached the main draw. 

Today's final round qualifying results of Americans:

US Women:

Jessica Pegula[14] d. Liudmila Samsonova(RUS) 63, 36, 62

Leylah Fernandez(CAN) d. Kristie Ahn[24] 64, 61

Christina McHale[18] d. Daria Kasatkina[6](RUS) 63, 75

Laura Siegemund[5](GER) d. Caroline Dolehide[WC] 63, 63

Kirsten Flipkens[12](BEL) d. Katie Volynets[WC] 61, 2-0 ret.

Jil Teichmann[1](SUI) d. Shelby Rogers[22] 63, 64

Ann Li[WC] d. Viktoria Kuzmova[15](SVK) 63, 76(5)

Cici Bellis[WC] d. Ysaline Bonaventure(BEL) 46, 64, 61

US Men:

JJ Wolf[WC] d. Jaume Munar(ESP) 26, 62, 64

Marcos Giron d. Gregoire Barrere(FRA) 46, 76(2), 64

Mackenzie McDonald[WC] d. Dominik Koepfer(GER) 67(0), 75, 76(5)

Sebastian Korda[WC] d. Gilles Simon[1](FRA) 36, 60, 61

Kim Clijsters, who had been given a wild card, withdrew today with an injury, and Kasatkina received entry into the main draw as a lucky loser. Jennifer Brady had been drawn to face Clijsters, but will now play Pegula.

The women's main draw is here; the men's main draw is here.

Main draw play begins on Saturday, with Li the only women's qualifier on the schedule.  Below is a list of all the first round matches featuring Americans; the first section are those in action Saturday; the rest are expected to play their first round matches Sunday.  For the television schedule, which is a mix of ESPN, ESPN2 and Tennis Channel, click here.

Saturday’s first round singles matches featuring US women:

Alison Riske[11] v Amanda Anisimova

Venus Williams[WC] v Dayana Yastremska(UKR)

Coco Gauff v Maria Sakkari[13](GRE)

Caty McNally[WC] v Alize Cornet(FRA)

Bernarda Pera v Heather Watson(GBR)

Ann Li[Q] v Karolina Muchova(CZE)

Saturday’s first round singles matches featuring US men:

Taylor Fritz v Lloyd Harris[Q](RSA)

Reilly Opelka v Cameron Norrie[Q](GBR)

Tommy Paul[WC] v Ricardas Berankis[Q](LTU)

Frances Tiafoe[WC] v Andy Murray[WC](GBR)

Sam Querrey v Milos Raonic(CAN)

Other first round matches featuring Americans, which are not on Saturday's schedule:

Tennys Sandgren[WC] v Lorenzo Sonego(ITA)

John Isner[16] v Hubert Hurkacz(POL)

Mackenzie McDonald[Q] v Marcos Giron[Q]

JJ Wolf[Q] v Richard Gasquet(FRA)

Sebastian Korda[Q] v Emil Ruusuvuori[Q](FIN)

Jennifer Brady v Jessica Pegula[Q]

Cici Bellis[Q] v Oceane Dodin[Q](FRA)

Danielle Collins v Jil Teichmann[Q](SUI)

Serena Williams[3] bye

Madison Keys[7] bye

Christina McHale[Q] v Iga Swiatek(POL)

Sloane Stephens[WC] v Caroline Garcia(FRA)

Sofia Kenin[2] bye

Although Clijsters is still hoping to play the US Open, another woman has dropped out today: Andrea Petkovic of Germany. Eighteen-year-old Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine has moved into the US Open main draw, with Whitney Osuigwe, who already has a wild card, now two spots from moving into the main draw on her own ranking. The current women's US Open entry list is here.

Disheartening news on the college tennis front today, with the University of Iowa announcing the cutting of four varsity sports, including men's tennis, after the 2020-21 season. The other sports cut are men’s gymnastics and men’s and women’s swimming and diving. This is the first Power 5 conference tennis program to be cut since the University of Maryland ended its men's tennis program in 2012, but I don't expect this will be the last given the financial crisis that has resulted from Covid-19. The announcement from the university and athletic department is here.